TIP SHEET FOR MS PROJECT

Transcription

1 TIP SHEET FOR MS PROJECT Table of Contents PART ONE MS PROJECT BASICS 1. Downloading MS Project on school computers 2. Navigation in MS Project 3. Different views in MS Project 4. Need help with MS Project? PART TWO GETTING STARTED 1. Creating a new project 2. Saving a project 3. Creating Tasks 4. To print a Gantt Chart The following Tip Sheet provides a basic how-to on MS project. For more information please visit MS Project and use the help button. PART ONE: MS PROJECT BASICS 1. Downloading MS Project on school computers To download MS Project from the school computers. Please select: Start Netwerkapplicaties Beroepsapplicaties MS Project (you can select NL or UK versions)

2 2. Navigation in MS Project After creating a new project, the default Microsoft Project 2007 screen will look like the below picture. You will note that Microsoft Project has a Windows-style menu system with a typical Windows look-and-feel. You will also note the following: The project name is displayed after Microsoft Project at the top of the left-hand side of the screen. The drop-down menus are just below the project name. The toolbars are displayed below the menu.

3 The left-hand side of the line underneath the toolbars is the Entry Bar and Edit Box. Any editable data may be edited in the Edit Box or directly in the field. The and icons are displayed on the left of the Edit Box only when performing editing, and may be used for accepting and not accepting data changes that are made from within the edit box. The main display has the Bar Chart or Gantt Chart on the right-hand side, with the Timescale above, and the Data Columns on the left-hand side with their column titles above them. The divider between the two areas may be dragged from side to side by holding down the left mouse button. The View Bar displays the same options as the View menu and is located on the far left of the screen. This may be hidden or displayed by: o Selecting View, View Bar, or o Holding the mouse pointer over the View Bar, right-clicking to display a menu, and selecting View Bar. The horizontal Scroll Bars are at the bottom of the screen and the Status Bar is below the Scroll Bars. The vertical Scroll Bar is at the right-hand side of the screen. 3. Different views in MS Project There are many views in MS Project. Gantt Chart is the best (it is also the default). To change views, go to the View menu.

4 4. Need help with MS Project? To turn on the MS Project guideline, select this from the view toolbar.

5 PART TWO: GETTING STARTED 1. Creating a new project 1. Click New. TIP You can also create a new project by clicking New on the File menu. In the task pane, under New, click Blank Project. 2. On the Project menu, click Project Information. 3. Type in the start date in the Start date box. 4. Press Ok 2. Saving a project 1. On the File menu, click Save as. 2. Choose your location and file name, then click Save. 3. Creating Tasks To manage a project, you should create tasks which break the project work down into smaller pieces. To define your tasks most effectively, take into account the following guidelines: Break down tasks to the level of detail that you want to track. You should break them down in greater detail for riskier areas. Make sure that tasks have clear criteria for completion. Define the tasks that are short compared with the overall project duration. Shorter tasks allow you to more easily estimate time and resources. Avoid defining such things as vacation or training as tasks. To create a task, you need to do the following: 1. Enter the task To Enter a Task: Type the task s name in the Task Name column and press <Enter>. 2. Set the Duration Firstly please first ensure you have set your start date on Project Information - never insert a start and finish date for a task unless they MUST start on those dates. Otherwise, it upsets the macros of MS Project.

6 To Enter a Duration type a number + one of the codes below (eg 1d for one day or 3mo for 3 months) in the Duration column and press <Enter>. m =minutes; h = hours; d = days; w = weeks; mo = months 0 = milestone To Create a Milestone: Enter 0 (zero) in the Duration column. Or, click the Task Information button and select the Advanced tab, click the Mark task as Milestone check box and click OK. 3. Start/Finish Dates? Do not enter a start/finish date unless the task MUST start on that date and it can not be changed. To start the project on a certain date, please ensure you have set your start date on Project Information (see step 1). From there the way to manage tasks is to create dependencies etc between tasks. 4. Assign dependencies known as Predecessors Double click on each task and select the tab predecessors From there, type in the ID (the number) of the task that precedes (goes before) the task you are editing. Type in any lag time (ie any gap between when the previous tasks ends and this one starts).

7 5. Group/Organise Tasks To organise tasks, you can put a summary heading as a task. Then you need to indent the subtasks. The summary heading will then add up all the days under this heading. Just select the task and press the indent button. 4. To print a Gantt Chart First, ensure that you go to File/page setup and specify how wide and how tall the page should be.

8 5. To print a product flow diagram Select View / Network diagram. 6. To print a product breakdown structure Select View / More views / Relationship diagram.