Project 2003: Advanced Instructor s Edition

Transcription

1 Project 2003: Advanced Instructor s Edition

2 ILT Series COPYRIGHT Axzo Press. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, transcribed, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution, or information storage and retrieval systems without the prior written permission of the publisher. For more information, go to Trademarks ILT Series is a trademark of Axzo Press. Some of the product names and company names used in this book have been used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective manufacturers and sellers. Disclaimer We reserve the right to revise this publication and make changes from time to time in its content without notice.

3 Contents Introduction iii Topic A: About the manual... iv Topic B: Setting student expectations... ix Topic C: Classroom setup... xiii Topic D: Support... xvi Tracking project work 1-1 Topic A: Managing a project Topic B: Updating the progress of tasks Topic C: Observing project progress Unit summary: Tracking project work Analyzing and adjusting the plan 2-1 Topic A: Analyzing the plan Topic B: Rescheduling tasks Unit summary: Analyzing and adjusting the plan Formatting and reporting 3-1 Topic A: Formatting a project file Topic B: Using drawing tools Topic C: Printing views and reports Topic D: Customizing reports Unit summary: Formatting and reporting Customizing the project environment 4-1 Topic A: Creating custom views Topic B: Creating macros Topic C: Creating a toolbar and a menu Topic D: Creating a custom table Unit summary: Customizing the project environment Managing multiple projects 5-1 Topic A: Consolidating and sharing projects Topic B: Sharing resources across projects Unit summary: Managing multiple projects Project communications 6-1 Topic A: Communicating among a project team Topic B: Exporting project data to the Web Topic C: Working with hyperlinks Topic D: Saving projects to Microsoft Project Unit summary: Project communications Exchanging project data 7-1 Topic A: Importing data Topic B: Exporting data Topic C: Copying data Unit summary: Exchanging project data

4 ii Project 2003: Advanced Course summary S-1 Topic A: Course summary... S-2 Topic B: Continued learning after class... S-4 Quick reference Q-1 Glossary G-1 Index I-1

5 1 1 Unit 1 Tracking project work Unit time: 40 minutes Complete this unit, and you ll know how to: A Save a baseline plan. B Update the percentage of tasks completed, actual start and finish dates, in-progress tasks and actual work, and save an interim plan. C Display the Earned Value table to monitor the actual and estimated costs of tasks and view task progress in Network Diagram view.

6 1 2 Project 2003: Advanced Topic A: Managing a project Explanation Managing a large project can become difficult if that project is not planned and executed well. By using Microsoft Project 2003, you can effectively organize, schedule, manage, and report on your project. Project management includes project planning, which involves activities such as identifying the project goal and objectives, identifying tasks and subtasks, scheduling tasks, and assigning resources. Once the planning is over and the project starts, you need to manage it. Managing a project involves tracking the project s progress, analyzing and adjusting the plan in case of any deviations, creating project reports, and communicating project data. The first step in managing a project is to save a baseline plan. Save a baseline plan The original project plan is referred to as the baseline plan. You save a baseline plan after you have fine-tuned the project plan but before beginning the project. The baseline plan is saved to track the progress of your project and includes information on tasks, resources, and assignments. You can monitor the status of the project at various stages by comparing the actual progress with the baseline plan. For example, you can see which tasks started earlier than planned, exceeded the project budget, or started late. Variance is the difference between the baseline plan and the actual progress of the scheduled tasks. To display the variance between the baseline plan and the actual and finish dates of tasks, you use the Variance table. You can save up to 11 baselines in a project. To save a baseline plan: 1 Open the project file. 2 On the View bar, click More Views to open the More Views dialog box. 3 From the Views list, double-click Task Sheet to display task information without the Gantt chart. 4 Choose View, Table, Variance to display the Variance table. 5 Choose Tools, Tracking, Save Baseline to open the Save Baseline dialog box. 6 Select Save Baseline and Entire Project to save a baseline plan for the entire project. 7 Click OK.

7 Tracking project work 1 3 Do it! A-1: Saving a baseline plan Here s how Here s why 1 Click Start Tell students they re not required to activate Microsoft Project after installation. Ask students to click Cancel every time they start the program. Microsoft Project 2003 can be started 50 times without activation. Help students find the current unit folder. Tell students that this is an office construction project managed by Kathy Sinclair. Choose All Programs, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Project 2003 To open Project The window consists of the Getting Started task pane, the Standard toolbar, the Formatting toolbar, the Project Guide toolbar, and the view area. 2 Open Tracking (From the current unit folder.) You ll save the baseline plan for this project. Close the Getting Started task pane 3 Save the project file as My tracking Click the in the upper-right corner of the pane. (In the current unit folder.) Choose File, Save As. 4 Right-click the View bar (Located on the left side of the Project window.) To display a shortcut menu of other view choices. 5 Choose More Views To open the More Views dialog box, which lists a number of additional views. Tell students that they can also select Task Sheet and click Apply in the dialog box to switch to Task Sheet view. 6 From the Views list, double-click Task Sheet 7 Choose View, Table: Entry, Variance 8 Choose Tools, Tracking, Save Baseline Verify that Save baseline is selected Verify that Entire project is selected (Scroll down.) To display task information without the Gantt chart. (You might need to click the down chevrons to expand the menu.) To view the Variance table. The Variance table allows you to view project statistics. The table contains Task Name, Start, Finish, Baseline Start, Baseline Finish, Start Var., and Finish Var. fields. Notice that there are no dates in the Baseline fields. To open the Save Baseline dialog box. Tell students to click Yes if a Microsoft Project dialog box prompting to overwrite the data in the Click OK To save a baseline plan for the entire project. The Baseline Start and Baseline Finish dates appear. baseline appears. 9 Update the project file Choose File, Save or click the Save button on the Standard toolbar.

8 1 4 Project 2003: Advanced Topic B: Updating the progress of tasks Explanation Tracking a project involves updating the progress information for tasks and comparing the actual progress with the baseline plan to see if there are any discrepancies. You can update a task s actual start and finish dates, the percentage of the task completed, and the actual work performed. Task progress as a percentage You can track the progress of a task by indicating a percentage of the task that s complete. This helps you to compare the actual progress with the original plan. You can use the Tracking toolbar to update task progress. You can specify a percentage of task completion from 0 to 100. For example, in an office construction project, you could specify that building the foundation is 80% complete. Project 2003 then automatically calculates the actual duration and the remaining duration. The actual duration is the amount of time spent on a task to date. It is calculated as Duration * Percent Duration Complete. The remaining duration is the amount of time left for the task to be completed. It is calculated as Duration Actual duration. To update the percentage of task completed: 1 Switch to Tracking Gantt view to view the progress of the task in Gantt Chart view. 2 Choose View, Toolbars, Tracking to display the Tracking toolbar. 3 Select the task you want to update. 4 Click any % Complete button to update the percentage of work completed on a task. The following table describes the functions of the buttons on the Tracking toolbar. Button Description The Project Statistics button displays the current, baseline, and actual information about cost, duration, work, and start and finish dates of a project. The Update as Scheduled button updates the progress of the tasks that are completed on schedule. The Reschedule Work button reschedules the start and finish dates of the tasks that are behind schedule. The Add Progress Line button displays the progress lines for a specific date on the Gantt chart. The 0% Complete button updates the percentage of work completed on a task as 0%. The 25% Complete button updates the percentage of work completed on a task as 25%. The 50% Complete button updates the percentage of work completed on a task as 50%. The 75% Complete button updates the percentage of work completed on a task as 75%.

9 Tracking project work 1 5 Button Description The 100% Complete button updates the percentage of work completed on a task as 100%. The Update Tasks button displays the Update Tasks dialog box. The Collaborate Toolbar button displays the Collaborate toolbar. Do it! B-1: Updating the percent complete of a task Here s how Here s why Tell students that Kathy Sinclair wants to record project progress. Task 8 was started and finished according to plan. 1 Switch to Tracking Gantt view (Right-click the View bar and choose Tracking Gantt.) You ll track the progress of tasks in the project. 2 In the Task Name field, select Get approvals Task 8. Observe the corresponding progress bar in the chart pane 3 Choose View, Toolbars, Tracking The bar currently displays that 0% of this task has been completed. To view the Tracking toolbar. 4 Click (The 100% Complete button is on the Tracking toolbar.) To update the progress status of task 8. Observe the task The task is checked. This indicates that it s 100% complete. Tell students to observe the summary bars corresponding to tasks 7 and 0. Observe the progress bar in the Gantt chart 5 Observe the Pre-construction summary bar and the Construct a new office building project summary bar 6 Update the project file The Tracking Gantt view displays two bars. The top bar, in blue, illustrates that the current task is 100% complete. The bottom bar displays the original plan. When you use the 100% Complete button, Project assumes that the task started and finished according to the current plan. Project automatically recalculates the percent complete for summary tasks and updates the display of their summary bars accordingly.

10 1 6 Project 2003: Advanced Explanation Updating tasks that do not start or finish according to plan With any project plan, you need to track the task start and finish dates so that you can manage your project schedule effectively. There might be times when a task doesn t start on schedule. To prevent a delay in one task from affecting the entire project and to maintain an accurate record of the project s progress, you should update the start date for this task. There can be times when a task started on time but finished before or after the planned date. In this case, you should update the finish date for the task because its finish date might affect the start date of other tasks. You can update the start and finish dates of a task by using the Update Tasks dialog box. To update a task s actual start and finish dates: 1 In Tracking Gantt view, select the task you want to update. 2 On the Tracking toolbar, click Update Tasks to open the Update Tasks dialog box. 3 Under Actual, in the Start box, enter the actual start date if the task did not start on schedule. If the project did not finish on the scheduled date, enter the actual finish date in the Finish box under Actual. When you enter the actual finish date for a task, the % Complete value changes to 100%. 4 Click OK to close the Update Tasks dialog box. Exhibit 1-1: The Update Tasks dialog box Do it! B-2: Updating actual start and finish dates Here s how Here s why Kathy needs to update task 9. It s completed, but was started one day later than originally planned. 1 Select Select architect (Task 9.) This task was originally scheduled to begin on 1/30/06 and finish on 2/21/06. Click (If necessary.) The Go To Selected Task button is on the Standard toolbar. 2 Click This task is completed. However, it started one day later than originally planned.

11 Tracking project work Click (The Update Tasks button is located on the Tracking toolbar.) To open the Update Tasks dialog box, as shown in Exhibit 1-1. Under Actual, in the Start box, type 1/31/06 To record the task s actual start date as 1/31/06. Notice that the planned start date was 1/30/06. Tell students to observe the top bar for task 9. It appears broken, indicating a negative deviation from the baseline plan. Click OK 4 Observe the task bars for tasks 9 and 10 To update the task and close the dialog box. Notice that the task bars shift slightly in the Gantt chart. Project assumes that if task 9 started a day late, it must have finished a day late as well. Therefore, it automatically changes the finish date from 2/21/06 to 2/22/06. This affects subsequent tasks that depend on task 9. Task 10 cannot start until task 9 is completed, so it is automatically pushed out one day. 5 Select Draw plans (Task 10.) In actuality, this task finished earlier than anticipated. Click If necessary. 6 Click Under Actual, in the Finish box, type 3/10/06 Tell students to observe the top bar for task 10. Its size is less than that of the bottom bar, indicating a positive deviation from the baseline plan. Click OK 7 Update the project file To indicate that the actual finish date is 3/10/06, reflecting the early completion. The planned finish date was 3/15/06. To update the task and close the dialog box. Project assumes that this task started according to plan. The new finish date affects the schedule of remaining dependent tasks.

12 1 8 Project 2003: Advanced Explanation Update tasks that are in progress There might be times when a task is in progress and you want to update its progress in the project plan. You can update tasks that are in progress by using the % Complete buttons on the Tracking toolbar. However, you can use these buttons only if the task is 25%, 50%, or 75% complete. However, if the percentage of completion falls between these values, you can use the Update Tasks dialog box (shown in Exhibit 1-1) to update the percentage of work completed. The Remaining dur field in the dialog box specifies the time needed to complete the task in progress. The value in the Remaining dur field changes after you update the percentage of work completed. To update the percentage of work completed on a task in progress: 1 In Tracking Gantt view, select the task you want to update. 2 On the Tracking toolbar, click Update Tasks to open the Update Tasks dialog box. 3 In the % Complete box, update the percentage of work completed. 4 Click OK to close the Update Tasks dialog box. Do it! B-3: Updating tasks that are in progress Here s how Here s why Kathy needs to 1 Select Review blueprints Task 11. This task is still in progress. update task 11. It s 80% complete. Click If necessary. 2 Click 3 In the % Complete box, type 80 To record that this task is 80% complete. 4 Click OK To update the task and close the dialog box. 5 Turn off the Tracking toolbar Choose View, Toolbars, Tracking. 6 Update the project file

13 Tracking project work 1 9 Explanation Actual work performed In addition to tracking the progress of tasks as a percentage, and recording actual start and finish dates, you can also track the work performed on tasks. Actual work performed affects the duration of a task. For example, you might assign eight working hours to a task even though the actual work performed on the task might be only six hours. To update the actual work performed on the task: 1 Select the task you want to update. 2 Right-click the View bar and choose Task Usage to switch to Task Usage view. 3 In the right pane, select any cell and right-click to display a shortcut menu. 4 Select Actual Work. 5 Update the actual work performed.

14 1 10 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! B-4: Updating the actual work performed on a task Here s how Here s why Tell students that Kathy wants to update the actual work performed on a task. 1 Select Review blueprints (If necessary.) You ll update the actual work performed by Pat Leary for this task. 2 Observe the duration for Review blueprints (You might need to scroll to the right.) The task duration to review blueprints is four days. 3 Right-click the View bar Choose Task Usage To display the data in Task Usage view. 4 Click To view the working hours for the selected task. 5 In the right pane, select any cell If necessary. Right-click the cell To display a shortcut menu. Observe the shortcut menu It provides the various options with which you can view work details. 6 Choose Actual Work To view the actual work for the selected task. 7 Select the cell as shown 8 Type 4 In the Task Name list, under Review blueprints, select Pat Leary and in the right pane, select Pat s actual work (Act. W) for Monday, Mar 13, 06. To specify the actual working hours as four.

15 Tracking project work Press t To move to the next cell. The Work and Act. W cells for Pat Leary change to 4h. Observe the Work and Act. Work for Review blueprints The total work for this task on this date changes from 24 hours to 20 hours. Tell students to click the Go To Selected Task button on the Standard toolbar to view the progress bar, if necessary. 10 Switch to Tracking Gantt view 11 Observe the progress bar for Review blueprints 12 Update the project file The progress bar illustrates the actual task progress. The percent complete has decreased from 80% to 71%.

16 1 12 Project 2003: Advanced Explanation Interim plans After setting a baseline, you can save interim plans for a schedule to capture project progress at key points and track the evolution of the project. An interim plan consists of the start and finish dates of tasks at different stages of a project. You can compare interim plans with the corresponding portions of the baseline plan to monitor the progress of the project. A project can contain up to 10 interim plans. To create and save an interim plan: 1 Choose Tools, Tracking, Save Baseline to open the Save Baseline dialog box. 2 Select Save interim plan. 3 From the Copy list, select fields whose values you want to copy into the new fields. 4 From the Into list, select the new fields in which you want to copy the values and click OK. 5 Switch to Task Sheet view. 6 Create a copy of the table on which you want to base the interim plan. 7 Insert columns in the new table to represent the new fields that will contain interim plan data. Do it! B-5: Saving an interim plan Tell students that Kathy wants to save an interim plan based on the variance table. Here s how 1 Choose Tools, Tracking, Save Baseline Here s why To open the Save Baseline dialog box. 2 Select Save interim plan To create an interim plan for the project. Tell students that they will see the fields after they insert the columns. Observe the dialog box The values in the Start and Finish fields will be copied into the Start1 and Finish1 fields. Verify that Entire project is selected Click OK To create an interim plan for the entire project. 3 Switch to Task Sheet view You ll create a new table and insert two columns in it to represent the interim plan.

17 Tracking project work Choose View, Table: Variance, More Tables To open the More Tables dialog box. Verify that Variance is selected Click Copy In the Name box, type Interim Variance Click OK Click Apply To create a copy of the Variance table, thereby preserving the original set of columns. The Table Definition dialog box appears. To specify the name of the new table. To create the new table. Interim Variance is selected in the Tables: Task list. To display the Interim Variance table in Task Sheet view. 5 Select the Baseline Start column (Click on the column heading.) You ll insert one column before this column. Tell students that they can also press Insert to insert a column. However, they must ensure that the Baseline Start column is selected first. 6 Choose Insert, Column To open the Column Definition dialog box. (You can also press Insert to insert a column. Be sure that the Baseline Start column is selected first.) 7 From the Field name list, select Start1 To specify the name of the new column. Tell students that they can also click OK to close the Column 8 Click Best Fit To automatically adjust the column width and to close the Column Definition dialog box. Definition dialog box. Observe the Start1 column The Start field s value is copied to the Start1 field. If students did not click Best Fit, they might need to widen their Finish1 column. 9 Select the Baseline Start column again 10 Insert another column with field Finish1 Observe the Finish1 column 11 Update the project file You ll insert another column before this column. Choose Insert, Column to open the Column Definition dialog box. Select Finish1 from the Field name list, and then click Best Fit. The Finish field s value is copied to the Finish1 field.

18 1 14 Project 2003: Advanced Topic C: Observing project progress Explanation When tracking the progress of a project, you might want to determine whether or not you are within budget, or you might want to use a visual representation of project progress. You can use the Earned Value table to analyze costs over time. You can also use the Earned Value table to determine whether the task will finish under or over budget. You can examine the project progress visually by applying progress lines to Gantt Chart view. Progress lines help you analyze whether the project is behind, on, or ahead of schedule. The Earned Value table The Earned Value table displays the earned value of different tasks in a project. Earned value is the measure of the worth of work performed on a task up to a specific date. If a task is 50% complete, the earned value for the task is the money budgeted to perform 50% of the work on that task. Earned value is also referred to as the budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP). You can use the Earned Value table to compare the estimated cost of work performed on a task with the actual cost in completing that percentage of work. Project 2003 uses the status date to perform earned value calculations. A status date is a date you specify (rather than the current date) for reporting the cost of a project. The Earned Value table provides multiple fields regarding costs. The table below lists each of the fields you'll see in an Earned Value table, as shown in Exhibit 1-2. Field Name Description BCWS BCWP ACWP Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled Budgeted Cost of Work Performed Actual Cost of Work Performed The estimated cost of the scheduled percentage of work to be performed on a task until a specific date. The estimated cost of the percentage of work actually performed on a task until a specific date. The actual cost in performing the percentage of work completed on a task up to a specific date. SV Schedule Variance The difference between BCWP and BCWS. Negative values appear in parentheses. CV Cost Variance The difference between BCWP and ACWP. EAC BAC VAC Estimated At Completion Budgeted At Completion Variance At Completion The currently scheduled cost of a task, based on the actual cost of the work completed and the estimated cost of the remaining work. The total planned cost for a task. This is the baseline for a task and is the same as BCWS. The difference between BAC and EAC for a task.

19 Tracking project work 1 15 To display the Earned Value table: 1 Switch to Tracking Gantt view. 2 Choose Project, Project Information to open the Project Information dialog box. 3 In the Status date box, enter the desired status date. 4 Click OK to close the dialog box. 5 Choose View, Table, More Tables to open the More Tables dialog. 6 Under Tables, select Earned Value. 7 Click Apply to display the Earned Value table. Exhibit 1-2: The Earned Value table

20 1 16 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! C-1: Displaying the Earned Value table Here s how 1 Choose View, Table: Interim Variance, More Tables Here s why To open the More Tables dialog box. 2 Verify that Task is selected (Next to Tables.) To display Task tables in the Tables list. Tell students to double-click between the column headings to adjust the column width if the data values are not completely visible. 3 Under Tables, double-click Earned Value 4 Choose Project, Project Information 5 In the Status date box, type 3/15/06 To display the Earned Value table. You use the Earned Value table to monitor the actual and estimated costs of tasks. To open the Project Information dialog box. To specify a status date. Project 2003 uses the status date to perform earned value calculations. 6 Click OK To close the dialog box. 7 Select Review blueprints (Task 11.) You might need to scroll to the left to view the task names. 8 Observe the fields of the Earned Value table (As shown in Exhibit 1-2.) You can compare estimated and actual costs. 9 Update the project file

21 Tracking project work 1 17 Explanation Progress lines Progress lines make tracking simple and effective by displaying the actual and baseline dates of tasks as a graph. You can display progress lines at regular intervals. For example, you might want to display progress lines daily, weekly, or monthly. The progress line graph connects tasks, as shown in Exhibit 1-3. The peaks show whether the tasks are behind or ahead of schedule. Progress line peaks that point to the left indicate work that is behind schedule. Progress line peaks that point to the right indicate work that is ahead of schedule. Exhibit 1-3: The progress lines To display progress lines at regular intervals: 1 Choose Tools, Tracking, Progress Lines to open the Progress Lines dialog box. 2 Activate the Dates and Intervals tab. 3 Check Display progress lines at recurring intervals. 4 Specify the time interval at which you want to display progress lines. 5 Specify the frequency at which you want to display progress lines. 6 Select Begin at Project Start or specify the date at which you want the progress lines to start. 7 Under Display progress lines in relation to, select Actual or Baseline plan. 8 Click OK to close the dialog box.

22 1 18 Project 2003: Advanced Viewing progress in a Network Diagram You can also observe project progress in Network Diagram view. In this view, the task that is 100% complete displays an through it. A slash (\) is displayed through tasks that are in progress, as shown in Exhibit 1-4. To examine progress in Network Diagram view, right-click the View bar and choose Network Diagram. Exhibit 1-4: Viewing progress in Network Diagram view Do it! C-2: Viewing progress in Network Diagram view Here s how Here s why 1 Select Review blueprints Task 11, if necessary. 2 Switch to Network Diagram view Right-click the View bar and choose Network Diagram. Tell students to scroll and zoom in or out to view the nodes, if necessary. Scroll to the right to observe the nodes for tasks 10, 11, and 12 3 Update and close the project file (As shown in Exhibit 1-4.) Completed tasks are crossed out, tasks in-progress display a slash (\) through them, and tasks not yet started have no markings.

23 Unit summary: Tracking project work Tracking project work 1 19 Topic A Topic B Topic C In this topic, you learned how to save a baseline plan to track the progress of your project. In this topic, you learned how to track the progress of tasks. You learned that tracking involves comparing the actual progress with the baseline plan to see if there are any discrepancies. You also learned how to update the percentage of a task completed, actual start and finish dates, actual work performed on a task, and the actual costs for a resource. You also learned how to save an interim plan. In this topic, you learned how to analyze costs over time by using the Earned Value table. You learned that progress lines help you analyze whether the project is behind, on, or ahead of schedule. You also learned that you can view task progress by applying progress lines at regular intervals in Gantt Chart view. Finally, you learned how to view progress in Network Diagram view. Independent practice activity 1 Open Practice tracking. 2 Save the project file as My practice tracking. 3 Save a baseline plan for the entire project. 4 Display the Tracking toolbar. (Hint: Choose View, Toolbars, Tracking.) 5 Update the progress of the tasks Survey through mailers and Survey through Web to 100%. 6 Update the actual start date of the task Survey through Web to 1/25/06 and update the actual finish date of the task Purchase market data to 1/24/06. 7 Update the progress of the task Budgeting to 70%. 8 Examine task progress in Network Diagram view. 9 Compare your work with Exhibit 1-5. (Hint: Scroll to the left and up to match the exhibit, if necessary.) 10 Hide the Tracking toolbar. (Hint: Choose View, Toolbars, Tracking.) 11 Update and close the project file.

24 1 20 Project 2003: Advanced Exhibit 1-5: A sample of My practice tracking after step 7 of the Independent practice activity Review questions 1 Why would you want to save a baseline plan? You save a baseline plan after you have fine-tuned the project plan but before beginning the project. A baseline plan is saved to track the progress of your project and includes information on tasks, resources, and assignments. 2 How many baselines can a project have? Up to 11 3 Which toolbar is used to update the task completion as a percentage? Tracking toolbar 4 When a task doesn t start on schedule, what can you do to prevent this delay from affecting the entire project and to maintain an accurate record of the project s progress? Update the start date in the Update Tasks dialog box. 5 What are the necessary steps to update the actual work performed on a task? a Select the task you want to update. b c d e Right-click the View bar and choose Task Usage to switch to Task Usage view. In the right pane, select any cell and right-click to display a shortcut menu. Select Actual Work. Update the actual work performed.

25 6 What is the purpose of an interim plan? To capture project progress at key points and track the evolution of the project. Tracking project work In the Earned Value table, which field is described as the estimated cost of the scheduled percentage of work to be performed on a task until a specific date? A Budgeted Cost of Work Performed B Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled C Estimated At Completion D Budgeted At Completion 8 What is displayed in the Earned Value table? The measure of the worth of work performed on a task up to a specific date.

26 1 22 Project 2003: Advanced

27 2 1 Unit 2 Analyzing and adjusting the plan Unit time: 30 minutes Complete this unit, and you ll know how to: A Analyze a project by viewing its statistics, slippage, and slack in the schedule. B Reschedule a project by splitting tasks, delaying resource work, and assigning overtime.

28 2 2 Project 2003: Advanced Topic A: Analyzing the plan Explanation During a project, you might need to reschedule tasks for various reasons, such as a delay or a lack of resources. Before you reschedule, you should analyze the project schedule to check for inconsistencies and potential areas for improvement. You also need to analyze the use of time, resources, and costs to optimize your plan. You can analyze a project by viewing its status and identifying slippage and slack in the schedule. Project status You can view the project status by using the Project Information dialog box, as shown in Exhibit 2-1. The Project Information dialog box displays the start, finish, current, and status dates of the project. The status date is used to perform earned value calculations. If the Status date setting is NA, then Project 2003 uses the current date as the status date. The Calendar box specifies the base calendar used to calculate working times. You open the Project Information dialog box by choosing Project, Project Information. Exhibit 2-1: The Project Information dialog box

29 Analyzing and adjusting the plan 2 3 Project statistics The Project Statistics dialog box (as shown in Exhibit 2-2) gives a snapshot of the project. To open the Project Statistics dialog box, you click Statistics in the Project Information dialog box. Exhibit 2-2: The Project Statistics dialog box Do it! A-1: Viewing project statistics Here s how Here s why 1 Open Analyzing (From the current unit folder.) You ll view the project status. Save the project file as My analyzing 2 Open the Project Information dialog box In the current unit folder. (Choose Project, Project Information.) The dialog box displays the Start, Finish, Current, and Status dates for this project. 3 Click Statistics To open the Project Statistics dialog box. This dialog box gives a snapshot of project information. It also displays the percentage of the total project that is complete. 4 Click Close To close the dialog box. 5 Update the project file

30 2 4 Project 2003: Advanced Explanation Slippage and slack in the schedule Before rescheduling your project, analyze it to check for any task slippages. When a task begins later than anticipated in the baseline plan, it s considered to have slipped. The difference between the baseline start date and current or actual start date is called slippage. You should also analyze the project to identify the tasks that can be delayed without affecting any other task or the finish date of the project. You can do this by displaying the slack in the schedule. Slack is the time by which a task can be delayed without delaying any other task or the project finish date. After you ve displayed the slack, you can then reschedule tasks to account for the slippage. The Free Slack column displays the time a task can be delayed without delaying any of its successors. The Total Slack column displays the time a task can be delayed without affecting the finish date of the project. To display slack in the schedule: 1 Choose View, More Views to open the More Views dialog box. 2 From the Views list, double-click Detail Gantt. 3 Choose View, Table, Schedule to display the slippage and slack in the schedule. A thin line before the task bar represents slippage for a task, and a line after the task bar represents the slack for the task. Exhibit 2-3: The slack in the schedule

31 Do it! A-2: Displaying slippage and slack in a plan Analyzing and adjusting the plan 2 5 Here s how Here s why 1 Select Install siding Task 22. Click (If necessary.) To go to the selected task. Kathy Sinclair wants to identify the tasks that can be delayed without affecting the finish date of the project. 2 Choose View, More Views To open the More Views dialog box. 3 From the Views list, double-click Detail Gantt 4 Choose View, Table: Delay, Schedule To view the Detail Gantt chart. Drag the divider bar between the Task sheet and Gantt chart to the right To display the slack in the schedule (as shown Exhibit 2-3). Tell students to drag the divider bar between the Task sheet and Gantt chart to the left, if necessary. 5 Click To view the task bar for task 22, Install siding. Point to the slippage bar, as shown This task was originally scheduled to begin on 5/4/06, but has slipped one day. 6 Point to the slack bar, as shown Explain the difference between Free Slack and Total Slack. 7 Observe the Free Slack and Total Slack columns for task 22, Install siding 8 Update the project file This bar represents the amount of available slack. Free Slack is the amount of time a task can be delayed before delaying its successor. Total Slack is the amount of time a task can be delayed before delaying the project finish date.

32 2 6 Project 2003: Advanced Topic B: Rescheduling tasks Explanation After analyzing, you might find that some of the tasks are not yet complete. This might happen because the work on a task is interrupted, or a resource s work on the task is delayed. To fine-tune the schedule, you can show when a resource will stop and start work again by splitting the task and adjusting the schedule to show the resource work delay. If there are delays, you might also need to assign overtime to a resource to finish the task on time. Split tasks During a project, you might encounter unforeseen interruptions. For instance, after a task has started, one of the resources assigned to the task quits or becomes ill. You need to split the task to indicate the period of time from when the work stopped to when the work will resume. To split a task: 1 Switch to Gantt Chart view. 2 Select the task you want to split. 3 On the Standard toolbar, click Split Task. 4 Point to the task bar for the selected task. 5 Click the task bar where you want to split it. After a task is split, dotted lines appear between the two halves of the task bar. The default amount of time between two parts of a split task is one day. You can change that amount of time manually by dragging the right portion of the task bar.

33 Analyzing and adjusting the plan 2 7 Do it! B-1: Splitting a task Here s how Here s why 1 Switch to Gantt Chart view 2 Select Lay slab foundation (Task 16.) You ll split this task. Click To go to the selected task. Tell students that Joe Simmons isn t available on 4/10/06. 3 For the selected task, observe the Finish date The Finish date is 4/10/06. 4 Click The Split Task button is on the Standard toolbar. Observe the shape of the pointer The pointer appears with two vertical lines and a right-pointing arrow. Observe the ScreenTip A message appears that provides information that you can click on the Gantt bar to insert a split. 5 Point to the task bar for task 16 The date in the ScreenTip changes as you move the pointer to the right on the task bar. Tell students to move the pointer on the Gantt bar corresponding to task 16 to see the date change in the ScreenTip. 6 On the task bar, move the pointer until the ScreenTip displays Mon 4/10/06, as shown You ll need to move the pointer until the date appears as Mon 4/10/06. 7 Click the task bar (While the date appears as Mon 4/10/06.) To split the task. Observe the task bar 8 Update the project file The task is split into two parts by a dotted line and the Finish date changes to Tue 4/11/06.

34 2 8 Project 2003: Advanced Explanation Adjusting resource schedules Project tasks might require work from different resources at different times. For example, you might need to assign a delay between the start of a task and the start of a resource s work on that task. You might also need to assign overtime to a resource to finish a task earlier. You can do this by adjusting resource schedules. Resource work delays Project 2003 schedules all assignments to begin as soon as the task begins. You can delay the start of one or more assignments so that they start later than the other assignments for that task. You create assignment delays by entering an amount of time in the Delay field. An assignment delay is the amount of time between the start of a task and the start of a resource s work on that task. You can adjust the resource schedule in Resource Schedule view. Resource Schedule view has fields for Resource Name, Units, Work, and Delay. To delay resource work: 1 Select the task. 2 Choose View, More Views to open the More Views dialog box. 3 Under Views, double-click Task Form to switch to Task Form view. 4 Right-click to display the shortcut menu. 5 Choose Resource Schedule to change the form details to Resource Schedule. 6 Choose Window, Split to split the window. 7 Activate the bottom pane. 8 Choose View, Resource Usage to view Resource Usage. 9 In the bottom pane, select the resource you want to delay. 10 In the Delay column, enter the number of hours or days you want to delay the resource work. 11 Click OK. Do it! B-2: Delaying resource work Here s how Here s why Tell students that for task 29, Laurie is one of the resources. The work on this task has started. However, Laurie started the work a day later. 1 Select Distribute water, sewer (Task 29.) You ll delay the resource work for this task. 2 Open the More Views dialog box Choose View, More Views. 3 Under Views, double-click Task Form To switch to Task Form view. Observe the view Information about the task and resources assigned to the task appears.

35 Analyzing and adjusting the plan Right-click a blank area To display a shortcut menu. Observe the shortcut menu The shortcut menu provides all resource-related options. 5 Choose Resource Schedule To change the form details to Resource Schedule. The Leveling Delay, Delay, Start, and Finish fields appear. 6 Choose Window, Split To split the window. 7 Click the bottom pane To activate the bottom pane. 8 Choose View, Resource Usage Choose Format, Details, Overallocation To view resource usage in the bottom pane. To turn off the display of overallocation. 9 In the lower pane, under Laurie Macurthy, select Distribute water, sewer 10 Click To scroll the right pane to the time frame of Distribute water, sewer. 11 Click the top pane Observe the Finish date for Distribute water, sewer The finish date is 5/16/06. Ensure that students enter 8h, because by default, delay is in days. 12 In the Delay column for Laurie Macurthy, enter 8h To specify a delay of eight hours. Click OK Observe the Finish date for Laurie Macurthy (This button is located in the upper pane.) To indicate that the work is delayed by one day. The Finish date changes to 5/17/ Update the project file

36 2 10 Project 2003: Advanced Explanation Overtime You can reduce the duration for a task by assigning overtime to a resource. The total work to be done on the assignment remains the same, but the task duration is reduced. Overtime work is the work scheduled to take place beyond the regular working hours of a resource, not additional work on the assignment. To assign overtime to a resource: 1 In Task Form view, select the resource to which you want to assign overtime. 2 In Task Form view, right-click and choose Resource Work. 3 In the Ovt. Work column, enter the number of hours. 4 Click OK. Do it! B-3: Assigning overtime Here s how Here s why 1 Click Previous (This button is located in the upper pane.) To move to the previous task: Distribute electricity, phone, cabling. 2 Right-click the upper pane To display the shortcut menu. 3 Choose Resource Work To switch to Resource Work details. Observe Resource Work details The Resource Name, Units, Work, Ovt. Work, Baseline Work, Act. Work, and Rem. Work fields appear. 4 For Ann Salinski, in the Ovt. Work column, enter 2h 5 Click OK To apply the change. 6 Update and close the project file To assign an overtime of 2 hours. Two of Ann s 32 hours are overtime hours.

37 Analyzing and adjusting the plan 2 11 Unit summary: Analyzing and adjusting the plan Topic A Topic B In this topic, you learned how to analyze a project by viewing its status using the Project Information and Project Statistics dialog boxes. You also learned how to display the slippage and slack in a schedule. In this topic, you learned how to split tasks to reschedule a project. You learned how to delay resource work to indicate a difference between the start of a task and the start of a resource s work on that task. You also learned how to reduce task duration by assigning overtime to a resource. Independent practice activity 1 Open Practice analyzing. 2 Save the project file as My practice analyzing. 3 View the statistics of the project. (Hint: You ll need to use the Project Information dialog box.) 4 Display the slippage and slack in the schedule. 5 Insert a one-day split in the task Planning at the date 2/20/06. 6 Delay Susan s work on the task Sales recruitment by 8 hours. 7 For the task Sales recruitment, assign an overtime of 2 hours to Ron Timmons. 8 Update and close the project file. Review questions 1 What type of information is displayed in the Project Information dialog box? Answer may include: The start, finish, current, and status dates of the project. The base calendar used to calculate working times. Task priority 2 How do you split a task? a Switch to Gantt Chart view. b c d e Select the task you want to split. On the Standard toolbar, click Split Task. Point to the task bar for the selected task. Click the task bar where you want to split it. After a task is split, dotted lines appear between the two halves of the task bar.

38 2 12 Project 2003: Advanced 3 Which of the following can be described as the difference between the baseline start date and current or actual start date? A Assignment delay B Slack C Slippage D Overtime 4 Which view is best to modify a resource s work on a particular task? Resource Schedule view 5 What is the default amount of time between two parts of a split task? One day 6 How do you change the amount of time between two parts of a split task? You can change that amount of time manually by dragging the right portion of the task bar.

39 3 1 Unit 3 Formatting and reporting Unit time: 45 minutes Complete this unit, and you ll know how to: A Format a project file by modifying bar styles and timescales. B Use the Drawing toolbar to enhance Gantt chart information. C Print current views and reports. D Create a custom report and a Crosstab report.

40 3 2 Project 2003: Advanced Topic A: Formatting a project file Explanation Formatting a project file helps you recognize important tasks by changing their style. You can modify text font, text size, and style of bars. You can also include information such as task names, resource names, and completion percentages with the task bars. Bar styles You can enhance a category of tasks by changing the appearance of bars for that category. Some examples of task categories are milestone tasks, summary tasks, and critical tasks. For example, you can change the appearance of bars for critical tasks to highlight their importance. Critical tasks are those tasks that must be completed on schedule for the project to finish on schedule. The series of critical tasks constitutes the critical path for the project. If the duration of a critical task increases, it results in a delay in the completion of the project. One way to change the appearance of the bars in Gantt Chart view is to modify their style, pattern, or color. You can also specify the location of text that appears with the bar. To do this: 1 Choose Format, Bar Styles to open the Bar Styles dialog box, as shown in Exhibit In the upper pane, select the bar name for which you want to change the style. 3 If you want to change the shape, type, pattern, or color of the selected bar category, activate the Bars tab and select the appropriate options. If you want change the type of information and position of text for the selected bar category, activate the Text tab and select the appropriate options. 4 Click OK to close the dialog box. Exhibit 3-1: The Bar Styles dialog box

41 Formatting and reporting 3 3 Do it! A-1: Modifying a bar style Here s how Here s why 1 Open Formatting (From the current unit folder.) You ll modify a bar style. 2 Save the project file as My formatting In the current unit folder. Tell students that they can also right-click the Gantt Chart pane and choose Bar Styles from the shortcut menu to open this dialog box. 3 Choose Format, Bar Styles To open the Bar Styles dialog box. You ll use this dialog box to modify the shape, pattern, and color of the bars. (You can also right-click the Gantt Chart pane and choose Bar Styles from the shortcut menu to open this dialog box.) 4 Verify that Task is selected in the upper pane To select non-critical tasks. You ll modify the bar style of the task bar. Verify that the Bars tab is activated in the lower pane 5 Under Middle, from the Pattern list, select as shown To modify the bar pattern. 6 Under Middle, from the Color list, select Lime To modify the color of the bar. Observe the Appearance column (Located in the upper pane.) A preview of the bar style appears. The formatting of the task bar style has changed.

42 3 4 Project 2003: Advanced Kathy wants the percentage of the task completed to appear on the left side of the task bar. 7 Activate the Text tab To specify location and content of text for the bar category. 8 Click the cell next to Left The cell changes to a list box. 9 From the Left list, select % Complete To specify % Complete as the field to the left of the task bar. 10 Click OK To close the dialog box. Observe the Gantt Chart 11 Update the project file The color and style of the task bars change, and the percentage of the task completed appears on the left side of the bar.

43 Formatting and reporting 3 5 Explanation Timescales In addition to modifying the style of task bars, you can modify the appearance of your project file by formatting the timescale. A timescale is the time period indicator in Project 2003 and is shown at the top of various views, such as Gantt Chart and Task Usage. The timescale can represent time from minutes to years. There are three tiers in the timescale: Top Tier, Middle Tier, and Bottom Tier. By default, the timescale displays two tiers, but you can choose to display One tier (Middle), Two tiers (Middle, Bottom), or Three tiers (Top, Middle, Bottom). Timescale increments You can change the increments of the timescale if you choose. By default, the top tier is set to display months, the middle tier is set to display weeks, and the bottom tier is set to display days. You can change these increments by using the Timescale dialog box. You can also change the labels and the alignment for the timescale. Here s how: 1 Choose Format, Timescale to open the Timescale dialog box. 2 Under Timescale options, choose the tiers you want to display. 3 Activate the tier tab for which you want to change the increments. 4 Under tier formatting, specify the units, label, and alignment. 5 Repeat the steps for other tiers, if required. 6 Click OK to close the Timescale dialog box. Exhibit 3-2: The Timescale dialog box

44 3 6 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! A-2: Formatting a timescale Here s how Here s why 1 Observe the timescale The timescale displays weeks and days. Tell students that they can also right-click the timescale and choose Timescale from the shortcut menu to open this dialog box. Tell students to observe the Preview area. 2 Choose Format, Timescale To open the Timescale dialog box. (You can also right-click the timescale and choose Timescale from the shortcut menu to open this dialog box.) 3 Verify that the Middle Tier tab is activated 4 Under Middle tier formatting, from the Units list, select Months You ll modify the timescale to display months and weeks. To change the middle-tier units to months. 5 Activate the Bottom Tier tab 6 Under Bottom tier formatting, from the Units list, select Weeks To change the bottom-tier units to weeks. Observe the Preview area The timescale now displays months and weeks (as shown in Exhibit 3-2). 7 Click OK To accept the changes and close the Timescale dialog box. Tell students to observe that the size of bars in the Gantt chart changes. Observe the timescale 8 Update the project file The units are now in months and weeks.

45 Formatting and reporting 3 7 Topic B: Using drawing tools Explanation While working with your project file, you might want to draw attention to specific project information. Project 2003 provides the Drawing toolbar, which you can use for this purpose. You can also add color to drawn objects. The Drawing toolbar The Drawing toolbar has several tools that help you draw simple figures like a rectangle, oval, a line, and an arrow. Exhibit 3-3 shows the Drawing toolbar buttons that are frequently used. Rectangle Line Oval Exhibit 3-3: The Drawing toolbar When you click the drop-down arrow on the Draw button on the Drawing toolbar, a submenu appears. The following table describes each command on the submenu. Menu Bring to Front Send to Back Bring Forward Send Backward Edit Points Description Places the selected object in front of overlapping objects Places the selected object at the back of other overlapping objects Moves the selected object to the top of the stack of objects Moves the selected object one layer closer to the bottom of the stack of objects Displays the vertices of the polygon for modifying its shape

46 3 8 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! B-1: Using the Drawing toolbar Here s how Here s why 1 Select Office building complete (Task 37.) You ll enhance the Gantt chart by using the tools on the Drawing toolbar. Ensure that students select task 37. They might have to scroll down. Click To view the milestone. 2 Choose View, Toolbars, Drawing Observe the Drawing toolbar The Drawing toolbar appears. It contains the tools that you can use to draw in the Gantt Chart pane. Tell students that Kathy wants to emphasize task 37, which is the final milestone of the project. 3 Click (The Oval button is on the Drawing toolbar.) You ll draw an oval in the Gantt chart. Observe the pointer The pointer changes to a plus sign. 4 Drag as shown 5 Select the oval (If necessary.) You ll send the oval to the background. 6 Click Draw (The Draw button is on the Drawing toolbar.) A submenu appears. Choose Send To Back Deselect the oval Help students move or resize the oval, if necessary. 7 Observe the oval The oval appears in the background, and the milestone icon and date appear in the foreground. 8 Hide the Drawing toolbar Choose View, Toolbars, Drawing. 9 Update the project file

47 Topic C: Printing views and reports Formatting and reporting 3 9 Explanation When managing a project, you need to communicate information to the project team. You can communicate project details by printing current views and reports and distributing them to the team. Printing the current view Project 2003 provides you the option to print the current view as a report. To do so, you select the view that contains the project information you want to communicate to your team members. Next, click Report on the Project Guide toolbar and choose Print current view as a report. The Print Current View wizard appears. Each screen of the wizard gives you formatting options to customize the view. For example, the Specify the number of pages screen gives you the option to print the view on one page or on more than one page. On the Modify sizing options screen, you can select the data that you want to print and how you want to print it. If you want to add header information on every page, you can do so in the Set header, footer, or legend screen. To do so, select the Header option and click Page Setup. The Page Setup dialog box opens with the Header tab selected. In the Alignment box, activate an appropriate desired tab, enter the required information, and click OK. After making the changes, you can use Print Preview to see what the project will look like when printed. To print the view, use Print.

48 3 10 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! C-1: Printing the current view as a report Here s how Here s why Tell students that Kathy would like to inform the team of project tasks and their durations, dependencies, and resource assignments. 1 Switch to Gantt Chart view (If necessary.) You ll print this view as a report. 2 Click Report, as shown (The Report button is on the Project Guide toolbar.) A submenu opens. 3 Choose Print current view as a report Click Save and go to Step 2 Click Save and go to Step 3 4 Verify that Header is selected under What do you want to set? The Print Current View wizard opens. Notice that One page is selected as the desired length for the report. To move to step 2 of the wizard. The Modify sizing options screen opens. In this screen, you can select the data that you want to print and how you want to print it. The Set header, footer, or legend screen appears. You ll add a header to the report. Click Page Setup, as shown To open the Page Setup dialog box. In the Alignment box, verify that the Center tab is activated In the Alignment box, enter Office Construction This will be the header for the report. 5 Activate the Footer tab You ll modify the footer to the report.

49 Formatting and reporting In the Alignment box, place the insertion point on the right side of Page &[Page], as shown Press q To add a space after Page &[Page]. In the Alignment box, enter of, as shown Press q Click To add a space after of. (The Insert Total Page Count button is below the Alignment box.) To specify the total number of pages. 7 Observe the dialog box &[Pages] is added after Page &[Page] of. Click OK To accept the changes and close the dialog box. 8 Click Save and go to Step 4 The Set other options screen appears. This screen provides you with various options to modify a report. For example, you can modify the page setup to change the width of margins or print notes. 9 Click Print Preview, as shown To open the Print Preview window. Notice that the header and footer appear on the page. Click Close To close Print Preview. 10 Click Print, as shown To open the Print dialog box. In the dialog box, you can specify the name of the printer, number of copies, and the range of pages. Tell students to click Click Cancel To close the Print dialog box. OK if they want to print the view. 11 Click Done To close the wizard. Click To close the Report Project Guide pane. 12 Update the project file

50 3 12 Project 2003: Advanced Reports Explanation You can also print reports to circulate project schedules to your team members. Project 2003 has several report formats that you can use. Each format focuses on specific project information. If the standard report formats do not meet your needs, you can customize a report format. Various categories of report formats are available in the Reports dialog box (as shown in Exhibit 3-4): The Overview report format provides a brief overview of the entire project. Information such as summary tasks and critical tasks with project milestones, costs, and schedules are included. The Current Activities report format shows task-related information such as unstarted, in-progress, and completed tasks, or the delays in completion of tasks, and the tasks starting between specific dates. The Costs report format shows cash flow and budget information, tasks or resources that are over budget, and earned value information. The Assignments report format contains resource assignment information, such as task schedules for all resources, resources for specific tasks, and overallocated resources. The Workload report format shows task and resource usage information. The Custom report format is used to create custom reports. To print a report: 1 Choose View, Reports to open the Reports dialog box. 2 Select a report category. 3 Click Select to open the category Reports dialog box. 4 In the dialog box, select a report type. 5 Click Select to preview the report. 6 Click Print to open the Print dialog box. 7 Select a printer. 8 Click OK to print the report. Exhibit 3-4: The Reports dialog box

51 Formatting and reporting 3 13 Do it! C-2: Printing a report Here s how Here s why Tell students that Kathy wants to print a report that gives an overview of the top-level tasks in the project. 1 Choose View, Reports To open the Reports dialog box, as shown in Exhibit Double-click Overview To open the Overview Reports dialog box. This type of report gives a brief overview of the entire project. 3 Double-click Top-Level Tasks To preview the Top-Level Tasks report. The report appears in Print Preview. 4 Click near the top of the page To zoom in and view the content. 5 Click Print To open the Print dialog box. Tell students to click OK if they want to print the view. 6 Click Close To cancel the print job for the Top-Level Tasks report. 7 Click Close To close Print Preview. 8 Click Close To close the Reports dialog box. 9 Update the project file

52 3 14 Project 2003: Advanced Topic D: Customizing reports Explanation You can create customized reports by using Project For example, if you need to generate a to-do list for a specific resource, you can create a custom report. You can also create a custom Crosstab report in Project A Crosstab report shows a list of tasks with their resources at the left of the report and a timescale at the top. Custom reports To create a custom report, you create a copy of a standard report and then customize it. The standard report forms the basis for the custom report. For example, you might want to see some of the predefined information and add other information. You can specify a new name for the report and format the text of the report. To create a custom report: 1 Choose View, Reports. 2 Click Custom. 3 Click Select to open the Custom Reports dialog box. 4 From the Reports list, select a report type. 5 Click Copy. 6 In the Name box, specify a name for the report. 7 Click OK to move back to the Custom Reports dialog box. 8 Click Preview to open the Using Resource dialog box. 9 In the Show tasks using list, select a resource name. 10 Click OK to see a preview of the report. 11 Close the Preview window, the Custom Reports dialog box, and the Reports dialog box. Do it! D-1: Creating a custom report Here s how Here s why Tell students that Kathy wants to create a report that shows the tasks to be completed in each month by a specific resource. 1 Open the Reports dialog box Choose View, Reports. 2 Double-click Custom To open the Custom Reports dialog box. 3 From the Reports list, select To Do List (Scroll down.) You ll create a copy of the to-do list.

53 Formatting and reporting Click Copy To open the Task Report dialog box. 5 Verify that the Definition tab is activated 6 In the Name box, type To Do - Office Construction 7 From the Period list, select Months Verify that the Filter list displays Using Resource Click OK You ll specify the name of the report here. This will be the name of the report. To specify that the information in the report will be grouped by month. This report will be filtered to show information about a specified resource. To close the Task Report dialog box. 8 Under Reports, verify that To Do - Office Construction is selected 9 Click Preview To see a preview of the report. The Using Resource dialog box appears. 10 From the Show tasks using list, select Ann Salinski (You might need to scroll down.) To specify Ann Salinski as the resource whose to-do list you d like to view. 11 Click OK To close the Using Resource dialog box and to view a preview of the report. Tell students to view the report by using the Zoom feature. Observe the preview The report lists all the task names, durations, and start and finish dates of the tasks assigned to Ann Salinski. The name of the report appears at the top. Notice that the tasks are grouped by month. 12 Click Close To close the Preview window. Click Close Click Close To close the Custom Reports dialog box. To close the Reports dialog box. 13 Update the project file

54 3 16 Project 2003: Advanced Explanation Crosstab reports If you need to print information about tasks and resources for a specific time frame, you can create a customized Crosstab report. To create a Crosstab report: 1 Open the Reports dialog box. 2 Click Custom. 3 Click Select. 4 Click New. 5 Under Report type, select Crosstab. 6 Click OK. 7 In the Name box, specify a name for the report. 8 Click OK to close the Crosstab Report dialog box. 9 Click Preview to see the preview of the report. 10 Close the Preview window, the Crosstab Report dialog box, the Custom Report dialog box, and the Reports dialog box. Exhibit 3-5: The Crosstab Report dialog box Do it! D-2: Creating a Crosstab report Here s how Here s why Tell students that Kathy wants to create a Crosstab report that shows monthly work for all resources. 1 Open the Reports dialog box 2 Double-click Custom The Custom Reports dialog box opens.

55 Formatting and reporting Click New To open the Define New Report dialog box. Under Report type, select Crosstab Click OK To open the Crosstab Report dialog box. 4 Verify that the Definition tab is activated 5 In the Name box, enter Resource information This will be the new name for the report. 6 Check And task assignments To include the tasks in the Crosstab report. 7 Click as shown To display a list of time periods. Select Months Click OK To specify that the information in the report be displayed in a monthly format. To close the Crosstab Report dialog box. 8 In the Reports list, verify that Resource information is selected Ask students to view the report by using the Zoom feature. 9 Click Preview Observe the preview To see a preview of the report. A combined report on task and resource information appears. Notice that the information is displayed by month. 10 Close the Preview window Click Close. Close the Custom Reports dialog box Close the Reports dialog box Click Close. Click Close. 11 Update and close the project file

56 3 18 Project 2003: Advanced Unit summary: Formatting and reporting Topic A Topic B Topic C Topic D In this topic, you learned how to format a project file by modifying bar styles and timescales. In this topic, you learned how to use drawing tools to enhance the Gantt chart. You learned that the Drawing toolbar has different tools to help you draw simple figures such as a rectangle, an oval, a line, and an arrow. In this topic, you learned how to share project information with team members by printing current views and reports. You learned that you can use the Print current view as a report option to add headers and footers, preview, and print the current view. In this topic, you learned how to create a custom report. You learned that to create a custom report, you copy a standard report and then modify it. You also learned how to create a Crosstab report. You learned that you use the Crosstab report when you need to print information about tasks and resources for a specific time frame. Independent practice activity 1 Open Practice formatting. 2 Save the project file as My practice formatting. 3 Modify the appearance of Task bar styles in Gantt Chart view by selecting a different bar pattern and color. 4 Format the timescale to display months and weeks. 5 Draw an oval around task 8 and place the oval behind the task. (Hint: Draw an oval and choose Draw, Send to Back.) 6 Print preview Gantt Chart view as a report and add a header and footer to the file. The header should have Outlander Spices in the center. Left-align the current date in the footer. (Hint: On the Footer tab, activate the Left tab and use the fourth button from the left under the Alignment section to insert the current date.) 7 In Gantt Chart view, print preview a report with top-level tasks. (Hint: You ll find the Top Level task report in the Overview category.) 8 Create a custom task report named Myreport. (Hint: Select Task in the Define New Report dialog box.) 9 Preview Myreport. 10 Hide the Drawing toolbar. 11 Update and close the project file.

57 Review questions Formatting and reporting Which command can be used to modify the bar style, pattern, or color? Format, Bar Styles 2 What is a timescale, and how many tiers are there? A timescale is the time period indicator that is shown at the top of various views. The three tiers are Top, Middle, and Bottom. 3 Which is default timescale increment for the Middle Tier? A Months B Weeks C Days D Hours 4 Which is the default timescale increment for the Bottom Tier? A Months B Weeks C Days D Hours 5 Which toolbar can be used to add simple figures like a rectangle, oval, a line, and an arrow? Drawing toolbar 6 Which print option is used to add headers and footers to a report? From the Report menu, choose Print current view as a report to start the Print Current View wizard. 7 When is a Crosstab report useful? Use a Crosstab report when you need to print information about tasks and resources for a specific time frame.

58 3 20 Project 2003: Advanced

59 4 1 Unit 4 Customizing the project environment Unit time: 65 minutes Complete this unit, and you ll know how to: A Create a custom Network Diagram view and a combination view. B Create and run a macro to automate tasks. C Create and delete a toolbar and a menu. D Create a custom table by using the More Tables dialog box.

60 4 2 Project 2003: Advanced Topic A: Creating custom views Explanation A number of predefined views are available in Project You can access the most commonly used views by clicking a button on the View bar and you can access the other views from the View menu. You can also choose to customize a view. For example, when viewing tasks in Network Diagram view, you might want to see resource names and the percent (%) complete in the nodes. You can also create combination views when you want to see information from two different views simultaneously. Customize Network Diagram view You can customize Network Diagram view by creating new views or by editing existing views. You can create a new view from scratch or base the new view on an existing view. Here s how: 1 Switch to Network Diagram view. 2 Choose View, More Views. 3 Click Copy to open the View Definition dialog box. 4 In the Name box, specify a name for the view. 5 Click OK. 6 Click Apply. 7 Choose Format, Box Styles to open the Box Styles dialog box, as shown in Exhibit Specify the box styles by selecting the options from the appropriate lists. 9 Click OK. Exhibit 4-1: The Box Styles dialog box

61 Customizing the project environment 4 3 Do it! A-1: Creating a custom Network Diagram view Here s how Here s why 1 Open Customizing (From the current unit folder.) You ll create a custom view. 2 Save the project file as My customizing In the current unit folder. 3 Switch to Network Diagram view Each node represents one task in the project. The first row in each node displays the name of the task. The second row displays the start date and the task ID. The third row displays the finish date and the task duration. The fourth row displays the percentage of task completed. Notice that the box style and color of the nodes vary. Tell students that Kathy would like to create her own Network Diagram view to customize the appearance of critical and non-critical summary tasks. 4 Choose View, More Views To open the More Views dialog box. In the Views list, verify that Network Diagram is selected 5 Click Copy To make a copy of this view. 6 In the Name box, type My Network Diagram To specify a name for the view. 7 Verify that Show in menu is checked To include this customized view in the View bar or View menu. Click OK To close the View Definition dialog box. 8 In the Views list, verify that My Network Diagram is selected

62 4 4 Project 2003: Advanced 9 Click Apply To close the More Views dialog box. The copy of Network Diagram view opens. Tell students that they might not be able to see the complete name. Observe the Review meeting and Pre-construction tasks Observe the Foundation and External Work tasks These are non-critical summary tasks. Their blue color indicates that they are non-critical and their shape indicates that they are summary tasks. These are critical summary tasks. Their red color indicates that they are critical tasks and their shape indicates that they are summary tasks. Tell students that they can also right-click and choose Box Styles to open the Box Styles dialog box. Tell students that the shape selected is the last option in the list. 10 Choose Format, Box Styles To open the Box Styles dialog box. (You can also right-click and choose Box Styles to open this dialog box.) Under Style settings for, select Critical Summary 11 Under Border, from the Shape list, select the option as shown To specify the box type whose border you want to change. To specify a shape for the critical summary tasks. 12 Under Style settings for, select Noncritical Summary To specify the next box type whose border you want to change. Tell students that the shape selected is the eighth option in the list. Under Border, from the Shape list, select the option as shown To specify a shape for the non-critical summary tasks. 13 Click OK To close the dialog box. Tell students to zoom out, if necessary. Observe the custom view Right-click the View bar 14 Update the project file All applicable nodes show the customized settings. Notice that My Network Diagram is listed in the shortcut menu.

63 Customizing the project environment 4 5 Explanation Combination views While managing and tracking your project, you might need to view different aspects of it simultaneously. For example, you might want to view the Task Form and the Resource Form at the same time. You can do this by creating a combination view. A combination view is a dual-pane view. As shown in Exhibit 4-2, the bottom pane displays information corresponding to the task or resource selected in the upper pane. You can use the combination view to display any kind of project information you want. The view you are in at the start does not affect the view options for either pane of the combination view. To create a combination view: 1 Choose View, More Views to open the More Views dialog box. 2 Click New to open the Define New View dialog box. 3 Select Combination view. 4 Click OK to open the View Definition dialog box. 5 In the Name box, specify a name for the view. 6 Under Views displayed from the Top list, select a view. 7 From the Bottom list, select a view. 8 Check Show in menu. 9 Click OK. 10 Click Apply. Exhibit 4-2: A combination view

64 4 6 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! A-2: Creating a combination view Here s how Here s why 1 Open the More Views dialog box Choose View, More Views. 2 Click New To open the Define New View dialog box. Tell students that Kathy would like to view the Task Form and Resource Form simultaneously. 3 Select Combination view, as shown To create a combination view. Click OK To open the View Definition dialog box. 4 In the Name box, type Task/Resource Forms To specify a name for the combination view. 5 From the Top list, select Task Form, as shown To specify Task Form as the view in the top pane of the combination view. 6 From the Bottom list, select Resource Form, as shown To specify Resource Form as the view in the bottom pane. 7 Check Show in menu To display the name of the combination view in the View bar or View menu. Click OK To close the View Definition dialog box. 8 In the Views list, verify that Task/Resource Forms is selected 9 Click Apply To view the combination view. Tell students that they can click Previous or Next in the bottom pane to observe each resource if more than one is assigned to a task. Make sure that students don t click too quickly. 10 In the top pane, click Next three times The Task Form appears in the top pane of the window, and the Resource Form containing the data for each resource appears in the bottom pane of the window.

65 Customizing the project environment 4 7 Tell students to click Next or Previous to view the tasks. 11 Choose Window, Remove Split Observe the window 12 Switch to Gantt Chart view 13 Update the project file To remove the split. The split is removed to view only the Task Form.

66 4 8 Project 2003: Advanced Topic B: Creating macros Explanation When you are working with a project, you might have to do certain activities regularly. You can make your project run more efficiently by using macros to automate your work. A macro is an automated set of instructions used to perform a specific task. When you create a macro, you record and store a series of commands. The resulting macro runs the commands as one step. Macros You can use the Record Macro dialog box to name the macro, assign a shortcut key, and define the project the macro is associated with. To create a macro: 1 Choose Tools, Macro, Record New Macro to open the Record Macro dialog box. 2 In the Macro name box, specify a name for the macro. 3 In the Shortcut key box, assign a shortcut key to the macro. 4 From the Store macro in list, select the project file where you want to store the macro. 5 Under Description, enter a description for the macro, as shown in Exhibit Click OK. 7 Perform the actions you want to record. 8 Choose Tools, Macro, Stop Recorder to stop recording the macro. Exhibit 4-3: The Record Macro dialog box

67 Customizing the project environment 4 9 Do it! B-1: Creating a macro Tell students that Kathy works frequently in Task Entry view. When she works in this view, she wants to view the entire project within the width of the Gantt Chart pane. Tell students that case doesn t matter. Ensure that students do not select Global File. Here s how 1 Choose Tools, Macro, Record New Macro 2 In the Macro name box, type TaskEntryView 3 In the Shortcut key: Ctrl + box, type E, as shown 4 From the Store macro in list, select This Project 5 In the Description box, type This macro is used to switch to Task Entry view. Here s why To open the Record Macro dialog box. To assign a name to the macro. Macro names cannot contain spaces. To assign the shortcut key combination Ctrl+E to the macro. To store the macro in the active project. To describe the macro. 6 Click OK To close the Record Macro dialog box. You ll record the macro now. 7 Switch to Task Entry view Right-click the View bar, choose More Views, select Task Entry, and click Apply. 8 Open the Zoom dialog box Choose View, Zoom. Under Zoom to, select Entire project, as shown To view the entire project within the width of the screen. Click OK To close the Zoom dialog box.

68 4 10 Project 2003: Advanced 9 Choose Tools, Macro, Stop Recorder To stop the recording of the macro. 10 Click (The Zoom Out button is located on the Standard toolbar.) To change the amount of zoom. You ll modify the current view in preparation to test the macro. Choose Window, Remove Split Switch to Calendar view To return to a single-pane view. (Choose View, Calendar.) To select a different view. 11 Update the project file

69 Customizing the project environment 4 11 Explanation Run a macro After creating a macro, you can run it any time you need to perform the series of commands defined in it. You run a macro by using either the Macros dialog box or the shortcut key assigned to the macro. To run a macro: 1 Choose Tools, Macro, Macros to open the Macros dialog box. 2 From the Macro in list, select the project file in which you stored the macro. 3 Under Macro name, select the macro you want to run, as shown in Exhibit Click Run to execute the macro. Exhibit 4-4: The Macros dialog box

70 4 12 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! B-2: Running a macro Tell students that they can also press Alt+F8. Here s how 1 Choose Tools, Macro, Macros 2 From the Macros in list, select This Project Here s why To open the Macros dialog box. (You can also press Alt+F8.) To view macros in the active project. If students cannot find their macro, they might have it stored in the global file. 3 In the Macro name list, select My customizing.mpp!taskentryview You ll run this macro, which is shown in Exhibit Click Run To execute the macro. Observe the project window The view changes to Task Entry view, zoomed to show the entire project. 5 Click (The Zoom In button is on the Standard toolbar.) To change the zoom level. Remove the window split Switch to Network Diagram view Choose Window, Remove Split. Right-click the View bar and choose Network Diagram. 6 Press c + E To use the shortcut key to run the macro. 7 Update the project file

71 Customizing the project environment 4 13 Topic C: Creating a toolbar and a menu Explanation You can create a custom toolbar to contain the buttons that you use frequently. You can customize an existing toolbar by adding or removing buttons based on your needs. You can also create your own menu with commands you use frequently. Custom toolbars To create a new toolbar, you use the Customize dialog box. You can also use the Customize dialog box to add or remove buttons from any active toolbar. Here s how you create a toolbar: 1 Choose Tools, Customize, Toolbars to open the Customize dialog box. 2 Activate the Toolbars tab. 3 Click New to open the New Toolbar dialog box. 4 In the Toolbar name box, specify a name for the toolbar. 5 Click OK to close the New Toolbar dialog box and to display a floating toolbar. 6 Activate the Commands tab. 7 From the Categories list, select a category. 8 From the Commands list, select a command. 9 Drag the command to the toolbar. 10 Close the Customize dialog box.

72 4 14 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! C-1: Creating a toolbar Here s how Here s why 1 Switch to Gantt Chart view If necessary. Tell students to close the Office Assistant if it appears. Remove the window split 2 Choose Tools, Customize, Toolbars Activate the Toolbars tab If necessary. To open the Customize dialog box. (If necessary.) You ll create a custom toolbar. 3 Click New To open the New Toolbar dialog box. 4 In the Toolbar name box, type My Toolbar To specify a name for the toolbar. You can use spaces in the name of a toolbar. 5 Click OK To close the New Toolbar dialog box. Help students find the new toolbar on the screen. Observe the toolbar The toolbar is empty. 6 Activate the Commands tab To view command options. 7 From the Categories list, select View To see the commands in the View category. 8 From the Commands list, drag Resource Allocation View to the toolbar To add this command to My Toolbar. The shape of the pointer changes. Observe the toolbar The Task Entry View command is on My Toolbar.

73 Customizing the project environment From the Commands list, drag View to the toolbar To add View to My Toolbar. 10 Add Table to the toolbar, as shown Under Commands, select Table and drag it to the toolbar. 11 Click Close To close the Customize dialog box. 12 Drag My Toolbar under the Formatting toolbar On My Toolbar, from the View list, select Task Sheet From the Table list, select Baseline To view the Task Sheet information. To test the buttons on the new toolbar. 13 Update the project file

74 4 16 Project 2003: Advanced Explanation Deleting a toolbar You can delete a toolbar by using the Customize dialog box. However, you cannot delete most of the built-in toolbars. Some of the built-in toolbars that you can delete are Analysis, Compare Project Versions, and Network Diagram. You can also delete a custom toolbar. To delete a custom toolbar: 1 Choose Tools, Customize, Toolbars to open the Customize dialog box. 2 Activate the Toolbars tab. 3 From the Toolbars list, select the toolbar you want to delete. 4 Click Delete. A confirmation message box appears. 5 Click OK and then click Close. The toolbar is deleted from Project Do it! C-2: Deleting a toolbar Here s how 1 Choose Tools, Customize, Toolbars Here s why To open the Customize dialog box. 2 Activate the Toolbars tab 3 From the Toolbars list, select My Toolbar To select the toolbar to be deleted. 4 Click Delete To delete My Toolbar. 5 Click OK To confirm the deletion. Close the Customize dialog box Click Close. 6 Update the project file

75 Customizing the project environment 4 17 Explanation New menu commands You might find that you use certain menu commands frequently. You can simplify your work by creating a new menu that contains these commands. You can also give the menu a name you choose. You can create a new menu by using the Customize dialog box. You can give the menu a name of your choice by editing the name of the menu bar. To create a new menu: 1 Choose Tools, Customize, Toolbars to open the Customize dialog box. 2 Activate the Commands tab. 3 From the Categories list, select New Menu. 4 From the Commands list, select New Menu. 5 Drag New Menu to the menu bar. 6 From the Categories list, select a category. 7 From the Commands list, select a command. 8 Drag the command to the menu. 9 Right-click New Menu to display a shortcut menu. 10 In the Name box, enter the name of the menu. 11 Close the shortcut menu. 12 Close the Customize dialog box.

76 4 18 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! C-3: Creating a new menu Here s how Here s why 1 Choose Tools, Customize, Toolbars 2 Activate the Commands tab (If necessary.) To view the Commands options. 3 From the Categories list, select New Menu This choice is located last in the list. 4 From the Commands list, drag New Menu to the menu bar, as shown To add a new menu to the menu bar. The shape of the pointer changes as you drag. Observe the menu bar New Menu is added to the menu bar. 5 From the Categories list, select Project The corresponding Project commands appear in the Categories list. Ensure that students add the command as a menu item of New Menu. 6 From the Commands list, drag Sort by to New Menu, as shown To add the Sort by command as a submenu choice in New Menu. 7 Add Sort by Date and Project Information to New Menu From the Commands list, select each command (Sort by Date and Project Information) and drag it to New Menu.

77 Customizing the project environment On the menu bar, right-click New Menu To display a shortcut menu, which has a number of options. You ll edit the name of New Menu by using the shortcut menu. 9 In the Name box, type MyMenu To change the name of the menu. Click outside the menu To close the shortcut menu. Observe the menu The name of the menu is now MyMenu. 10 In the Customize dialog box, click Close To close the dialog box. 11 Click MyMenu To display the menu. The commands you added are on MyMenu. 12 Choose Project Information (From MyMenu.) To open the Project Information dialog box. 13 Close the Project Information dialog box 14 Update the project file

78 4 20 Project 2003: Advanced Deleting a menu Explanation You might find that you don t use certain menu commands and you want to delete such menus from a toolbar. You can do so by using the Customize dialog box. There are two ways of deleting a menu: Choose Tools, Customize, Toolbars to open the Customize dialog box. Next, drag the menu you want to delete off the toolbar in the Project 2003 window and click Close. This method can be used to delete both the built-in menus and the custom menus. Choose Tools, Customize, Toolbars to open the Customize dialog box. Next, activate the Toolbars tab and select the toolbar that contains the menu you don t want. Click Reset. This method is used to delete a custom menu created on a built-in toolbar, such as Standard and Formatting toolbars. When you delete a built-in menu, it is still available in the Customize dialog box. However, when you delete a custom menu, it is permanently deleted from Project Do it! C-4: Deleting a menu Tell students that in this activity, they will delete the custom menu MyMenu. Here s how 1 Choose Tools, Customize, Toolbars 2 Activate the Toolbars tab 3 From the Toolbars list, select Menu Bar Here s why To open the Customize dialog box. 4 Click Reset To remove MyMenu from the menu bar. 5 Click OK To return the menu bar to its original state. Close the Customize dialog box Click Close. 6 Update the project file

79 Topic D: Creating a custom table Customizing the project environment 4 21 Explanation When tracking your project s progress, you might need to look at a variety of information. You can create your own table to display the combination of field information that you require. You can create a new table or copy and modify an existing table. Custom tables If none of the Project 2003 tables suit your needs, you can create your own table to display the fields that you use frequently. You can customize the field headings by selecting from the list of field headings provided by Project To create a custom table: 1 Choose View, Table, More Tables to open the More Tables dialog box. 2 Select the table where you want to create a task table or a resource table. 3 Click New to open the Table Definition dialog box. 4 In the Name box, specify the name of the custom table. 5 Check Show in menu to show the table in the Tables list. 6 In the Field Name column, select the field headings that you want in the custom table. 7 In the Title column, specify the Column headings, as shown in Exhibit 4-5. By default, the title is the same as the Field name. 8 Verify that Lock first column is checked. This ensures that the first column is prevented from scrolling out of view. 9 Click OK. 10 Click Apply. Exhibit 4-5: A sample Table Definition dialog box

80 4 22 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! D-1: Creating a custom table Here s how 1 Choose View, Table: Baseline, More Tables 2 Next to Tables, verify that Task is selected Here s why To open the More Tables dialog box. You ll create a custom table in the Task view. 3 Click New To open the Table Definition dialog box. 4 In the Name box, type My Table This will be the name of the custom table. 5 Check Show in menu 6 Under Field Name, select the first cell From the list, select Name Under Align Data, select Left Under Title, type Task name It changes to a list. This is the column heading. To left-align names in the new table. To specify a custom column heading. Under Header Wrapping, verify that Yes is selected 7 Observe the other columns You ll work with the default values. 8 Under Field name, select the second cell Enter other field details, as shown in Exhibit Verify that Lock first column is checked Click OK You can use the arrow keys to move between cells. To avoid the first column from scrolling out of view. To close the Table Definition dialog box. MyTable is selected in the Tables list. 10 Click Apply To apply the table to Gantt Chart view. Tell students to drag the Divider bar, if necessary. 11 Expand all the columns to fit all the text Observe the table 12 Update and close the project file You can drag a column s Divider bar or select each column and double-click its right boundary. All the custom fields are available in the table.

81 Unit summary: Customizing the project environment Customizing the project environment 4 23 Topic A Topic B Topic C Topic D In this topic, you learned how to customize a view by creating a custom Network Diagram view. You also learned how to see two different views at the same time by using a combination view. In this topic, you learned how to automate repetitive tasks by creating a macro. You also learned how to run a macro. In this topic, you learned how to create a new toolbar by using the Customize dialog box. You also learned how to delete a toolbar. Next, you learned how to create a custom menu and to change the name of the menu. Finally, you learned how to delete the custom menu. In this topic, you learned how to create a custom table by using the More Tables dialog box. Independent practice activity 1 Open Practice customizing. 2 Save the project file as My practice customizing. 3 Create a custom Network Diagram view named NewNetworkview, and change the background and border colors of the critical summary nodes. 4 Switch to Gantt Chart view. 5 Create a combination view named Newcomboview that displays Gantt Chart and Task Usage views. 6 Remove the split. 7 Create a macro named Newmacro and store it in This Project. Record the macro to change the current view to Calendar view at a zoom level of two weeks. Assign a shortcut key Ctrl+Q to the macro. 8 Run the macro. (Hint: Change the view and zoom before running the macro to make sure it works.) 9 Create a toolbar named Newtoolbar, and add the commands Show Subtasks and Hide Subtasks to the toolbar. (Hint: You ll find the commands in the Outline category.) 10 Switch to Gantt Chart view. Use the Hide Subtasks and Show Subtasks buttons on the Newtoolbar. 11 Delete the Newtoolbar toolbar. 12 Create a menu named Newmenu and add the commands Tracking, Task Relationships, and Earned Value to the menu. (Hint: You ll find the commands in the All Forms category.) 13 Select the Newmenu choices to verify that they are working. 14 Delete the Newmenu menu.

82 4 24 Project 2003: Advanced 15 Create a table named Newtable. Add the field headings Name, Resource Names, and Start. (Hint: Open the More Tables dialog box, click New, and apply the fields.) 16 Apply the new table view. Widen columns as necessary. 17 Update and close the project file. Review questions 1 What are the two ways to create a custom view? You can create a new view from scratch or base the new view on an existing view. 2 When might you create a combination view? When you want to see information from two different views simultaneously. 3 What are the necessary steps to record a macro? a Choose Tools, Macro, Record New Macro to open the Record Macro dialog box. b c d f g h i In the Macro name box, specify a name for the macro. In the Shortcut key box, assign a shortcut key to the macro. From the Store macro in list, select the project file where you want to store the macro. Under Description, enter a description for the macro. Click OK. Perform the actions you want to record. Choose Tools, Macro, Stop Recorder to stop recording the macro. 4 Name two ways to run a macro? Use the Macros dialog box Use the shortcut key assigned to the macro 5 Which of the following actions is not performed by using the Customize dialog box? A Creating a custom toolbar B Creating a custom menu C Deleting a custom toolbar D Creating a custom table 6 Which built-in toolbars can be deleted? Analysis, Compare Project Versions, and Network Diagram

83 5 1 Unit 5 Managing multiple projects Unit time: 40 minutes Complete this unit, and you ll know how to: A Consolidate project files, link tasks across projects, assign project and task priorities, and share project elements globally and with specific projects. B Share resources across projects.

84 5 2 Project 2003: Advanced Topic A: Consolidating and sharing projects Explanation One way to manage and control a large project is to organize portions of it into subprojects. A consolidated project consists of a master project file and subproject files. Subprojects are projects that are inserted into the master project. You can consolidate projects to view all the projects simultaneously in the master project file while managing all subproject files individually. You can also share project elements that you create in one project file with other project files. Project file consolidation Consolidating project files is an effective way of managing multiple projects that have common resources, especially when changes in one project can affect other projects. Changes made in the consolidated project file are automatically reflected in the individual project files. In the same way, changes made to the individual project files are reflected in the consolidated project file. You can insert up to a thousand projects in a master project. However, the number of projects that you can open simultaneously depends on your computer s memory. After inserting projects, information can easily be exchanged between the master project and the subprojects. Every subproject is represented as a single summary task in the consolidated project. An inserted project icon appears for a subproject in the indicators field, as shown in Exhibit 5-1. You can view, print, or modify all project files as a single project file. To consolidate the project files: 1 Open the project file in which you want to consolidate the project files. This will be the master project. 2 Select the cell where you want to insert a project file. 3 Choose Insert, Project to open the Insert Project dialog box. 4 Select the file you want to insert. 5 Click Insert to insert the file. Exhibit 5-1: The Consolidated project window

85 Managing multiple projects 5 3 Do it! A-1: Consolidating project files Here s how Here s why Kathy Sinclair wants to consolidate project files to make managing them easier. 1 Open Consolidated project (From the current unit folder.) You ll consolidate project files. 2 Save the project file as My consolidated project In the current unit folder. 3 Select Task 1 (Air conditioning.) You ll insert a file before this task. 4 Choose Insert, Project To open the Insert Project dialog box. 5 Select Phase 1 From the current unit folder. 6 Click Insert To insert Phase 1 into the consolidated project. Observe the project window The file Phase 1 is inserted. The Indicators column indicates that this is an inserted project. Tell students that the ScreenTip will show the path of the inserted file based on the location of the file on their computers. 7 Point to the task indicator A ScreenTip appears that displays the path of the inserted file. 8 Expand the tasks under Phase 1 [Click the plus (+) symbol next to Phase 1.] To view the tasks under Phase 1. 9 Double-click Phase 1 To open the Inserted Project Information dialog box. 10 Activate the Advanced tab To view the options under the Advanced tab. Observe the dialog box The Link to project box is checked, specifying that the changes made to the project will be updated in the source project. 11 Click OK To close the dialog box. 12 Update the project file

86 5 4 Project 2003: Advanced Explanation Link tasks across projects You can link tasks in consolidated projects to create a dependency between tasks in different projects. For example, if a task in one project must be completed before the task in another project can be started, you might want to define a dependency between their start and finish dates. You link the tasks in two different projects the same way you would link tasks in the same project. To link tasks across projects, select the tasks you want to link and then click Link Tasks on the Standard toolbar. Do it! A-2: Linking tasks across projects Here s how Here s why Kathy wants to link 1 Select Buy materials This is task 7 in the project in Phase1. two tasks in different projects. Press and hold c To select another task. 2 Select Install ducting This is task 3 under Air Conditioning. Release c Point out to students Observe the Gantt chart Notice that the tasks are not linked. that the tasks are not linked in the Gantt chart. 3 Click To link tasks across projects. Observe the Gantt chart You ll see that the tasks are linked across projects. Ensure that students click the link line between Buy materials and Install ducting in the Gantt Chart pane. 4 Double-click the link line To open the Task Dependency dialog box. The Task dependency dialog box is used to change or delete the task relationship. It is also used to change the lag time in a relationship. Observe the dialog box You ll see that the linked tasks have a Finish-to- Start (FS) relationship. 5 Click OK To close the Task Dependency dialog box. 6 Update the project file A message box appears, prompting you to save the changes made to Phase 1. Click Yes To save the changes in Phase 1.

87 Managing multiple projects 5 5 Explanation Project and task priorities If you are working in a consolidated project file, it s a good idea to assign priority levels to the projects based on their importance. You can also assign priority levels to the tasks based on their importance within a project. You prioritize projects and tasks when you want to level resources across the projects and tasks. Leveling permits you to control the order in which Project 2003 delays or splits tasks with over-allocated resources. Higherpriority projects and tasks take precedence over lower-priority projects and tasks, and project priorities take precedence over task priorities. You can use Project 2003 to assign a priority between 0 and 1,000. By default, all projects and tasks have a priority of 500. To assign a project priority, open the Project Information dialog box for the project and type the project priority in the Priority box. To assign a task priority: 1 Select the task. 2 Click Task Information to open the Task Information dialog box. 3 From the Priority list, select the priority you want to assign. 4 Click OK. Do it! A-3: Assigning project and task priorities Kathy wants to designate that this project has the highest priority. Here s how 1 Open the Inserted Project Information dialog box 2 Activate the General tab 3 In the Priority list, type 1000 Here s why (Double-click Phase 1.) You ll change the priority of this project. To assign a priority to the project. 4 Click OK To close the Inserted Project Information dialog box. Kathy wants to designate that this task has a higher priority than other tasks. 5 Select Install LAN backbone Task Open the Task Information dialog box 7 Activate the General tab If necessary. 8 In the Priority list, type 750 To assign a priority to the task. 9 Click OK To close the Task Information dialog box. 10 Update and close the project file Click Yes when a message box appears prompting you to save the changes made to Phase 1.

88 5 6 Project 2003: Advanced Explanation Sharing project elements globally You can share customized project elements that you ve created in one project file with other project files. You can share an element with all projects or with only a single project. You can also share filters, views, reports, calendars, and tables with other projects. For example, if you create a customized filter for displaying critical tasks in a project, you can use the same filter in another project by making the filter shareable. You share a project element with all projects by copying the project element to the Global.MPT file. By default, this file contains all the standard project elements that are available in Project You use the Organizer dialog box for sharing, copying, renaming, or deleting custom project elements. The Organizer dialog box has a tab for each project element. You use the Filters tab to make a filter shareable for all projects. The Global.MPT list displays the elements in the Global.MPT file. To share a project element: 1 Open the project file. 2 Choose Tools, Organizer to open the Organizer dialog box. 3 Select the project element you want to share. 4 Click Copy to copy the project element to the Global.MPT file. 5 Click Close to close the Organizer dialog box. Exhibit 5-2: The Organizer dialog box

89 Do it! A-4: Making an existing filter global Managing multiple projects 5 7 Here s how Here s why Kathy Sinclair wants to share a filter in this project with other current projects. 1 Open Sharing 1 (From the current unit folder.) You ll make a project element shareable. 2 Save the project file as My sharing 1 In the current unit folder. 3 Choose Project, Filtered for: All Tasks, More Filters To open the More Filters dialog box. From the Filters list, select Filter 1 Click Apply To apply Filter 1 to the task list. Tasks that are 100% complete appear. Students might have to click the down chevrons to display the Organizer menu choice. 4 Choose Tools, Organizer To open the Organizer dialog box. 5 Activate the Filters tab To view the filters. 6 Under My sharing 1, select Filter 1 You ll make this filter shareable across projects. 7 Click Copy To copy the filter to the Global.MPT file. Observe the dialog box Notice that Filter 1 is copied to the Global.MPT file. The project elements in the Global.MPT file are available for all projects (as shown in Exhibit 5-2). Therefore, Filter 1 is now available to all other current projects. 8 Click Close To close the Organizer dialog box. 9 Update the project file

90 5 8 Project 2003: Advanced Explanation Sharing project elements with specific projects In addition to sharing a project element with all projects, you can share a customized project element with a specific project file. You do this by copying the element from one project file to another. To copy elements, you must open both files. In the project file in which you want to copy project elements: 1 Choose Tools, Organizer to open the Organizer dialog box. 2 Select the project element you want to copy. 3 Click Copy to copy the project element. 4 Click Close to close the Organizer dialog box. Do it! A-5: Sharing a filter between projects Here s how Here s why Ensure that My sharing 1 is open. 1 Open Sharing 2 (From the current unit folder.) This file contains tasks from another project. You ll copy Filter 2 from My sharing 1 to this file. 2 Save the project file as My sharing 2 Tell students that Kathy Sinclair wants to share Filter 2 with only the My sharing 2 project file. 3 Choose Tools, Organizer To open the Organizer dialog box. 4 Activate the Filters tab To view the filters. 5 On the bottom-left side of the dialog box, from the Filters available in list, select My sharing 1 To view filters available in My sharing 1. Observe the dialog box Under My sharing 1, the available filters are listed. Tell students that this filter displays all tasks that are 50% complete. 6 Under My sharing 1, select Filter 2 When applied to a project, Filter 2 displays all tasks that are 50% complete. 7 Click Copy To copy Filter 2 to My sharing 2. Observe the dialog box Filter 2 is copied to My sharing 2.

91 Managing multiple projects Click Close To close the dialog box. Now Kathy Sinclair can see all the tasks that are 50% complete by conveniently using Filter 2 in the My sharing 2 project file. 9 Apply Filter 2 (Choose Project, Filtered for: All Tasks, More Filters to open the More Filters dialog box. Select Filter 2 and click Apply.) To view all tasks that are 50% complete. 10 Update the project file 11 Close both project files

92 5 10 Project 2003: Advanced Topic B: Sharing resources across projects Explanation When you work with more than one project, some of the resources might be common among the projects. You can share resources across projects by creating a resource pool. A resource pool is a collection of available resources. The resource pool Creating a resource pool is an efficient way of maintaining resource information. All projects sharing resources are linked to the pool. This ensures that all changes made to the resource pool are reflected in all the projects sharing that pool. By creating a resource pool, you can review usage and cost across projects to identify and resolve resource overallocation. You can also print consolidated information about resources. You create a resource pool by creating a new project file or by using an existing project file. When you know that two or more of your projects will have common resources, you can create a dummy project file that contains only resource information and not the tasks before the projects begin. All resources specified in this file will form the resource pool. If you have project files that have tasks and resources already specified in them, you can designate one of the existing project files as the resource pool. All the resources in that project file automatically become a part of the resource pool. In addition, all other resources shared from other projects become a part of the resource pool. The project files that will share the resource pool must be open, and the project file you want to designate as the resource pool must be the active file before you create the resource pool. Resource sharing After you ve decided which project file will act as your resource pool, you can share the resources. You need to select the order of precedence if resources with the same name exist in the project file as well as the resource pool file. You can specify the order of precedence in the Share Resources dialog box. If you want the resource information in the active project file to take precedence, select the order of precedence as Sharer takes precedence. If you want the resource pool file to take precedence, select the order of precedence as Pool takes precedence.

93 Managing multiple projects 5 11 When sharing resources, other project managers can make changes to resource information in their projects. This can affect the availability of that resource in your project. To get the latest pool information, you refresh the pool by choosing Tools, Resources, Refresh Resource Pool. To share resources from another project: 1 Open the project file from which you want to share resources. 2 Open the project file to which you want to assign resources. 3 Choose Tools, Resources, Share Resources to open the Share Resources dialog box, as shown in Exhibit Under Resources for, select Use resources. 5 From the list, select the project file from which you want to share the resources. 6 Under On conflict with calendar or resource information, specify the order of precedence. 7 Click OK to close the Share Resources dialog box. Exhibit 5-3: The Share Resources dialog box

94 5 12 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! B-1: Sharing resources from another project Here s how Here s why Kathy Sinclair wants to share resources with other projects. The resources of this project are shared with another project. 1 Open Resources 1 (From the current unit folder.) You ll share resources from this file. 2 Save Resources 1 as My resources 1 Observe the resource sheet In the current unit folder. Notice the list of resources. The resources of this project are shared with another project. 3 Open Resources 2 (From the current unit folder.) You ll specify resources for this file. 4 Save Resources 2 as My resources 2 In the current unit folder. 5 Verify that My resources 2 is the active project file 6 Choose Tools, Resource Sharing, Share Resources To open the Share Resources dialog box. 7 Under Resources for My resources 2, select Use resources 8 Verify that My resources 1 is selected To assign resources from My resources 1 to My resources 2. 9 Under On conflict with calendar or resource information, select Sharer takes precedence 10 Click OK To close the dialog box. (If necessary.) To specify that you want the information in the active project file to take precedence when the active file and the resource pool file contain resources with the same name. Observe the project file The resources from My resources 1 are assigned to My resources Update and close My resources 2 A Microsoft Project message box appears. Click Yes To save the resource changes. 12 Update and close My resources 1

95 Managing multiple projects 5 13 Unit summary: Managing multiple projects Topic A Topic B In this topic, you learned how to manage multiple projects by consolidating project files. Next, you learned how to create a dependency between tasks in different projects by linking tasks across projects. You then learned how to assign project and task priorities based on importance. You also learned that to share a project element globally, you copy that element to the Global.MPT file. Finally, you learned that to share a project element with a specific project, you copy that element to the desired project by using the Organizer dialog box. In this topic, you learned how to share resources across projects by creating a resource pool, which is a collection of available resources. Independent practice activity 1 Open Practice sharing. 2 Save the project file as My practice sharing. 3 Share MyFilter across all projects. (Hint: Choose Tools, Organizer, and activate the Filters tab. Select MyFilter and copy it to the Global.MPT.) 4 Open Software launch. 5 Save the Software launch project file as My software launch. 6 Share MyFilter 2 of My practice sharing with My software launch. 7 Apply the filter MyFilter. 8 View the resource sheet of My software launch. 9 View the resource sheet of My practice sharing. 10 Share resources of My practice sharing with My software launch. The Sharer should have precedence. (Hint: Before using the Share Resources dialog box, ensure that My software launch is active.) 11 Update and close both the project files. Review questions 1 What is the maximum number of projects that can be inserted into a master project? Up to a thousand. However, the number of projects that you can open simultaneously depends on your computer s memory. 2 What is the advantage to consolidating projects into a master project file? Consolidation is an effective way of managing multiple projects that have common resources, especially when changes in one project can affect other projects. 3 How do subprojects appear in the master project file? Every subproject is represented as a single summary task in the consolidated project. An inserted project icon appears for a subproject. 4 What is the range of priority that can be assigned to projects and tasks? A value between 0 and The default priority is 500.

96 5 14 Project 2003: Advanced 5 What are the steps for assigning a task priority? a Select the task. b c d Click Task Information to open the Task Information dialog box. From the Priority list, select the priority you want to assign. Click OK. 6 What are some characteristics of a resource pool? Answers may include: A collection of resources. Can be shared across projects An efficient way to maintain resource information All changes are reflected in all the projects sharing that pool. Review usage and cost across projects to identify and resolve resource over allocation Print consolidated information about resources

97 6 1 Unit 6 Project communications Unit time: 65 minutes Complete this unit, and you ll know how to: A Communicate project information by using Microsoft Project Server 2003 to send task assignments and status requests, and by sending project notes via . B Export project data to the Web by saving the project file as a Web page. C Add hyperlinks to the project file. D Save projects to Microsoft Project 98, and identify potential lost elements.

98 6 2 Project 2003: Advanced Topic A: Communicating among a project team Explanation Explanation Generally, projects are not managed and completed autonomously. They require a team of people, with different roles and responsibilities, to communicate and participate with one another. This team, or workgroup, can include project managers, resources working on the project, and other stakeholders. To facilitate communication among the team, a project manager can use Microsoft Office Project Server This is a companion product that facilitates communication of project planning and status information among a workgroup. Requirements for team collaboration To use Project Server 2003 for team collaboration, you will need the following Microsoft Office programs: Project Professional 2003, Project Server 2003, and Project Web Access 2003, which provides a Web-based communication environment. With these programs and a network, team members can access project information on an intranet. To set up a Project Server collaboration environment, Project Server should be installed on a server machine with Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 or later and Microsoft Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 3 or later already installed. The project manager s machine should have Project, and other team members should have a copy of Project Web Access and a Web browser installed on their machines. To access Project Server, the team members should also have the URL address of the Project Server home page. After installing and configuring Project Server, you can connect your team. To connect your team members: 1 Choose Tools, Options to open the Options dialog box. 2 Activate the Collaborate tab, as shown in Exhibit From the Collaborate using list, select Microsoft Office Project Server. 4 In the Project Server URL box, enter the URL for Project Server. (The URL is provided by the administrator.) 5 Under Identification for Project Server, select Microsoft Office Project user name. This helps you send all workgroup messages with the user name specified on the General tab of the Options dialog box. 6 Click Set as Default to apply the settings. 7 Click OK to close the dialog box.

99 Project communications 6 3 Exhibit 6-1: The Options dialog box with the Collaborate tab activated In the Options dialog box, you can specify the type of assignment information that you want to publish in Project Server. You can also specify the type of information that you want to publish automatically in Project Server when you save changes to your project. Using Project Server for team collaboration As a project manager, you can schedule and track within Project When you want to communicate the project information to workgroup members, you publish the information on Project Server. The information is then stored on the server. The workgroup members can then use a Web browser to log in to the server and use project Web Access to view and respond to the information. Workgroup members send responses to you regarding task assignments and status requests by using Project Web Access. In return, you respond to status reports by using Project. You can view the Project Web Access page in Project to review the changes made by your workgroup members and then, incorporate the changes in your project plan.

100 6 4 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! A-1: Discussing Microsoft Project Server 2003 Questions and answers Tell students that because Microsoft Project Server and Project Web Access are not set up in the class, they will not be able to work with them. 1 What three Microsoft Office programs are required for a project team to collaborate with one another? Project Professional 2003, Project Server 2003, and Project Web Access What is Microsoft Project Web Access? A program that provides a Web-based communication environment; used to access information on Project Server 3 How do you use Microsoft Project Server to connect to your team members? In the Options dialog box under the Collaborate tab, from the Collaborate using list, select Microsoft Office Project Server as the messaging system, specify the URL of Microsoft Project Server, select an option under Identification for Project Server, and click Set as Default.

101 Project communications 6 5 Explanation Task assignments You can communicate task assignments and schedules to workgroup members in Project 2003 by sending them an assignment request. These messages assign resources for all tasks or selected tasks. You can also add your own messages to the Published New and Changed Assignments dialog box by editing the default message. Workgroup members can accept or decline the task assigned by replying to the Published New and Changed Assignments request. To send Published New and Changed Assignments messages: 1 Select the task for which you want to assign a resource. 2 Choose Tools, Assign Resources to open the Resource Assignment dialog box. 3 Select a resource. 4 Click Assign to assign a resource to the task. 5 Choose Collaborate, Publish, New and Changed Assignments. 6 Click OK to save the project before publishing and to open the Published New and Changed Assignments dialog box. 7 From the Publish new and changed assignments for list, select the required option. 8 Click Edit message text to edit the notification text or add additional information. 9 In the Message box, type the message and click OK. 10 Click OK to send the message. By default, team members can see only those project tasks to which they re assigned. If a team member receives messages for multiple projects, Project Server organizes them by project name. Do it! A-2: Sending task assignment requests Questions and answers Tell students that because a real workgroup is not set, they will not be able to send task assignment messages. 1 How do you notify team members of their assignments? By sending a request to each resource with their assignment 2 How can you specify your own message in the Published New and Changed Assignments dialog box? By editing the default message 3 How do workgroup members accept or decline a task assignment? By replying to the request

102 6 6 Project 2003: Advanced Explanation Status requests As a project manager, you need to update the project file with information from the workgroup members to maintain an accurate picture of the project s progress. You can send status request messages to request information from a workgroup member about the progress of a task. When you receive the reply to the message, you can respond to the message with any additional questions or information, or you can incorporate the information into the project. When you choose to incorporate the information, Project 2003 automatically updates the project file by using the new information. To send a status request for a task: 1 Select the task for which you want to request a status update. 2 Choose Collaborate, Request Progress Information. 3 If you are prompted to save the project, click OK to save it before requesting progress information and open the Request Progress Information dialog box. If you are saving the project for the first time, specify a name. 4 From the Request progress information for list, select Selected items to request progress information for new and changed assignments of the selected task. 5 Select the dates from the Request progress information for period from and to lists. 6 Click Edit message text to enter additional information or edit the notification text. 7 In the message box, type your message and click OK to close the Edit message text dialog box. 8 Click OK to send the request. Do it! A-3: Sending status requests Questions and answers Tell students that because a real workgroup is not set, they will not be able to send status requests. 1 How can workgroup members keep the workgroup manager updated on the project? When they receive a status request, workgroup members can keep the manager updated by sending a status update for the tasks assigned to them. The project is updated automatically without requiring that information be entered manually. 2 How can the workgroup manager send a status request? By using the Request Progress Information dialog box 3 How does a status request message help? It helps in receiving task and resource progress to keep the project plan up to date.

103 Project communications 6 7 Explanation Sending note messages You can also use Project 2003 to communicate within a workgroup through . There can be times when you need to immediately communicate important project information to your workgroup. You can do so by sending a project note to the workgroup through your organization s system. Your note can contain information about specific tasks or resources. You can send the same project note to all people who are associated with the project or to people who are associated with only a specific task or resource. To send a note regarding a selected task: 1 Select a task. 2 Choose File, Send To, Mail Recipient (as Schedule Note) to open the Send Schedule Note dialog box, as shown in Exhibit Under Address message to, check the desired recipient. 4 To send the note to resources, the project manager, and project contacts that are associated with the entire project, choose Entire project. To send the note to resources or contacts that are associated with only a specific task, choose Selected tasks. 5 Under Attach, check File to send the entire project file, or check Picture of selected tasks to send only the selected tasks. 6 Click OK. Exhibit 6-2: The Send Schedule Note dialog box

104 6 8 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! A-4: Sending schedule notes Questions and answers Tell students that because a real workgroup is not set, they will not be able to send schedule notes. 1 When do you need to send a project note? When you want to communicate important project information to your workgroup 2 Who can be the recipients of your notes? The project manager, resources, or contacts that are part of the project 3 What are the options that you can attach with the note? Either the entire project file or a picture of the selected tasks 4 How do you send a note to a specific resource associated with a task? Choose Selected tasks.

105 Project communications 6 9 Topic B: Exporting project data to the Web Explanation You might have remote workgroup members who don t have access to your intranet and therefore don t have direct access to project information. You can communicate project information to these people by exporting project data to the Web, or Internet, which involves converting the project file into an HTML document. After you publish the HTML document on the Web, the remote workgroup members can view the project information through a Web browser. Save project files as Web pages You can export either all the data in a project file or selected data to the Web. Project 2003 uses maps to determine the fields you want to convert into an HTML document for publishing on the Web. You can export data to the Web by using the Export Mapping dialog box. In the dialog box, you can specify the import/export map you want. The import/export map defines the fields that will be imported or exported. Project 2003 contains a number of predefined import/export maps for importing and exporting data to other applications. You can also create a custom map. To export data to the Web, you save the project file as a Web page. Here s how: 1 Open the project file. 2 Choose File, Save As Web Page. 3 Edit the File name box to specify the name of the file. 4 Click Save. The Export wizard appears. 5 Follow the steps in the Export wizard to export the data to the Web file.

106 6 10 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! B-1: Saving the project file as a Web page Here s how Here s why Kathy wants to publish the top-level task information on the Web. 1 Open Communications (From the current unit folder.) You ll save this project file as a Web page. 2 Choose File, Save As Web Page To open the Save As dialog box. In the Save in list, verify that the current unit folder is selected 3 In the File name box, type My Web project 4 Click Save (To open the Export wizard.) You ll save the file as a Web page. 5 Click Next 6 Select Use existing map To specify an existing map. A map is a set of instructions describing the types of project data, their order, and field names in the destination format. 7 Click Next Observe the dialog box 8 From the Choose a map for your data list, select Top Level Tasks list It shows a list of maps. To specify Top Level Tasks list as the map for exporting. 9 Click Finish 10 Save the project file as My communications In the current unit folder.

107 Project communications 6 11 Explanation View project files on the Web You can view the project file that you exported to the Web through your Web browser. To view your project file as a Web page: 1 Open Internet Explorer. 2 Choose File, Open to open the Open dialog box. 3 Click Browse to open the Internet Explorer dialog box. 4 Select the HTML file. 5 Click Open. 6 Click OK to view the project file as a Web page, as shown in Exhibit 6-3. Exhibit 6-3: Viewing the project file as a Web page

108 6 12 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! B-2: Viewing the project file as a Web page Here s how Here s why 1 Click Start Choose All Programs, Internet Explorer To open Internet Explorer. You ll view the project file as a Web page here. 2 Choose File, Open The Open dialog box appears. 3 Click Browse The Microsoft Internet Explorer dialog box appears. Help students navigate to the current unit folder, if necessary. 4 Go to the current unit folder 5 Select My Web project 6 Click Open To select the HTML file and close the Microsoft Internet Explorer dialog box. 7 Click OK To open the HTML file and close the Open dialog box. Observe the Web page The Top Level tasks are exported to the Web page, as shown in Exhibit Close Internet Explorer Click the Close button. 9 Return to Project 2003 If necessary.

109 Project communications 6 13 Topic C: Working with hyperlinks Explanation You can also use hyperlinks in Project Hyperlinks help you navigate to another document or Web site from a task or resource in your project. For example, if you need to view additional information about a task, you can add a hyperlink to a Web site or document. By clicking on a hyperlink, you can access the additional information without closing Project Hyperlinks You can create hyperlinks for a task, resource, or assignment. You can link to reports, Web sites, and other application files such as Word and Excel. You can add a hyperlink by using the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, as shown in Exhibit 6-4. To move to the linked file, report, or Web site, click the hyperlink icon. To create a hyperlink: 1 Open the project file. 2 Select a task, resource, or assignment. 3 Choose Insert, Hyperlink. 4 In the Type the file or Web page name box, enter the path of the document to which you want to link the task, resource, or assignment. 5 Click OK. Exhibit 6-4: A sample Insert Hyperlink dialog box

110 6 14 Project 2003: Advanced Do it! C-1: Adding a hyperlink Here s how Here s why Tell students that they ll create a hyperlink to open a Word document directly. Tell students that they can also press Ctrl+K. Tell students that this file contains further information about Foundation subtasks. 1 Select Foundation (Task 13.) You ll add a hyperlink to this task. 2 Choose Insert, Hyperlink To open the Insert Hyperlink dialog box. (You can also press Ctrl+K to open this dialog box.) 3 Click (The Browse for file button is in the upper-right area of the dialog box.) To open the Link to File dialog box. 4 Select Tasks (The file is in the current unit folder.) This is a Word document that you ll link to the task. 5 Click OK To select the file and close the Link to File dialog box. 6 Click OK To link the file and close the Insert Hyperlink dialog box. 7 Observe the task Point to the hyperlink icon A hyperlink icon appears in the Indicators field. The shape of the pointer changes to a hand and a ScreenTip appears. Ask students to click Yes when the Microsoft Project warning message box appears. 8 Click the hyperlink icon A Microsoft Project dialog box appears, warning that hyperlinks can be harmful if they originate from an unknown source. To protect your computer, click only those hyperlinks from trusted sources. Click Yes Observe the linked file To open the linked file in Word. Further information about Foundation subtasks appears in the Word document. 9 Close Tasks Click the Close button. Close Word and return to Project 2003 Click the Close button or choose File, Exit. Tell students to maximize the Project 2003 window, if necessary. 10 Update the project file

111 Project communications 6 15 Topic D: Saving projects to Microsoft Project 98 Explanation You generally save project files in the current version. By default, Project 2003 saves a project file with an.mpp extension. However, you might also need to save a project file in a different format, such as Microsoft Project 98, if some of your team members use Project 98. Microsoft Project 98 files You can save your project file in a lower (earlier) version, such as Project 98, from Project You can also make it your default file format. You save a project file as a Project 98 file by choosing File, Save As. In the Save As dialog box, from the Save as type list, select Microsoft Project 98 (*.mpp). Do it! D-1: Saving a project file to Microsoft Project 98 Here s how Here s why 1 Choose File, Save As To open the Save As dialog box. 2 In the File name box, type My communications 1 This will be the name of the file. Tell students that one of the stakeholders is using Project 98. Kathy must save a version of the project in this format to send to the stakeholder. 3 In the Save as type list, select the option as shown 4 Click Save The Saving to Microsoft Project 98 format message box appears. Verify that the option shown is selected 5 Click OK To save the file in the Microsoft Project 98 format. 6 Close the project file

112 6 16 Project 2003: Advanced Explanation Lost information When you save your project file in Project 98 format, you might lose important information. You can lose baseline information, Network Diagram information, task calendars, and material resources because Project 2003 has some additional features and functionality that are not supported by Project 98. For example, schedule change information that is incompatible between Project 98 and Project 2003 might not be saved. This can cause your schedule to change in Project 98. In such a situation, you have to manually check for the losses and resolve them by re-entering information. Do it! D-2: Identifying lost elements Questions and answers 1 When can you lose project file information? When you save the project file from a higher (more recent) version, such as Project 2003, to a lower (older) version, such as Project 98 2 Why do you lose information? Because Project 98 does not support some of the Project 2003 features 3 Identify the areas where you can lose project data. Baseline information Network Diagram information Task calendars Material resources 4 How do you check for the loss of data? By manually comparing the information

113 Unit summary: Project communications Project communications 6 17 Topic A Topic B Topic C Topic D In this topic, you discussed how Microsoft Project Server is used to communicate within a workgroup. You also learned how to communicate project schedules to workgroup members by sending team assignment requests and status requests. Finally, you learned how to send project notes to resources. In this topic, you learned how to export project data to the Web by saving the project as a Web page. You also learned how to view your project file as a Web page. In this topic, you learned how to add hyperlinks to a project. In this topic, you learned how to save a Project 2003 file as a Project 98 file by selecting the Project 98 format from the Save as type list in the Save As dialog box. You also learned that you could lose data while saving files in Project 98 format and identified the areas where data could be lost. Independent practice activity 1 Open Practice communications. 2 Save the project as a Web page that displays top-level tasks. Name the file My Web practice. 3 View My Web practice in a Web browser. 4 Compare your work with Exhibit Close the Web browser. 6 Add a hyperlink to the task Advertising. Link it to the file Data in the current unit folder. 7 Open the linked file. 8 Close Data and close Word. 9 In Microsoft Project, save the project file as My practice communications in Microsoft Project 98 format. 10 Close the project file.

114 6 18 Project 2003: Advanced Exhibit 6-5: A sample of My Web practice in Internet Explorer after step 4 of the Independent Practice Activity

115 Project communications 6 19 Review questions 1 What is the procedure to export Project 2003 data so that it can be used on the Web? You must save the project file as a Web page. a b c d e Open the project file. Choose File, Save As Web Page. Edit the File name box to specify the name of the file. Click Save. The Export wizard appears. Follow the steps in the Export wizard to export the data to the Web file. 2 What do you need to view your project file as a Web page? A Web browser. 3 What is a hyperlink? A feature that helps you navigate to another document or Web site from a task or resource in your project. 4 How can you save a Project 2003 file so that it is usable in the previous version of Project? By choosing File, Save As and selecting Microsoft Project 98 (*.mpp) in the Save as type list. 5 What is the risk of saving your Project 2003 file as a Project 98 file? You might lose important information, such as baseline information, Network Diagram information, task calendars, and material resources because Project 2003 has some additional features and functionality that are not supported by Project 98.

116 6 20 Project 2003: Advanced

117 7 1 Unit 7 Exchanging project data Unit time: 65 minutes Complete this unit, and you ll know how to: A Import data from a Microsoft Excel workbook and a Microsoft Access database. B Export data to a Microsoft Excel workbook and a Microsoft Access database. C Copy project information to a Microsoft Word document and a Microsoft Excel worksheet.

118 7 2 Project 2003: Advanced Topic A: Importing data Explanation When you re working on a project, you might find that some of the data you need is available in another application, such as Outlook, Excel, or Access. You can use data from other applications by importing it. Importing refers to transferring data from one application to another. For example, you might want to import a list of resource names from an Access database or Excel workbook. Microsoft Outlook data To import tasks from Outlook to Project 2003, you use the Import Outlook Tasks dialog box. To open the dialog box, choose Tools, Import Outlook Tasks and then select the tasks to be imported. You can select a particular task from a task list by checking the task. You can select all the tasks from Outlook by clicking Select All. Click Clear All to deselect all tasks. Import from Excel When importing data, you need to specify an import/export map. A map defines the arrangement of data in the program to which you are importing. This ensures that data is imported into the specified fields of the project file. You can either create a new map or use an existing map. To import data from an Excel workbook: 1 Choose File, Open to display the Open dialog box. 2 From the Files of type list, select Microsoft Excel Workbooks. 3 Select the file. 4 Click Open to open the Import wizard. 5 Follow the steps in the Import wizard to import data from the Excel workbook. Exhibit 7-1: The Map Selection page of the Import wizard

119 Exchanging project data 7 3 Do it! A-1: Importing data from a Microsoft Excel workbook Here s how Here s why Tell students that the Excel file Import Excel data contains task information that Kathy would like to use to create a project file. 1 Open the Open dialog box Choose File, Open. 2 Navigate to the current unit folder 3 From the Files of type list, select Microsoft Excel Workbooks To view all the Excel workbooks in the current unit folder. 4 From the current unit folder, select Import Excel data This is the Excel workbook that you ll import into Project Click Open To open the Import wizard. 6 Click Next To move to the Map page in the wizard. Select Use existing map To use an existing map to import data. 7 Click Next To move to the Map Selection page in the wizard. From the Choose a map for your data list, select Top Level Tasks list To select Top Level Tasks list as the map for importing data, as shown in Exhibit Click Next To move to the Import Mode page. Verify that As a new project is selected You ll import the Excel file to a new project file. 9 Click Next To move to the Map Options page. Verify that Tasks and Import includes headers are checked 10 Click Next To move to the Task Mapping page. Notice the Preview area. It gives a preview of the data, as it will appear in the project file. The page also contains buttons to edit the selected map.

120 7 4 Project 2003: Advanced 11 Click Next To move to the End of Map Definition page. The page provides you with the option to save the map settings. 12 Click Finish The data from the Excel workbook is imported into the project file, Import Excel data. 13 Save the project file as My import Excel data In the current unit folder. Close the project file

121 Exchanging project data 7 5 Explanation Import from Access In addition to importing data from an Excel worksheet, you can also import data from an Access database into a project file. You do this by defining a map as you would for Excel data. If you define a new map rather than using a predefined map, you'll need to map the database field to the Microsoft Project field. To import data from an Access database by using a new map: 1 Choose File, Open to display the Open dialog box. 2 From Files of type list, select Microsoft Access Databases. 3 Select the Access database. 4 Click Open to display the Import wizard. 5 Follow the steps in the Import wizard to import data from the Access database. Exhibit 7-2: The Task Mapping page of the Import wizard