Forth Session

Build a task list

:We will cover these skills
• Create tasks
• Enter task durations and dates
• Enter milestone tasks
• Create summary tasks to outline the plan
• Link tasks to create dependencies
• Switch task scheduling from manual to
automatic
• Check a plan’s duration and finish date
• Document task information
 4.1.
4.1. Create
Create tasks
tasks
 Tasks represent the work to be done to accomplish the goals of
the project. Tasks describe work in terms of:
• dependencies,
• duration,
• and resource requirements.
 In Project 2019, there are several kinds of tasks. These include:
• summary tasks,
• subtasks,
• and milestones.
 More broadly, what are called tasks in Project are sometimes
more generally called activities or work packages.
 Every task in Project has one of two scheduling modes that
controls how the task is scheduled:
• manual (the default)
• or automatically scheduled.
 To enter task names

1. Click an empty cell in

the Task Name column

2. Enter your task

names, and then press
the Enter key after each
one
 To insert a new task within a task list

2. On the Task tab, in

the Insert group, click
Task

4. With <New Task>

1. Click in the Task 3. Project inserts a row for a selected, enter the task
Name column where new task and renumbers the name, and then press
you want to insert the subsequent tasks. Project
new task
Enter
names the new task <New
Task>
To delete a task

Right-click the task name, and

then click Delete Task
 4.2.
4.2. Enter
Enter task
task durations
durations and
and dates
dates

 A task’s duration represents the amount of time you expect it

will take to complete the task.
 Project can work with task durations that range from minutes to
months.
 Project uses standard values for minutes and hours for
durations: 1 minute equals 60 seconds, and 1 hour equals 60
minutes.
 ESTIMATING
ESTIMATING DURATIONS
DURATIONS (1/2)
(1/2)
Activity (or Task) duration estimating involves assessing the work time likely to be
needed to complete each identified activity

Work Effort – Work effort is fully productive and uninterrupted resource time
required to complete an activity

Work Time (Duration): Work time is the business time required to complete
an activity. This does not include weekends, holidays, or other non-work time,
but includes provision for any anticipated interruptions

Calendar Time: Calendar time is the total time required to complete an

activity considering the work as well as non-work periods, and including
provision for any anticipated interruptions
 ESTIMATING
ESTIMATING DURATIONS
DURATIONS (2/2)
(2/2)
HOW TO CALCULATE THE DURATION OF AN ACTIVITY (Task)?
1. Estimating the quantity of work

2. Assessing the employment of resources

3. Deciding the labor and equipment productivity

4. Estimating the activity duration

Activity Duration = Quantity of work .

No. of resources team x Productivity of a
team
5. Making duration adjustments for any
anticipated or unanticipated contingency
6. Rounding up the duration to nearest upper value
 To enter task duration

1. Click a cell in 2. Enter a

the Duration duration value
column for a task

Project initially sets all new tasks that have a duration value to start at the
project start date. This is true whether the tasks are manually or
automatically scheduled
 4.3.
4.3. Enter
Enter milestone
milestone tasks
tasks

 Milestones are significant events that are either reached within

the plan (such as the completion of a phase of work) or imposed
upon the plan (such as a deadline by which to apply for
funding).
 Because the milestone itself doesn’t normally include any work,
milestones are normally represented as tasks with zero
duration.
 To visually distinguish milestones, their Gantt chart symbol
appears as a diamond rather than a bar.
 To enter a milestone task

2. On the Task
tab, in the
Insert group,
click
Milestone

1. In the Task Name 3. Project inserts a new row for the

column, click where new task and renumbers subsequent
you want to insert the tasks. Project names the new task
milestone <New Milestone> and gives it a
zero-day duration
 4.4.
4.4. Create
Create summary
summary tasks
tasks to
to outline
outline the
the plan
plan
To promote a task to a summary task

2. On the Task tab,

in the Schedule
group, click the
Indent Task button

1. Select the
tasks directly
below the task
that you want to
make a summary
task
 To insert a new summary task within a task list

2. On the Task
tab, in the
Insert group,
click Summary

1. Select the name

of the tasks that 3. With <New Summary
will become Task> selected, enter the
subtasks summary task name
 To demote a summary task to a task

2. On the Task tab,

1. Select all in the Schedule
subtasks below the group, click the
summary task Outdent Task
button
4.5.
4.5. Link
Link tasks
tasks to
to create
create dependencies
dependencies
 To link tasks (1/3)

2. On the Task tab,

in the Schedule
group, click the
Link the Selected
Tasks button

1. Select the names

of the tasks you
want to link. If the
tasks are not
adjacent, select the
first task, hold down
the Ctrl key, and
then select the
additional task or
tasks
3. Project links the
tasks with a finish-
to-start relationship
 To link tasks (2/3)

2. When the
pointer is over the
successor task bar,
release the mouse
button

1. In the chart portion of a

Gantt chart view, point to the
predecessor task bar and then
drag down to the task bar for
the successor task
 To link tasks (3/3)

2. On the Task tab,

in the Properties
group, click the
Information button

1. Select the task for which 3. On the Predecessors tab of the Task
you want to specify a Information dialog box, enter the ID value
predecessor task or multiple or select or enter the task name of the
predecessor tasks predecessor task you want, and then click
OK
 To unlink tasks

2. On the Task tab,

in the Schedule
group, click the
Unlink Tasks
button
1. Select the tasks you
want to unlink
To force a manually scheduled task to respect its
predecessor task’s scheduling result

1. Select the manually

scheduled task you want
to be rescheduled as 2. On the Task tab,
determined by its in the Schedule
predecessor task group, click the
relationships Respect Links
button
4.6.
4.6. Switch
Switch task
task scheduling
scheduling from
from manual
manual to
to automatic
automatic
 In Project, you control the scheduling of tasks in two different
ways:
• Work with manually scheduled tasks to quickly capture some
details but without scheduling the tasks.
• Work with automatically scheduled tasks to take full advantage
of the powerful scheduling engine in Project.
 To switch a single task from manual to automatic task scheduling

1. Select the manually

scheduled task you
want to change

2. Click in the
Task Mode field
of the selected 3. In the list that
task, and then click appears, click
the arrow that Auto Scheduled
appears
To switch several tasks from manual to automatic task scheduling

1. Select the manually

scheduled tasks you want
to change

2. On the Task tab,

in the Tasks group,
click the Auto
Schedule button
To switch the currently open plan from manual to automatic task scheduling

On the Task tab, in the

Tasks group, click the
Mode button, and then
click Auto
Schedule

2. Click the
scheduling mode
you want

Or 1. Click the New

Tasks status bar text
To change the default scheduling mode that Project applies to all new plans

1. click File
tab
4. In the
Scheduling
Options For
This Project
box, click All
3. and then in the
New Projects
Project Options dialog
box, click
the Schedule tab

5. and then
in the New Tasks
Created box,
2. click click Auto
Options Scheduled

6. Click OK
 4.7.
4.7. Check
Check aa plan’s
plan’s duration
duration and
and finish
finish date
date

 Some handy ways to view the plan’s duration and scheduled

start and finish dates include:
• the Timeline view,
• the project summary task,
• and the Project Statistics dialog box.

To check a plan’s finish date in the Timeline

In the Timeline view above the Gantt Chart view, note the plan’s current start and
finish dates
To check a plan’s duration, finish date, and more in the Statistics dialog box

1. On the Project
tab, in the
Properties group,
click the Project
Information button

3. Check key
indicators of the
plan in the
Project Statistics
2. In the Project dialog box
Information dialog
box, click Statistics
To display the project summary task

1. Click
anywhere in a
2. On the Format
Gantt chart view
tab, in the
Show/Hide group,
select the Project
Summary Task

3. Project
displays the
project summary
task at the top of
the Gantt Chart
view with an
ID of 0
 4.8.
4.8. Document
Document task
task information
information
 You can record additional information about a task in a note.
 There are three types of notes:
• task notes,
• resource notes,
• and assignment notes
 Notes appear in a ScreenTip when there’s a note icon in the
Indicators column.

 For notes that are too long to appear in a ScreenTip, you can
double-click the note icon to display the full text of the note.
 To add a note to a task

1. Select the name of 2. On the Task tab, in

the task to which you the Properties group,
want to add a note click the Notes button

3. In the Notes
box, enter the
note text you
want, and then
click OK

Or
Right-click the
task name, and
then click Notes
 To add a hyperlink to a task

2. In the Text to display

box, enter the link text
you want to display

3. In the Address box,

enter the URL of the 4. Click OK
1. Right-click the task name, and
then click Hyperlink to open the destination address you
Insert Hyperlink dialog box want to link to
To quickly remove notes, hyperlinks, or formatting from selected tasks

1. On the Task tab, in the

Editing group, click the Clear
button

2. and then select the

command you want