Managing Projects with MS Project 2010

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1 Aptech Ltd. Version 1.0 Page 1 of 13

2 Table of Contents A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Aptech Ltd. Version 1.0 Page 2 of 13

3 Accrual Actuals Allocation Assignment Assignmenttimephased Method Assignmenttotal Method AutoFilter Autoscheduled Task The method by which a project incurs the cost of a task or a resource. The three types of accrual are start, prorated, and end. Detail about task progress recorded in a plan in Microsoft Project. Prior to recording actuals, the project plan contains scheduled or planned information. Comparing planned project information to actuals helps the project manager better control project execution. The portion of the capacity of a resource devoted to work on a specific task. The matching of a work resource (a person or a piece of equipment) to a task. You can also assign a material or cost resource to a task, but those resources have no effect on work or duration. Used to track each resource assignment s work hours and costs in time phases. Used to track the total work or costs per resource assignment up to the current date. A quick way to view or organize only the task or resource information that meets the criteria you choose in a table. A task for which Microsoft Project dynamically adjusts the start or finish date to account for schedule changes in a project plan. Aptech Ltd. Version 1.0 Page 3 of 13

4 BAC Backstage View Budget At Completion (BAC) is the sum of the budget for each phase of the project. This is the estimated grand total of the project. Budget at completion and Baseline Costs are the same. Provides several options to work with the entire file or project. It provides options to open, close, save, print, and share files. It also provides options to protect project files and set their properties. The Backstage view groups all document related commands and settings at one place making them easy to find and work with. Base Calendar Also known as the standard calendar. It is the basic calendar that is used for all scheduling calculations in MS Project. All other calendars are built on this calendar. The base calendar assumes that a workday has eight working hours from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. with an hour for lunch and a five-day week, Mondayto Friday, as workweek. Baseline Bottom-up Planning Every project has a method of benchmarking project data to compare the actual activity against the original project plan. The saved version of the project plan is called a baseline that includes the entire information of a project, such as task timing, resource assignments, costs, and so on. A method of developing a project plan that starts with the lowestlevel tasks and organizes them into broad phases. Aptech Ltd. Version 1.0 Page 4 of 13

5 Calendar Consolidated Project Constraints Contour Cost Cost Resources Cost Table CPI Critical Path Crosstab Report Custom Report The settings that define the working days and time for a project, resources, and tasks. A plan in Microsoft Project that contains one or more inserted project plans. The inserted projects are linked to the consolidated project so that any changes to the inserted projects are reflected in the consolidated plan, and vice versa. A consolidated project plan is also known as a master project. In MS Project 2010, constraints are the timing conditions that organize an auto scheduled task. Manually scheduled tasks follow defined start and end dates, hence, they are already constrained with their respective start and end dates. It is a restriction, such as Must Start On (MSO) or Finish No Later Than (FNLT) that you can place on the start or finish date of a task. The manner in which a resource's work on a task is scheduled over time. Microsoft Project includes several predefined work contours that you can apply to an assignment. The resources required to carry out a project, including the people who do the work, the equipment used, and the materials consumed as the work is completed. Cost is one side of the project triangle model. These resources incur a variable cost every time they are assigned. For example, creating a cost resource, such as a computer maintenance fee of $25, will incur cost every time a computer is assigned for a maintenance task. Displays data to compare and review baseline estimates of fixed costs and the actual costs by placing them in side by side columns. Cost Performance Index (CPI) is a measure to find the health of a project in terms of the project budget. CPI is a comparison of the actual expenditures of the work that was accomplished to that of planned. A series of tasks that, if delayed, will push out the end date of a project. Represents a unique data relative to column and row definitions. Effectively, the cell formed by the column and row intersection represents the unique data. Begins with a report type that can be a task, a resource, a monthly calendar, or a crosstab. After choosing the basic type, users can work with the same Reports dialog box that is used to edit a standard report. Aptech Ltd. Version 1.0 Page 5 of 13

6 Deadline Deliverable Dependency Dependent Tasks A date value that you can enter for a task that indicates the latest date by which you want the task to be completed. If the scheduled completion date of a task is later than its deadline, Microsoft Project notifies you. The final product, service, or event that a project is intended to produce. A link between a predecessor task and a successor task. A dependency controls the start or finish of one task relative to the start or finish of the other task. The most common dependency is finish-to-start (FS), in which the finish date of the predecessor task determines the start date of the successor task. Tasks that are dependent on other tasks, as either a predecessor or a successor. Any two tasks can become a predecessor-successor pair if they have a timing relationship between them. A task can have multiple dependency links. EAC Effortdriven Tasks Estimate At Completion (EAC) is an estimate of how much a task will cost when it is completed, based on the performance so far. Tasks for which the work hours per resource reduces with the increase in the resources assigned to the task. In MS Project, manually scheduled tasks cannot be set up as effort-driven tasks. Only auto scheduled tasks can be effort-driven. Aptech Ltd. Version 1.0 Page 6 of 13

7 Filters Finish-to- Finish Finish-to- Start Fixed Duration Tasks Fixed Units Tasks Fixed Work Tasks Format Tab Filters in MS Project 2010 help project managers in fine tuning a project plan to view the plan from different angles. Filters highlight tasks and resources meeting certain criteria of the project plan such as overallocated resources, over budgeted resources, and so forth. A dependency type that exists when two tasks must finish at the same time. Project managers apply this dependency type by adjusting the expected start date of the successor task or modifying the finish date of the predecessor task. The most common dependency type. In this, the predecessor task must complete before the successor task starts. It is the default dependency type for any two dependent tasks in MS Project. This type of task does not vary the duration of the task, even if the resource assignments change. That is, Task A will take four days, irrespective of whether additional resources are assigned or removed for the task. Tasks in which the task duration and the resource effort, together determine the assignment units. The assignment units of resources will not change even if the number of hours required for completing the task increase or decrease. By default, all tasks in MS Project are fixed units tasks. In this type of task, project managers need to determine the units of work to be completed. By default, fixed work tasks are effortdriven. The task duration changes based on the number of resource units assigned to the task. If the amount of work changes, resource assignments may also change. Provides several commands to apply formatting to project details and charts, such as Gridlines, Column Settings, Text-wrapping, Auto-complete, and so forth. Aptech Ltd. Version 1.0 Page 7 of 13

8 Gantt Chart View Graphics Gridlines Groups The Gantt Chart view is the default chart view that is displayed on opening a new project. A Gantt Chart is like a horizontal bar chart showing the start and end of each activity. It helps users identify with a quick glance whether activities will be executed one after the other or in parallel, whether there are any overlaps or interdependencies between activities. Help to enhance the look of any document and can be used to emphasize or draw attention to specific information. Project managers can display gridlines on the Gantt Chart to break up the scheduling display into chunks. The gridlines help identify at a glance, the time intervals in which the task occur; map the task list on the left to the taskbars on the right; identify the start, middle, and finish of interval for the tasks; identify the current or the status date on the Gantt Chart; and so forth. Grouping items help project managers to organize information by certain criteria. Like filters, MS Project provides predefined groups and custom groups. Groups can collapse and expand based on tasks or resources. Interim Plan A timing checklist that includes the actual start and end dates of tasks as well as the estimated start and end dates for those tasks that are yet to start. It saves only timing information and will not save any information related to resource assignments, costs and so forth. It records date changes and does not overwrite the original baseline cost data. Aptech Ltd. Version 1.0 Page 8 of 13

9 Lag Time Lead Time It is the delay between tasks. For example, a successor task can start only five days after the predecessor task is completed. In such case, the two tasks have a Finish-to-Start dependency and the lag time is five days. It refers to the time overlap between tasks. For example, if two tasks have a Finish-to-Start dependency link, the successor task can start only when the predecessor task is 75% completed. In this case, the lead time for the successor is 25%. Material Resources Milestone These are assigned in units, such as gallons, feet, or tons, and so forth. When assigning a material resource, determine the number of units of the material resource required for that task. A task with zero duration. In essence, it simply marks a moment in time that must be reflected in the project outline. Examples of milestones are approval of a marketing campaign brochure design or review and approval from customer for acceptance of a project. Such tasks do not involve any real work or effort. Network Diagram View This view displays a representation of the workflow in a project, as a series of work schedule boxes. The boxes consist of dependency lines between them to reflect the sequence of tasks. Tasks that happen in the same time frame are aligned vertically above each other. Tasks with an X through them are those that have been marked as complete. Aptech Ltd. Version 1.0 Page 9 of 13

10 Project Project Outline Project Plan Project Server 2010 Project Tab Project Management An organized endeavor to achieve a specific output. It could be designing a new computer system, building a highway, building a hydroelectric power plant, or designing a new aircraft. A collection of subtasks grouped within summary tasks. In MS Project, each group of tasks within a summary task represents a project phase. The tasks in MS Project have a tree-like hierarchical structure. A formal and official document that guides through the development of the project as well as manages the project control. The key purposes of a project plan are to document the scope, cost, and schedule baselines and show the various resources, milestones, and activities that are part of the project. Enables storing all projects and their resource information in a central database on the company s network. Contains options to perform project level operations, such as Insert Sub Project, Project Information, and Work Breakdown Structure, Change Working Time, Calculate Project, and so forth. Provides a set of tools and techniques that enable the project team to successfully meet the project objectives within the constraints. Recurring Tasks Resource Calendar Resource Leveling Resource Tab Resource Views Risk Mitigation Plan Tasks that occur repeatedly in projects are called recurring tasks. Tasks such as, conducting weekly status meeting every Friday or generating a monthly project report can be considered as recurring tasks. Calendars customized for specific scheduling requirements for individual resource groups. An MS Project feature in which it tries to resolve resource overallocation in a project either by delaying a task until the overbooked resource is available or by splitting tasks. Contains several options to work with project resources, such as Assign Resources, Resource Pool, Details, Level Resource, and Level All. A group that enables you to select the Team Planner, Resource Usage, Resource Sheet, and other resource views. It enables project managers to view the resources assigned to the various tasks for a project. Classifies all the risks (as high, medium, and low impact) that the project team can identify and specifies the mitigation measures for each of the risks identified. Aptech Ltd. Version 1.0 Page 10 of 13

11 SharePoint 2010 A collaboration tool from Microsoft that is used to quickly create Web sites that provide a common location for teams to collaborate on Web pages, documents, lists, calendars, and data. SPI Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is a measure to find the health of a project in terms of the project schedule. SPI is a comparison of the project tasks that were planned to be completed to that of actually accomplished. Standard Reports These are built-in reports that offer choices for the information to include in the reports. With simple clicks on few buttons, project managers can generate standard reports that can be modified for look and feel using several ways. Start-to-Finish A dependency in which the successor task must finish only after the predecessor task starts. If the predecessor is delayed, the successor task will not finish. However, the second task can finish any time after the first task starts. Start-to-Start This dependency type exists when either two tasks start simultaneously or the second task begins immediately after the first task. Status Bar At the bottom of the MS Project 2010 application window is a status bar. It displays key program settings that provide shortcuts to useful functions. It also contains the View and Zoom controls to change project view and timescale. Aptech Ltd. Version 1.0 Page 11 of 13

12 Task Calendar Task Inspector Tasktimephased Method Task-total Method Task Tab Task View Team Planner Used to create calendars with specific scheduling requirements for a particular task. The timing of a task in the project is affected by certain conditions called task drivers. The Task Inspector is a task driver that helps to recognize such conditions. Used to track work hours or costs in time phases, on a day-by-day basis. Used to track the total task durations, actual start and finish dates, work hours, or costs up to the current date. Contains several options to work with project tasks, such as Gantt Chart View, Insert Task, Indent and Outdent Task, Split Tasks, Link Tasks, and so forth. The default view that is displayed on opening an MS Project file. The Task view is split into two sections. On the left is a tabular list of tasks and their start and end dates. On the right is the Gantt Chart view of the same information. It is a new view provided by MS Project 2010, which is used to fix workload issues. It helps project managers to ensure that the work is distributed among all the resources in a manageable way. It enables managers to move assignments among resources, assign tasks that have not been assigned, and schedule tasks that have not been scheduled. VAC View Tab Visual Report Variance At Completion (VAC) is the estimated variance when the task is done. It is calculated as the Baseline Cost At Completion minus the EAC. Provides options to track various types of project details and project progress, such as Team Planner, Resource Usage, and Resource Sheet. Allows users to select the fields to view and modify the reports at any instance in the project plan. Aptech Ltd. Version 1.0 Page 12 of 13

13 Work Contour Work Resources WBS The level of work done during the life of an auto-scheduled task. These are usually people assigned to a task and in percentage of units such as 100%, 50%, or 150%, and so forth. Resources are assigned at a percentage, based on the Resource calendar. That is, a resource with a Standard calendar will put eight hours per day when assigned at 100% units. A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) sets milestones for a project, where the project is broken down into detailed smaller tasks. It helps define and organize the scope of the total project more accurately and specifically. WBS in projects also helps in allocating responsibilities, assigning resources, and project monitoring and control. --- End of --- Aptech Ltd. Version 1.0 Page 13 of 13