Microsoft Project 2010 Manual EDGESCOM

Planning & Scheduling using
Microsoft Project 2010
Course Material
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Table of Contents
THEORY OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT ............................................................................ 1
UNDERSTANDING PROJECT MANAGEMENT .............................................................................. 1
MICROSOFT PROJECT LANGUAGE ................................................................... 2
NON-CRITICAL TASKS ................................................................................... 2
CRITICAL TASKS ........................................................................................... 2
CRITICAL PATH............................................................................................ 3
TERMINOLOGY ............................................................................................ 4
GUIDE INFORMATION........................................................................................................... 7
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 7
HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE............................................................................. 7
OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................ 7
INSTRUCTIONS ............................................................................................ 7
THE PROJECT SCREEN........................................................................................................... 8
PROJECT WINDOW COMPONENTS ................................................................ 10
GROUPS .................................................................................................. 12
TOOLBARS ............................................................................................... 12
STATUS BAR ............................................................................................. 14
TASK PANE .............................................................................................. 14
USING THE QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR ..................................................................................... 14
ABOUT THE DEFAULT BUTTONS ................................................................... 15
ADDING BUTTONS ..................................................................................... 15
REMOVING BUTTONS ................................................................................. 16
ABOUT RIBBONS ............................................................................................................... 16
COMMAND TABS ...................................................................................... 17
CONTEXTUAL TABS .................................................................................... 18
FURTHER BUTTON OPTIONS ........................................................................ 19
THE FILE TAB.................................................................................................................... 19
SAVE....................................................................................................... 19
SAVE AS .................................................................................................. 20
OPEN ...................................................................................................... 20
PRINT ..................................................................................................... 21
-i -
Project 2010 Introduction Understanding Project Management
BLANK PROJECT ........................................................................................ 21

AVAILABLE TEMPLATES ............................................................................... 22
MICROSOFT OFFICE ONLINE (OFFICE.COM) ................................................... 23
RECENT FILES ........................................................................................... 24
CLOSING MICROSOFT PROJECT..................................................................... 24
SAVEANDSEND ......................................................................................... 25
FILE TYPES ............................................................................................... 26
INFO ....................................................................................................... 26
HELP............................................................................................................................... 27
IN FILE TAB .............................................................................................. 27
HELP BUTTON .......................................................................................... 28
THE AUTOCORRECT FEATURE .............................................................................................. 29
ABOUT SMART TAGS.......................................................................................................... 30
AUTOCORRECT OPTIONS SMART TAG ............................................................ 30
PASTE OPTIONS SMART TAG ....................................................................... 30
AUTO FIT OPTIONS SMART TAG ................................................................... 30
AUTOMATIC LAYOUT OPTIONS SMART TAG .................................................... 31
WHAT IS MICROSOFT PROJECT? .......................................................................................... 32
CHARTS ................................................................................................... 32
FORMS .................................................................................................... 33
SHEETS .................................................................................................... 33
STARTING MICROSOFT PROJECT ........................................................................................... 35
START MICROSOFT PROJECT ........................................................................ 35
MICROSOFT PROJECT - THE SCREEN .............................................................. 36
ELEMENTS OF THE DEFAULT VIEW ............................................................... 36
THE TRACKING GANTT VIEW ....................................................................... 39
MICROSOFT PROJECT –RIBBON TABS .................................................................................... 40
THE FILE TAB............................................................................................ 40
THE TASK TAB .......................................................................................... 40
THE RESOURCE TAB ................................................................................... 41
THE PROJECT TAB...................................................................................... 41
THE VIEW TAB.......................................................................................... 41
THE ADD INS TAB ...................................................................................... 42
THE CONTEXTUAL TABS .............................................................................. 42
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THE STAGES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT............................................................................... 44

MONITORING AND ADJUSTING .................................................................... 45
MICROSOFT PROJECT - OPERATIONAL BASICS ................................................. 45
DEFINING THE PROJECT ...................................................................................................... 46
PROJECT CONSIDERATIONS .......................................................................... 46
COMPLETE THE PROJECT DEFINITION ............................................................ 47
PROJECT PLANNING ........................................................................................................... 47
COMPLETE THE PROJECT PLAN..................................................................... 49
BASIC PROJECT TASKS ........................................................................................................ 50
OPENINGA PROJECT .................................................................................. 50
VIEWING A PROJECT .................................................................................. 50
TO BEGIN WITH MICROSOFT PROJECT ................................................................................... 51
STARTING A NEW BLANK PROJECT ............................................................... 51
SETTHE PROJECT START DATE...................................................................... 53
ENTER PROJECT PROPERTIES........................................................................ 54
THE CALENDAR ................................................................................................................. 56
CREATING A NEW BASE CALENDAR............................................................... 57
EDIT A CALENDAR ..................................................................................... 58
ASSIGNING A CALENDAR TO A PROJECT......................................................... 59
SAVE THE NEW PROJECT FILE .............................................................................................. 60
SAVING A PROJECT .................................................................................... 60
CONVERT PROJECT FILE TO 2010 FORMAT .................................................... 62
ENDING A PROJECT SESSION........................................................................ 63
CLOSING A PROJECT .................................................................................. 63
EXIT PROJECT ........................................................................................... 63
2010 NEW FEATURE OPTION ............................................................................................... 64
DEFINE AUTOMATIC OR MANUAL SCHEDULING .............................................. 64
ENTERING TASKS ............................................................................................................... 65
THE TASK ENTRY SHEET .............................................................................. 66
BASIC SHEET USAGE .................................................................................. 67
THE TASK INFORMATION FORM ................................................................... 68
CREATE NEW TASKS................................................................................... 69
TASK MODE ............................................................................................. 70
OTHER METHODS OF ADDING TASKS ............................................................ 71
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SETTING DURATIONS.................................................................................. 73
MILESTONES ............................................................................................ 73
LINKINGTASKS .................................................................................................................. 74
METHODS OF LINKING ............................................................................... 75
DEFINING THE SUMMARY TASKS .......................................................................................... 77
CREATE SUMMARY TASKS ........................................................................... 77
THE PLANNING WIZARD ............................................................................. 78
2010 METHOD FOR SUMMARY TASK ENTRY.................................................. 79
MOUSE ................................................................................................... 79
RESOURCES ...................................................................................................................... 80
DEFINE THE RESOURCES ............................................................................. 80
REVIEWING AND NAVIGATING THE RESOURCE SHEET ....................................... 81
ADDING RESOURCES TO THE RESOURCE SHEET ............................................... 81
THE RESOURCE INFORMATION DIALOG .......................................................... 83
PRACTICE ADDING RESOURCES..................................................................... 84
VIEW RESOURCES.............................................................................................................. 85
THE RESOURCE SHEET ................................................................................ 85
THE RESOURCE GRAPH ............................................................................... 86
ALLOCATE/ASSIGN RESOURCES .................................................................... 88
EDITING RESOURCE INFORMATION ....................................................................................... 90
EDITING DATA ENTERED BY THE USER .......................................................... 90
INSERTING AND DELETING RESOURCES .......................................................... 90
WORKING WITH RESOURCES ON THE FLY ...................................................... 91
UPDATING RESOURCE INFORMATION ON THE FLY ........................................... 92
OVER ALLOCATIONS ........................................................................................................... 93
RESOURCE LEVELLING................................................................................. 93
PLANNED TIME SCALE (BASELINES) ....................................................................................... 95
BASELINE ................................................................................................. 95
SET AND CLEAR A BASELINE ........................................................................ 95
USING GANTT CHARTS ....................................................................................................... 97
GANTT CHART PRINCIPALS .......................................................................... 97
CHANGING THE SPLIT BETWEEN CHART AND TABLE ......................................... 97
TIME SCALE.............................................................................................. 98
THE TIMELINE NEW FEATURE............................................................................................... 99
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VIEWING THE TIMELINE.............................................................................. 99

ZOOMING .............................................................................................. 100
SHOWING TASK DETAILS ON THE TIMELINE .................................................. 100
COPY TIMELINE ....................................................................................... 102
FORMAT THE TIMELINE ............................................................................ 103
CHANGING THE GANTT STYLE (QUICK STYLE GALLERY) ................................... 103
ADDING LABELS TO YOUR GANTT ............................................................... 105
EDITING TASKSWITH THE GANTT ............................................................... 106
SHOWING THE CRITICAL PATH ................................................................... 107
BASIC SORTING, FILTERING AND GROUPING .......................................................................... 111
QUICK FILTERS (AUTO FILTERS) .................................................................. 111
USING THE RIBBON FILTER COMMANDS ...................................................... 112
SORTING YOUR TASKS .............................................................................. 113
GROUPING ............................................................................................. 114
WORKING WITH TABLES AND FILTERS......................................................... 116
TRACKING ...................................................................................................................... 117
DEFINITIONS........................................................................................... 117
MARKING PROGRESS ON TASKS ................................................................. 118
UPDATING TASK AND PROJECT DATA .......................................................... 119
USE THE TRACKING GANTT ....................................................................... 121
SLIPPAGE ............................................................................................... 122
FINDING SLACK ....................................................................................... 123
EXAMINING THE COST FACTOR ................................................................... 125
PRINT (BACKSTAGE) ......................................................................................................... 126
PAGE SETUP ........................................................................................... 126
USING THE PREVIEW WINDOW ................................................................... 128
OTHER PRINT OPTIONS ............................................................................. 129
REPORTS ....................................................................................................................... 131
REPORTS SETUP ...................................................................................... 131
REPORTSBYREPORT TYPE.......................................................................... 133
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Page vi
Theory of Project Management
Understanding Project Management

At the heart of every project management system is a SCHEDULING ALGORITHM. An
ALGORITHM is a mathematical or logical equation that solves a complex problem by
breaking down the problem into simple steps. When scheduling resources and
parameters are entered into it, the scheduling algorithm produces a project schedule
that would be impossible for you to produce manually. This Input/output model is
displayed below.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-1: THE INPUT/OUTPUT MODEL
In Microsoft Project, however complex your project may be, you can vary only
information regarding tasks or resources. The information you provide is fed into the
“Black Box” or algorithm, to provide you with a schedule in the form of a Gantt chart,
Network Diagram Chart, or Resource Graph. In summary, the seven or eight parameters
that you enter result in output that is a schedule displayed on various views and forms.
©MTC Training Solutions Limited Page 1

Microsoft Project Language

The project management industry uses specific language and terminology. Some of
these terms are illustrated below.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-2: CLARIFICATION OF TERMS
Non-Critical Tasks
In the illustration above, two tasks have a relationship. Task A is the PREDECESSOR TASK,
and Task B is the SUCCESSOR TASK. Both of these tasks are considered to be NON-CRITICAL
because they both have flexibility. Let’s focus on Task A. EA marks the earliest possible
time Task A can start. SS marks the scheduled start time for Task A. By default, all tasks
are scheduled to start at the earliest possible time, unless you specify otherwise. In the
example above, Task A is scheduled to start later and therefore has been delayed. SE
marks the scheduled end time for Task A, and LE marks the latest possible time Task A
can end. Both of these tasks have SLACK. (the amount of time a task can slip before it
affects another task’s dates or the project finish date.) FREE SLACK is the amount of time
Task A can be delayed before affecting the start time of Task B, and TOTAL SLACK is the
amount of time that Task A can be delayed before affecting the finish date of the
project.
The SUMMARY TASK summarizes Tasks A and B.
Critical Tasks
CRITICAL TASKS, not shown above, have no slack; therefore, delaying this type of task
would mean delaying the project.

Critical Path
A CRITICAL PATH is a series of critical tasks. All tasks on a critical path must be completed
on time for the project to finish on time. If one task on a critical path is delayed, then the
project is delayed. In Microsoft Project, a critical path is shown on the Gantt chart and
the Network Diagram Chart in red.

Terminology
Term Usage
Actual Usage A measure of the resource expended in completing or partially

completing a task.
ALAP Refers to a task that should be started ‘As Late As Possible’, using
all the free-float time available.
ASAP Used to indicate a task that should be started ‘As Soon As Possible’,
taking into account the start date of the project and its
predecessor tasks.
Baseline The original project plan, including the time schedule and resource
and cost allocations. The baseline is used for comparing projected
values to actuals, and facilitates the tracking and analysing of a
project’s progress.
Cost Variance A project tracking function recording the difference between the
budgeted cost of the work performed and the actual cost. Values
below the baseline show an overspend and positive values denote
cost savings.
Critical Path The sequence of tasks or activities whose schedules and durations
directly affect the date of overall project completion.
Earned Value This is a measure of a project’s performance, and is calculated by

multiplying a task’s planned cost by the percentage of work
completed.
Float (slack) The amount of time by which a non-critical task can be delayed
before it affects another task’s schedule.
Gantt chart A graphical representation of a project schedule showing each task

as a bar, the length of which is proportional to its duration. Many
project management packages use a spreadsheet section to the
left of the Gantt chart to display additional information.
Hammock Task A task whose duration is calculated based on the time span
between its predecessor and successor activities.
Histogram A bar chart that shows resource workloads over a time period.
Lag The amount of time between the finish of a predecessor task and
the start of a successor task.
Lead The amount of time that a task is permitted to start before its
predecessor is finished.
Loading A measurement of resource usage on a task per unit of time.

Different methods of loading may be used depending on what’s 4

available in your project management application and what’s

applicable for your particular project.
Loading(back) A loading pattern that allocates resource usage as late in the task
as possible.
Loading (contour) The contour-loading pattern assesses which resources are left over
after allocation to the critical tasks and spreads these resources
among the remainder.
Loading(fixed) When using fixed-loading algorithms, you specify the actual

amount of resource allocated to the encompassing tasks.
Loading(front) Front loading systems will attempt to allocate resources as early in

the task as possible.
Loading(uniform) This loading pattern allocates the resource usage on a by day basis
in a task. This will usually be done without causing any one task to
be over committed.
Milestone A project event that represents a checkpoint, a major

accomplishment or a measurable goal.
Negative float Refers to an unscheduled delay before an actual task start time
that must be recovered if the project is not to be delayed.
OBS codes Organisational Breakdown Structure codes are used to identify

tasks by resource groups in a hierarchical format. OBS codes are
often used to reflect departmental structure in a company or code
of accounts, and can also be used for filtering tasks.
Network Diagram Project Evaluation and Resource Tracking charts, also called
network diagrams. Network Diagrams are a graphical depiction of
task dependencies, and resemble flow charts. Dependencies are
shown by connecting lines or arrows indicating the work flow.
Predecessor In dependency relationships, the predecessor is the task that must

be started or completed first.
Project Best defined as a body of knowledge, a set of principles, or

Management techniques dealing with the planning and control of projects.
Resource Any person, group of people, item or equipment, service or

material used in accomplishing a project task.
Resource Levelling The process of resolving resource conflicts. Most project

management programs offer an automated resource levelling
routine that delays tasks until the resources assigned to them are
available.
Resource Driven Task durations determined by the program and based on the
number of an allocation of resources, rather than the time 5

available. Both individual tasks and entire projects can be

resource-driven.
Sub-project A group of activities which are treated as a single task in a master

project schedule. Subprojects are a way of working with multiple
projects that keep all the data in one file rather than in
independent files.
Successor In a dependency relationship between two tasks, the successor is

the task that must await the start or completion of the other.
WBS codes Work Breakdown Structure codes are used to identify tasks in a
hierarchy. Many project management applications associate these
codes with an outline structure. WBS codes can be used to filter
the project schedule for tracking and reporting purposes.

Project 2010 Introduction Guide Information
Guide Information
Introduction
Project 2010 is a powerful application that allows you to plan, resource, manage and
report on a project no matter how large, it contains calculations, graphs. Project to web
data and SharePoint information is available to be built in to the project file so that the
project can be managed across continents via the internet or intranet allowing the use
of a central pool of common resources to enable the project managers to efficiently
interact and plan through project difficulties.
How To Use This Guide

This manual should be used as a point of reference following attendance of the
introductory level Project 2010 training course. It covers all the topics taught and aims
to act as a support aid for any tasks carried out by the user after the course.
The manual is divided into sections, each section covering an aspect of the introductory
course. The table of contents lists the page numbers of each section and the table of
figures indicates the pages containing tables and diagrams.
Objectives
Sections begin with a list of objectives each with its own check box so that you can mark
off those topics that you are familiar with following the training.
Instructions
Those who have already used a Project file before may not need to read explanations on
what each command does, but would rather skip straight to the instructions to find out
how to do it. Look out for the arrow icon which precedes a list of instructions.
Keyboard
Keys are referred to throughout the manual in the following way:
ENTER – Denotes the return or enter key, DELETE – denotes the Delete key and so on.
Where a command requires two keys to be pressed, the manual displays this as follows:
CTRL + [P] – this means press the letter “p” while holding down the Control key.
Commands
When a command is referred to in the manual, the following distinctions have been
made:
When Ribbon commands are referred to, the manual will refer you to the Ribbon –
E.G. “Choose HOME from the Ribbons and then B for bold”. 7

Project 2010 Introduction The Project Screen
When dialog box options are referred to, the following style has been used for the text –
E.G. “In the PAGE RANGE section of the PRINTdialog, click the CURRENT PAGE option”
Dialog box buttons are emboldened – “Click OK to close the PRINTdialog and launch the
print.”
Notes
Within each section, any items that need further explanation or Points for extra
attention devoted to them are denoted by shading. For example:
“Project will not let you close a file that you have not already saved changes to
without prompting you to save.”
Or
“Project will not let you close a file that you have not already saved changes to
without prompting you to save.”
The Project Screen

WINDOW BORDERThe box that surrounds the Project screen when it is not maximised is
called the window border. When the mouse is over the border, the pointer changes
from a single to a double-headed arrow – clicking and dragging with this shape allows
the window to be resized.
TITLE BARThe coloured bar that appears at the top of the Project window. The title bar
tells you which application you are using and if the document you are in is maximised, it
will also contain the name of the document. If the Project window is not maximised, by
positioning the mouse over the title bar and clicking and dragging, you can move the
Project window to a new location on the screen.
MAXIMISE BUTTONWhen working in a document, the Project screen contains two
windows, an application window and a document window. You can maximise both
windows to capitalise on the space you have on-screen. If you would like the window
that your Project application is in to fill up the whole screen, click the outermost
maximise button. You may find that the document you are in can still be bigger – click
the inner maximise button to fill the remaining space within the Project application
window.
MINIMISE BUTTONThis button is very useful if you need to temporarily switch from
Project into another application without closing Project down completely. Click the
minimise button to shrink Project to an icon on the task bar; you will then be able to
view other icons and applications you may wish to Project. When you are finished and
ready to continue, click the Project icon from the task bar to resume. The innermost
minimise button will minimise the current document window.
RESTORE BUTTONThis button only appears when a window is maximised. A maximised
window has no border and you cannot see what is behind it. If you want to put the 8
window back inside its border so that you can move and size it, click the restore button.

CLOSE BUTTONThis button is used to close a window. If you click the close button for a
document window you close the document. The last button will close the Project
application.
DIALOG BOX LAUNCHER this button launches dialog boxes specific to the part of the
ribbon you see them the category will be named such as FONT, CLIPBOARD, etc
BACKSTAGE VIEW – FILE RIBBON is the start of Project and has many important
commands and option. Such as Project settings, opening, saving, printing and closing
files. This will be looked into much further later in the manual.

Project Window Components

Project 2010 appears as displayed below when a new Project file is created. There is a
pane on the right called the Gantt chart which displays the graphical representation of
your project and on the left a table which allows you to enter the information to build
and plan your project, above these is a timeline giving you an quick view of how long
your project will run and above that you have the ribbons giving you access to all of the
commands in project.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-3: THE PROJECT WINDOW
 To Activate A Button On The Ribbon
Mouse
 Click the left mouse button on the required tool.
Dialog Box
To open a dialog box use the DIALOG BOX LAUNCHER when the dialog box is open, make a
choice from the various options and click OK in the dialog box. If you wish to change your
mind and close the dialog box without making a choice then click on CANCEL. The dialog
box will close without any choice being applied. If you would like help while the dialog
box is open then click on the “?“In the top right hand corner this will bring up a help
window that will display the relevant topics.
10

Dialogue Box
Launcher
11

FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-4: A DIALOG BOX
Groups
Look at a group type on the ribbon such as font and in the bottom right hand corner of
that group you may see a small box with an arrow, clicking this is the method to call up a
dialogbox as mentioned. Within the group clicking on a drop down arrow will give access
to a menu, any choice with three dots after it as in “more tables…” is another way of
opening a dialog box.
Toolbars
There are only two toolbars within the new version of Project 2010 there is the Quick
Access toolbar seen here next to the FILE tab, and there is the mini toolbar
Customising
menu for toolbar
Backstage View
(File Tab) Quick Access
Toolbar
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-5: QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR
Quick Access Toolbar

By default there are only three buttons on the Quick Access toolbar but these can be
edited and other regularly used buttons can be placed there. Using the drop down menu
next to the Quick Access toolbar will allow the customisation of this toolbar adding your
most often used commands.
Mini Toolbar
Whenever text is selected within Project a small formatting toolbar will appear above
the highlighted text it will disappear if the mouse cursor is moved away from the toolbar
and will reappear when the mouse cursor is moved over the highlighted text again.
12

FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-6: MINI TOOLBAR
13

Project 2010 Introduction Using the Quick Access Toolbar
Status Bar
The Status bar, across the bottom of the screen, displays different information at
different times. To the right is an indicator, which will display which view you are
currently in and there are quick options to see which views are available and to change
the view you are in E.G.Gantt chart, resource sheet, team planner etc..
The Status bar information about the status of Project, if any particular lock keys are
enabled on your keyboard, which view is currently active, and more.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-7: STATUS BAR
Task Pane
A task pane is a window that collects commonly used actions in one place. The task pane
Generallyenables you to quickly create or modify a file, perform a search, or view the
clipboard the task pane is not used as much in Project as the needs of the application
are different. It is a Web-style area that you can either, dock along the right or left edge
of the window or float anywhere on the screen. It displays information, commands and
controls for choosing options.
A task pane is displayed automatically when you perform certain tasks, for example
when you choose Task Inspector from the TASK, Ribbon, to inspect your project for
problems.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-8: TASK PANE SHOWING TASK INSPECTOR
Using the Quick Access Toolbar

14

Project 2010 Introduction Using the Quick Access Toolbar
In the previous lesson, we introduced the new layout changes to Project 2010. In this
section, we will learn a little bit more about each part of the new interface and how it
works. This lesson will focus on features and customization options available with the
Quick Access toolbar, located in the upper left-hand corner of the screen:
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-9:QUICK ACCESS BUTTONS
About The Default Buttons

Access features three default commands in the Quick Access toolbar:
Save
Saves the most recent changes to the current database file.
Undo
The Undo command will revert most changes made in Project. For example, if you made
a formatting change to a form that you were not happy with, click the Undo button to go
back one command.
Redo
Sometimes you may go too far with the Undo Button this button allows you to redo
what you have undone. Or redo the last action you performed.
There is a small pull-down arrow beside the Undo button; click this to see a listing of the
last few tasks that were performed. Click any task in the list to undo all commands to
that point.
Adding Buttons
As you become more familiar with Project you might find it handy to have another
command quickly available for use. Though the command tabs and ribbon significantly
reduce the number of clicks it takes to do something, you might want to have a
particular command always available. Project allows you to add the command to the
Quick Access toolbar.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-10: ADD A COMMAND
For example, some of us have difficulty with spelling. Fortunately, many programs
(including Project) feature a spell checking feature. In Project 2010, the spell checking
feature is located in the PROOFING section of the PROJECT command tab:
15

Project 2010 Introduction About Ribbons
 To Add This Command To The Quick Access

Toolbar,
Mouse
 Right-click the SPELLING command and click 'ADD TO QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR:'
 The command (denoted by the small ‘ABC’ icon) will be placed in the QUICK
ACCESS toolbar:
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-11: RIGHT CLICK MENU
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-12: BUTTON ADDED
Removing Buttons
If you no longer use a certain command or your Quick Access toolbar is getting a bit too
filled with icons, you can remove them easily at any time.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-13: RIGHT CLICK REMOVE
 To Remove A Button
Mouse
 Right-click on any icon you no longer use and click REMOVE FROM QUICK ACCESS
TOOLBAR:
About Ribbons
One of the biggest changes in Project 2010 is the removal of menus. Instead of having a
list of menu commands to choose from (including a number of options that are greyed
out and not Accessible), Project 2010 features a more intuitive control system of tabs.
16

Each tab contains a certain group of commands relevant only to the tab. The commands
are listed in the ribbon.
In the past, the Office package made use of menus that contained a listing of commands.
At their core, the command tabs are essentially the same thing as menus but with a few
big changes. For starters, the grouping of commands in tabs is much more intuitive. The
commands listed under each tab are also the only commands that are applicable to your
current view of the Project file.
Project 2010 takes this one step further with the addition of contextual tabs. The tab
labelled FORMATis a subset of the GANTT CHART TOOLS and appears only when you have
selected view with the Gantt chart. These tabs will contain even more specific
commands that can be used on a table being viewed and will only be visible when a
table is being viewed.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-14: RIBBON AND TABS
Consider the TASK ribbon tab that is selected in the diagram above. Beneath the tab is a
listing of all commands that are performed most often on the currently selected object,
contained in what Microsoft refers to as the ‘ribbon’:
The ribbon was designed to allow access to all functionality of a tab at once. Also, the
commands in the ribbon are only the commands that are available for use at the time.
We will learn in this lesson how the ribbon works and some of the tools that are
available.
Command Tabs
There are two main types of ribbons: general (or command) and contextual. The general
ribbons (and corresponding tabs) are always visible when you are viewing a Project file
in Project:
Along the top of the window are the command tabs:
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-15: COMMAND TABS
The command tabs listed here include many of the most common commands you will
perform in Project. The Task ribbon contains the majority of the most common tasks
relating to your project.to switch views, formatting, and informational tools for the
tasks.
If you want to make a new Project file, Save it or open an existing one, click the File tab
and select what you wish to do. The views tab gives you control of the many ways you
17

may view your information in Project, Using tabs saves the need of remembering which
menu to choose.
Contextual Tabs
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-16: CONTEXTUAL TABS
Contextual tabs appear only when a certain type of Project file object is selected (or
brought into context). For example, if you are looking at a Gantt chart and wish to
format it or adjust it in any way then use the GANTT CHART TOOLS, format tab:
When using a command in the ribbon, simply click it with your mouse. The command
will be performed, or the appropriate tool or dialog box will appear to help you perform
the task.
18

Project 2010 Introduction The File Tab
Further Button Options

When using many of the buttons on a Ribbon further options will be found when using
the Drop down arrows (figure 1-9) say on the GRIDLINES or FORMAT buttons. Further
options will appear.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-17: FURTHER OPTIONS
The File Tab

The File Tab (Backstage) from this you can open and close files, modify the Project
program options, and close Project; all by using the File Tab (Backstage). If you have
used Project in the past, the File Tab (Backstage) is very similar in functionality to the File
menu (Project 2003) in previous versions. Or the Office menu in office 2007.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-18: THE FILE TAB
Let’s take a look at the commands in the File Tab (Backstage).
Save
19

Saves any modifications you have made to the current database object.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-19: SAVE AS DIALOG
Save As
Opens the save as window and allows you to save the currently open Project under
another name. This is useful if you want to perform a major revision or update to a
particular Project file. (Figure 1-23)
Open
Opens a dialog box allowing you to search your computer or network for a file.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-20: OPEN DIALOG
20

Print
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-21: PRINT OPTIONS
Clicking on the PRINT option in backstage offers a number of options

When in Print it allows the viewing of the data in its future printed form to allow
changes to be made prior to it being printed the data will appear a little like page layout
in word
PRINT sends any open object and its data directly to the printer. This can be a dangerous
option to choose if you have not previously seen how the data will appear in printed
form as this choice will give no options for allowing changes to layout or to where it will
be printed it sends to the default printer
PRINTER PROPERTIES opens the print dialog to allow the choosing of a printer and various
other options such as the range of data to be printed.
SETTINGS This section allows you to the range of data to be printed you may only want
specific pages to be printed or a certain time period
PAGE SETUP allows the page setup dialog to be opened so you can change page size
margins etc.
We will look deeper into printing at various stages within the manual.
Blank Project
At the Top of the window is a link to create a new Blank Project. Use this link to make
your own Project from scratch.
21

 To Create New Blank Project

Mouse
 Click Blank Project to choose to create a new empty project file.
 Click Create to create the file.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-22: CREATE NEW FILE
Available Templates
In the main part of the Project window are the accessible Template panes: Project has a
number of templates built right into the program. To access those click on the sample
templates. The different categories of templates are from office online and will show
those templates you can download from the internet, simply click a category to see the
available template files.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-23: AVAILABLE TEMPLATES
22

 To Create A File From A Template
Mouse
 Select my templates. A dialog box will open.
 Select a previously downloaded or created template from the available choices.
 Click OK to create a new file based on that template.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-24: MY TEMPLATES DIALOG
Microsoft Office Online (Office.Com)
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-25: OFFICE.COM TEMPLATES
The bottom of the Project window is a special area that extracts content from Microsoft
Office Online (a service provided over the Internet). Microsoft Office Online provides
quick links to different templates, training material, and other downloads. It also
provides links directly to Office Online where you can read about updates to Office 2010
as they become available.
23

Recent Files
The left-hand side of the window lists any recently opened Project files, just like the Old
File menu (2003) or office menu (2007: Click one of the Project files to open the file. Or
click on the recent link on the left to show even more of your recently used files. If you
want to open a Project file stored somewhere else on your computer or on another
network, using the pushpin to the right of the file will fix this files availability in the
recent files list and it will not disappear when the list fills and pushes older used files
from it.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-26: RECENT FILES
Closing Microsoft Project

When you have finished using Project, click either FILE Tab, EXIT PROJECT or click
the program’s close button in the upper-right hand side of the Project window. If you
have any unsaved work still open, Project will allow you to save any changes you have
made before the program shuts down.
24

SaveAndSend
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-27: SAVE AND SEND
Send As Attachment
Save and send the current project as an email attachment
Sync With Task List

Synchronise the current project with the task lists in outlook (providing you and your
resources use outlook)
Save to SharePoint
Allows the publishing to websites using SharePoint services
25

File Types
Save the current project as a different kind of project file many options to allow your
project to be as another type of file compatible with as many platforms as possible
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-28: DIFFERENT FILE TYPES
Info
This menu option gives you three choices:
Project Server Accounts

When connected to project server the option allows you to manage your accounts when
connected update project information across your project infrastructure.
Organise global Template

Using the Organiser to manage your tables, forms, reports, calendars etc moving the opjects between
templtes and open files to save having to reproduce the same object many times for many files.
26

Project 2010 Introduction Help
ProjectInformation
Following the link on the top right allows you to modify and view characteristics specific
to your Project:
Help
In File Tab
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-29: HELP OPTIONS FROM FILE TAB
The Help here allows you to check on the status of the Project product and check for
updates it also gives you another point to connect with the help window as well as using
the Help button.
27

Project 2010 Introduction Help
Help Button
The HELP button, located directly under the title bar on the far right, launches the Project
help screen:
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-30: HELP WINDOW
Click a topic to view help about that particular subject.

Enter a piece of text in the search bar and search for help on that topic.
As we explore more of the features and functionality of Project, we will discover how to
use the rest of the interface.
ToolTips
If you are unsure what a certain command does, point to it, but do not click it after a
quick moment a description will appear. This is true for most of the commands:
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-31: TOOLTIP
28

Project 2010 Introduction The AutoCorrect Feature
The AutoCorrect Feature

Microsoft Project 2010 provides the AutoCorrect feature that used to belong only to
Word. AutoCorrect will assist you in entering and editing tasks. AutoCorrect
automatically corrects mistyped words and expands abbreviations as you type. Project
provides an extensive list of predefined typing corrections and abbreviations, and
enables you to customize the list by adding your own. The AutoCorrect dialog box, as
shown below, allows you to type an entry (the abbreviation or word that you want to
replace) and a replacement (the text or graphic you want to use as a replacement).
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-32: THE AUTOCORRECT DIALOG
 To Enter An Autocorrect Entry:
Mouse
 From the FILE tab, choose OPTIONS
 In the OPTIONS dialog choose PROOFING on the left and from the options on the
right, choose AutoCorrect options a dialog will appear.
 Type the name of the entry in the REPLACE text box.
 Type the name of the replacement in the WITH text box.
 Choose ADD.
 Choose OK.
29

Project 2010 Introduction About Smart Tags
About Smart Tags

Smart Tags, first introduced in Microsoft Office XP, make it easier for you to complete
some of the most common tasks in Project 2010 and provide you with more control over
automatic features.
You do not have to complete any additional steps to
make the Smart Tags appear or disappear in Project.
The Paste Options, AutoCorrect Options and AutoFit
smart tags appear automatically to allow you to
quickly choose actions and remain in place until you
begin another action. For example, when you complete a paste operation, the Paste
Options smart tag (below) remains in place alongside your text until you begin typing
new text.
A "smart tag" is a type of button in Microsoft Project 2010 that appears after certain
actions, such as an automatic text correction or a copy-and-paste, have taken place. The
button has a menu of options that help you control the result of the action. For instance,
if Project automatically capitalizes the first letter of a word, but you want the word
lowercased in this instance, you can click the "undo capitalization" option on the button
menu to reverse the action.
Project includes several of these smart tag buttons. They function similarly but their look
can vary and each has a specific purpose.
Autocorrect Options Smart Tag

The AutoCorrect Options Smart Tag appears after an automatic correction or change,
such as a lowercased letter that's changed to a capital or a network path that's
converted to a hyperlink. The Smart Tag shows as a small, blue box when you rest the
mouse pointer near text that was changed; it then becomes a button icon which, when
you point to it and click it, displays a menu. If you don't want the correction, use the
options on the menu to undo it; turn off this type of correction completely; or connect
to the AutoCorrect dialog box to adjust settings.
Paste Options Smart Tag

The Paste Options Smart Tag gives you greater control and flexibility in choosing the
format for a pasted item. The Smart Tag appears just below a pasted item, such as text,
a table, or a slide, with options for formatting. For example, if you copy and paste a slide
and insert it after a slide that uses a different design template, you can choose to retain
the original design for the slide or let the pasted slide assume the design of the slide it
now follows.
Auto fit Options Smart Tag

The AutoFit Options Smart Tag appears when Project resizes text you're typing to make
it fit the current placeholder. If you don't want the text to be resized, you can select
options on the Smart Tag menu to undo the resizing or to connect to the AutoCorrect 30

Project 2010 Introduction About Smart Tags
dialog box to turn AutoFit settings off. Also, for single-column layouts, you can change to
a two-column layout, start a new slide to accommodate the text, or split the text
between two slides.
Automatic Layout Options Smart Tag

The Automatic Layout Options Smart Tag appears after you insert an item, such as a
picture, diagram, chart, or table, that changes the initial layout of the slide. To
accommodate the added item, Project will automatically adjust the slide layout. If you
want, use the options to undo the automatic layout or turn it off completely.
31

Project 2010 Introduction What is Microsoft Project?
What is Microsoft Project?

Microsoft Project is a TOOL to help you to plan projects, manage and update project
information, and communicate the status once the project is under way.
The details of the project TASKS and associated RESOURCES are entered into the system as
a new project. The system will then display the data in such a way that the relationships
of the tasks and their time scales can clearly be seen and potential problem areas
identified.
Project data can be entered and/or viewed in a number of ways; the three principal
formats are CHARTS, FORMS, and SHEETS.
Charts
Charts can be either Gantt Charts or Network Diagram Charts both of which are a
diagrammatic representation of the project data.
Chart views: Gantt chart
Network Diagram
Resource Graph
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-33: GANTT CHART
32

Forms
Forms contain the data relevant to a single specific task or resource.These display as
dialog boxes.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-34: A FORM (DIALOG)
Form views: Task form
Resource form
Sheets
Sheets are a table of all the Tasks or all the Resources that are part of the Project these
appear in a spreadsheet manner.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-35: THE TASK SHEET

33

Sheet views: Task sheet
Resource sheet
The previous views can be displayed separately or in any combination of the two e.g.
Combination view: Task Entry View
Top half Gantt chart
Bottom half Task form
You can combine any two single-pane views on the screen to create a combination view.
In a combination view, the information in the bottom relates only to the task or
resources in the top view. The reason for having combination views is to make the job of
entering and analysing information easier.
34

Project 2010 Introduction Starting Microsoft Project
Starting Microsoft Project

Start Microsoft Project
 To Start Microsoft Project
Mouse
 Double-click on the Microsoft Project icon.
Or
 Click the START button, select Programs, and select the PROJECT icon.
 The Programme will start and display an empty project.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-36: A NEW PROJECT
35

Microsoft Project - The Screen

The Menus: Accessed by Clicking an option on the ribbon or right mouse click
that possesses a down pointing arrow next to it
Tool Bars: The Quick Access and Mini toolbars enable a speedy route to the
most common commands, The Quick Access toolbar can be
customised
Timeline: Length of Project at a glance
Status Bar: At the bottom of the screen showing the current status and to
change zoom and views.
Scroll Bars: When using a mouse to scroll the views and to move the
boundary between two views.
Working Area: Sheets and Gantt Views which can be resized.
Elements Of The Default View

The default Project view is the GANTT CHART view, (as displayed in figure 2-6). This view is
used extensively in Microsoft Project. The Gantt Chart consists of a Gantt table and a
Gantt bar chart. The divider bar separates the two and can be repositioned to display
more of the table or more of the chart. The Gantt table consists of rows and columns.
Just like on a spread sheet, the intersection of a row and a column is called a CELL. The
Gantt bar chart graphically displays your schedule on a time line.
36

The STATUS BAR displays the current mode of operation and warning messages and
indicates when special key control modes, such as Num Lock mode, are on it Also allows
you to change View and zoom in and out on your project in the Gantt chart as already
mentioned. Resizing at the join between the Gantt chart and the Table allows more
columns to be seen and worked with. But less of the Gantt obviously.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-37: DEFAULT GANNT VIEW
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-38: RESIZED VIEW
A view is the format of the way that project data is displayed on the screen and there
are a considerable number of different permutations that can be used.
37

The Drop down arrow on theVIEW BUTTONon the TASK tab or on the VIEW tab is the first
place where the view that is required is selected. The basic selection is between a Chart,
a Form, or a Sheet. Some of the options in this menu can provide a split view to show
two different displays for the same Task or Resource.
You can also use the View buttons, located on the bottom right of the Status Bar.
As well as the standard views achieved with the View menu or View bar, you can select
More Views to see more detailed and complex views and forms.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-39: THE VIEW MENU OPTIONS
The table below describes some of the main views in Project.
Calendar: Shows the view in the form of a calendar.
Gantt Chart: A diagrammatic view of the Tasks and their time scale. This
chart can also show the relationship between Tasks and the
Critical Path. It usually shows the task entry form alongside
the Gantt chart.
Network Diagram Network Diagram is an acronym for Programme Evaluation

Chart: Review Technique. This view represents each Task as a box
with relevant information within it. The layout of the boxes 38

on the chart and the lines that link the boxes represent the
structure of the project.
Task Usage: The Task Usage view displays project tasks with their
assigned resources grouped underneath them.
Tracking Gantt: The Tracking Gantt view displays two task bars, one on top of
the other, for each task. The lower bar shows baseline start
and finish dates, and the upper bar shows scheduled start
and finish dates (or if the task has already started, meaning
that the percentage complete is greater than zero, the upper
bar shows the actual start and finish dates).
Resource Graph: A graphical representation of a single resource and its

utilisation.
Resource Sheet: A list of all the resources for the project.
Resource Usage: This is a view that shows the use in hours per day for each
resource.
More Views: Allows the showing of combination views as well as details of

a single Task
Table:(Entry): Changes the form alongside the Gantt chart.
Reports: Takes you into Report Wizard.
Toolbars: Allows you to change the Toolbar display.
View Bar: Activates the View bar, located vertically on the left of the
screen.
Zoom: Changes the amount of information you can see on screen,

from days to years.
Team Planner A new view in 2010 which allows you to reassign work
amongst team members to more efficiently use their time.
The Tracking Gantt View

When you initially set up your project with tasks and dates, and then save the project
with a baseline, the Tracking Gantt view displays those tasks as shown in the following
example.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-40: TRACKING GANTT VIEW
39

Project 2010 Introduction Microsoft Project –Ribbon Tabs
The baseline bars and the scheduled or actual bars are synchronized. However, if the
start date of task slips by, say, 2 days, the red scheduled bar will extend 2 days beyond
the lower baseline bar.
Because the tasks are linked, the slipping of task 2 will cause a ripple effect, making its
successor tasks slip by 2 days as well.
You Can Use The Tracking Gantt View To:

 See how tasks progress across time and evaluate the slippage of tasks. You can
track progress by comparing baseline and scheduled or actual start and finish
dates and by checking the completion percentage of each task.
 View tasks graphically while still having Project to detailed information about the
tasks.
 Create a project by entering tasks and the amount of time each task will take.
 Establish sequential dependencies between tasks by linking them. When you link
tasks, you can see how a change in the duration of one task affects the start and
finish dates of other tasks and the project finish date.
 Assign personnel and other resources to tasks.
Microsoft Project –Ribbon Tabs

The File Tab
Covered in Previous section this contains all the commands to do with the project file:
The Task Tab

The Task Tab Contains all the commands pertinent to the tasks that make up you project
some of the typical commands to be found there are:
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-41THE TASK TAB
Command Function Section
Link Tasks: Create links between tasks. Schedule
Unlink Tasks: Break an existing link. Schedule
Go To: Go to a task or resource. (Depends on Editing

view.)
Milestone Insert a Milestone task Insert

40

Tracking: Check the progress. Schedule
The Resource Tab
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-42: THE RESOURCE TAB
The Resource tab contains all the commands pertinent to working with resources such
as levelling assignment of resources, addition of resources etc
Assign Resources: Apply various filters to the tasks. Assignments
Level Resources: Shows resource levelling information Level
Resource Details Show the resource form details Properties
The Project Tab
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-43: THE PROJECT TAB
The main choices here are Change Working Time, project information, reports and
Multiple Projects.
Change Working Time: Format a new Calendar. Properties
Reports Create and run reports Reports
Links Between Projects: Set up sub projects and links. Properties
The View Tab
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-44: THE VIEW TAB

41

The view Tab has the functionality to change views and manage aspects of your project
with these new appearances.
Team Planner Reassign unused team resources to Resource views

specific tasks new to 2010
Timeline Add a timeline to your project to Split view

monitor how changes will affect the
end date new to 2010
Timescale: Allows you to set the displayed time Zoom

at anything from years to minutes.
Task Usage See table of tasks vs. resources to Task views

monitor under or over allocation of
work
The Add Ins Tab

This Tab shows third party installed programs and Microsoft add in programs that
enhance integration and functionality of project.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-45: THE ADD-INS TAB
The Contextual Tabs

This changes dramatically when different views are selected. The following are the
principal selections.
For A Network Diagram The Choices Are:
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-46: NETWORK DIAGRAM TAB
42

Summary Tasks Show Summary tasks in your Diagram Show/Hide
Box Styles: Changes the appearance of the Network Diagram Format

boxes.
Layout: Allows you to customise the way links are shown. Format
Layout Now: Redraws to show changes made to links etc. Layout
For The Gantt chart The Choices Are:
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-47: THE GANTT CHART TAB
Text Styles: Opens a dialog used to change the font. Format
Gantt Chart Change the selected Gantt Bar style Gantt Chart
Style: Style
Outline Show The Task outline number Show/hide

Number:
Gridlines: Allows you to display or hide Gridlines and change Format

their appearance.
Baseline: Change the baseline style on the Gantt Bar styles
Critical Tasks Display or hide the critical path Bar styles
Layout: Change the way the bars are displayed including Format
links.
43

Project 2010 Introduction The Stages Of Project Management
The Stages Of Project Management

The process of project management is divided into specific stages which can be defined
as follows: -
 Define the Project
 Plan the project
 Implementation
 Monitoring and Adjusting
 Evaluation
DEFINITION OF THE WORD PROJECT: - ‘A planned undertaking’
The skills of project management are gathered from a wide range of experiences.
Consciously or sub consciously we all apply these skills in the daily administration of our
work.
Where a major undertaking has to be completed, these skills are not only brought into
focus but must be applied in a much more structured format.
We must take on the jargon and techniques of the Project Manager as well as become
familiar with the "Tools of the trade".
To review the skills those are relevant to project management
The ability to define the Goal, Objective, Specifications and Limitations of a project.
The ability to define the individual tasks in sufficient detail and sequence to meet the
objective with the minimum of problems, and within the defined time scale.
Task attributes should include some or all of the following
 Objectives
 Time constraints
 Milestones
 Task(s) on which this Task is Dependant
 Estimated Duration: -
 Task(s) that are dependent on this task
 (Optimistic estimate)
 Itemised task Budget
 (Pessimistic estimate)
 Resources required completing the Task.
 The ability to manage the progression of the tasks in terms of their resources,
start times and finish times.
The production of appropriate progress reports.
As the complexities of these undertakings increase so the importance of discipline and
structure increase and the Project Manager must look to the tools that can help which is
where Microsoft Project comes into the picture. 44

Project 2010 Introduction The Stages Of Project Management
Defining The Project.

Setting out the Goal and the Objectives together with the Specification and Limitations
within which the undertaking must be completed.
Plan The Project

Planning of all the activities, resources, and estimation of materials and time scales.
Some of this planning may have to be done at an appropriate level for cost estimation
before the project can be agreed. Once the decision to go ahead has been taken the
skills of the Project Manager are used to define the details of the planning stage. When
this has been completed and agreed it will become the "Plan" or the base line against
which progress can be measured.
Implementation
A leap into the void!
Notes:  A poorly planned project will take three times longer than the original plan. A well-
planned project will only take twice as long.
 A project that will be completed without changes, on time and within budget has never
been known in the past and will never happen in the future.
 Microsoft Project will help!
Monitoring And Adjusting

Recording Actual Progress
Once the project is under way, the progress of each activity is recorded. This information
can then be compared against the Plan and the differences highlighted.
Revising The Schedule

The process of minimising the effect of problems and delays on meeting project
deadlines is achieved by adjusting and updating the Schedule to meet the changed
circumstances.
Evaluation.
As the project progresses and when it has been completed the process of evaluation
should be used to learn the lessons for the next time.
Microsoft Project - Operational Basics

Microsoft Project Has The Following Capabilities:
 1 million tasks per project (depending on free RAM)
 1 million resources per project
 Calendar dates from 1984 to 2049
Highlights 45

Project 2010 Introduction Defining the Project
 Gantt charts to show project schedules graphically on a time scale (with scaling
from minutes to years).
 Network Diagrams to show task relationships.
 Outlining to group and arrange project tasks in hierarchical order.
 Filters to view selected information.
 Resource usage and Graph views and reports to quickly identify resource
availability and costs.
 Split views to see any two screens simultaneously.
 Custom fields so you can track additional information unique to your project.
Defining the Project

Project Considerations
This is the starting point for a new project. The following are the areas that must be
completed:
The Goal
This is a short statement of what the project should achieve in the broadest terms. For
example if the project is to build a new road to divert traffic away from a shopping
centre the goal would be: -
To make Project to the shopping centre easier for pedestrians and improve the shopping
amenities for local residents.
The Objectives
The objectives can be more specific and there can be any number of them as required.
To continue the example from above the following are examples: -
To build a road for through traffic that does not use any existing residential areas.
To design the road and the route to allow for the projected traffic flow for the next 20
years.
The Specification
This section will provide more detailed areas for the project, for example it may specify
the broad sections of the project and at what points approvals are required before
proceeding. There may be a section concerning where resources should come from. It
may also specify the management team.
The Limitations
These are the restrictions that will affect the project, for example there may be a cost
limit, there could be a set of regulations that must be adhered to, and time may be a
vital factor. 46

Project 2010 Introduction Project Planning
When these areas are clearly specified before the project starts there is a much greater
chance of the project succeeding and major pitfalls being avoided. (In theory!)
Complete The Project Definition

As an exercise, define a project that can be planned in the next section and subsequently
used in the following sections of the manual to try out the features of the package.
Complete The Following Form
Project Title:
(File Name)
Start Date:
Goal:
Objectives:
Specification:
Limitations:
Project Planning
This is where the experience and skill of the Project Manager must be used. At this
point the project is broken down into a series of tasks and you must ensure you have all
the necessary information for each task.
The Project Manager must be confident that it will be possible to control the task as
listed, if there is any doubt then the task should be broken down into a number of
smaller tasks, each of which will be easier to control.
When defining a task the following is a guide to the information required.
 The Title
 The Objective of the Task 47

 The time required to complete the task.

 (Give an optimistic and pessimistic estimate.)
 A note of any previous task or tasks those are associated with this task.
 The immediate subsequent tasks.
 The resource(s) that are required to complete the task.
 Any time constraints that apply.
When all the tasks have been specified together with their resources, you have
completed the major part of the planning of the project.
The next stage is to examine the flow of the tasks and the utilisation of the resources. It
may well be that some of the resources are over allocated and these problems must be
resolved or noted.
At this point it will be possible to SET THE PLAN, this will become the base line
against which progress can be measured.
48

Complete The Project Plan

Complete The Following Table
Number Task Name Duration Predecessors Resources
49

Project 2010 Introduction Basic Project Tasks
Basic Project Tasks

OpeningA Project
 To Open A Project File
Mouse
 Select FILE tab, OPEN to open the OPEN dialog.
 Navigate to project file location and select project file
 Click OK to open the project file
Viewing A Project
There are various tools as mentioned to navigate and change the view of your project.
Zoom Section
controls
Gantt and table

Resize Handle
Scroll Bars
Resize Handle
Views Zoom Slider
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-48: VIEW CONTROLS
50

Project 2010 Introduction To Begin with Microsoft Project
 To View Parts Of A Project

Mouse
 Press [CTRL-HOME] and [ALT-HOME] to go to the start of the project.
 Use the SCROLL BARS to see the project progress.
 Use the mouse to resize the various windows with the resize double arrow.
 Move the mouse to the central vertical bar on the screen when it will change to a
double line with a double-headed arrow
 Alter the TIME SCALE with VIEW tab, ZOOM section controls or the ZOOM slider on
the right of the status bar.
 Click on the GANTT CHART Button on the task tab
 Select a view from the list, choose each of the top five and note the different
screens.
 Select the GANTT CHART view to return to the original view.
To Begin with Microsoft Project
The first step is to enter general information about the project in the PROJECT
INFORMATION box.
Starting A New Blank Project
The PROJECT INFOdialogbox illustrated below, records background information and allows
you to enter scheduling information. The dialog box allows you to specify either the
project start or finish date. If you enter a start date, the finish date will be automatically
calculated. If you enter a finish date, the start date will be calculated. Note, however,
that if you choose to enter a finish date, all tasks will be considered critical because they
will all be scheduled as late as possible.
If you do not enter a project start or finish date, Microsoft Project will automatically use
the current date as the start date. The PROJECT INFOdialog box also allows you to specify
the project calendar, as shown below.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-49: THE PROJECT INFO DIALOG BOX
51

Choosing the STATISTICS button opens the PROJECT STATISTICSdialog box, below. This dialog
box displays information on project start and finish dates, duration, work, and cost. It
also provides comparative statistics you can use to measure the progress of your
project.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-50: THE PROJECT STATISTICS DIALOG BOX
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-51: CREATE A NEW PROJECT
 To Start A New Blank Project:
Mouse
 Choose NEWfrom the FILE Tab,
 Select BLANK PROJECT, click CREATE.
52

 A new project is created.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-52: A NEW PROJECT
SetThe Project Start Date

The first thing to do with your new blank project is to define the start date that your
project will start. It may be days or months into the future.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-53: PROJECT START DATE
53

 To Set The Project Start Date
Mouse
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-54: PROJECT INFORMATION BUTTON
 In the PROPERTIES group of the PROJECT ribbon select PROJECT INFORMATION a dialog
opens.
 The PROJECT INFORMATIONdialog box allows the selection of the start or end date
of the Project.
 To view project STATISTICS, choose STATISTICS.
 Once you have viewed the necessary information, choose CLOSE to close the
STATISTICS dialog.
 Click OK to close and set the start date of the project.
Enter Project Properties

You can enter descriptive information about your project in the PROPERTIESdialog box.
This information will help you and others identify the source and purpose of your
project. The PROPERTIESdialog box consists of five tabs, described in the table below.
Tab Function
General Provides information about the project, including project name, file
type and size, file location, dates and times of file creation, most
recent modification, and most recent Project.
Summary Provides a description of the project, including title, subject, author,

company name, manager, category, keywords, and comments.
Statistics Provides information about project use, including date created;

most recent modification, Project, and printing; person who last
saved it; current revision number; total editing time; and summary.
Contents Contains schedule information, including project start and finish

dates, duration, total work and cost, and percent complete.
Custom Allows you to enter project properties by which you can search and
define links to actual values in your project.
54

FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-55: PROJECT INFORMATION
 To Access Project Properties

Mouse
 Click the FILE tab select INFO.
 On the right side of the screen you will see the current property information for
the project
 Click the PROJECT INFORMATION button to expand a small menu. (figure 3-5)
 Select ADVANCED PROPERTIES to open the PROPERTIES dialog as discussed
 From the various tabs edit or enter the information you wish.
 Click ok to enter the information and close the dialog. (figure 3-6)
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-56: PROJECT DIALOG

55

Project 2010 Introduction The Calendar
The Calendar
The Default Working Calendar is used by Microsoft Project to calculate all Timescales
and Resource costs. It defaults to a working day of 8 hours with the working hours 0800
to 1200 and 1300 to 1700.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-57: PROJECT CALENDAR (CHANGE WORKING TIME)
You can create your own calendar with your own particular times. If this is not a
standard 8-hour day you must remember to tell Microsoft Project what the standard day
is. Each resource you add will be based on the calendar you select when you start your
project.
Depending on the nature of your project you may find that the base calendar and
standard 8-hour day is satisfactory. A full day’s work is considered as two shiftsone in
the morning and one in the afternoon. You can use the From and To text boxes in the
Working Time area to specify up to three shifts. Selecting Default restores selected days
and working hours to their default settings.
Resource calendars deal specifically with resourcesthat is, working hours, working
days, and vacations on an individual basis. Resource calendars are created automatically
when a resource is added to the pool. Users do not create resource calendars. It is up to
the user to attach a resource to a specific base calendar.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-58: CHANGE WORKING TIME BUTTON
56

 To Access The Change Working Time Dialog
Mouse
 Go to the PROPERTIES group on the PROJECT ribbon
 Click the CHANGE WORKING TIME button to open the CHANGE WORKING TIME dialog
box.(figure 3-7)
Creating A New Base Calendar

When creating a new calendar, you have the option of creating a brand new calendar or
of creating one based on an existing calendar, as indicated below:
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-59: CREATING A NEW BASE CALENDAR
 To Create A New Calendar
Mouse
 Access the CHANGE WORKING TIME dialog
 Choose CREATE NEW CALENDAR.
 In the NAME text box, type the new calendar’s name.
 Select either the CREATE NEW BASE CALENDAR or MAKE COPY OF calendar option
button if the latter select a calendar to copy from the drop down box choices.
 Choose OK.
57

Edit A Calendar
In a calendar for the project you must define the working and non-working hours and
days as these will affect the costing and the duration of the project. Please understand if
your project runs 24 hours a day your workers will only maybe work 8 hours so a task
taking a working project day will take a worker 3 days to complete increasing the cost
etc. If your project day is running for 16 hours and you have two teams working shifts (at
8 hours a day) 1 days project work will entail the two teams working a day each. It is
very important to ensure the entire project work calendar is set correctly especially
weekend or holidays where the project cannot function. You must select days, weeks or
the entire calendar to set the working hours and non-working times for the project NOT
the workers.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-60: ADJUST PROJECT WORK TIMES
 To Adjust Working Times

Mouse
 In the calendar, either select specific dates for which you want to make a change
or select all days of the week by selecting the column headings. (figure 3-13)
 If required, select the desired month by clicking the up/down arrow on the
vertical scroll bar of the calendar.
 On the tab WORK WEEKS select the default working time row and click on the
DETAILS button a dialog will open(figure 3-14)
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-61: DEFAULT WORK WEEK

58

 Select the days your work week will include and change (if necessary) the
working hours choose whether the days for the selected dates will be non
working times.
 Click OK to enter the work times.
 Your project may run longer in the summer months and shorter during the
winter months due to light, weather or absence of staff select the start and end
dates that the time periods you selected in the previous step will run from and
to.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-62: MULTIPLE TIME PERIODS
 Select another row and repeat the previous procedure for another block of time.
 On the exceptions tab (figure 3-10) select a row and click the DETAILS button and
enter any exceptions to the rule (for example half day holidays. Or days when the
project will run longer than normal due to site clearance etc) click ok to enter the
exception.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-63: EXCEPTION DETAILS
 Choose OK
Assigning A Calendar To A Project

When you first create a Project and set the start date one of the first things to do is to
assign a project calendar it is essential to do this before you start entering tasks and
setting durations because if you do it afterwards then 1 project day assigned to a task
could mean a completely different thing.
59

Project 2010 Introduction Save the New Project File
 To Assign A Calendar To A Project
Mouse
 Open or create a blank project
 Create and edit your project calendar as previously described
 Open the PROJECT INFORMATION dialog box from the PROPERTIES group on PROJECT
tab.
 In the CALENDAR drop down box select the previously created Project Calendar.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-64: ASSIGN A CALENDAR
 Set the Start or end date if necessary

 Click OK to finish assigning your Calendar
Save the New Project File

Saving A Project
While you are working on your project, make sure that you save it to disk. It is good
practice to save your project every fifteen minutes so that, if there is a power outage or
power surge, you will lose only fifteen minutes of work at the most.
For a new project that you have not yet saved, you can choose either SAVE or SAVE AS
from the File Tab. However, the Save As dialog box will always appear because the
project does not have a name. You can give your file a name with as many characters as
you like, and Microsoft Project will automatically assign the three-character extension
.MPP.
Once you have named your document, the SAVE command automatically saves the
project under its existing filename. The SAVE AS command can still be used if you want to
give your project a new name, leaving the original file intact. 60

You can also save (EXPORT) your project in formats that other programs can read. For
example, you can export your project file with an .XLS extension for use in an Excel
spreadsheet, a .DBF extension for use in a FoxPro or dBase Project file, or an .MPX
extension for use in other project management applications. To export a file, in the File
Savedialog box, select the desired extension from the SAVE AS TYPE drop-down list, type
the filename, and choose SAVE.
 To Save An Unnamed Project:

Mouse
 From the File Tab (Backstage), choose SAVE AS.
Or
 From the File Tab (Backstage), choose SAVE.
Or
 On the Quick Access toolbar, click the SAVE button.
 If required, select the desired drive and/or folder in the navigation areas of the
window
 If required, select a file type from the File type text box.(to save as an alternative
file type or earlier version)
 In the FILE NAME text box, type the project (file) name.
 Choose SAVE.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-65: SAVE AS DIALOG
61

 To Save A Named Project:
Mouse
 From the FILE Tab (Backstage), choose SAVE.
OR
 On the Quick Access toolbar, click the SAVE button.
 To Save A Named Project As An Earlier Version:
Mouse
 From the FILE Tab (Backstage), choose SAVE& SEND.
 From the displayed choices in the central window area under file types select
SAVE PROJECT AS FILE.
 On the right a number of options appear select the version of project file you
wish to save as.
 Click the SAVE AS button the SAVE AS dialog will open.
 Enter a file name, select a location
 Click SAVE to complete the save.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-66:SAVE AS EARLIER VERSION
Convert Project File To 2010 Format

If you have upgraded to 2010 to ensure the full compatibility with the new features in
2010 you must convert and update the file to the new 2010 version.
62

 To Convert A File To 2010
Mouse
 Open the project file created in an earlier version of Microsoft Project.
 Your file will be in COMPATIBILITY MODE which may not allow the saving of 2010
features.
 Go to the FILE tab SAVE command.
 A dialog will open warning you which version you may be saving in click YES to
convert to 2010 project file type.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-67: CONVERT DIALOG
Ending A Project Session

At various intervals, you will need to close a project and work on other ones.
Alternatively, when you are finished working in Project, you will need to close all your
projects and exit out of Project altogether.
Closing A Project
Once you have finished working with an existing project, you will close it. When you do
this, Project asks whether you need to save the changes.
 To Close A Project:
 From the FILE Tab (Backstage), choose CLOSE.
 Choose YES to save the changes.
OR
 Choose NO to close the file without saving the changes.
Exit Project
 Select FILE tab, CLOSE to close the existing project file.
 Select FILE tab, EXIT to close Microsoft project and the file that is currently open.
 You will be prompted to save changes to any open and unsaved project files.
63

Project 2010 Introduction 2010 new feature option
2010 new feature option

Define Automatic Or Manual Scheduling
In 2010 there is a marked change in the way that Project calculates the tasks there is
now an option that decides whether you may (By default) have automatic or manual
scheduling for your task the full meaning will become clear later but to briefly explain. In
earlier versions scheduling was automatic by default which meant that if you changed
the assigned resources for a given task then the task duration would change if the effort
of the resource was reduced then the duration would automatically lengthen. As you
will see later there options will appear for each task to be set to manual or automatic
scheduling as you enter the tasks. But we will look now at the default setting in case you
wish to change it now for the future tasks. By default it is set to manual
 To Change The Default Scheduling Setting
Mouse
 Go to the FILE tab and click OPTIONS In the OPTIONS window on the left go to
SCHEDULE option
 About half way down is the option for how you wish tasks to be scheduled it says
NEW TASKS CREATED.(figure 3-18)
 If you desire the default to be changed to automatic scheduling then click the
drop down arrow and select the option from the list. Click OK to save and apply
the setting.
Remember every task as it is created will have the option to change back to
manual or vice versa this is merely the default.
64

Project 2010 Introduction Entering Tasks
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-68: CHANGING TO AUTOMATIC SCHEDULE
Entering Tasks
This is the main activity in setting up a new project. The tasks which have been
identified at the Design Stage must be entered.The system will hold task information in a
task Project file, which we cannot access directly but is used by the system whenever we
view task data. This is one of two Project files the system uses the other being the
resourceProject file.
It is important to understand that the system checks the data that it holds and where
the data does not cross check then the system will generally update the Project file to
make it right. It is important to keep an eye on this process; this will be discussed in a
later section.As each entry is made the system will update the appropriate data and
views to reflect the entries.The order of entry should be in the logical progression but
this is not essential as it can be changed.
Normal Task entry will be by using the standard Task Sheet. The Gantt View shows the
Gantt Chart in the right part of the window with the Task Sheet in the left part.
65

The Task Entry Sheet
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-69THE TASK ENTRY SHEET
The Task entry sheet is a view of the tasks with information shown in the columns as
follows: -
ID: The Task Identification number.
Information This shows useful information icons
Task Name: The Name of the Task.
Duration: The time the Task will take including the time units.
Start: This is the current Scheduled Start date for the Task. Not the
Planned or Actual Start.
Finish: The Scheduled Finish date.
Predecessors: The ID numbers for the preceding Tasks that are linked to this
Task.
Resources: The names of the resources performing or used in the Task.
Add New Column New to 2010 a quick way to add new columns to your task entry
sheet this column will appear on any table that you show
66

Basic Sheet Usage
Navigate
Navigating the sheet is much the same as working in a excel spreadsheet enter your
information within a cell and use the arrow keys to move left or right.
Select
Select columns or rows by clicking on the column or row label enabling you to format
delete or drag to another location.
Enter some information in the following fields to start building your project.
IMPORTANT: Do NOT enter any dates at this time
Task Name: The Name of the Task.
Duration: The time the Task will take including the time units.
As the entries are made, the Gantt Chart will automatically be updated to display the
tasks. All tasks initially will run from the project start date, this is expected and no
problem.
 To Enter Task Descriptions And Durations One

Cell At A Time:
 In the TASK NAME column, select the first available cell and type the name of the
task.
 Press TAB
 In the DURATION column, type the value of the duration. If the duration is
anything other than days, type m for minutes, h for hours, or w for weeks.
 Press ENTER
 Press Left Arrow to return to the Task Name column and repeat steps 1 through
4 as required.
 To Enter Task Descriptions And Durations By

Selecting A Range:
 Select the first cell (the numbered cell) of the desired range.
 Drag the mouse through the range of cells you want to include.
 In the first cell, type the desired information.
 Press TAB
 In the DURATION column, type the appropriate information.
 Repeat steps 4 and 5 as required.
Note:Pressing SHIFT+TAB moves to the previous cell without deselecting the range.
Clicking your mouse inside or outside the range will deselect the range. 67

The Task Information Form
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-70: THE TASK INFORMATION FORM
If using the Task Information FORM it will be possible to enter and/or view many other
pieces of information that is not normally shown in the task entry table think of the
information as hidden columns within the task entry sheet.
 To Open The Task Entry Form To View Existing

Task
Mouse
 Select a task in the task entry sheet. (click On Row label)
 Double click on the desired task to open the TASK INFORMATION form for that task.
Or
 On the TASK tab in the PROPERTIES group select the INFORMATION button the dialog
will open
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-71: TASK INFORMATION BUTTON
68

 To Create Tasks Using The Task Information

Form
Mouse
 Move to an empty row where you wish the task to appear in your task list.
 Click on the Information button in the properties section of the task ribbon. The
dialog will appear.
 Enter the desired information.
 Click OK to create the task.
Create New Tasks

Creating new tasks in an existing project means inserting new rows within your project.
It is better to enter all tasks you can think of in the most logical order before linking but
is not essential it just ensures easier reading of your project.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-72: NEW TASK
 To Create A New Task
Mouse
 Select the task BELOW where you wish your new task to be created for instance if
you want a task after Plaster in the above diagram and before floorboards select
floorboards. As the task will be pushed down when a new task is created.
 Click on the TASK button in the INSERT group to create a new task.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-73: NEW TASK BUTTON
69

 Enter the task name to create the Task it is not necessary to complete all the
fields at entry time, as more information is added so the system will update the
boxes. It is only necessary to enter the data that has been determined in the
design stage.
Task Mode
The task mode is a new 2010 feature it allows us to specify whether we want Project to
automatically calculate start and end date changes to our tasks as we adjust aspects of
the project or whether we manually schedule our task changes ourselves. From
experience although some tasks should have fixed dates (specific meetings and such)
many of the tasks should be left to automatic scheduling
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-74: TASK MODE
 To Define Schedule Type
Mouse
 Entering our tasks a new column should appear before the TASK NAME with a
pushpin and a question mark called TASK MODE.
 All tasks are created undefined at first and may not appear in the Gantt chart
 Click in the cell in the TASK MODE column for a created task a drop down arrow
will appear
 From the drop down options select MANUALLY SCHEDULED or AUTO SCHEDULED.
 The task has been set and should now appear on the Gantt chart. It can be
changed at any time by changing the option.
70

In the following picture tasks 1 and 2 are auto scheduled and task 3 and 4 are manually
scheduled notice how they appear in the task mode column and on the Gantt Chart.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-75: DEFINED TASK MODE EXAMPLES
Or
Instead of using the task mode column you may use the ribbon
Mouse
 Select a task
 On the TASK ribbon in the TASKS group choose a button to MANUALLY SCHEDULE or
AUTOMATICALLY SCHEDULE your task.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-76: SCHEDULE BUTTONS
Other Methods Of Adding Tasks

As a general rule Tasks can be added in any view where the tasks are displayed. The
most obvious methods in addition to using the normal Task Entry view are as follows: -
In The Gantt Chart Or The Task Sheet

An additional task can be added at the end of the list using the INSERT, NEW TASK
command.
Where additional information is required to be entered then this can be done by using
the Task Information form which is opened by simply double-clicking a task in the task
list.
Using The Task Information Form

It is possible to enter additional tasks using this form but it does not have all the possible
entry points. The details of this form are included in the description of the Task Entry
View above.
71

Using The Network Diagram Chart

Additional tasks can be placed within the chart by drawing a box and then entering the
information within the fields. The relationship can be also be entered graphically by
pointing to the Predecessor and dragging a line to the Successor.
Where a relationship needs to be removed, a double click on it will display a box which
has a delete button in it.
Further time will be spent on this view later.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-77: LINK TASK WARNING
Note: When you try to make a link that is not logical or possible, Project will warn
you about this (see illustration below).
72

Setting Durations
If you are using Project 2010 and entering a manually scheduled task, you can enter a
valid duration value, such as 1d or 2w, or you can enter text such as TBD or unknown. A
manually scheduled task is considered a placeholder task until two of the three
scheduling factors—start date, finish date, and duration—contain valid schedule
information.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-78: ENTER DURATIONS
As you enter durations bars will appear on your Gantt chart showing the duration in a
graphical format.
MANUALLY SCHEDULED TASK: This type of task can be placed anywhere in the
schedule without Project rescheduling it; it does not move as related information
about the task changes.
 To Enter Durations
Keyboard
 Navigate to the duration column
 Enter a value and the suffix hrs, wks, d, mths, mins to define the duration type.
 The task duration will be reflected in the Gantt Chart. Zoom in or out to better
see the durations in relationship to one another.
Milestones
A Milestone reference point marking a major event in a project and used to monitor the
project's progress. Any task with zero duration is automatically displayed as a milestone;
you can also mark any other task of any duration as a milestone.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-79: A MILESTONE
73

Project 2010 Introduction LinkingTasks
 To Create A Milestone
Mouse
 Enter a task name for an important marking point in your project (such as signing
a contract, Handover of keys etc)
 If a task has duration of zero, it is identified as a milestone so enter the duration
as zero. This will be reflected in the Gantt chart
Or
 Select the task,
 Open theTASK INFORMATION dialog
 Click the ADVANCED tab, and then select the MARK TASK AS MILESTONE check box.
 If you don't want the task to appear as a milestone, even if its duration is zero,
clear the MARK TASK AS MILESTONE check box.
Milestones can, and should be linked as any other task a milestone is an

important point that would stop the whole project if it could not happen so they
are key tasks for the project and always critical.
LinkingTasks
In order that the system is able to display the overall time aspects of the project, each
Task must be defined in terms of the Tasks on which it is dependent and in turn those
Tasks that are dependent on it. It is also possible to define in what way these
dependencies exist.
Link type Example Description
Finish-to- The dependent task (B) cannot begin

start (FS) A until the task that it depends (A) on is
complete.
B
For example, if you have two tasks,
"Dig foundation" and "Pour concrete,"
the "Pour concrete" task cannot begin
until the "Dig foundation" task is
complete.
Start-to- The dependent task (B) cannot begin

start (SS) until the task that it depends (A) on
begins.
A The dependent task can begin
anytime after the task that it depends
B on begins. The SS link type does not
require that both tasks begin 74

Link type Example Description

simultaneously.
"Pour concrete" and "Level concrete,"
the "Level concrete" task cannot
begin until the "Pour concrete" task
begins.
Finish-to- The dependent task (B) cannot be

finish (FF) completed until the task that it
depends on (A) is completed.
A The dependent task can be completed
B on is completed. The FF link type does
not require that both tasks be
completed simultaneously.
"Add wiring" and "Inspect electrical,"
the "Inspect electrical" task cannot be
completed until the "Add wiring" task
is completed.
Start-to- The dependent task (B) cannot be

finish (SF) completed until the task that it
depends on (A) begins.
A The dependent task can be completed
B
on begins. The SF link type does not
require that the dependent task be
completed concurrent with the
beginning of the task on which it
depends.
For example, the roof trusses for your
construction project are built offsite.
Two of the tasks in your project are
"Truss delivery" and "Assemble roof."
The "Assemble roof" task cannot be
completed until the "Truss delivery"
task begins.
Methods Of Linking
There are two main methods for Linking tasks, using the buttons on the task ribbon and
using the predecessors column on the task entry sheet. We will look at both.
75

FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-80: LINK AND BREAK LINK BUTTONS
 To Link Using Ribbon
Mouse
 Select two or more tasks as described earlier
 Click on the LINK button in the SCHEDULE section of the TASK ribbon.
 The tasks will become linked as described in the previous table using the default
FINISH TO START link this can be edited as you will see in later sections.
 The tasks should appear on the Gantt chart linked
 To Link Using Predecessors
Keyboard
 Navigate to the predecessors column for a successor task
 Enter the task number of the preceding task
Enter FS, SS, FFSF following the task number as necessary because by default all
tasks will have a FS type link (even though the FS does not show in the
predecessors column.)
 If the task you are on depends on more than one task completing enter the task
numbers separated by a comma
 The tasks should appear on the Gantt chart linked
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-81: LINKING USING PREDECESSORS
 To Break Links
Mouse& Keyboard
 Select the task you wish to break the link for and click the BREAK LINK button in
the SCHEDULE group of the TASK ribbon (figure 4-9)
76

Project 2010 Introduction Defining the Summary Tasks
Or
 Delete the predecessors from the PREDECESSORS column
 The links will be broken
Defining the Summary Tasks

Microsoft Project provides the ability to structure the tasks by setting different levels of
tasks and grouping tasks under a summary task. This can be useful where the project has
a considerable number of tasks; management can be made easier by only viewing and
reporting on the summary tasks.
Indent the selection to the next lower level (Demote)
Outdent the selection to the next higher level

(Promote)
Create Summary Tasks

FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-82: PROJECT WITH SUMMARY TASKS
 To Create Summary Tasks
Mouse
 Select ALL Subtasks below the BUILD HOUSE task and indent them using the INDENT
button in the SCHEDULE group
 They all become subtasks of build house.
 Select all tasks between PREPARATION and BUILD FOUNDATIONS (not including) and
using the INDENT button indent them further. Preparation and build foundations
become summary tasks as well
77
 Create further summary tasks as in the diagram.

 This is a good manner in which to lay out your project using the + and – buttons
next to a summary task you may collapse or expand that group of tasks see
picture below.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-83: COLLAPSING SUMMARY TASKS
The Planning Wizard

As a help tool the planning wizard will appear as needed to prompt you with things that
may help you with your project it may be problems with links, removing or adding tasks,
changing durations. The dialog below is here as a help information tool letting you know
that there are easier ways to enter the same information for several tasks.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-84: THE PLANNING WIZARD DIALOG
 To Use The Wizard
Mouse
 When the Wizard appears READ THE INFORMATION then decide whether you wish
to continue receiving this message in the future by ticking the box (or not) click
on the OK button.
 Select all the tasks you wish to enter the same information for.
 Open the TASK INFORMATION box from the PROPERTIES group
 Set the values that you wish to apply to the selected tasks and click OK
78

2010 Method For Summary Task Entry

In 2010 a new tool has been added to enable the creation of summary tasks to be easier
this creates a summary task wherever you wish it to appear.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-85: SUMMARY BUTTON ON TASK RIBBON
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-86: SUMMARY TASK CREATION (ONE SUBTASK)
 To Create A Summary Task 2010 Style
Mouse
 Place your mouse cursor in the task sheet above where you wish the summary
task to appear.
 On the TASK ribbon in the INSERT group click the SUMMARY button a summary task
will appear the next task down will be indented all other tasks will remain at the
same level.
 Enter the summary task name
 Indent any other tasks necessary below the new summary task.
Or
79

Project 2010 Introduction Resources
 Before clicking the SUMMARY button select all tasks you wish to be subtasks of the
new summary task.
 When the SUMMARY button is clicked all selected tasks are now indented and
have become subtasks of the new summary task.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-87: MULTIPLE SUBTASKS AT ONE CLICK
Resources
The management of resources is a major feature of Microsoft Project. It is possible to
see how each one is being used and determine the times when they are under or over
utilised. The system can adjust the project to eliminate over allocation of a resource.
We can think of resource data being stored in a Project file, which is the partner to the
task Project file. The Microsoft Project system merges the data in the two Project files
to provide the facilities that are available.
There are a number of ways we can view the resources, as the following topics will
show.
Define The Resources

When you build a large pool of resourcesfor example, 200 employeesthe best place
to enter this information is in the Resource Sheet. If there are only a few resources
working on the project, however, you might enter them “on the fly” using the Resource
Assignment dialog box.
Resource types
There are only 2 types of resources -material- and –work-.
Material
These are physical resources that you need to complete your project such as tables
chairs, bricks and Mortar once they are bought they are used in the project there is no
further cost accruing to them (unless they need maintenance which would be a separate
resource)
Work
However, if the tables and chairs are rented they may become a work resource because
they need regular payments on an hourly, daily, weekly basis as you pay for staff. All
items or people you pay for on a regular basis would really be entered as work to enable
the proper costing’s to be carried out
80

Reviewing And Navigating The Resource Sheet

The Resource Sheet contains an array of required fields for entering resources. A
Resource Sheet is illustrated below:
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-88:THE RESOURCE SHEET
There are two separate stages in adding Resources to be managed by the system. They
first must be entered in the RESOURCE SHEET to identify them as being available. Secondly
the available resources are associated with the respective tasks.
Adding Resources To The Resource Sheet

You add resources to the Resource Sheet in rows. The columns identify the fields. The
table below summarizes the information that you can store in the Resource Sheet.
Field Description
Resource Name The name given to a resource. It can be the name of an

individual or a type of group.
Type Whether material or work as previously described.
Material If defined as a material enter a label here to describe the

quantity type purchased E.G. with bricks you may buy them by
the pallet not singly.
Initials The abbreviated name for the resource if a work resource
Group A resource can be placed in a group, which can be used by a

filter to show only group members, it is also possible to use the
group name to view all members of the group together.
Max. Units The percentage (number) of resource units available. This is

applicable only if using a type of resource. For example, you
might have three technicians (300%), but you can have only
one Emma Cheesman (100%)and if Emma is only able to
devote half her work week to the project then she would
become 50%
Std. Rate The standard cost of the resource per hour, week, or month.
Ovt. Cost The overtime cost of the resource per hour, week, or month. 81

Field Description
Cost/Use A special cost of the resource every time it is used like a call
out charge.
Accrue At This field identifies when the cost of the resource is added to
the running total of the project. The options are at the "Start",
at the "End" or "Prorated" which means updated at the end of
each time unit as the resource is used.
Base Calendar The base calendar to which you assign the resource.
Code You can assign an alphanumeric code to each resource. The

Code field can be used to associate an accounting code for use
of the resource. This is an additional method of allocating the
costs of the project as required. And use it for sorting, filtering,
and reporting.
 To Add Resources To The Resource Sheet:
Mouse
 From the VIEWbutton on the TASK ribbon, choose RESOURCE Sheet.
 In the RESOURCE NAME cell, type the Resource Name.
 Press TAB
 Enter the TYPE and Press TAB
 Enter the label in the material COLUMN if it is a material resource and continue
across the row until you have entered all the information needed for the
resource as described previously.
 Press ENTER this brings you to a new row
 Press HOME this brings you to the beginning of that row to start again for a new
resource.
 Repeat steps 2 through 7 for each resource.
82

The Resource Information Dialog

Just like a task there are many fields hidden on the resource sheet and the opportunity
for adding much more information for a resource using the resource information dialog.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-89:THE RESOURCE INFORMATION DIALOG
 To Access The Resource Information Dialog
Mouse
 Double click on a desired resource the dialog will open for that resource.
Or
 Select the resource you wish to open the dialog for
 Click on the information button in the properties group on the resource tab the
dialog will open.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-90: THE PROPERTIES GROUP FOR RESOURCES
There are four tabs in the resource information dialog the notes button in the properties
group will open the same dialog but at the tab for notes the details button we will look
at in a later section.
83

A resource is DEFINED under the following headings:-

ID:
Name:
Initials:
Group:
Max Units:
The next items relate to calculating the cost of the resource. They can be defined by
setting a cost level for a specific period or a cost for each time the resource is used.
Std. Rate:
Ovt. Rate:
Cost/Use:
Accrue At:
Code:
Practice Adding Resources

Resource Type Material Initial Group Max. Std. Ovt. Cost
Name Label Units Rate Rate /Use
Sid Little Work SL Prof 100% £50.00/ £75.00 £0.00

hr /hr
(architect)
Peter Plank Work PP Prof 100% £28.00/ £40.00 £0.00

hr /hr
(Planner)
Eddie Large Work EL Trade 100% £45.00/ £60.00 £0.00

hr /hr
(Electrician)
Paul Sink Work PS Trade 100% £50.00/ £90.00 £70.00

hr /hr
(Plumber)
Builders Work B Trade 600% £25.00/ £35.00 £0.00

hr /hr
Paula Work PP Trade 100% £30.00/ £45.00 £0.00

Painter hr /hr
(Decorator)
Chris Work cc Trade 100% £40.00/ £60.00 £0.00

Chippie hr /hr
(carpenter)
Bricks Material Pallet(S) B £80.00 £0.00 84

Project 2010 Introduction View Resources
Resource Type Material Initial Group Max. Std. Ovt. Cost

Name Label Units Rate Rate /Use
Timber Material 3m T £5.00 £0.00

length(S)
Pipes Material 3m P £6.00 £0.00

length(S)
Paint Material 5 ltr tin(S) P £10.00 £0.00

 Select the RESOURCE SHEET from the VIEW button and enter the resources from the
above table. All work resources are pro-rated and use the standard base
calendar
The Max units default value of 100% is very important equate this as if they have a
40 hr work week for example then they are devoting 100% of that time to this
project.
Entering the group of builders as 600% means that you have the availability of 6
builders use multiples of 100% to specify how many individuals you have it will
help with costing and allocations.
If someone can only apply half their time to the project then enter them at only
50% (meaning 20hrs) enter the percentage dependent on the amount of time
they can devote to the project.
View Resources
As with Tasks there are a number of ways that the Resources can be seen in addition to
viewing the Resource Sheet.
The Resource Sheet

Where it is necessary to view all the resources, this is best done in the top part of the
screen or a single pane view. Selecting RESOURCESHEET from the VIEW pull down menu will
show a complete list of the resources required by the tasks.
A valuable feature in this view is that those resources that have been over allocated will
be shown in a different colour so attention is drawn to the areas that need to be
changed. (Figure 5-2)
85

One great value of this view is that it shows you when a resource is over-allocated. See
below, where Chris is over-resourced.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-91: OVERALLOCATION ON RESOURCE SHEET
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-92: OVERALLOCATION ON TASK SHEET
Viewing Over allocations

If a work resource has an 8 hour work day and you assign them 2 different tasks on the
same day each 8 hours long then it is obvious this person has twice the work than they
can handle. It is not so obvious if they have several tasks each adding up to more than 8
hours but in both cases they are over allocated and those over allocations need to be
addressed in both pictures above we can see how over allocations are indicated
In 5-2 we see that Chris is over allocated and in 5-3 we see the tasks that he is over
allocated for this is ok for a single resource but if there were several resources then we
would not know who was over allocated to what
The Resource Graph

The best use of this view is in the lower pane with the resource sheet or the Gantt chart
at the top although it can be seen separately.
86

If the resource sheet is at the top then it will show only the resource selected. If the
Gantt is at the top then it will relate to whatever single resource was selected in the
resource sheet but as you click on the tasks he is assigned to it will move to the selected
task showing the time allocations. If shown alone then it will show for the last selected
resource.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-93: OVERALLOCATIONS IN RESOURCE GRAPH/RESOURCE SHEET
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-94: OVERALLOCATIONS IN RESOURCE GRAPH/TASK SHEET
87

Allocate/Assign Resources
There are a number of methods of allocating a resource to a task. The most direct
method is to select a view in which a task can be selected and then call up the ASSIGN
RESOURCES box using the ASSIGN RESOURCES button in the ASSIGNMENTS group on the
RESOURCE tab.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-95: ASSIGN RESOURCES DIALOG
In the ASSIGN RESOURCES box a list of the resources can be viewed and the required
selection made.There are other views in which a resource can be allocated to a task and
it does not matter which is used, the preference is up to of the user.
 To Assign Resources
Mouse
 Select the GANTT CHART view from the VIEWbutton.
 Select the first task.
 Call up the ASSIGN RESOURCES box using the ASSIGN RESOURCES button in the
ASSIGNMENTS group on the RESOURCE tab
 Select a resource you wish to assign and click the ASSIGN button.
 The resource is assigned
 Select another task and repeat to assign resources to different tasks
 For each task that needs resources allocated place the pointer on the task scroll
down the list of resources and select as appropriate.
 If you wish to assign multiple resources to a task select them in the dialog using
the CTRL key before clicking the ASSIGN button.
88

By default a resource is assigned at 100% which means that he will use all his
available time on this task. If he has say two tasks running concurrently you may
wish to assign him at 50% for each task.
If you have a group of people say builders then you may want to use more than
one of them on a job if they have been entered in the resource sheet at say 600%
(meaning 6 builders) assign as many as you wish as multiples of 100%
 To Assign By Percentage
Mouse
 Select the GANTT CHART view from the VIEWbutton.
 Select a task in your project that needs say two or more builders for example.
 Select the builder’s resource in the ASSIGN RESOURCES box.
 In the units box for that resource enter the number of individuals as multiples of
100% (6 builders = 600%)
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-96: ASSIGNING MULTIPLE INDIVIDUALS AND MATERIALS
If you assign an individual to a task and then assign another individual to the same task
the second operation seems like an edition to the project, and assigning another
individual to the same task can cause the calculation machine in Project to do some
strange things.
Think of the old adage about: “if it takes 1 man 2 days to dig a hole how many days
would it take two men.” Project calculates in this manner. So assigning a second
individual two a task can cause one of two things to happen.
The task could halve in duration
The individuals could have their units set to 50%
89

Project 2010 Introduction Editing Resource Information
So the best thing to do to avoid this problem is to assign these individuals at the same
time.
 To Assign Multiple Resources At The Same Time
Mouse
 Select a task in your project that needs say two or more individual resources.
 Select the first resource in the ASSIGN RESOURCES box use the CTRL key then select
all the resources necessary while you hold the key down.
 Click the ASSIGN button to assign them en masse.
Editing Resource Information

Once you enter resource information, you may need to modify it. In the real world,
employees come and go, and as a result, project managers need to add and delete
resources.
Editing Data Entered By The User

You edit resources in the entry box just as you edit fields in the Gantt Chart and the
Network Diagram Chart. After you make your changes, click the ENTER button to accept
changes, or click the CANCEL button to retain the original entry.
 To Edit Data Entered By The User:

 On the RESOURCE SHEET, select the cell to edit.
 Press F2 to activate the cell.
 Edit the information in the cell and press return to enter it.
OR
 Double click the resource to open the RESOURCE INFORMATION dialog
 In the dialog edit what information is necessary.
 Click OK to enter the information and close the dialog
Inserting And Deleting Resources

You can add resources either at the end of the Resource Sheet or between existing
resources. You can also delete unwanted resources from the Resource Sheet.
 To Insert A Resource
 Switch to the RESOURCE SHEET.
90
 Select a cell in the row above the one where you want to add a resource.

 Press the [INSERT] key on your keyboard.

 The resource will appear in your list enter the relevant information.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-97: ADD RESOURCE MENU
OR
 From the INSERTgroup, on the RESOURCE tab clickADD RESOURCES a menu will
appear.(figure 5-8)
 From the choices make a selection of either WORK, MATERIAL or COST resource.
 The resource will appear in your list enter the relevant information.
 To Delete Resources
 Select a cell in the row of each resource you want to delete.
 Press [DELETE]
Working With Resources On The Fly

If the resource you want to add is not part of the resource pool, you can add that
resource in the Resource Assignment dialog box. At the same time, you can assign the
resource to tasks. You can add information about the resource later by using the
Resource Sheet or the Resource Information dialog box.
You can easily add resources while you are in the middle of assigning resources by using
the Resource Assignment dialog box, and then continue to assign resources. If you
realize that a resource is missing, you can simply add it at any time.
91

 To Add Resources On The Fly:
Mouse
 In the ASSIGN RESOURCESdialog box, select a blank NAME cell at the end of the
resource list.
 Type the name of the resource and press ENTER
Updating Resource Information On The Fly

Adding resources on the fly does not automatically allow you to update information
about the resource. You either have to switch to the Resource Sheet to add or update
information, or you have to open the Resource Information dialog box, as illustrated
below. All the fields that are available on the Resource Sheet are also available in the
Resource Information dialog box.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-98:UPDATE RESOURCE INFO
 To Update Resource Information On The Fly
Mouse
 In the ASSIGN RESOURCESdialog box, double-click the resource for which you want
to add or update information the RESOURCE INFORMATION Dialog will open
 In the RESOURCE INFORMATION dialog box, make the necessary changes and click
OK to save the changes.
92

Project 2010 Introduction Over allocations
Over allocations
As mentioned before resources that are have been assigned to many tasks to complete
within their work week are classed as over allocated. And these over allocations have to
be dealt with we will look at a couple of simple methods of dealing with over allocations
at a later stage in the advanced manual we will look at more precise ways of dealing
with them and assigning overtime.
View the Resource Graph and where there is an over allocation, consider these methods
of correcting them.
Resource Levelling
Levelling is the process of moving tasks in the time scale to redistribute the use of
resources where they are over allocated.
This may rearrange your tasks and lengthen the duration of your project.
This process can be set to automatic whenever there is a resource over allocation
or manually LEVELLING OPTIONS button in the LEVEL group on the RESOURCE tab.
 To Level One Resource Overallocated
Mouse
 Go to the resource sheet to display your over allocations
 Click the LEVEL RESOURCE button in the LEVEL group on the RESOURCE tab.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-99: LEVEL RESOURCE DIALOG (SINGLE RESOURCE)
 The LEVEL RESOURCE dialog box will open

 Select a resource that is over allocated.
93
 Click the LEVEL NOW button the dialog will close and the resource will be levelled.

Project 2010 Introduction Over allocations
 Tasks will have rearranged so the resource is no longer over allocated.
 To Level All Over allocated Resources
Mouse
 Go to the resource sheet to display your over allocations
 Click the LEVEL RESOURCE button in the LEVEL group on the RESOURCE tab.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-100: LEVEL RESOURCE DIALOG(MULTIPLE RESOURCES)
 The LEVEL RESOURCE dialog box will open

 Select all resources that are over allocated use your ctrl key to select other
resources.
 Click the LEVEL NOW button the dialog will close and all the resources will be
levelled.
 Tasks will have rearranged so the resources are no longer over allocated.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-101: LEVEL GROUP ON RESOURCE TAB
Or
 Simply click on the LEVEL ALL button from the LEVEL group and all resources will be
levelled.
When a project involves levelling after a while certain things may change staff
coming and going new resources assigned etc you may even have decided to use
other methods to deal with your overallocations so uou may need to clear your
levelling and deal with the overallocations differently some may even no longer 94
apply.

Project 2010 Introduction Planned Time Scale (baselines)
 To Clear Levelling
Mouse
 Simply click on the CLEAR LEVELLING button from the LEVEL group and all levelled
tasks will returned to their former state if resource changes have taken place
some resources may no longer be over allocated those that are you may deal
with.
All conflicts must be cleared before moving to the next step
Planned Time Scale (baselines)

When all the tasks and resources have been added and any resource problems cleared
and provided the scheduled dates are acceptable, this marks the completion of the
design and planning stage.
All of the data entered into the project at this time can be considered as the base
line for the project to be managed from and measured to. Microsoft Project will
hold this data by using the TRACKING, SAVE BASELINEcommand from the TOOLS
menu.
From this point, as the tasks are completed and the data updated it will be possible to
make comparisons with the plan and determine how late (or early!!!) the completion
date will be and where the problems are occurring.
This can be seen using the VIEW, MORE VIEWS, TRACKING GANTT. The Plan appears as
grey bars under the Gantt bars.
Baseline
A baseline is a very useful tool when working with your Project it uses hidden columns to
store information about the costs, and dates as your project stands at the moment for
example you have a start date and end date as soon as the baseline is saved you will find
that you will have a baseline start date and a baseline end date as well. The information
is transposed from the original columns to the baseline columns as you save the
baseline.
As your project is implemented and inevitable changes and refinements take place you
may use the tracking Gantt to compare the current state of play against the baseline
(original values) this will show you which tasks are ahead of schedule and those that are
behind schedule (slipping tasks) this enables you the opportunity to act on those tasks
that may delay your project or/and raise costs.
Set And Clear A Baseline

You may save multiple baselines dependent on the length of your project a short project
hardly needs more than one whereas a project spanning years may need reassessing 95

Project 2010 Introduction Planned Time Scale (baselines)
every six months to a year. Some projects are unending and a regular baseline may need
to be taken.
 To Save A Baseline
Mouse
 Open your project
 Ensure all tasks have been entered, all durations and links set.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-102: SET BASELINE COMMAND
 Select the SET BASELINE button from the SCHEDULE group on the PROJECT ribbon
 Choose SET BASELINE from the options given a dialog will open.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-103: SET BASELINE DIALOG
 Click on the SET BASELINE radio button.

 Ensure the entire project radio button is selected.
 Click on the OKbutton The baseline is now set and as changes are made you will
be able to monitor them using the tracking Gantt.
 To Clear A Baseline
Mouse
 Open your project
 Ensure all tasks have been entered, all durations and links set.
96

Project 2010 Introduction Using Gantt Charts
 Select the SET BASELINE button from the SCHEDULE group on the PROJECT ribbon.
(Figure 4-16)
 From the options displayed choose CLEAR BASELINE the CLEAR BASELINE dialog will
open.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-104: CLEAR BASELINE DIALOG
 Ensure the correct baseline is selected and click o the baseline will be cleared.
When further adjustments are made you may save the baseline again. Remember the
baseline is meant to be the final version of the plan before implementation to allow you
to monitor and effectively deal with the ensuing risks that may be realised in the
implementation of the plan.
It is also useful during the evaluation phase of the project to enable a better plan to be
formulated for the next project.
Using Gantt Charts

Gantt Chart Principals
The Gantt Chart is a horizontal bar chart that represents each task in the time scale of
the project. Each task entered in the project will be shown.
The Gantt Chart can be used to visually keep track of the tasks and also can be used to
identify important points about each task. For example those tasks that together
control the completion date are known as the critical Path and are shown differently to
highlight that fact.
Gantt Charts can be printed and therefore form the significant part of a regular report
which shows the current progress, comparison with the original plan, and the new
projected completion data. Some of these may well have been covered in earlier
sections.
Changing The Split Between Chart And Table

When the Gantt Chart view or the Task Entry view is selected, the Gantt Chart area has
part of a table on the left and the bars on the right.
It is possible to move the dividing line between these two areas with the mouse pointer.
When the pointer is on the dividing line it changes to two vertical lines with left and 97

Project 2010 Introduction Using Gantt Charts
right arrows. If the left button is held down then the dividing line can be moved to the
left or right as required.
Time Scale
The time scale on the chart can be change to many different settings based on the
length of your project and which part of the project you wish to display on the screen.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-105: TIMESCALE AND ZOOM MENUS FROM THE ZOOM GROUP
 To Change Timescale For The Gantt
Mouse
 Ensure you are in Gantt view
 Go to the VIEW ribbon, ZOOM group, ZOOM command.
 From the menu make a selection of zooming in or out
Or
 Use the zoom slider on the bottom right of the status bar as previously discussed.
Or
 Go to the VIEW ribbon, TIMESCALEdrop down box and select a timescale.
 Your timescale will adjust to the selection timescale
 Go to the VIEW ribbon, TIMESCALEdrop down box and select the TIMESCALE
command a dialog will open.
 From the SIZE box choose a percentage to zoom into and click OK
98

Project 2010 Introduction The Timeline New feature
 Change the timescale from the drop down box to an appropriate measuring
system again if necessary.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-106: THE TIMESCALE DIALOG
Where the timescale dialog is chosen, the dialog box will provide the ability to change
both the major and minor time scales and within each of these it will be possible to alter
the units, the label, the alignment, and the count of the interval between the unit labels.
The Timeline New feature

Viewing The Timeline
The Timeline is a new feature in Project 2010 it enables you to see at a glance where you
currently are with your project with many options to view your tasks as part of the
timeline itself. It shows the whole project and where you are at the moment as you
complete tasks it will show the amount of the project completed.
 To View The Timeline
Mouse
 To view the timeline go to the VIEW ribbon, SPLIT VIEW group and tick the TIMELINE
check box. (un-ticking this will hide the timeline)
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-107: TIMELINE CHECKBOX

99

 The timeline will appear beneath the ribbon and a new contextual ribbon will
appear called FORMAT in the TIMELINE TOOLS.The timeline will contain a scroll bar
beneath it to scroll left or right when zoomed in on any aspect of it.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-108: THE TIMELINE AND CONTEXTUAL RIBBON
 Resize the timeline area by moving your mouse to just below the scroll bar a
double arrow will appear click and drag up or down to change the Timeline size.
Zooming
Zooming in and out on any part of the timeline is a useful thing to know when you have
added tasks.
 To Zoom The Timeline
Mouse
 Select the timeline by clicking on the timeline label to the far left of the timeline
this changes the focus from any view you have displayed beneath it to the
timeline.
You can either

 Use the zoom slider on the bottom right of the status bar to zoom in or out of
the timeline.
Or
 Use the ZOOM control in the ZOOM group on the VIEW tab
Showing Task Details On The Timeline

The timeline can be used as another method of viewing tasks within your project to keep
you up to date with what is happening with your project. We need to add them to the
timeline but they can be removed just as easily.
100

FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-109: INSERT GROUP, TIMELINE TOOLS
 To Show/Hide Tasks On The Timeline
Mouse
 Go the TIMELINE TOOLS, FORMAT tab, INSERT group and click on the EXISTING TASKS
button a dialog will open.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-110: ADD EXISTING TASKS DIALOG
 From the dialog tick any tasks you wish to add to the timeline and un-tick those
you do not wish to see.
 Click OK to apply the changes.
101

 Zoom and scroll to view the tasks in the timeline. (notice the milestone)
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-111: TASKS IN TIMELINE
 Click on the DETAILED TIMELINE button in the SHOW/HIDE group to add or remove
the details from the timeline and just show the tasks.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-112: DETAILS HIDDEN
Copy Timeline
Since the timeline could be useful for explanation or presentation purposes there is a
facility to copy it and print or present it.
 To Copy Timeline
Mouse
 Click on the COPY TIMELINE button on the far right of the FORMAT tab a menu will
appear.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-113: COPY TIMELINE OPTIONS
 The options in the menu allow for the quality of copy for when you paste it in
whatever document type you will use.
Choosing full size and pasting it into word will allow the object to be pasted as a
series of grouped drawing shapes and text boxes to allow further formatting
before printing.
102

Format The Timeline

There are various formatting options on the ribbon to change the appearance:
Text styles
This opens the font format dialog for in depth text formatting
Font group
This allows quick access to text formatting actions
Show/Group
Change the appearance of the date and show or hide various aspects of the timeline
Changing The Gantt Style (Quick style Gallery)

The Quick Style Gallery is new to 2010 and is a quick way of selecting bar colour styles
not only for the Gantt but for the critical Path in the Gantt. It is very easy to use.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-114:GANTT QUICKSTYLE SELECTIONS
 To Use The Quick style Gallery
Mouse
 Open your project to Gantt view
 Go to the contextualFORMAT ribbon in the GANTT CHART TOOLS.
 In the GANTT CHART STYLE group use the drop down arrow to the bottom right of
the style box a selection of styles appear. 103

 Make a selection to apply it to your Gantt chart

 You may use this as often as you wish.
 To Further Format A Specific Bar
Mouse
 Select a task in the Gantt chart view either on the chart itself or on the task entry
sheet.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-115: FORMAT BAR OR BAR STYLES
 Click on the FORMAT button and select the BAR command a dialog will open.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-116:FORMAT GANTT BAR DIALOG
 From this dialog the bar can be further formatted, including its shape pattern and
colour.
 Text may also be added we will see this in the next section.
 To Further Format All Aspects Of All The Bars In

The Gantt
Mouse
 Select the Gantt chart view.
104
 Go to the contextual FORMAT ribbon in the GANTT CHART TOOLS.

 Click on the FORMAT button and select the BAR STYLES command a dialog will open.
 This dialog is used to maximise the information provided by the format of the bar
on the Gantt Chart. The appearance of the existing bars can be changed and
additional bars can be used. The full use of colour, shape and bar ending is also
possible.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-117: BAR STYLES DIALOG
 Select a style in the top part of the box and in the bottom select the style you
want for that kind of task. Set a start, middle and end style.
 Repeat or other bar types in the top most Boxes.
Adding Labels To Your Gantt

It is also possible to add text labels to your Gantt based on information in your project
such as start dates, resource labels % complete etc.
 To Add Labels To Your Gantt
Mouse
 Select the Gantt chart view.
 Click on the FORMAT button and select the BAR STYLES command a dialog will open.
 Ensure you have the correct bar type selected in the top part of the dialog such
as TASK.
 In the bottom section of the dialog click on the TEXT tab
105

FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-118: LABELS TO BARS
 Choose where you would like your labels to appear and click in the box use the
drop down arrow on the right to select from all the fields in the project what
information you would like to appear.
 Click ok to apply the selection and close the dialog
 Try not to have too many labels on the Gantt as it can look untidy, use the FORMAT,BAR command to
add labels to just one specific bar
Editing TasksWith The Gantt

One method of editing tasks is to change them on the Gantt Chart using the mouse and
dragging the changes into place.
 To Mark %Complete Tasks With The Gantt
Mouse
 Positioning the pointer at the beginning of a bar will change the pointer to
anarrowand % sign
 The left mouse button is pressed and the symbol dragged to the right a box will
appear showing the amount of "percentage complete" that has been added. This
information will then be updated throughout the system.
 To Move A Task On The Gantt
Mouse
 Place the pointer in the centre of the bar it will change to a four-way arrow
pointer.
 The left button is held down it drag the bar to the left or right in time,
 When the mouse is released the changing dates options will be shown in a dialog
box
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-119:PLANNING WIZARD DIALOG 2

106

 ClickOK, the files will be updated with the new information.
 To Change Duration On The Gantt

The third possibility is that the duration of the task can be changed by changing the
length of the bar.
Mouse
 The pointer is positioned at the right end of the bar it will change into a right
pointing arrow.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-120: ADJUSTING DURATION
 The left button is held down it is then possible to change the length of the bar
and the respective change in duration is shown in a box.
 Release the mouse and the duration will be changed.
Showing The Critical Path

The critical path is a very important path it shows all the critical tasks (those that impact
the end date of the project if they slip or are brought forward) It can be very useful to
see it visually on the Gantt chart and to see which non-critical tasks are in your project.
107

Remember a non-critical task may become critical if it slips enough to affect other
critical tasks. (Compare the Gantts in the next pictures one showing the critical path the
other not, displaying how useful this feature is.)
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-121:NON CRITICAL TASKS
 To Show The Critical Path
Mouse
 In the GANTT CHART STYLE group tick the box to allow critical tasks to be shown.
 Change the style of the critical tasks as described in the previous lesson if you
wish.
 The Gantt should like the following picture.
108

109

FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-122: GANTT SHOWING CRITICAL TASKS
 As you can see the red tasks display the critical path and the blue non-critical
tasks have room to slide a little before impacting upon a critical task.
110

Project 2010 Introduction Basic sorting, Filtering and grouping
Basic sorting, Filtering and grouping

Quick Filters (Auto filters)
A filter is used to screen out unwanted tasks for a particular view to identify a particular
aspect of the current state of the project, for example the filter can be set to show the
tasks that make up the Critical Path and hide the non-critical ones.
There are several ways of creating and using filters we will use the simplest ones here.
The more adventurous ones will be in the advanced manual.
As with tables there are different filters for tasks and resources and depending on the
current view the appropriate list of filters will be shown for the selection.
 To Apply Autofilters
Mouse
 In the TASK ENTRY sheet move your mouse to the column label you wish to filter
and click on the drop down arrow to the right of the column label a menu will
appear.
 As you move your mouse down the menu commands other options may appear
in a further menu (see picture)
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-123: FILTER OPTIONS
111

Dependant on the column and the type of information the options will vary from
column to column
 Make a selection from the displayed menu (disregard the lower part of the menu
involving the fields and check boxes for now)
 The list will be filtered.
Or
 When you have opened the menu move down to the checkboxes and only select
the tasks you wish to see in the task list.
 To Clear Filters
 In the TASK ENTRY sheet move your mouse to the column label and click on the
drop down arrow to make the menu appear.
 Move down the menu and click the CLEAR ALL FILTERS option to remove all applied
filters to your data.
Using The Ribbon Filter Commands

There is another option for filtering on the view tab
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-124: FILTERS IN THE RIBBON
112

 To Filter From The Ribbon
Mouse
 Click on the VIEW ribbon
 In the DATA group click on the drop down box on the middle right containing the
text “NO FILTER” a menu will appear
 Make a selection to filter your data.
 Repeat and select “NO FILTER” to remove the applied filter.
Sorting Your Tasks

No less important is sorting your tasks by default they are sorted by their id number but
you may wish them sorted by their start date.
 To Sort From The Autofilter Menu

 In the TASK ENTRY sheet move your mouse to the column label you wish to sort by
(E.G. start date) and click on the drop down arrow to make the menu appear.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-125: SORT OPTIONS
 Choose the sort option you prefer.
 To Sort From The Ribbon

 Click on the VIEW ribbon
 In the DATA group click on the drop down box on the top left containing the text
SORT a menu will appear
 Make a selection to sort your data.
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 Repeat and select SORT BY… to open the SORT dialog.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-126: THE SORT DIALOG
 By default you can see that sorting is by id select from the drop down box
another field (column) to sort by you may sort by up to three levels as you can in
excel,
Do NOT tick the permanently renumber tasks unless you are still in the planning
and intial stages of setting up your project as all tasks will then have a different
ID and if the project is underway it will be very confusing when referring to ID
numbers which task is which.
 Choose whether to sort ascending or descending
 When you have finished your options click ok to apply your sort
 To Set To Default Sort
Mouse
 Open the SORT dialog from the DATA group
 Click the RESET button (This will clear all sorts and the primary sort will revert to
ID)
 Click OK to apply the default sort order.
Grouping
Grouping is a useful way of organising your data prior to printing. It is also useful to see
your project in a different light. For instance you could group by the stages of
completion so it is easier to see at a glance which tasks are in what stage of progress, or
you may wish to see the critical and non-critical tasks grouped or grouped by resource
usage. We will look at only the basic grouping options here and cover them in more
depth in the advanced manual.
114

 To Group Your Project Tasks
Mouse
 In the DATA group on the FORMAT ribbon of the GANTT CHART TOOLS click on the
drop down box on the bottom right containing the text “NO GROUP” a menu will
appear
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-127: BASIC GROUP OPTIONS
 Choose an option you wish to group by.

 The grouping will be applied.
 To Remove Grouping
Mouse
 In the DATA group on the FORMAT ribbon of the GANTT CHART TOOLS click on the
drop down box on the bottom right containing the text of the group type that
has been applied to access the menu
 From the menu choose either no group or clear group.
115

 The tasks will return to their original state.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-128: GROUPED BY CRITICAL AND NON-CRITICAL TASKS
Grouping, sorting and filtering are useful tools to apply prior to printing your data. There
are many more options that will be covered in the advanced manual.
Working With Tables And Filters

 From the View menu, select More Views, Task Sheet.
 From the View, Table menu select and view the different tables
 From the View, Table, More Tables menu select Define Tables and press the Edit
button. Try to make some changes to the table and then view the result.
 From the Tools, Filtered for menu select different filters and see how it changes
the Table.
 Examine the Critical filter and try the Edit button to view how the filters are set
up. Try making changes to the filter.
116

Project 2010 Introduction Tracking
Tracking
An important part of implementing your project is marking when tasks are in progress or
complete this is an important part of monitoring your project because if a task has not
started yet it should not have incurred any material or work costs. And project uses this
to calculate the actual costs to your project and measures the progress of the work
against your baseline that you saved earlier.
Definitions
Slippage:
The amount of time that a task has been delayed from its original baseline plan. The
slippage is the difference between the scheduled start or finish date for a task and the
baseline start or finish date.
Start date:
The date when a task is scheduled to begin. This date is based on the duration,
calendars, and constraints of predecessor and successor tasks. A task's start date is also
based on its own calendars and constraints.
Finish date:
The date that a task is scheduled to be completed. This date is based on the task's start
date, duration, calendars, predecessor dates, task dependencies, and constraints.
Slack:
The amount of time that a task can slip before it affects another task or the project's
finish date. Free slack is how much a task can slip before it delays another task. Total
slack is how much a task can slip before it delays the project.
If you know where slack exists in your schedule, you can move tasks when certain
phases of the schedule have no slack and other phases have too much.
Slack values may also indicate a schedule inconsistency. For example, a negative
slack value occurs when one task has a finish-to-start dependency with a
successor task, but the successor task has a Must Start On constraint that is
earlier than the end of the first task. Negative slack can also occur when a task is
scheduled to finish after its deadline date.
117

Marking Progress On Tasks

The first thing we need to do when tracking our project is to mark how much progress
has been made on the tasks.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-129: THE SCHEDULE GROUP
 To Mark Progress On A Task
Mouse
 Select a task in your task list (not a summary task)
 In the SCHEDULE group of the TASK ribbon select a percentage complete button to
mark the task as that much complete.
 This should show on the Gantt chart.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-130: COMPLETION BAR IN GANTT
 If a task is marked as 100% then the task is marked as complete and a tick
appears in the information column of the task entry sheet.
 To Use The Task Information Dialog
118

Mouse
 Another method of marking progress is to call up the task information dialog
from the properties group of the task ribbon.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-131: PERCENTAGE COMPLETE IN TASK INFORMATION DIALOG
 Type a percentage complete in the PERCENT COMPLETE box and click OK to apply.
Use this method if the percentage is not a standard figure on the ribbon
Updating Task and Project Data

As the project progresses it will be necessary to enter updated information to indicate
the beginning and ending of tasks. There could also be many reasons why some
elements of any task may change and to be an effective project management tool the
system must be updated with these alterations.
MICROSOFT PROJECT has a number of different ways to change data and the following
explain the various methods.
The system is dynamic in the sense that if a single element of a task is altered
that has a bearing on other elements, the changes will be calculated and the
other elements automatically updated.
 To Updatetasks
 Select the TASK Sheet from the VIEWbutton on the TASK tab.
 Update individual tasks by selecting the tasks and clicking on the drop down
arrow next to the MARK ON TRACK button in the SCHEDULE group on the TASK ribbon
 From the menu shown select UPDATE TASKS.A dialog will appear
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-132: UPDATE TASKS BUTTON
119

 From the dialog make the choices of how you want the task updated you may
change dates, percentage complete, the name, duration etc
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-133: UPDATE TASK OPTIONS
 Click OK to apply the update to the task.
 To Updatethe project.
Mouse
 Go to the PROJECT tab, STATUS group and click on the UPDATE PROJECT button a
dialog will open.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-134: UPDATE PROJECT OPTIONS
 Either use the dialog to update complete work through a series of dates or if
work has not been done reschedule uncompleted work to start after a specific
date.
 Click ok to apply the update
As you may have noticed this will work on specific selected tasks as well as the
whole project
120

Use The Tracking Gantt

If you have set a baseline for your project, you can see how tasks progress over time and
see whether their start and finish dates are slipping. You can track progress by
comparing baseline and scheduled or actual start and finish dates the TRACKING GANTT
view displays two task bars, one on top of the other, for each task. The lower bar shows
baseline start and finish dates, and the upper bar shows scheduled start and finish dates
so that you can see the difference between your plan and the current schedule. In
addition, on the GANTT CHART TOOLSFORMAT tab you can click BASELINE to display the chart
baselines.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-135: THE TRACKING GANTT
 To Use The Tracking Gantt
Mouse
 On the TASK tab, click the arrow on GANTT CHART, then select TRACKING GANTT.
 In the DATA group on the VIEW tab, click the arrow on TABLES, and then select
VARIANCE.
121

FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-136: THE VARIANCE TABLE
If the variance fields are not visible, adjust the view splitter for the Table/Ganttor
press TAB to move through the fields to display them.
Slippage
You can also see whether the start and finish dates for task assignments are slipping,
using the SLIPPING ASSIGNMENTS filter. This filter shows resources that are assigned to
tasks that are not yet complete and that have been delayed from the finish date of the
baseline. To use this filter, you must have saved a baseline plan.
 To Show Slippage
Mouse
 On the VIEW tab, click RESOURCE USAGE.
 In the DATA group, in the FILTER list, select MORE FILTERS.
 In the MORE FILTERS list, next to FILTERS, select Resources.
122

 In the list click SLIPPING ASSIGNMENTS.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-137: SLIPPING ASSIGNMENTS FILTER
 If you want to show only those assignments that are slipping, click APPLY.
Or
 If you want to show all assignments with a coloured highlight on the slipping
assignments, click HIGHLIGHT.
Finding Slack
The amount of slacking your schedule tells you how much you can delay tasks before
other tasks or the project end date is affected.
 To Find Slack
Mouse
 On the VIEW tab, in the TASK VIEWS group, click the arrow on GANTT CHART, select
MORE VIEWS.
 The MORE VIEWS dialog appears. In the VIEWS LIST, click DETAIL GANTT, and then click
APPLY.
 In the chart portion of the view, slack appears as thin bars to the right of tasks,
with slack values adjoining the regular Gantt bars.
 On the VIEW tab, in the DATA group, click the arrow on TABLES, and then click
SCHEDULE.
 Press TAB to move to the FREE SLACK and TOTAL SLACK fields if they are not visible or
resize the Gantt/ sheet to show more of the sheet in the sheet portion of the
view.
123

FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-138: DETAIL GANTT SHOWING SLACK
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-139: SCHEDULE TABLE SHOWING FREE SLACK
124

Examining the Cost Factor

When all the tasks and their associated resources have been entered, it is possible to
view the calculated costs of the project and there are several views that can be used.
The first view is the Task Sheet together with the Cost Table (VIEW, TABLE, COST).
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-140: COST TABLE
This view will list all the tasks as originally entered and the associated columns will
contain the cost data in terms of the Planned (baseline) cost, the Actual cost and how
much has been used so far.
This table is very useful in identifying those tasks that are causing the greatest pressure
on the total cost of the project.
125

Project 2010 Introduction Print (backstage)
Print (backstage)
All print options have now been put in one location to make it easier to handle printing
within Project 2010. To access the entire tools visit the FILE tab (backstage view) PRINT
option.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-141: PRINT OPTIONS (BACKSTAGE)
Page Setup
Before printing it is advisable to check the Page Setup which is in the middle of the
screen of the print options as a link.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-142: PAGE SETUP DIALOG

126

In the dialog box the following tabs can be selected: -
Page: Choose orientation and scaling.
Margins: Set the margins and borders.
Header: This box can hold a Header that will be printed on every page.
Footer This box can hold the footer for every page.
Legend: This is for printing Gantt and Network Diagram views only
View: Choose number of columns of task form etc. if appropriate.
In the Header, Footer, and Legend, buttons are available to enter specific information.
For example the following are available:
These include date, time, page number and number of pages.
The PAGE SIZE is available under the PRINTER,SETUP option.
 To Check The Settings For The Gantt Chart
Mouse
 Ensure you are viewing the Gantt Chart.
 Pull down the FILE Tab (Backstage).
 Go to PRINT
 Select PAGE SETUP.
 Select LANDSCAPE in the Page box.
 Check the other settings and change any that are not correct.
 Click ok to close the dialog the Print Preview shows to the right of the backstage
window.
127

Using the preview window

Use this to check the document will print correctly,
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-143: PREVIEW TOOL BUTTONS
 To use the preview

Mouse
 Click on the image to zoom closer to a desired part of the document click again to
Zoom out
 In the bottom right corner beneath the preview are buttons for manipulating the
preview.
 The last three buttons are for viewing the preview as actual size, default preview
size (whole page) or multiple pages.
 The other four arrow buttons are to enable you to scroll around the zoomed
screen.
128

Other Print options
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-144: THE PRINT OPTIONS
Before printing you may wish to set some other options available
 To change settings
Mouse
 In the PRINT section choose the number of copies you wish to print
 In the PRINTERsection choose the printer you wish to print to.
 The PRINTER PROPERTIES link opens the dialog to the printer to allow specific printer settings to be
adjusted not discussed here
 In the SETTINGS section choose a date range that you may wish to print
Or
 In the SETTINGS section choose a page range you would like to print
 When clicking the button that says PRINT ENTIRE PROJECT a menu appears offering
even more print range options.
129

FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-145: PRINT RANGE OPTIONS
 After making a selection here ensure the page or date range has been set.
 The bottom three options are check boxes and allows the printing (or non-
printing) of aspects of your project.
 When all options have been set and the preview looks as you wish it to click the
Print button to send your project to the printer.
If the PAGE SETUP has been completed for the views that are to be printed then it is only
necessary to bring the required view on to the screen and select the print command.
The settings in PAGE SETUP will align all the necessary settings for the printer and then
print the view in as many pages as it takes.
130

Project 2010 Introduction Reports
Reports
Reports Setup
MICROSOFT PROJECT has a number of pre-defined reports based on six principal types
which can be used directly, changed as required. Alternatively, completely new reports
can be created. The system is picture driven and simple to use.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-146:REPORTS DIALOG
 To access reports
Mouse
 Projectreports are accessed from the PROJECT tab, REPORTScommand.
 A dialog box appears in which the following type of report can be chosen:
Overview: Summarizes the most significant project information, including
numbers of tasks and resources, task and schedule status, costs,
start and finish dates, and so on.
Current Activities: Displays information about top-level tasks for the entire project.
Includes summary tasks and task notes.
Costs: Shows critical tasks for the entire project. Includes summary and
successor tasks and task notes.
Assignments: Shows project milestones. Includes summary tasks and task

notes.
Workload: Shows working and nonworking times for resources for the
entire project duration.
Custom: Use an existing report to create a new one.
131

 After selecting one of the above you then choose SELECT and a second box will
appear that will have a number of pre-defined options depending on the base of
the report.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-147: THE OVERVIEW SELECTION
 Select a subtype from the offered reports and click the SELECT button the report
will open in preview in BACKSTAGE view to make further printing options.
 Once the options have been set click PRINT to print your report.
FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-148: REPORT PREVIEW
132

 To Check The Reports Available
Mouse
 Select PROJECT tab, REPORTS from the ribbon.
 Select one of the reports group types and press the SELECT button.
 Check one of the default reports subtypes and press the SELECT button. A preview
is shown.
ReportsByReport Type
To Print Use
The number of tasks and resources, the project Project Summary report
cost, the total amount of work, and the project (Overview reports)
start and finish dates.
A list of the highest-level summary tasks Top-Level Tasks report

showing the scheduled start and finish dates, (Overview reports)
the percentage completed the cost, and the
work.
A list of milestone tasks sorted by start date. Milestones report

(Overview reports)
Working and non-working time in your Working Days report

schedule. (Overview reports)
A list of critical tasks showing the scheduled Critical Tasks report

start and finish dates and the predecessors and
(Overview reports).
successors of each task.
Costing
To Print Use
The cost of each task per week, along with the Weekly Cash Flow report
total cost of all tasks per week and the total
(Cost reports).
cost of each task.
A list of resources whose costs are going to Over budget Resources report
exceed the baseline cost. (Cost reports).
A list of tasks showing whether you are ahead Earned Value report
of or behind schedule as compared with the (Cost reports).
actual costs incurred.
A list of tasks showing the budgeted cost of Budget report 133

To Print Use
each task and the variance between budgeted (Cost reports).
costs and current costs.
A list of tasks whose costs are going to exceed Over budget Tasks report
the baseline cost. (Cost reports).
Gantt
To Print Use
A list of project phases (summary tasks) and Gantt Chart view,Entry table,
durations and a Gantt bar chart showing andSummary tasks filter
summary tasks.
A list of tasks and durations and a Gantt bar Gantt Chart view,Entry table,
chart showing tasks, durations, task andAll Tasks filter.
relationships, and assigned resources.
A list of tasks showing the actual start and finish Gantt Chart view,Tracking table,
dates, the percentage of each task completed, andAll Tasks filter.
and the actual and remaining task durations.
Calendar
To Print Use
Scheduled tasks in a calendar format. Calendar view andAll Tasks filter.
Tasks
A list of tasks showing start and finish dates and Task Sheet view,Entry table,
assigned resources. andAll Tasks filter.
A flow chart, or network diagram, showing all Network Diagram Chart view.
tasks and task relationships.
Resource Graph
A graph showing cumulative cost per resource Resource Graph view with
over the life of the project. Cumulative Cost chosen from
Details submenu on Format
menu.
134

Resource/Task
To Print Use
A list of resources showing the tasks to which Resource report

each resource is assigned and the amount of
(Assignment reports).
work assigned to each resource per week.
A list of resources showing their assigned tasks, Who Does What report
the work scheduled for each task, the start and (Assignment reports).
finish dates, and additional
resourceinformation.
A list of resources showing their assigned tasks Who Does What report
and the daily work scheduled for each task. (Assignment reports).
A resource's tasks, broken down by week. Weekly To-Do List report

(Assignment reports).
A list of over allocated resources and the tasks Over allocated Resources report
to which they are assigned. (Assignment reports).
Work
To Print Use
A list showing detailed work information for Resource Sheet view,

each resource. Work Table, and
All Resources filter.
Resource Usage
To Print Use
A list showing resource use over time, along Resource Usage view,Summary
with the cost, the work, and the pay rate of table, andAll Resources filter.
each resource.
A graph showing the amount of work assigned Resource Graph view and
to each resource over time. All Resources filter.
Resource Costs
To Print Use
A summary of resource costs. Resource Sheet view,Cost table 135

andAll Resources filter.

Task Usage
To Print Use
A list of tasks showing assigned resources and Task Usage report

the amount of work assigned to each resource (Workload reports).
per week.
Cost information broken down by task and Crosstab report with tasks
resource over time. selected under Row, Cost selected
under Column, and With
Resource Assignments selected in
Crosstab Report dialog box.
A list of planned and actual resource costs. Resource sheet view andCost
table.
Tasks
To Print Use
A list of tasks that are currently in progress Tasks In Progress report

showing the months in which each task occurs. (Current Activity reports).
A list of tasks starting within a time period that Tasks Starting Soon report
you specify. (Current Activity reports).
A list of tasks that haven't started. Unstarted Tasks report

(Current Activity reports).
A list of tasks that should have started by the Should Have Started Tasks report
date you specify. (Current Activity reports).
A list of the tasks that have been rescheduled to Slipping Tasks report
occur after their baseline start dates. (Current Activity reports).
A list of completed tasks showing the months in Completed Tasks report

which each task occurred (Current Activity reports).
A list of tasks showing the scheduled start and Task Sheet view,Variance table,
finish dates, the baseline start and finish dates, andAll Tasks filter.
and the difference between scheduled and
baseline dates.
A list of completed tasks. Task Sheet view,Entry table,

andCompleted Tasks filter.
136

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Planning & Scheduling using

Microsoft Project 2010

BLANK PROJECT ........................................................................................ 21

THE STAGES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT............................................................................... 44

VIEWING THE TIMELINE.............................................................................. 99

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Theory of Project Management

Understanding Project Management

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Microsoft Project Language

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Actual Usage A measure of the resource expended in completing or partially

Earned Value This is a measure of a project’s performance, and is calculated by

Gantt chart A graphical representation of a project schedule showing each task

Loading A measurement of resource usage on a task per unit of time.

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available in your project management application and what’s

Loading(fixed) When using fixed-loading algorithms, you specify the actual

Loading(front) Front loading systems will attempt to allocate resources as early in

Milestone A project event that represents a checkpoint, a major

OBS codes Organisational Breakdown Structure codes are used to identify

Predecessor In dependency relationships, the predecessor is the task that must

Project Best defined as a body of knowledge, a set of principles, or

Resource Any person, group of people, item or equipment, service or

Resource Levelling The process of resolving resource conflicts. Most project

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available. Both individual tasks and entire projects can be

Sub-project A group of activities which are treated as a single task in a master

Successor In a dependency relationship between two tasks, the successor is

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How To Use This Guide

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The Project Screen

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Project Window Components

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 To Activate A Button On The Ribbon

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FIGURE ERROR! NO TEXT OF SPECIFIED STYLE IN DOCUMENT.-4: A DIALOG BOX

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Quick Access Toolbar

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Using the Quick Access Toolbar

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About The Default Buttons

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 To Add This Command To The Quick Access

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