Setting up and using MS Project

Using this Guide

Section 1 How does MS Project Work

Section 2 Setting Up for a project
Section 3 Tasks and Relationships
Section 4 Constraints
Section 5 Resources
Section 6 Levelling
Section 7 Tracking
Section 8 Costs
 provide a quick reference to common tasks

provide Best practises in using the tool

vast amount of functionality in MS project and the aim is to give a

glimpse of the features that will add value to the PMs planning and
project process.

The main objective is to ensure that PMs know that

MS project is a tool that provides the answer to some questions,

It does not set the questions or run the project
If used properly can dramatically improve the speed and clarity of the
project planning process.
.
How does MS Project Work
MS Project

It is a scheduling tool that adds up and subtracts

It provides a graphical display of project data

It allows rapid planning and What Ifs

It follows rules that is set

It stores all the data to plan, record, and track project

Working

MS Project is a calculator..

Earliest Duration Earliest

Start Time FinishTime

ActivityDescription

Latest Start Slack Latest Finish

Time Time

It calculates every task using these formulae below

Early Start + Duration = Early Finish
Early Finish Latest Finish = Slack
Latest Finish Duration = Latest Start

Forward pass Scheduling

0 7 7 7 10 17 17 1 18

Design Apollo Build Apollo Launch Apollo

Late Late Late
Late Start Slack Late Start Slack Late Start Slack
Finish Finish Finish

7 6 13

Train Astronuts
Late
Late Start Slack
Finish
Backward Pass Scheduling or Just in Time
Now MS Project starts from the end and works backwards

0 7 7 7 10 17 17 1 18

Design Apollo Build Apollo Launch Apollo

0 0 7 7 0 17 17 0 18

7 6 13 Latest start for

Train Astronuts launch is carried
11 4 17
back to the
Tasks with Zero Slack are said predecessors
to be Critical and form the
Critical Path.MS project Tasks with Slack are said to
adds and subtracts up the be Non Critical MS project
numbers and displays the displays non Critical Tasks in
Critical path in RED BLUE
So What?.

0 7 7 7 10 17 18 1 19

Design Apollo Build Apollo Launch Apollo

0 0 7 8 1 18 18 0 19

7 11 18

Train Astronuts

7 0 18

Changing just one duration..Train Astronauts causes all the yellow boxes to
be recalculate
In fact MS Project calculates the whole plan again from start to finish and back
again.
Build Apollo is no longer on the Critical Path but Train Astronauts is

MS Project has told something significant.the Critical path has changed , now
we have to take the next step
Setting up and using MS Project
 Starting a new Project File

Three basic steps to ensure

Step 1 Set the Scheduling Rules

Step 2 Create the Project Calendar

Step 3 Set the Project Information

Setup Step 1 Go to ToolsOptionsSchedule

Change default task type to

Fixed DurationThis will stop
duration being changed if you
add more resource
Un-Check New tasks are
Change work entry
effort driven.this stops the
to whatever you
duration changing if you add
normally
more resource usemost people
use Days, but you
Why..MS Project uses can use whatever
suits you
Work=Duration x Units (of
resource)
If you fix duration then adding
resource does not change the
plan
The Majority of tasks are NOT
resource or effort drivena
meeting does not get shorter if
you have more people
attend.Driving from Paris to
Monte Carlo does not get
shorter if you have two drivers

Of course some tasks may be truly effort driven but you can change those on a task by task basis later.. But
be carefuldoubling the effort does not always halve the time taken
Setup Step 2 Go to ToolsChange Working
Time
This Changes
selected days to
Create a New Calendar based on the Non Working
Standardand give it a name
Edit the Calendar to reflect your working
days and Holidays

Why..MS project uses the Calendar to

schedule..the standard calendar applies
to all projects without their own
calendar.what may be good for this
project may not be for others..also when
combining projects differences in working
time between Standard Calendars
created on different machines can cause
strange conflicts

Do NOT adjust the hours of work unless

you are very experienced especially after
the start of your projectit will recalculate
all the durationsMost people only
schedule in days or parts of days it gets
very complicated if you start scheduling in
hours and whos going to track it?
working hours do not generally affect
the project..but they do affect People in
it so more about that when we talk
about resources

Do NOT select Day titles when setting non

working timeunless you intend not
working Mondays for eternity.nice
thought but your manager may not like it
You can create as many Calendars as you wish for different
Countries or working practices to use later with individual tasks
Setup Step 3 Go to ProjectProject Information

Current Date should

Set the project Start date and set the
only be changed for
scheduling method.From Start date is the
What If Modellingso
norm.From Finish date makes it Just in
leave it alone.
Time.Backward scheduled also known as
Just Too Late because there is no room for
errors.
Most Important
select the Calendar
you created in Step 2
as your project
calendar.All tasks
will now use that
calendar for scheduling
You can select
different Calendars to
schedule specific tasks
on an individual
basisTasks
performed in different
countries for example
Setup Complete

Congratulations you can

now start entering Tasks and
Resources..

Although not required to start

you can also set a few more
options..

Currency
Elect to show the project Summary
task (recommended)
Show Outline number.. WBS code

Take some time looking at the

other options Tabs
Tasks and Relationships
Creating Tasks

Enter the Name of the task and its Duration

Duration can be entered as h hours, d- days, w- weeks and mo- months
Duration can be planned or elapsed d ed, w ew
Planned Duration takes into account the project Calendar
Elapsed Duration takes no account of the project Calendar and is 24/7
Use Elapsed duration for third party tasks where you have no control on their
working practices or hours.Recruit staff via agency duration 3 weeks
should be elapsed because the agency does not work to our calendar
A question mark against duration means it is an estimate

Look at the two tasks below and spot the differenceone is displayed across
Sat and Sun because those days are non working
ID
Task
Dura
Star N
19
2602
M
0
W
TF
S
S
M
TW
T
F
SS
M
T
W
TF
S
S
M
11 2
Insta
Fri
da 3

ID
Task
Dura
Star N
19
2602
M
0
WT
F
S
S
MT
W
T
FS
S
M
T
WT
F
S
S
M
11 2
Insta
Fri
ed 3
 You can embed objects
such as Docs, xls, ppt files
Task Information in Notes

Double click on a task to get

Task Info
You can change the task type to
be effort driven if it really is
You can Assign a calendar to the
task.note default is
None.that means it uses the
project calendar by default
If you assign one then a calendar
icon will appear in the Info
column
A task deadline can be assigned
but this is NOT a constraint and
does not lock the schedulebut WarningWBS Code can be changed
Project will report when its manually but once it has been MS
missed project will not update it again
More Task Information in Tables

There are over 200 fields to use about each

taskThe good news is you dont have to use
them all!
Data is arranged in Tablesthe default is the
Entry Tableeach table displays different
Information sets
Select More Tables to get a bigger list
You can also create you own tables and
customise fields to store data Specific to your
Project

The Organiser allows you to

reuse table structures you
have created in other
Project Files
Creating your own tables Shows Table
in main menu

You can put

whatever fields you
like in a table best
to copy an existing
one and give it a
new name
There are 30 text
fields for User
definition.Select
the Text Field and
enter a Title such
as Department
that is relevant to
the data you are
going to store

You can define,

Date, Flag(Y/N),
Number, Cost, Text,
Start and Finish, Durations and Start and Think how you can
Outline Numbers, Finish fields are used for enhance your project by
Durations, to name What If modelling and storing really useful
a few scenario building
information with every
task
Creating Relationships (Dependencies)

There are four types of Relationships between Tasks

Start to Finish SF Task Finishes when predecessor Starts
Finish to Start FS - 99% of tasks are related this way, Starts when
predecessor Finishes
Start to Start SS Starts at the same time as predecessor
Finish to Finish FF Finishes at the same time as predecessor

FS E SS
A

B F

SF C FF G
D H
Lead and Lag times

A lead time is where you wish tasks to overlapExample.Task A manufacture 1000 tins
of baked beans..Task B. put labels on tins You would want to start putting labels on
after say 50% of the tins had been made you would therefore apply a 50% lead time
between A and B
A lag time is a pause after the finish of one task before beginning the next..Task C Order
PC.wait for delivery 10 days.Task D. PC DeliveredTask D will have a 10d lag
Lags and leads can be expressed as duration or as a % of the Predecessor

To set a lead or lag timedouble click on the link between two tasks on the Gantt Chart and
enter a value in the lag box..
A minus -2 lag = a
lead or enter a - %

A
C
B 10d lag
50% Lead
D
To Create a Relationship (Link) in MS
Project
Highlight the two task names and select
Link Iconif the Tasks are not next to
each otheruse the CTRL key to select
them.
Always start with the uppermost task

Alternately place the mouse in the

centre of a task on the Gantt Chart and
drag downwardsa link icon appears
and you can drop it on the task to be
linked..

AlternatelyOpen the Task information

box and select the name of the task to
link in the Predecessors Tab

Break Links using the Break Link button

or double click on the link in the Gantt
chartand chooseDelete
Relationship problems?..

If you get this message like this when

you create a relationship.its not an
error..It just says that there is not
enough time to complete the tasks
and preserve the relationship.

So What.well if you choose to

continuewhich you should.you
have to resort to brain power to
resolve the conflict

Shorten the tasksallow the

successor task to moveAdd more
resource Work longer hoursWork
harder! Its up to YOU..Project has
done its 25%. It told you that there
is a problem that requires your
action now its your 75%
reasoning that counts
Creating Summary tasks

Summary Tasks Roll up Durations and Costs and are useful for defining levels of
your WBS
Create a Summary task by Demoting the tasks underneath it using the Indent
and Outdent buttons on the Tool bar
Show the Outline Number to see WBS Code
You can go down 5 levels to the Work Package.If you need more then
perhaps your plan is too complex.Remember do not include detail that you
cannot influenceClean Room.. Instead of. collect Brush, sweep from left
to right, put broom away, examine floor for specks of dust.thats over
planning. let the cleaner make their own plan!
It is not good practise to Link Summary tasks together.link the individual
tasks.. if necessary create and link milestones at the Start and end of each
summary task
Milestones

Milestones are tasks with no duration

Enter the task as normal and set duration to Zero
Milestone tasks may physically take up time. such as a contract
signing which has taken 4 hours. but it is symbolic and still has zero
duration for the purposes of the schedule
If a tasks completion is the milestone then enter a task and a separate
milestone to get the right meaning
If you are planning correctly.you will find that many of your tasks are in
some way linked to milestones..If they are not.perhaps another look
at the plan..
Displaying the Critical pathand more
Use The Gantt Chart Wizard on the formatting toolbar to display the critical path
Select Show Critical Path when asked and then follow the wizard
MS project will display the Critical Tasks in Red and Non Critical in Blue
You may also like to display Slack for non Critical tasksTry
this..FormatBar styles

Enter a new rowcall it

Slackappearance
underline.Normal,noncriticalfro
m Early start to late finishif in
doubt copy the screenshot. You get
this. I call it the Slack Gantt

The window of opportunity for

the task is displayed

The task can be completed any time. along the blue line
Constraints
Constraints

Constraints allow you to specify a No later than, No Earlier than, or do at a

specific time
Constraints in general are badly used only apply constraints sparingly. Many
PMs apply constraints to every task thus locking the schedule.which turns MS
project into a wall chart producer
Each time you set a constraint MS Project has less flexibility to change the
schedule

You should set constraints after you have done. planning and what ifs. and
you have allowed MS Project to move tasksand your resource plan works..It
should be when you are ready to save your baseline for the first time
You should set Constraints for absolute events that will Not change or are
beyond your control to change
You should set constraints for tasks whose time horizon does not allow them to
be moved

Remember this is a Plan.and Plans ChangeConstraints limit Change

Setting a Constraint

Select a task and open the task

Info box
As Soon as Possible is default
As Late as Possible is for JIT
Start and Finish no Later than are
flexible forward scheduling
constraints
Start and Finish no Earlier than
are used when using backward Think through
scheduling or JIT the meaning of
Must Start and Finish on are the constraint
absolute constraints as applied to
your task
Select the most appropriate
constraint.think carefully if you
are applying what you meanand
select the constraint date
Messages you get when setting a
Constraint
Cancel if you pressed the wrong
button!
This is the opposite of what you mean
to doso dont choose it
This is what you intenda constraint
will be setbut it may cause a
conflict.
I didn't mean it Option
Continueyes please..

So Whatthis is not an error. it

is project telling you that you now have
to take some actionIts done its
25%..Now its your 75% reasoning
that counts
Resolving a Conflict

MS Project tells you about a conflict, to quantify how big the problem is.go to
the View menuTablesSchedule
The schedule table shows you the total slack for the project and the task that
you have set the constraint on..in this case you have to find 1 day to correct the
schedule
What to doShorten any task on the critical path (re-evaluation).work longer
hours or non working days..add resource to shorten the task.introduce
leads. reduce lag timesapply leadership and motivate..in fact its up to
you.whatever method you can take to shorten the critical path.crashing the
schedule by one day!
Resources
Resources People, Materials, and Places

Resources are defined in the project and assigned to tasks

A resource can be Manpower, or a materiala place is treated as a material.
Material performs no workbut may have a cost. It is assumed that only people
perform work
Consider with each resource you intend to use whether that resource will make a
task effort driven and in particular. will it be linear..A machine working at
double speed could be expected to produce double the output but doubling
the number of consultants on a task does not necessarily produce twice the
outputit depends on skills. the problem..interaction and so on..In other
words in most cases it is better to decide how long a task will take .manually

2 people in a meeting takes 1hour.6 people in a meeting is therefore 20

Mins?..I dont think so..more like 2 hours MS Project cannot resolve
logic like this!

Most tasks do not conform to being Effort Driven by resources in a linear manner
so do NOT make the mistake of letting MS project calculate the duration
 Creating Resources ..ViewResource Sheet
Create resources in the resource sheet view
Max 3 Engineers Avoid Overtime if Cost each time Calendar for
Name or available, 9990% possible until you assign this this resource
For Filtering
Appointment =unlimited experienced resource
and reporting

ID Resource Name Type Material Label Initials Group Max. Units Std. Rate Ovt. Rate Cost/Use Accrue At Base Calendar Code
1 Tech Head Work TH Engineers 300% 45.00/hr 0.00/hr 0.00 Prorated My Project A246E4
2 Air ticket Material Per Flight AT Travel 450.00 0.00 Start
3 Laptop Hire Material Per w eek Contractors 200.00 0.00 Prorated
4 Manager Work Sir Engineers 100% 75.00/hr 0.00/hr 0.00 Prorated Standard
5 3rd pty Contractor Work 3rdPty Engineers 9,990% 50.00/hr 0.00/hr 50.00 Prorated Standard
6 Bridge Toll Material BR Travel 0.00 1.00 End

Cost /h,/d,/w,/mo,/y for Where the cost falls

Work or work resources only Any Code you
during the task
Material devise or use
for a resource

Material cost is as label

This shows a call out charge
of 50 and 50 /h, note 1st
hour costs 100

More detail is available for each resource by double clicking its line
Resource Details
Use the Working time
Email address and tab to set holidays
Windows account for
group working using
project Server

Overall availability From

To
Resource Details (contd)

Resource Costs can Company

be entered and pay Rise
adjusted by time
Either enter the
exact amount or
enter a percentage
change from the last
figure
You can put in 25
different rates on
each TAB Promotion!
TABs A to E allow
different rates to be
applied to different
tasks.For example
TAB A for inter
Company Rate, TAB Rate Tables are selected in the task usage view by
B for External double clicking on the resource name against the task
Consulting rate to be charged
Assigning Resources

When Resources are assigned MS Project calculates the Work, and

costs generated by that resource(s) and applies the formula
Work=Duration x Units
Total Costs are calculated according to the rate tables Cost =Work x
rate specific Information of the resources assigned
It is assumed that a resource works evenly across the task unless you
specify otherwise

The next time you change either the Calendar, resource units, or time
based information, MS project will calculate. either a new duration,
amount of work.. or number of units
When we fixed duration and made tasks not effort driven in setting up
the project..we retained control Now adding or removing resource
will only change the amount of Work and thus the cost. The PM
then decides what affect those changes has on duration and modifies
them accordingly
Assigning Resource

Select the task or tasks in the Gantt chart and

click the resource icon
Select a resource or resources and .click
assign R/D is Requested or
Demanded and is used
You can assign resources how you like as for group working
long as it is consistent.25% = 1 engineer
of their time.200% = two engineers.or 4
engineers at timeyou decide
Material is assigned as a decimal with the
label you entered
You could even use it to suggest skillFred at
98%, John at 80% as he is less skilled..but
this is probably too advanced for first use!
If you wish to change a resource use Replace
rather than Removeit prevents recalculation
occurring
Modifying a Resource on a Task

Sometimes the situation you are trying to simulate is not represented

correctly by the standard assignment
In these cases go to.View..Task Usage. And Double click on a
resource assigned to a task

You can change the amount

of work donehere the
Manager only does 1h
although assigned at 100%
all day
You can also change the rate
table for alternate costs
Work Contouring can be
changed but avoid this until
experiencedKISS Keep it
Simple.S
Levelling Resources
There are never enough resources

With a finite pool of resource, conflicts are bound to ariseMS Project tells you
when there is a conflict by showing that a resource is over allocated..in other
words you have used the same resource on more than one task at the same
time..
Without using MS Project we know how to resolve this.Replace the resource
with another. Reschedule so that the tasks no longer overlap.. reduce the
allocation to 50% on each task.the list is endlessits just called management
MS Project can only help you with rescheduling the tasks.this is called
Resource levelling.
Resource Levelling can be Time Constrained or Resource Constrained.What
does that mean?.
Time Constrained is when you do not wish to extend the project but work with
the available slack and if necessary add or change resources to shorten the
schedule
Resource constrained is when there is No more resource available and thus the
duration of the project will have to be extended to resolve conflicts

MS Project will suggest possible solutions.it will not unravel a bad plan
Levelling Resources

Here the resource Tech head has been assigned to both Installing
the UPS and the Workstation on the same day.so there is a
conflict.
We choose first to Level resourceswithin the available slackyou
can see that both tasks have slack showing.MS project works
outs how much slack is available and Delays the start of Install
Workstation by 1 day
You can check out what has been applied.Go to
ViewTables.More tables and select the Delay Table.You can
manually change the delay or even remove it as you wishso even
if it all went horribly wrong you can simply set the delays back to
Zero

Project has moved the task along

the slack line by1 day..if you dont
agree..put it back.. by clearing the
levelling or changing the table
 Levelling Resources (contd)

Choose. Tools.Resource Levelling Over allocationsDay

by day..Week by week

Use Manual it is
easier to see what
happens Set this to your time
horizonthere is generally
no point in levelling things
six months away

Takes into account

task priorities if used

Time Constrained..only moves Clear all levelling..or

non critical tasks..uncheck it and between
project will move Critical tasks as dates.this is the
well..providing there are no Oh No Im a PMget
constraints set me out of here
button!
Leave these unchecked
until you are more
experienced!
When Levelling Messages start to appear

This is NOT a disaster..MS Project is just telling you that you master piece of
resource planning is not greatit means that within the time and constraints
currently set there is no solution that project can offer you
Back to your planyou need either more time..more resources.less
tasks..again its up to you.MS project has done its 25% and told you that you
have a problemNow you employ your 75% and figure out the
solution.modify your plan and let MS project work it out againthis time if you
resource plan is better MS project may be able to fine tune it for you

Remember..MS Project applies delays when Levelling.there is no Magic!

Tracking
Base lining

Before we can effectively track our project we must Big Tip!

baseline itThis simply records a copy of
Do a Save Asevery time
you plans.dates costs. durations and other you make major changes to
data for comparison later your plan..and put it in a safe
You can Baseline either the whole project or place in case you mess up the
selected tasks. current file..

In a long project you may not want to baseline

activity until it falls within your time horizon
Select Tools.Tracking.Save Baseline

Save all or part of the projectand if you need to

save up to interim plans that reflect changes to the
original baseline

Now save a copy of your plan in case you

accidentally save the baseline again
 The Tracking Toolbar
Basic Tracking

Task Update box

Update all tasks up to the
time line

Select a task and Mark it

0,25,50,75,100%dont bother with
63.56% who can judge exactly?

Select a task and Mark it

0,25,50,75,100%dont bother with
63.56% who can judge exactly?

These 5 boxes are interrelatedChange Today

one at a time..to show actual progress

Tasks completed to the right of the time line are Early,

Not completed to the left are Late
Tables & Views to help you track

Variance Tablegives you schedule

variance against the baselinePositive
variance is a slippageStart variance is
greater than Finish variance shows an
improvement..

Summary Table shows % complete and total

cost
Tracking Gantt shows variance against
baseline.. shown as grey bars below each
task
Costs
Cost Basics

Costs are Planned in two ways.when resources are assigned to

tasks.and as fixed costs against a task

Costs are generated as work is performed..as you mark tasks

% complete so the costs are recorded

Costs are ChargedAt the startat the endor prorated over

the duration of a task according to the resource that has been
assigned

When you save the baseline you record in effectyour budget

 Cost Table Actual cost is derived from % completebut
you can edit it once task has been 100%
completed

Planned work x resource

rates assigned..this Your Budget Not yet Spent
Cost not associated changes with your plan
with resources

Unplanned fixed cost

creates 200 over Summary tasks roll up
budget variances and totals
Task 75% completeyou
cannot edit the actual
Install Server final cost was cost....change the amount
20 over budget, adjusted of work performed and this
actual after 100% complete figure will change

Total Cost = Fixed costs + resource based costs

Cash Flow Views

In the Task usage view ..right click and show just coststhen a cash flow view is
immediately availableuse the zoom controls to zoom out to weekly, monthly or
quarterly costsSummary tasks roll up the costs..
If you want to show revenues create tasks to concur with customer payments
and enter a Negative Fixed cost for the task.