To learn more about this book, visit Microsoft Learning

To learn more about this book, visit Microsoft Learning http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/9804.aspx

Table of Contents Acknowledgments.............................................................. xix About the CD..................................................................xxi Conventions and Features Used in This Book......................................xxiii Part 1: Project Fundamentals Chapter 1 Introducing Microsoft Office Project 2007......................... 3 Using This Book................................................................. 4 Using Microsoft Project An Overview............................................. 6 Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007....................................... 8 Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007..................................... 8 Microsoft Office Project Server 2007......................................... 10 Microsoft Office Project Web Access......................................... 10 Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2007................................ 10 What s New in Microsoft Office Project 2007....................................... 11 What s New in Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007......................... 11 What s New in Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007...................... 18 What s New in Project Server 2007 and Project Web Access.................... 20 Learning As You Go............................................................. 25 Working with the Project Guide............................................. 25 Getting Help.............................................................. 29 Working with Project Smart Tags............................................ 35 Chapter 2 Understanding Projects and Project Management................. 37 Understanding Project Management Basics........................................ 37 What Is a Project?......................................................... 37 What Is Project Management?.............................................. 38 Understanding Project Management Processes..................................... 41 Planning the Project....................................................... 41 Executing the Project...................................................... 43 Controlling the Project.....................................................44 What do you think of this book? We want to hear from you! Microsoft is interested in hearing your feedback so we can continually improve our books and learning resources for you. To participate in a brief online survey, please visit: www.microsoft.com/learning/booksurvey/ v

vi Table of Contents Closing the Project........................................................ 44 Facilitating Your Project with Microsoft Project..................................... 44 Creating a Model of Your Project............................................ 46 Working with Your Team Through Microsoft Project........................... 49 Using Microsoft Project in Your Enterprise.................................... 51 Working with the Project Stakeholders............................................ 52 Keys to Successful Project Management........................................... 53 Part 2: Developing the Project Plan Starting a New Project......................................... 59 Focusing the Project Vision...................................................... 59 Defining Scope............................................................ 60 Understanding Product Scope and Project Scope............................. 60 Developing the Scope Statement............................................ 61 Creating a New Project Plan...................................................... 63 Creating a Project File...................................................... 63 Saving Your New Project................................................... 69 Scheduling from a Start or Finish Date....................................... 70 Setting Your Project Calendar............................................... 72 Attaching Project Documentation........................................... 82 Entering Tasks.................................................................. 86 Adding Tasks to Your Project Plan........................................... 88 Importing Tasks from an Excel Worksheet.................................... 89 Entering Recurring Tasks................................................... 91 Sequencing and Organizing Tasks................................................93 Moving Tasks............................................................. 93 Inserting Additional Tasks.................................................. 93 Copying Tasks............................................................ 94 Deleting Tasks............................................................ 95 Undoing Multiple Edits..................................................... 96 Organizing Tasks into an Outline................................................. 97 Setting Up Your Work Breakdown Structure........................................ 99 Understanding Work Breakdown Structure Codes............................. 99 Setting Up Work Breakdown Structure Codes................................ 101 Adding Supplementary Information to Tasks...................................... 102 Chapter 4 Viewing Project Information................................... 105 Understanding Project Information Categories.................................... 106 Accessing Your Project Information.............................................. 107 Using Views............................................................. 107 Using Tables............................................................. 125 Using Fields............................................................. 134 Rearranging Your Project Information............................................ 138 Sorting Project Information................................................ 138 Grouping Project Information.............................................. 140 Filtering Project Information............................................... 142

Table of Contents vii Arranging Your Microsoft Project Window........................................ 147 Setting Your Default View................................................. 148 Showing and Hiding Screen Elements....................................... 148 Splitting a Window....................................................... 149 Switching Among Open Projects........................................... 151 Navigating to a Specific Location in a View........................................ 152 Chapter 5 Scheduling Tasks............................................. 153 Setting Task Durations.......................................................... 154 Developing Reliable Task Duration Estimates................................. 155 Understanding Estimated vs. Confirmed Durations........................... 156 Entering Durations.......................................................157 Understanding How Durations Affect Scheduling............................. 159 Reviewing Durations...................................................... 162 Calculating Your Most Probable Duration................................... 162 Establishing Task Dependencies.................................................167 Creating the Finish-to-Start Task Dependency............................... 169 Understanding the Dependency Types...................................... 171 Delaying Linked Tasks by Adding Lag Time.................................. 173 Overlapping Linked Tasks by Adding Lead Time.............................. 174 Changing or Removing Links.............................................. 176 Reviewing Task Dependencies............................................. 177 Scheduling Tasks to Achieve Specific Dates........................................ 178 Understanding Constraint Types........................................... 180 Changing Constraints..................................................... 182 Working with Flexible and Inflexible Constraints.............................. 184 Reviewing Constraints.................................................... 185 Setting Deadline Reminders..................................................... 186 Creating Milestones in Your Schedule............................................ 188 Working with Task Calendars.................................................... 192 Setting Up the Task Calendar.............................................. 192 Assigning a Base Calendar to a Task........................................ 194 Seeing Feedback on Scheduling Changes......................................... 195 Highlighting the Ripple Effects of Schedule Changes......................... 196 Reviewing the Factors That Affect a Task Start Date........................... 197 Chapter 6 Setting Up Resources in the Project............................. 201 Understanding the Impact of Resources in the Project Plan......................... 202 Adding Resources to the Project.................................................203 Entering Resources in the Resource Sheet................................... 203 Adding Work Resources to the Project...................................... 205 Adding Material Resources to the Project.................................... 213 Adding Cost Resources to the Project....................................... 214 Removing a Resource from the Project........................................... 216 Identifying Tentative, Generic, or Budget Resources................................ 216 Proposing Tentative Resources............................................. 216 Using Generic Resources as a Placeholder................................... 218

viii Table of Contents Specifying a Budget Resource.............................................. 220 Setting When Resources Are Available for Work................................... 220 Setting Working Times and Days Off for Work Resources..................... 220 Specifying Resource Availability with Max Units.............................. 225 Adding Detailed Resource Information........................................... 228 Working with Supplemental Resource Fields................................. 228 Specifying Contact Information............................................ 231 Adding a Note Regarding a Resource....................................... 231 Hyperlinking to Resource Information...................................... 232 Chapter 7 Assigning Resources to Tasks................................... 235 Assigning Work Resources to Tasks.............................................. 235 Creating Work Resource Assignments....................................... 237 Adding and Assigning Resources at the Same Time........................... 239 Finding the Right Resources for the Job..................................... 241 Understanding Assignment Calculations.................................... 248 Assigning Material Resources to Tasks............................................ 251 Assigning Cost Resources to Tasks............................................... 253 Reviewing Assignment Information.............................................. 256 Showing Assignments by Task or Resource.................................. 256 Showing Assignment Information Under a Task View......................... 258 Changing Resource Assignments................................................ 261 Controlling Changes with Effort-Driven Scheduling........................... 264 Controlling Schedule Changes with Task Types............................... 265 Contouring Resource Assignments............................................... 269 Chapter 8 Planning Resource and Task Costs.............................. 273 Working with Costs and Budgeting.............................................. 274 Planning Resource Costs........................................................ 275 Setting Costs for Work Resources........................................... 275 Setting Costs for Material Resources........................................ 277 Setting Multiple Costs for a Resource....................................... 278 Setting Cost Accrual......................................................281 Entering Costs for Cost Resource Assignments............................... 282 Planning Fixed Task Costs....................................................... 284 Reviewing Planned Costs....................................................... 287 Reviewing Assignment Costs............................................... 288 Reviewing Resource Costs................................................. 289 Reviewing Task Costs..................................................... 290 Reviewing the Total Planned Cost for the Project............................. 291 Setting Up and Reviewing a Project Budget....................................... 292 Creating Budget Resources................................................ 293 Assigning Budget Resources to the Project Summary Task..................... 294 Entering Budget Values for the Budget Resources............................ 296 Aligning Resources with their Budget Resource Type.......................... 298 Comparing Resource Costs with Budget Resource Values...................... 301 Setting a Different Currency.................................................... 304

Table of Contents ix Setting Up a Different Currency in Your Computer........................... 304 Setting Up a Different Currency in Microsoft Project......................... 305 Chapter 9 Checking and Adjusting the Project Plan......................... 307 Working with the Critical Path and Critical Tasks................................... 309 Understanding Slack Time and Critical Tasks................................. 311 Viewing the Critical Path.................................................. 314 Bringing in the Project Finish Date...............................................320 Viewing Finish Dates and the Critical Path................................... 320 Checking Your Schedule Assumptions....................................... 322 Adjusting Resource Settings to Bring in the Finish Date....................... 327 Reducing Project Costs......................................................... 331 Viewing Project Costs..................................................... 331 Checking Your Cost Assumptions........................................... 336 Adjusting the Schedule to Reduce Costs..................................... 337 Adjusting Assignments to Reduce Costs..................................... 337 Adjusting Cost Resources.................................................. 337 Balancing Resource Workloads..................................................338 Viewing Resource Workloads.............................................. 339 Adjusting Resource Availability............................................. 347 Adjusting Assignments.................................................... 347 Splitting Tasks........................................................... 354 Leveling Assignments..................................................... 355 Changing Project Scope........................................................ 364 Reviewing the Impact of Changes................................................ 364 Obtaining Buyoff on the Project Plan............................................. 365 Part 3: Tracking Progress Chapter 10 Setting a Baseline and Updating Progress........................ 369 Saving Original Plan Information Using a Baseline.................................. 370 Setting a Baseline........................................................ 372 Reviewing Baseline Information............................................ 374 Saving Additional Baselines................................................ 377 Reviewing Multiple Baselines.............................................. 378 Saving Additional Scheduled Start and Finish Dates........................... 379 Clearing a Baseline....................................................... 381 Updating Task Progress......................................................... 382 Choosing the Best Method for Entering Actuals.............................. 383 Updating Progress with Task Scheduling Controls............................ 386 Using Resource Work to Update Progress................................... 390 Rescheduling the Project.................................................. 395 Updating Actual Costs.......................................................... 397 Updating Actual Costs for Work Resources.................................. 397 Updating Actual Costs for Material Resources............................... 397 Updating Actuals for Cost Resources........................................ 398 Updating Actuals for Fixed Costs on Tasks................................... 398

x Table of Contents Manually Updating Project Costs........................................... 399 Chapter 11 Responding to Changes in Your Project.......................... 401 Monitoring and Adjusting the Schedule.......................................... 403 Monitoring Schedule Progress............................................. 404 Correcting the Schedule................................................... 414 Monitoring and Adjusting Costs................................................. 415 Monitoring Project Costs.................................................. 416 Realigning the Project with the Budget...................................... 423 Monitoring and Adjusting Resource Workload..................................... 424 Monitoring Resource Workload............................................ 424 Balancing the Resource Workload.......................................... 432 Part 4: Reporting and Analyzing Project Information Chapter 12 Reporting Project Information.................................. 437 Establishing Your Communications Plan.......................................... 438 Using Views to Report Project Information........................................ 440 Setting Up and Printing Views............................................. 440 Getting Assistance from the Report Project Guide............................ 443 Generating Text and Visual Reports.............................................. 445 Working with Text-Based Reports.......................................... 445 Working with Visual Reports in Excel and Visio............................... 448 Running Reports for Your Requirements.......................................... 452 Summarizing with Overview Reports........................................ 452 Focusing on Tasks with Schedule Progress Reports........................... 455 Analyzing Budget Status with Cost Reports.................................. 460 Evaluating Resource Allocation with Assignment Reports...................... 466 Revising a Built-In Report....................................................... 474 Modifying a Text Report.................................................. 474 Modifying a Visual Report................................................. 478 Building a Custom Report....................................................... 478 Creating a New Text Report............................................... 479 Creating a New Visual Report Template..................................... 481 Saving Project Data Fields...................................................... 484 Saving the Reporting Cube................................................ 484 Saving the Reporting Database............................................ 486 Chapter 13 Analyzing Progress Using Earned Value......................... 489 Generating Earned Value Data...................................................489 Setting the Baseline......................................................490 Specifying the Status Date................................................. 491 Reviewing Earned Value Data................................................... 492 Working with Earned Value Tables.......................................... 492 Understanding the Earned Value Fields..................................... 495 Generating the Earned Value Text Report................................... 497 Generating the Earned Value Over Time Visual Report........................ 498

Table of Contents xi Part 5: Managing Multiple Projects Chapter 14 Managing Master Projects and Resource Pools................... 503 Structuring Master Projects with Subprojects...................................... 503 Setting Up a Master Project............................................... 504 Working with Subproject Information....................................... 508 Unlinking a Subproject from its Source File.................................. 512 Removing a Subproject from the Master Project............................. 513 Consolidating Project Information...............................................513 Sharing Resources by Using a Resource Pool...................................... 517 Setting Up a Resource Pool................................................ 518 Linking a Project to Your Resource Pool..................................... 520 Checking Availability of Resource Pool Resources............................. 523 Updating Resource Pool Information....................................... 525 Disconnecting a Resource Pool from a Project Plan........................... 526 Chapter 15 Exchanging Information Between Project Plans................... 529 Linking Information Between Project Plans........................................ 529 Linking Tasks Between Different Projects.................................... 529 Reviewing Cross-Project Links.............................................. 534 Updating Cross-Project Links.............................................. 536 Removing Cross-Project Links.............................................. 538 Copying and Moving Information Between Projects................................ 538 Copying and Moving Task and Resource Information......................... 538 Copying Fields Between Projects........................................... 540 Copying Project Elements by Using the Organizer................................. 542 Copying an Element from a Project to the Global Template.................... 543 Copying an Element Between Two Projects.................................. 544 Part 6: Integrating Microsoft Project with Other Programs Chapter 16 Exchanging Information with Other Applications................. 547 Copying Information........................................................... 549 Copying from Microsoft Project to Another Application....................... 549 Copying from Another Application to Microsoft Project....................... 551 Copying a Picture of a View............................................... 553 Embedding Information........................................................ 557 Embedding from Microsoft Project to Another Application.................... 558 Embedding from Another Application to Microsoft Project.................... 562 Linking Information............................................................ 568 Linking from Microsoft Project to Another Application........................ 568 Linking from Another Application to Microsoft Project........................ 569 Hyperlinking to Documents in Other Applications................................. 571 Importing and Exporting Information............................................ 573 Updating Security Settings to Allow Data Import and Export.................. 573 Importing Information into Microsoft Project................................ 574 Exporting Information from Microsoft Project............................... 576

xii Table of Contents Working with Microsoft Project and XML Files............................... 578 Importing and Exporting Database Information.............................. 579 Chapter 17 Integrating Microsoft Project with Microsoft Excel................ 581 Copying Between Microsoft Project and Excel..................................... 584 Copying Information from Excel............................................ 584 Copying Information to Excel.............................................. 589 Embedding Between Microsoft Project and Excel.................................. 593 Embedding an Excel Object in Microsoft Project............................. 593 Embedding a Microsoft Project File in Excel................................. 597 Linking Between Microsoft Project and Excel...................................... 600 Linking from Excel to Microsoft Project..................................... 601 Linking from Microsoft Project to Excel..................................... 602 Working with a Linked Object.............................................. 603 Importing and Exporting with Excel.............................................. 606 Importing from Excel to Microsoft Project................................... 606 Exporting from Microsoft Project to Excel................................... 616 Re-Using a Previously Saved Export Map.................................... 627 Producing a Visual Report of Project Data in Excel................................. 628 Generating a Visual Report from a Built-In Template.......................... 629 Creating and Editing Visual Report Templates in Excel........................ 632 Configuring a Visual Report in Excel........................................ 636 Chapter 18 Integrating Microsoft Project with Microsoft Outlook............. 639 Exchanging Task Information with Outlook........................................ 639 Adding Outlook Tasks to Your Project Plan.................................. 640 Adding Microsoft Project Tasks to Outlook Tasks............................. 642 Building Your Resource List with Outlook......................................... 643 Sending Project File Information.................................................644 Sending an Entire Project File.............................................. 645 Sending Selected Tasks or Resources........................................ 646 Routing a Project File..................................................... 649 Publishing the Project File to an Exchange Folder............................. 651 Chapter 19 Integrating Microsoft Project with Microsoft Visio................ 653 Creating a Visual Report of Project Data in Visio................................... 654 Generating a Built-in Visual Report for Visio................................. 654 Configuring a Visual Report in Visio........................................ 657 Creating and Editing Visual Report Templates in Visio......................... 659 Presenting Microsoft Project Data with Visio...................................... 661 Showing Project Timeline Information in Visio............................... 662 Displaying Project Information in a Visio Gantt Chart......................... 664 Exporting Data from Visio to Microsoft Project.................................... 666 Exporting Timelines from Visio to Microsoft Project.......................... 666 Importing Visio Gantt Charts to Microsoft Project............................ 667 Representing Project Data in a Visio Diagram..................................... 668 Using the Visio Timeline Template.......................................... 668

Table of Contents xiii Using the Gantt Chart Template............................................ 670 Using the PERT Chart Template............................................ 672 Part 7: Managing Projects Across Your Enterprise Chapter 20 Understanding Enterprise Project Management.................. 675 Who s Who in Enterprise Project Management.................................... 677 Understanding the Components of EPM.......................................... 680 Understanding the Role of Project Server................................... 681 Understanding the Role of Project Professional.............................. 682 Understanding the Role of Project Web Access............................... 683 Putting the Project Server Components Together............................ 683 Understanding the EPM Workflow............................................... 684 Collaborating as a Project Team............................................ 685 Standardizing Enterprise Projects........................................... 688 Managing Enterprise Resources............................................ 688 Analyzing Project Portfolios............................................... 689 Chapter 21 Administering Your Enterprise Project Management Solution....... 691 Logging On and Off........................................................... 692 Managing Users and Permissions................................................ 692 Understanding Groups, Categories, and Permissions.......................... 694 Creating a New User Account.............................................. 695 Removing a User from Your Project Server.................................. 698 Viewing or Changing Permissions for User Groups............................ 699 Creating a New Security Template.......................................... 700 Creating a New Group.................................................... 700 Customizing Categories................................................... 702 Sending Automated Alerts and Reminders to Users........................... 704 Administering the Enterprise Resource Pool....................................... 704 Creating the Enterprise Resource Pool...................................... 705 Updating Resource Information............................................ 716 Removing a Resource from the Enterprise Resource Pool..................... 719 Establishing the Enterprise Portfolio..............................................720 Standardizing Enterprise Project Elements........................................ 721 Working with the Enterprise Global Template................................ 721 Customizing Enterprise Project Fields....................................... 725 Creating Calendars to Reflect Nonworking Times............................ 730 Setting Up Team Member Work Pages........................................... 732 What s the Difference Between My Tasks and My Timesheets?................. 732 Defining the Task Progress Page............................................ 734 Defining the My Timesheets Page.......................................... 739 Managing Pages, Views, and Reports............................................. 741 Creating and Managing Pages with Web Parts............................... 742 Integrating Project Information with Business Processes....................... 745 Creating and Managing Views............................................. 746 Customizing the Quick Launch Task Bar..................................... 748

xiv Table of Contents Setting Up Project Report Cubes for Data Analysis............................ 749 Managing and Maintaining the Server............................................ 751 Chapter 22 Managing Enterprise Projects and Resources..................... 753 Connecting to Your Project Server............................................... 754 Setting Up Project Professional for Your Server............................... 754 Logging On via Project Professional........................................ 756 Logging On via Project Web Access......................................... 757 Finding Your Way Around................................................. 759 Working with Enterprise Projects................................................763 Creating a New Enterprise Project.......................................... 763 Managing Your Project Files on the Server................................... 767 Refining Your Enterprise Projects........................................... 773 Building Your Enterprise Project Team............................................ 780 Finding Resources to Meet Your Needs..................................... 781 Assigning Tasks to Enterprise Resources..................................... 792 Collaborating with Your Project Team............................................ 794 Configuring Task Update Options.......................................... 795 Publishing Project Information for Resources................................ 800 Exchanging Task Progress Requests and Updates............................. 802 Requesting and Receiving Status Reports.................................... 808 Tracking Billable and Nonbillable Time by Using Timesheets................... 811 Managing Documents, Risks, and Issues..................................... 814 Creating Proposals and Activity Plans............................................ 820 Working with Proposals................................................... 821 Creating an Activity Plan.................................................. 825 Creating a Resource Plan for a Proposal or Activity Plan....................... 825 Chapter 23 Participating On a Team Using Project Web Access................ 827 Getting Started with Project Web Access......................................... 828 Logging On and Off...................................................... 829 Finding Your Way Around................................................. 831 Working On Your Assignments and Updates...................................... 834 Reviewing New and Changed Assignments.................................. 834 Reassigning a Task to Another Resource..................................... 837 Assigning Yourself to New Tasks............................................ 838 Working with Your Assignment Information................................. 843 Glimpsing the Big Project Picture........................................... 846 Tracking Assignments and Submitting Progress Updates...................... 848 Submitting Text-Based Status Reports............................................ 852 Logging Time Using Timesheets................................................. 853 Working with Your Timesheets............................................. 854 Copying Items Between My Tasks and My Timesheets........................ 856 Requesting Nonproject or Nonworking Time................................ 857 Setting Up E-Mail, Reminders, and Calendars...................................... 858 Setting Your E-Mail Alerts and Home Page Reminders........................ 859 Working with Project Tasks in Outlook..................................... 860

Table of Contents xv Managing Resources in Project Web Access....................................... 864 Chapter 24 Making Executive Decisions Using Project Web Access............ 865 Getting Started with Project Web Access......................................... 866 Logging On and Off...................................................... 866 Finding Your Way Around................................................. 868 Viewing Project Portfolio Information............................................ 869 Working with Pages and Controls.......................................... 870 Working with Tables...................................................... 871 Understanding Fields..................................................... 872 Rearranging View Information............................................. 872 Working with the Project Portfolio............................................... 874 Viewing the Portfolio of Projects........................................... 875 Opening a Project in Project Professional................................... 876 Reviewing Program Information............................................ 877 Project Workspaces and Documents, Issues, and Risks........................ 877 Creating a New Project.................................................... 878 Creating Proposals and Activity Plans....................................... 879 Working with Resource Information.............................................. 883 Viewing the Enterprise Resource Pool...................................... 883 Viewing Resources for Specific Projects..................................... 884 Reviewing Resource Assignments........................................... 885 Reviewing Resource Availability............................................ 886 Reviewing Resource Plans................................................. 887 Requesting and Responding to Status Reports............................... 887 Analyzing and Reporting on Project Information.................................. 891 Setting Your Alerts and Reminders............................................... 893 Part 8: Customizing and Managing Project Files Chapter 25 Customizing Your View of Project Information.................... 897 Customizing Views............................................................. 898 Changing the Content of a View............................................ 898 Creating a New View..................................................... 902 Changing the Font for a View.............................................. 902 Formatting a Gantt Chart View............................................. 904 Modifying a Network Diagram............................................. 912 Modifying the Resource Graph............................................. 915 Modifying the Calendar View.............................................. 919 Modifying a Sheet View................................................... 922 Modifying a Usage View.................................................. 924 Modifying the Timescale.................................................. 926 Customizing Tables............................................................ 928 Customizing Fields............................................................. 931 Customizing a Field.......................................................933 Working with Outline Codes.................................................... 941 Setting Up Outline Codes................................................. 941

xvi Table of Contents Assigning Outline Codes.................................................. 946 Reviewing Your Tasks or Resources by Outline Code.......................... 947 Customizing Groups........................................................... 948 Modifying a Group....................................................... 948 Creating a New Group.................................................... 951 Customizing Filters............................................................. 952 Modifying a Filter........................................................ 952 Creating Filters........................................................... 955 Customizing AutoFilter Criteria............................................. 959 Sharing Customized Elements Among Projects.................................... 961 Working with the Organizer............................................... 961 Copying Customized Elements............................................. 962 Removing Customized Elements........................................... 964 Renaming Customized Elements........................................... 964 Restoring Customized Elements to their Default State......................... 965 Chapter 26 Customizing the Microsoft Project Interface..................... 967 Creating and Customizing Toolbars.............................................. 967 Customizing Toolbars..................................................... 968 Creating Toolbars........................................................ 973 Deleting Toolbars........................................................ 975 Modifying Button Images................................................. 976 Creating and Customizing Menus................................................ 977 Creating and Customizing Forms................................................ 979 Creating Forms........................................................... 980 Editing Forms............................................................ 984 Renaming Forms......................................................... 985 Displaying Custom Forms................................................. 985 Chapter 27 Automating Your Work with Macros............................ 987 Understanding Macros......................................................... 987 What Is a Macro?.........................................................987 Why Use Macros?........................................................988 Creating Macros............................................................... 989 Understanding the Record Macro Dialog Box................................ 989 Knowing When to Say When............................................. 992 Recording a Macro.......................................................992 Looking at Macro Code................................................... 996 Running Macros............................................................... 998 Creating Keyboard Shortcuts.............................................. 998 Creating Toolbar Buttons.................................................. 999 Chapter 28 Standardizing Projects Using Templates........................ 1003 Understanding the Template Types.............................................1004 Working with the Project Global Template.......................................1005 Working with Project Templates................................................1008 Starting a New Project Using a Template...................................1009

Table of Contents xvii Downloading a Project Template from the Web............................. 1013 Creating Your Own Project Template....................................... 1014 Updating an Existing Template............................................ 1017 Closing a Project.............................................................. 1018 Analyzing Project Performance........................................... 1018 Recording Lessons Learned............................................... 1018 Saving Acquired Project Knowledge....................................... 1019 Chapter 29 Managing Project Files....................................... 1021 Opening Project Files......................................................... 1021 Opening a Saved Project................................................. 1021 Opening Projects Created in Previous Versions of Microsoft Project........... 1024 Searching for Files.......................................................1024 Adding and Removing Project Summary Information........................ 1025 Saving Files.................................................................. 1026 Saving a New Project to Your Local Computer or Network Drive.............. 1026 Saving an Enterprise Project File........................................... 1027 Specifying the Default Save Location...................................... 1029 Saving and Opening with Different File Formats.................................. 1030 Safeguarding Your Project Files.................................................1032 Saving Project Files Automatically......................................... 1032 Backing Up Your Project Files............................................. 1033 Protecting Your Project Files with a Password............................... 1035 Responding to a Microsoft Project Problem................................ 1036 Opening Files Safely..................................................... 1036 Appendix A................................................. 1037 Appendix B................................................. 1049 Appendix C................................................. 1053 Index to Troubleshooting Topics............................... 1057 Index...................................................... 1059 What do you think of this book? We want to hear from you! Microsoft is interested in hearing your feedback so we can continually improve our books and learning resources for you. To participate in a brief online survey, please visit: www.microsoft.com/learning/booksurvey/

CHAPTER 3 Starting a New Project Focusing the Project Vision....................... 59 Creating a New Project Plan...................... 63 Entering Tasks.................................. 86 Sequencing and Organizing Tasks................. 93 Organizing Tasks into an Outline.................. 97 Setting Up Your Work Breakdown Structure......... 99 Adding Supplementary Information to Tasks....... 102 Because the heart of project management is planning, it s no wonder that the planning processes of a new project has you doing a significant amount of work just to set the stage. You define the big picture and obtain stakeholder approval for the specifications of the product or service you re creating and for the boundaries defining the overall scope of the project itself. After this vision is in place, you re ready to create your project blueprint the project plan using Microsoft Office Project 2007. You create a new project file and enter foundation information. Then you break down your project goals and objectives into the actual phases, milestones, and tasks that form the backbone of your project information system. You sequence the phases and tasks, and organize them into a hierarchy that maps to your project. If your project or organization has more specialized or advanced requirements, you can use work breakdown structure codes that organize your task list by each deliverable. You can add your supporting documentation, such as the vision or strategy document, to the project plan. Likewise, you can add other supplementary information such as notes or hyperlinks to individual tasks, milestones, and phases. All this information makes your project plan the central repository of all project information. Focusing the Project Vision You might already have a clear picture in your mind of what your project is about and what it will be when it is complete. On the other hand, the project might still seem a little fuzzy, at least around the edges. It s not uncommon for other stakeholders to have a clear vision when you re not sure if you get it just yet. And don t be surprised if one stakeholder s expectations seem clear enough, but another stakeholder s expectations sound entirely contradictory. 59

60 Starting a New Project The challenge at this important starting point is to clearly define the project without ambiguity, so that everyone involved is talking about the same project, the same expectations, and the same results. Defining the vision clearly at the beginning prevents redirection (and the attendant wasted effort) in the middle of the project or disappointment at the end. So how do you create a vision? You work with key stakeholders such as the customers, potential users, sponsors, executives, and project team members to get their project expectations. You might have to reconcile conflicting views and opposing agendas. Throughout this process, you ll identify the goals of the project as well as their measurable objectives. You ll identify project assumptions, spell out potential risks, and make contingency plans for those risks. You ll also identify known limitations, such as budget, time, or resources. By the time you finish this high-level project planning and get the necessary approval, everyone involved will know exactly what they re signing up for. Defining Scope A defined scope articulates the vision of the product you re creating and the project that will create it. As your project is executed and issues arise, your defined scope can help you make decisions. The scope definition is your guideline for whether the direction you re considering is really the job of this project. If you don t stay focused on the agreed-upon scope of the project, you re likely to experience scope creep, in which you end up spending time, money, and resources on tasks and deliverables that are not part of the original vision. This is not to say that scope can t change during the course of a project. Business conditions, design realities, budgets, time, resource availability, and many other factors can make it necessary to change project scope midway through. In addition, as members of your project team work on their tasks, they are likely to generate great new ideas. Nonetheless, your scope document helps you make decisions and manage those changes so that you change in the proper direction in line with your organization s overall strategy, the product s reason for being, and the project s goals. Understanding Product Scope and Project Scope There are two types of scope: product scope and project scope. First, you define the product scope, unless it has already been defined for you. The product scope specifies the features and functions of the product that will be the outcome of the project. The product scope might well be part of the product description in your charter. The product can be tangible, such as the construction of a new office building or the design of a new aircraft. The product can also be the development of a service or event, for example, deployment of a new computer system or implementation of a new training initiative. Regardless of the type of product, the product scope indicates the specifications and parameters that paint a detailed picture of the end result. For example, the product

Focusing the Project Vision 61 scope of the construction of a new office building might include square footage, number of stories, location, and architectural design elements. The project scope specifies the work that must be done to complete the project successfully, according to the specifications of the associated product scope. The project scope defines and controls what will and will not be included in the project. If there will be multiple phases of product development, the project scope might specify which phase this project is handling. For example, a computer system deployment project might specify that its scope encompass the infrastructure development and installation of the new computer system, but not the documentation and training for new system users. Or it might specify that the project handle all aspects of the product, from concept through completion of the final stage. Developing the Scope Statement To define the project scope and communicate it to other key stakeholders, you develop and record the scope statement. Depending on your organization s planning methods, certain elements of the scope statement might be defined very early, sometimes even before you ve been assigned as project manager. Other elements might be defined just before you begin identifying and sequencing the project s tasks. Your scope statement should include the following: Project justification. The scope statement should define the business need or other stimulus for this project. This justification provides a sound basis for evaluating future decisions, including the inevitable tradeoffs. Product description. The scope should characterize the details of the product or service being created. The project justification and product description together should formulate the goals of the project. Project constraints or limitations. The scope should include any limiting factors to the project. Factors that can limit a project s options include a specific budget, contractual provisions, a precise end date, and so on. Note Because we use the term constraints throughout this book to mean task constraints, in this chapter we re using the term limitations to refer to overall project constraints. Project assumptions. The scope should list any elements considered to be true, real, or certain even when they might not be for the sake of being able to continue developing the project plan and moving forward. By their nature, assumptions usually carry a degree of risk. For example, if you don t know whether the building for a commercial construction project will be 10,000 or 15,000 square feet,