Microsoft® Office Project 2007 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies®

Appendix . Microsoft^® Project 2007 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies^®

Checklist for Creating a Project Plan

You can use Project Guide to walk through building a project. However, if you prefer to do things yourself, here’s a handy checklist that you can follow to build a Project schedule.

✓	Enter project information (such as the start date).
✓	Set up your work calendar.
✓	Create tasks, entering information about durations.
✓	Create milestones (tasks of zero duration) in your project.
✓	Organize your tasks into phases, using Project’s outline structure.
✓	Establish dependencies among tasks, adding constraints if appropriate.
✓	Create resources, assigning cost/rate and resource calendar information.
✓	Assign resources to tasks.
✓	Resolve resource conflicts.
✓	Review the total duration and cost of the project, making adjustments if necessary.
✓	Set a baseline.

After you complete the preceding list, you’re ready to start the project and track any progress on it, reporting progress to management by using Project reports or by simply printing your schedule or sharing it on the Web.

Checklist for Resolving Problems

Here’s a checklist of things to try when a resource is overallocated in your project or your schedule is running overlong. Your ability to use any of these suggestions depends on the circumstances of ...