Project 2003 Personal Trainer

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Prerequisites

Project Standard or Professional 2003 installed on your computer.
Basic computer knowledge.

Welcome to your first chapter on Microsoft Project 2003! Project 2003 is a high-powered project management tool that you can use to control and track any kind of project once it has been planned. With Project 2003, you can see every detail of your project simultaneously so you can follow its progress.

For years, people have been completing projects, like mailing Christmas cards or building a ten-ton steel bridge, without the aid of software. So why use project management software? The answer is simple: because your project will be completed as painlessly and problem-free as possible.

Project 2003 can be a bit intimidating at first, with its big, blank default screen and its many buttons and views. But don't worry; this chapter will introduce you to some of the basic functions of Project 2003. Also, if you've already used more basic Microsoft applications, such as Word, you'll already know how to perform many simple Project 2003 tasks. With that in mind, this chapter is your introduction to Microsoft Project 2003 and the world of project management. And so, without further ado, turn the page and let's get started!

Figure 1-1: Steps in planning a project.

Perhaps the most difficult step in Project 2003 is the first one: planning the project. Planning requires constant research and editing. In fact, you may find that the planning stage of a project doesn't really end until you're finished with the project.

So how can you prepare yourself, and what can you do to make this process pain-free? The illustration in Figure 1-1 shows a common progression of steps to take when planning a project, depending on the type of project you're tackling. Table 1-1 describes these steps in further detail. It is important to note, however, that these steps are merely guidelines for planning a project and will change depending on the type of project you are doing.

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Figure 1-1: Steps in planning a project.

Perhaps the most difficult step in Project 2003 is the first one: planning the project. Planning requires constant research and editing. In fact, you may find that the planning stage of a project doesn't really end until you're finished with the project.

So how can you prepare yourself, and what can you do to make this process pain-free? The illustration in Figure 1-1 shows a common progression of steps to take when planning a project, depending on the type of project you're tackling. Table 1-1 describes these steps in further detail. It is important to note, however, that these steps are merely guidelines for planning a project and will change depending on the type of project you are doing.

Table 1-1: Planning Steps
Step	Description
Define a project	Initiate the project: Clearly identify the purpose and goals of the project; estimate when key resources will be available to work on the project; make backup plans for key project components; and identify the project's constraints and limitations, such as the schedule, resources, budget, and scope. Start a project file: Create the project's file and set the project's properties, such as working time (i.e., Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Define project deliverables: Define the actual product or service that meets the project's objectives.
Plan project activities

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Figure 1-2: The Project Triangle

We all basically know what a project is, but here is a clear definition: A project is a temporary series of actions undertaken to create a unique product or service. A project can be anything from building a fleet of helicopters, to planning a wedding, to writing a sushi cookbook. All projects have three things in common: (1) they have a start and end date, (2) they are an effort made by people and equipment, and (3) they create a product or service. You've probably already completed many projects and are working on many projects as we speak. That means you already have experience with project management.

Project management is the process of planning, organizing, and managing tasks and resources to accomplish an objective, usually within constraints of time, resources, or cost. Project management has been a recognized profession since the 1950s but has been practiced since the Stone Ages. Without project management, we would still be wearing animal hides and rubbing sticks together to make fire.

An easy way to visualize the elements of project management is by using the Project Triangle, as shown in Figure 1-2. The Project Triangle views project management in terms of time, cost, and scope.

Time is the amount of time it will take you to complete your project.
Cost is the amount of money and time you will spend on the project.
Scope is the quality, functions, and features of your product or service.

Adjusting one of the Project Triangle elements affects the other two.

To see what happens to project management when one side of the Project Triangle changes, see Table 1-2.

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Figure 1-3: The Print Current View as a Report option

Before we start talking about new features of recent and past versions of the program, it helps if you actually understand what Project 2003 really is—a database. In its simplest form, a database is a collection of information that is organized into a list. Here is what a good database does:

Stores Information: A database stores lists of information that are related to a particular subject or purpose. A database stores personal information, such as a list of Aunt Mildred's cookie recipes, or business information, such as a list of hundreds of thousands of resources. A database also makes it easy to add, update, organize, and delete information.
Finds Information: You can easily and instantly locate information stored in a database. For example, you can find all the recipes in your cookbook with the ingredient "rice" in them or all your contractors located in the 58251 ZIP Code.
Analyzes Information: You can perform calculations on information in a database. For example, you could calculate what percent of your total equipment comes from the state of Texas. You can also present information in a professional-looking printed report.
Manages Information: Databases make it easy to work with and manage huge amounts of information. For example, you can change the due date from 5/1/06 to 5/20/06 for hundreds of tasks with just a few keystrokes.
Shares Information: Most database programs (including Microsoft Project 2003) allow more than one user to view and work with the same information at once. Such databases are called multiuser databases.

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Figure 1-4: The Project 2003 screen.

You might find the Project 2003 program screen a bit confusing and overwhelming the first time you see it. What are all of those buttons, icons, menus, and lines for? This lesson will help you become familiar with the Project program screen. There are no step-by-step instructions in this lesson—all you have to do is look at Figure 1-4 to see what everything you're looking at means. Relax! This lesson is only meant to help you get acquainted with the Project screen. You don't have to memorize anything.

Open Microsoft Project 2003.

The default view, Gantt Chart view, appears on your screen as shown in Figure 1-4.

The default screen for Project is the Gantt Chart view, named after Henry Gantt, a consulting engineer from the early 1900s. Gantt wrote a revolutionary paper that claimed workers were human beings, not machines, and should be led, not driven.
Find the screen elements listed in Table 1-4.

Familiarize yourself with the parts of the Project 2003 screen.

Table 1-4: The Project 2003 Screen
Element	Description
Bar chart	Displays task information in a bar chart format.

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Figure 1-5: Three basic types of views.

Just as there are several different types of database objects in Microsoft Project, there are also many different program screens or views, which makes Project quite different from most Microsoft programs.

The default view for Project is the Gantt Chart view, which is the view you will probably use most often. However, there are many other views in Project. These views allow you to view and work with your project's data more easily. Most of them can be categorized into three basic types of views: chart or graph, sheet, and form (see the illustrations in Figure 1-5).

Each view focuses on information about tasks or resources, depending on what you need to do. This lesson will show you how to switch views, and help you understand the best use for these views.

Select View → Task Usage from the menu.

Another way to open a view is to press Alt + V and press the underlined letter in the view name, or click the view button on the View Bar (select View → View Bar from the menu to display the View Bar).

You are now in Task Usage view. This view shows each task and the resources assigned to it, and the cost of each task.

Now try opening Resource Usage view.
Select View → Resource Usage from the menu.

Resource Usage view shows each resource, the tasks they are assigned to, and the amount of scheduled work put into each task. You can also view the resources that are overallocated and determine how much time each resource has available for additional work assignments. Let's try viewing a graphic view.

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Figure 1-6: The More Views dialog box

Most of the time, you will be able to see the information you need in one of the common views. When you need to be more specific about the information you view, however, try using one of the views available in the More Views dialog box.

Select View → More Views from the menu.

The More Views dialog box appears with more views to choose from, as shown in Figure 1-6.
Scroll down the list, select Task Sheet, and click Apply.

The project is shown in Task Sheet view, which is basically a full view of the left half of Gantt Chart view.
Select View → Gantt Chart from the menu.

Refer to Table 1-6 for a description of the other views in the More Views dialog box.

Table 1-6: More Views Microsoft Project 2002 Help files, © 1999, Microsoft Corporation.
View	Type	Description and Use

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Figure 1-7: The New Project task pane

Once you have your project all planned out, you can begin entering it in a new file. Project automatically opens to a new file, but you don't have to re-open the program every time you want to start a new file. This lesson shows you all you need to know about opening a new file.

For now, concentrate on creating a new Blank Project file.

Select File → New from the menu.

Another way to open a new project file is to click the New button on the Standard toolbar, or press Ctrl + N.

The New Project task pane appears, as shown in Figure 1-7. Here you can open a blank project, choose a project template, or open an existing project.
Click the Blank Project link in the New Project task pane.

The new Project file appears on the screen, along with the Project Guide. If you want, just follow along with the instructions to begin creating the project.

Table 1-7 is a suggestion of steps to take when starting a new project file. Not all of them are necessary, depending on the size and scope of your project. Don't worry if you don't know how to do some of these things; just keep following along in the book, and you'll learn eventually.

The Project Guide is a useful resource to use when creating your project. Follow its steps to set up and create your project.

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Figure 1-8: The Project Information dialog box

After creating a new project file, entering basic project information—like the project's start date—is the first step. Enter as much information as you know about the project in this dialog box before entering any tasks. It doesn't take long to fill out, but the information is important because it affects how Project goes about scheduling your project.

Select Project → Project Information from the menu.

The Project Information dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 1-8.

The most important piece of information to enter is the start or end date. First, you have to decide if you want to plan your project from the start date, or the end date.
- Start Date: If you plan it from the start date, Project will assign the tasks to begin As Soon As Possible (ASAP), so the project doesn't have to be drawn out longer than necessary.
- Finish Date: If you plan it from the finish date, Project will assign the tasks to begin As Late As Possible (ALAP) so the project will be completed on the appointed date.
Click the Schedule from list arrow. Select the scheduling option you want to use.

"Project Start Date" is the default setting of Project Information, and is the most common way to schedule a project.

Now, enter the project's start or finish date, depending on how you chose to schedule the project.

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Figure 1-9: The Project Information dialog box.

The Project Calendar is a schedule of working hours for all the tasks and resources in your project. The default Standard calendar schedules a work week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday, but there are two other calendars you can choose from if your project doesn't fit this schedule.

This lesson will show you how to choose a calendar that's right for your project.

If necessary, select Project → Project Information from the menu.

The Project Information dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 1-9.

There are three types of calendars you can choose from:
- Standard: Standard work day and work week of Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. lunch break. The Standard option is the default option, and the most common calendar option.
- 24 Hours: Working time is scheduled nonstop from Sunday through Saturday, 12:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
- Night Shift: Working time is scheduled Monday night through Saturday morning, 11:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., with 3:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. for a nonworking lunch break.
Now, select the calendar that best matches a typical work schedule for the project.
Click the Calendar list arrow and select the calendar you want to use. Click OK.

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Figure 1-10: The Change Working Time dialog box

If your Project Calendar working hours don't quite fit the typical hours at your company, you can easily modify them. For example, if your business opens later in the day, you can change the week's working hours to be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can also change the working hours for a single day of the week if, for example, you close early on Saturdays. This lesson will show you how to change the working hours for your Project Calendar.

Select Tools → Change Working Time from the menu.

The Change Working Time dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 1-10.
Select the date(s) you want to change in the Select Date(s) section.

You can change the working hours for a single day or a day of the week. Or you can use the Shift and Ctrl keys to select multiple dates and change them all at the same time.

To select multiple dates or days of the week, press the Shift key to select adjacent dates or column headings. Press the Ctrl key to select nonadjacent dates or column headings.

In our example, we selected the column headings for Monday through Friday to change the working time for all days of the work week.
Enter the new working hours in the To: and From: text boxes.

The working hours for the selected dates are changed, and the affected dates are shaded to indicate edited working hours.

Notice that you can break up working hours into several segments if necessary.
Click OK.

Q:

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Figure 1-11: The Change Working Time dialog box.

In addition to changing working hours, you can also modify the working days for the entire project. For example, you can schedule days when no work will be done on the project as nonworking days, such as holidays. This lesson will show you how to add nonworking days to your Project Calendar.

Select Tools → Change Working Time from the menu.

The Change Working Time dialog box appears.

There are a number of reasons to schedule nonworking days: holidays, days when you know resources will be devoted to other projects, etc.
Select the date(s) you want to change in the Select Date(s) section.

You can select a single date (or dates) to make it a nonworking day, like the Fourth of July. You can also change the working time for a day of the week. For example, if people are scheduled to work four 10-hour days Monday through Thursday, you would schedule Friday as a nonworking day every week.
Click the Nonworking time option in the dialog box.

Notice that there are no working hours scheduled in the From: and To: columns of the dialog box, as shown in Figure 1-11.
Click OK.

Changing a day to a nonworking day is not permanent. You can always add hours to a nonworking day to make it a working day again.

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Figure 1-12: The Change Working Time dialog box.

Figure 1-13: The Create New Base Calendar dialog box

There are three types of base calendars in Project: Standard, 24 Hours, and Night Shift. You can use these calendars to schedule working hours for the project and individual tasks and resources. But sometimes none of these base calendars quite fit the schedule, and you will have to create your own base calendar. Here's how...

Select Tools → Change Working Time from the menu.

The Change Working Time dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 1-12.
Click the New button in the dialog box.

The Create New Base Calendar dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 1-13.
Type the calendar name in the Name text box.

When you want to assign the new calendar to the task, this is the name you will look for.

Notice that there are two options to choose from in the dialog box:
- Create a new base calendar: Select this option if you want to create an entirely new calendar.
- Make a copy of: Instead of creating an entirely new calendar, copy an existing base calendar and change the working time to make a new calendar.

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Figure 1-14: A new project file with the Project Guide displayed.

A new feature introduced in Project 2002, and probably the most helpful feature for beginners, is the Project Guide (as shown in Figure 1-14). The Project Guide is like an advanced wizard that guides you through each step in creating a project: entering tasks and resources, recording progress, reporting project status, and so on. The Project Guide appears whenever you create a new project file, but you can turn the Project Guide off once you are more familiar with how to build a project.

There are two ways to use the Project Guide:

Project Guide toolbar: This toolbar provides access to instructions and wizards in each of four basic project elements: Tasks, Resources, Track, and Report.
Project Guide task pane: The task pane contains a list of tasks for each basic project element, and provides the necessary instructions and wizards to help you accomplish those tasks.

In this lesson, we will explore the Project Guide.

To view or hide the Project Guide toolbar, select View → Toolbars → Project Guide from the menu.

The Project Guide task pane displays the steps for working with tasks.

Let's try a step in the Tasks category.
Click the Define general working times link in the Project Guide task pane.

The first step in defining the project's working times appears.

Notice that there are two arrows at the top of the guide, which you can use to progress between steps in the wizard. If you were actually creating a project, you would just follow the arrows.

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Figure 1-15: The Print dialog box.

When you want to print exactly what's on your screen, print a view. Total graphical information will print in all printable views. However, in views that contain tables, only the visible table columns will print along with the graphical information. You can print any view, except for form views and the Relationship Diagram view.

Before you print a project view, you should complete any formatting you want to appear on your view, use the spellchecker, insert page breaks, and preview the view.

Open the view you want to print.

In this case, we are going to print the Gantt Chart, so you don't have to open a different view.

It's a good idea to preview your project before printing. Select File → Print Preview to open print preview. When you're finished, click Close.
Select File → Print from the menu.

The Print dialog box appears.
Choose your print options.

You can select which printer to print from, how many copies you want to print, which pages you want to print, and what dates of your project you want to print. Also, you can click the Properties button to choose advanced printing options. Figure 1-15 displays more information on how to specify different options when you print.
When you are ready to print, click OK.

The project view prints.

For multiple page views (which have page breaks), all of the lefthand pages will print before the righthand pages.

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Figure 1-16: The first step in printing the current view as a report.

If you thought printing a view was easy, wait until you try printing the current view as a report. Making its debut in Project 2003, the "Print current view as a report" option is one of the best things to come along since sliced bread! Well, maybe not, but it is definitely worth checking out.

Located in the Report task pane of the Project Guide, the "Print current view as a report" option acts as a wizard, guiding you through each and every step of printing the current view as a report. Let's get acquainted with this brand-new option!

Open the view you want to print.

In this case, we'll be using Gantt Chart view, so you don't have to open a new view.
Click the Report list arrow on the Project Guide toolbar and select Print current view as a report from the list.

To view or hide the Project Guide toolbar, select View → Toolbars → Project Guide from the menu.

The first step of the wizard in the Print Current View task pane appears, as shown in Figure 1-16. Navigate through each step by clicking the link at the bottom of the task pane.
Click the Save and go to Step 2 link at the bottom of the task pane.

Step 2 of the wizard appears. Go ahead and work your way through the next two steps in the wizard, familiarizing yourself with the various options offered.
Click the Print button

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Figure 1-17: Asking a question in the Project Help

Figure 1-18: Search for Offline Help results.

Figure 1-19: Help text for the selected topic.

When you don't know how to do something in Windows or a Windows-based program, don't panic, just look up your question in the Project Help files. The Project Help files can answer your questions, offer tips, and provide help for all of Project's features. Many Project users forget to use Help, and this is unfortunate because the Help files know more about Project than most reference books do!

You can make the Project Help files appear by pressing the F1 key. Then, all you have to do is ask your question. This lesson will show how you can get help by asking the Help files a question about a specific Project feature.

Press the F1 key.

Another way to get help is to type your question in the Type a question for help box on the menu bar and press Enter. The results appear in the Project Help task pane. You can also get help by clicking the Table of Contents link in the Project Help task pane and searching by topic.

The Project Help task pane appears, as shown in Figure 1-17.
Type How do I save a project? in the Search for: text box, as shown in Figure 1-17 .

You can ask Project Help questions in normal English, just as if you were asking a person instead of a computer. The program identifies keywords and phrases in your questions, such as "save" and "project."

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Planning the Project

Before entering information in a project file, you must have a clear idea of the scope and purpose of the project.

Understanding Project Management

A Project is a temporary series of actions undertaken to create a unique product or service.

All Projects:

have a start and end date
are efforts made by people or equipment
create a product or service

The Project Triangle Includes: Time, Cost, and Scope.

Understanding the Project Screen

Be able to identify the main components of the Project program screen.

Using Common Views

To Change Views: Select the View menu and select a new view. Or, press Alt + V and press the underlined letter in the view name.

To Display the View Bar: Select View → View Bar from the menu.

Using More Views

To Use More Views: Select View → More Views from the menu. Select a view in the dialog box and click Apply.

Creating a New Project

To Create a New Project: Select File → New from the menu and click Blank Project in the task pane. Or click the New button, or press Ctrl + N.

Entering the Project Scheduling Date

To Enter the Scheduling Date: Select Project

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Prerequisites

Understand project management.
Know the basic elements of Project 2003.

Once you have your project file set up (with your start date and project calendar), you can begin putting together your project. This chapter deals with the driving force behind most projects—tasks. In this chapter, we are going to enter and organize a list of tasks to be completed in the project. We'll also begin to estimate the duration of tasks, which will give us an idea of how long the project will take.

Diving into a blank project can be very intimidating. Just thinking of all that needs to be done to complete a project, much less setting it up, can feel completely overwhelming. But as long as you take it step by step, Project will do all the calculating and scheduling for you, making the process much more manageable.

Figure 2-1: Entering tasks in the project.

Tasks are the engines that propel the progress of a project. A task represents an amount of work with a clear outcome. As tasks are worked on, Project calculates their effect on the overall outcome of the project. If you have done a good job of project planning, you should already have an idea of what you need to do to accomplish your project's goals. So crack your knuckles and get ready—it's time to enter tasks into your project!

Navigate to your Practice folder and open the Lesson 2 file. Save the file as Task List .
Click the first cell of the Task Name field.

When entering a task, pick a name that clearly identifies the purpose of the task.
Type Write Microsoft Project 2003

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Figure 2-1: Entering tasks in the project.

Tasks are the engines that propel the progress of a project. A task represents an amount of work with a clear outcome. As tasks are worked on, Project calculates their effect on the overall outcome of the project. If you have done a good job of project planning, you should already have an idea of what you need to do to accomplish your project's goals. So crack your knuckles and get ready—it's time to enter tasks into your project!

Navigate to your Practice folder and open the Lesson 2 file. Save the file as Task List .
Click the first cell of the Task Name field.

When entering a task, pick a name that clearly identifies the purpose of the task.
Type Write Microsoft Project 2003 and press Enter .

The task is named and numbered.

Enter a few more tasks into the project.
Repeat Step 3 to enter the following tasks:

Your task list should look similar to Figure 2-1. Notice that even though you haven't entered anything more than the task name, Project has entered more information for the task based on the information it already has about the project.

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Figure 2-2: You can use abbreviations to indicate duration length in Project.

Once you've entered tasks in the project, you need to tell the program how long each task will take. Project then uses the durations you enter to calculate the amount of time the project will take as a whole.

How does Project calculate how long the task will take? First, Project looks at the amount of active working time you have available from the start to the end of the task. Then, Project looks at the amount of working time you estimate that the task will take to complete, which is the amount of time you enter in the Duration field.

For example, the Standard calendar is dedicated to 40 hours of work on the project each week. Therefore, Project assumes that one day requires eight hours, one week requires 40 hours, etc. When you estimate that a task will take two weeks to finish, Project assumes that you need 80 hours to do it.

Here are some guidelines to help you estimate a task's duration:

Consider the scope of the project: Durations can be entered in months, weeks, days, hours, or minutes. It all depends on the scope of the entire project. For example, if you are trying to plan a project that will take several years to complete, it is probably useless to plan the duration of a task in minutes.
Refer to the entire project: Generally, if you have a longer project, you will have longer tasks, and if you have a shorter project, you will have shorter tasks.

Sound confusing? You'll understand better as you continue to work with more of the features in Project.

There is another type of duration you can use in a project—elapsed durations. Elapsed durations ignore working and nonworking time in all calendars and resource assignments. They schedule tasks 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until they are finished. Elapsed durations are useful for processes that can't stop once started, such as the period of time it takes cement to cure after it is poured. You designate an elapsed duration by entering an "e" before the duration unit—for example, "4 ed" for four elapsed days. Figure 2-2 describes the various abbreviations used to indicate duration length in Project.

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Figure 2-3: The project updated with task durations in Gantt Chart view.

Now that you know the basics of task duration, it's time to get to work.

Click the Duration field for the "Research Microsoft Project 2003" task.

Notice that there is already a value entered in the field. The question mark indicates that the number is an estimate, which is what Project automatically enters in the task field until you assign a more definite duration.

Give yourself ten days to research the program.
Type 10 days and press Enter .

The insertion point moves down to the next task duration and the chart area changes to reflect the task's duration.

We entered 10 days for the duration of this task, but because 1 week = 5 days, Project calculates 10 days and two weeks as having the same number of working hours.

Enter the following durations for their corresponding tasks:

Task Number	Task Name	Duration
3	Create outli

Table of Contents

Planning the Project

Understanding Project Management

Understanding the Project Screen

Using Common Views

Using More Views

Creating a New Project

Entering the Project Scheduling Date