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Microsoft Project 2007: The Missing Manual

Name: Microsoft Project 2007: The Missing Manual
Author: Bonnie Biafore
ISBN: 9780596528362

by Bonnie Biafore

August 2007

Beginner

702 pages

23h 54m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Microsoft Project 2007: The Missing Manual
A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
The Missing Credits
About the AuthorAbout the Creative TeamAcknowledgementsThe Missing Manual Series
Introduction
What’s New in Project 2007Where Microsoft Project Fits InChoosing the Right EditionComplementary SoftwareGetting Around ProjectMenus and ToolbarsViewsTask PanesScreenTips and SmartTagsAbout This BookAbout the OutlineThe Very BasicsAbout → These → ArrowsAbout MissingManuals.comSafari® Enabled
I. Project Management: The Missing Manual
1. Projects: In the Beginning
1.1. What’s So Special About Projects?1.2. What Is Project Management?1.3. Why Manage Projects?1.4. Picking the Right Projects1.4.1. The Importance of Business Objectives1.4.2. Common Project Selection Criteria1.4.2.1. Payback period1.4.2.2. Net present value1.4.2.3. Internal rate of return1.5. Gaining Support for a Project1.5.1. Identify Who Has a Stake in the Project1.5.2. Documenting Project Stakeholders1.6. Publicizing a Project and Its Manager
2. Planning a Project
2.1. Project Planning in a Nutshell2.2. Defining the Project2.2.1. What’s the Problem?2.2.2. Giving Meaning to a Project2.2.3. How Are You Going to Solve the Problem?2.2.4. Defining Project Objectives2.2.5. Identifying Project Results2.2.6. Gauging Success2.2.7. Defining Project Boundaries2.2.8. Documenting Project Assumptions2.3. Documenting How You’ll Run the Project2.4. Laying Out Project Processes2.4.1. Communicating2.4.2. Managing Change2.4.3. Managing Quality2.4.4. Managing Risk2.4.4.1. Identifying risks2.4.4.2. Assessing risks2.4.4.3. Planning risk response2.4.4.4. Tracking risks
3. Taking Microsoft Project for a Test Drive
3.1. Creating a Project Schedule3.1.1. What Work Must Be Done?3.1.1.1. Listing project tasks3.1.2. What Results Must Your Project Produce—and When?3.1.2.1. Adding milestones to a project schedule3.1.3. How Does Each Task Depend on Other Tasks?3.1.3.1. Creating task dependencies3.1.4. Who’s Going to Do the Work?3.1.4.1. List the people on your project3.1.4.2. Assign resources to tasks3.1.5. How Long Will All These Tasks Take?3.2. Saving Your Project
4. Breaking Work intoTask-Sized Chunks
4.1. Identifying the Work to Be Done4.1.1. Breaking Down Work4.1.1.1. Building a WBS from the top down4.1.1.2. Developing a WBS from start to finish4.1.1.3. Constructing a WBS from the bottom up4.1.2. When Is Enough Enough?4.2. Building a WBS in Microsoft Project4.2.1. Creating a WBS in Project from the Top Down4.2.2. Creating and Modifying a WBS on the Fly4.3. Setting Up Customized WBS Codes4.4. Documenting a WBS in Another Program4.5. Importing a WBS into Project4.6. Documenting Work Package Details4.6.1. Building Work Package Documents in Word4.6.1.1. Making a Word template4.6.1.2. Opening a Word template4.6.2. Linking Work Packages to the Project Schedule
5. Estimating Work Time
5.1. Understanding Work and Duration5.2. Getting Good Estimates5.2.1. How Accurate Do You Need to Be?5.2.2. Ways to Estimate Work5.2.3. Getting Estimates from the Right People5.2.4. Don’t Ask for Only One Number5.2.5. Don’t Pad Estimates5.2.5.1. The disadvantages of padding5.2.5.2. Using safety margins to increase success5.2.6. Give Feedback on Estimates5.3. Getting Estimates into Project5.3.1. Exporting Work Packages to Excel5.3.2. Importing Estimates into Project

6. Setting Up a Project Schedule
6.1. Creating a New Project File6.1.1. Creating a Blank Project File6.1.2. Using a Template to Create a Project File6.1.3. Fast Access to User Templates6.2. Saving a New Project6.2.1. Saving Projects to Other File Formats6.2.2. Protecting Your Project Files6.3. Setting Up Project Options6.3.1. Setting the Project Start Date6.3.2. Setting the Standard Workdays6.3.2.1. Choosing a project calendar6.3.2.2. Setting calendar options6.4. Adding Tasks to a Project6.4.1. Adding Tasks6.4.2. Creating Milestones6.4.3. Creating Repeating Tasks6.5. Inserting, Moving, and Deleting Tasks6.5.1. Inserting Tasks6.5.2. Moving Tasks6.6. Copying Tasks6.6.1. Deleting Tasks6.7. Modifying a Task’s Level in the Outline
7. Making a Schedule That’s Easy to Maintain
7.1. How Tasks Affect One Another7.2. Building Relationships Between Tasks7.2.1. Creating Finish-to-Start Task Dependencies7.2.2. Creating and Modifying All Types of Task Dependencies7.2.2.1. Filling in task forms in the Gantt Chart view7.2.2.2. Working on task dependencies in the Task Information dialog box7.2.2.3. Defining task dependencies in the table area7.2.2.4. Double-clicking existing links7.2.3. Delaying or Overlapping Tasks7.3. Scheduling Task Work Time with Calendars7.4. Keeping a Schedule Flexible7.4.1. Types of Constraints7.4.2. Setting and Changing Constraints7.4.3. Preventing Unwanted Date Constraints7.4.4. Setting Deadline Reminders
II. Project Planning: More Than Creating a Schedule
8. Building a Team for Your Project
8.1. Identifying Project Resources8.1.1. Who’s Responsible for What8.1.1.1. Creating a responsibility matrix in Excel8.1.2. Who Reports to Whom8.1.2.1. Creating a project organization chart in Microsoft Visio8.2. Understanding Project’s Resource Type8.3. Adding Resources in Microsoft Project8.3.1. Adding Resources Manually8.3.2. Importing Resources from Other Programs8.3.2.1. Importing resources from Excel8.3.2.2. Importing resources from your address book8.3.3. Deleting Resources8.4. Providing Detailed Resource Information8.4.1. Filling in General Information8.4.2. Defining When Work Resources Work8.4.2.1. Specifying a resource’s work schedule8.4.2.2. Specifying how much time resources are available8.4.3. Defining Costs for Work and Material Resources8.4.4. Setting Up Cost Resources
9. Connecting Resources to Tasks
9.1. Assigning Work Resources to Tasks9.1.1. Assigning Resources with the Dialog Box9.1.2. Assigning Resources in the Task Form9.1.3. Assigning Resources in a Gantt Chart Table9.1.3.1. Copying a resource to multiple tasks9.2. Finding the Right Resources9.2.1. Finding Resources by Criteria9.2.1.1. Finding resources with available time9.2.1.2. Reviewing availability in detail9.3. Assigning Material Resources to Tasks9.4. Understanding Duration, Work, and Units9.5. Modifying Resource Assignments9.6. Adding and Removing Resources from Tasks9.6.1. When Effort Drives the Schedule9.6.2. Controlling Assignment Changes with Task Types9.6.2.1. Keeping resources assigned with the same units9.6.2.2. Maintaining task duration9.6.2.3. Maintaining the same amount of work
10. Does the Schedule Work?
10.1. Making Sure Tasks Are Set Up Correctly10.1.1. Reviewing Task Dependencies10.1.2. Freeing Tasks from Constraints10.2. Defining Work Schedules with Calendars10.2.1. Creating New Calendars10.2.2. Modifying Calendars10.2.2.1. Selecting a calendar to modify10.2.2.2. Defining the standard work week for a calendar10.2.2.3. Setting up additional work week schedules10.2.2.4. Setting aside holidays and other exceptions to the work schedule10.2.2.5. Defining recurring exceptions10.2.3. Applying Calendars10.3. Building Reality into Assignments10.3.1. Assigning Part-time Workers10.3.2. Modeling Productivity in Project10.3.3. Adjusting Tasks for Resource Capability10.4. Balancing Workloads10.4.1. Finding Resource Over- and Under-Allocations10.4.1.1. Finding overallocated resources in the Resource Sheet10.4.1.2. Finding over-allocations with the Resource Graph10.4.1.3. Viewing assignments with the Resource Usage view10.4.1.4. Viewing and leveling assignments in the Resource Allocation view10.4.1.5. Getting hard copies of allocation reports10.4.2. Adjusting Assignments to Correct Allocations10.4.2.1. Accepting over-allocations10.4.2.2. Replacing resources10.4.2.3. Delaying assignments10.4.2.4. Adjusting work contours10.4.3. Leveling Assignments10.4.4. Leveling Resources Basics10.4.5. Setting Leveling Options10.4.6. Prioritizing Projects and Tasks10.4.6.1. Changing task priority10.4.6.2. Changing project priority
11. Setting Up a Project Budget
11.1. Putting a Price Tag on Your Project11.2. Incorporating Resource Costs11.3. Preparing for Cost Calculations11.3.1. Assigning Cost Resources to Tasks11.3.1.1. Assigning cost resources with the Assign Resources dialog box11.3.1.2. Assigning cost resources in a table11.3.2. Entering an Oddball Cost for a Task11.4. Reviewing Cost Information11.4.1. Seeing Overall Project Costs11.4.1.1. Viewing the total project cost in Project Statistics11.4.1.2. Viewing total project cost in the Project Summary report11.4.1.3. Viewing the total project cost in the project summary task11.4.2. Seeing Costs for Tasks, Resources, and Assignments11.4.3. Adding Custom Budget Information11.5. Comparing Costs to Your Budget11.5.1. Step 1: Create Budget Resources11.5.2. Step 2: Assign Budget Resources to the Project Summary Task11.5.3. Step 3: Enter Budget Cost and Work Values11.5.3.1. Entering budget totals for the project11.5.3.2. Entering budget totals by time period11.5.4. Step 4: Associate Resources with Their Budget Type11.5.4.1. Creating a custom resource text field11.5.4.2. Categorizing resources by budget category11.5.5. Step 5: Compare Budget Resource Values11.6. Reducing Project Costs11.6.1. Checking for Cost Errors11.6.2. Adjusting the Schedule11.6.3. Adjusting Assignments11.6.4. Rethinking Your Project Budget11.7. Setting the Project Fiscal Year11.8. Assigning Accounting Codes11.8.1. Entering Accounting Codes in a Custom Field11.8.2. Creating Multilevel Accounting Codes11.8.2.1. Selecting and naming your new outline code11.8.2.2. Setting the format for the multilevel accounting code11.8.2.3. Creating the multilevel lookup table for your accounting code11.8.3. Applying Accounting Codes to Your Project
12. Refining a Project Schedule
12.1. Evaluating the Project Schedule12.1.1. Comparing Finish Dates to Deadlines12.1.2. Finding the Best Tasks to Shorten12.1.2.1. Displaying the critical path in Project12.1.2.2. Showing critical tasks in a Gantt Chart table12.1.3. Reviewing Project Costs12.1.3.1. Reviewing total project cost12.1.3.2. Displaying task and assignment costs12.1.3.3. Using Project cost reports12.2. New Project Tools for Change12.2.1. See Why Tasks Start When They Do12.2.2. Seeing What Changes Do12.2.3. Playing What-if Games12.3. Adjusting Resource Assignments12.3.1. Increasing Units to Decrease Duration12.3.2. Assigning a Different Resource12.3.3. Adding Resources12.3.4. Using Slack Time to Shorten the Schedule12.4. Splitting Tasks into Smaller Pieces12.5. Overlapping Tasks12.5.1. Finding Tasks to Fast-track12.5.2. Modifying Task Dependencies to Overlap Tasks12.6. Paying More for Faster Delivery12.6.1. Time vs. Money12.6.2. Using a Spreadsheet to Choose Tasks to Crash
13. Saving the Project Plan
13.1. Obtaining Approval for the Plan13.2. Storing Project Documents13.3. Preserving the Original Plan in Project13.3.1. Setting a Baseline13.3.1.1. Editing a set baseline13.3.2. Setting Additional Baselines13.3.3. Adding New Tasks to a Baseline13.3.4. Saving Sets of Start and Finish Dates13.3.5. Clearing a Baseline13.3.6. Viewing Baselines13.3.6.1. Viewing baseline and current values in a Gantt Chart view13.3.6.2. Viewing baseline values in a table
III. Projects in Action
14. Tracking Progress
14.1. Picking the Best Way to Track Progress14.2. Obtaining Progress and Cost Data14.2.1. Collecting Task Progress from Your Team Members14.2.1.1. Receiving progress information via email14.2.1.2. Gathering progress data in person14.2.1.3. Importing information from other tracking systems14.2.2. Collecting Progress Data About Other Resources14.3. Entering Actual Progress in Project14.3.1. Updating Task Progress14.3.1.1. Entering percent complete14.3.1.2. Entering actual duration and remaining duration14.3.1.3. Entering actual start and actual finish14.3.2. Updating the Project Using Resource Assignment Progress14.3.2.1. Entering percentage of work complete14.3.2.2. Entering actual work complete and remaining work14.3.2.3. Entering actual work by time period14.3.2.4. Designing an assignment tracking view14.3.3. Globally Updating the Project14.3.3.1. Rescheduling unfinished work in the project14.3.3.2. Updating the project as scheduled14.3.4. Updating Project Costs14.3.4.1. Figuring actual costs for human and equipment resources14.3.4.2. Calculating actual costs for material resources14.3.4.3. Figuring actual costs for cost resources14.3.4.4. Updating actual fixed costs on tasks
15. Evaluating Project Performance
15.1. Scheduled, Baseline, and Actual Values15.2. Is the Project on Time?15.2.1. Checking Status at the Project Level15.2.2. Reviewing the Critical Path15.2.2.1. Viewing the critical path15.2.2.2. Seeing how the critical path has changed15.2.2.3. Creating a critical task checklist15.2.3. Looking for Delayed Tasks15.2.4. Looking for Tasks Heading for Trouble15.3. Checking on Work15.3.1. Looking for Over-allocations15.3.2. Checking for Overbudget Work15.4. Is the Project Within Budget?15.4.1. Comparing Costs with Views and Filters15.4.2. Evaluating Costs with Reports15.4.3. Comparing Project Costs to a Budget15.5. Earned Value Analysis15.5.1. Gauging Performance with Earned Value Measures15.5.2. Analyzing an Earned Value Graph15.5.3. Using Additional Earned Value Measures15.5.4. Viewing Earned Value in Project15.5.5. Controlling How Project Calculates Earned Value15.6. Getting Back on Track15.6.1. A Review of Project Tuning Techniques15.6.2. Assigning Overtime
16. Managing Change
16.1. Setting Up a Change Management System16.1.1. Managing Change Requests16.1.2. The Change Review Board: Deciding on Changes16.1.3. Tracking Change Requests16.2. Managing Changes in Project16.2.1. Finding the Effects of a Proposed Change16.2.1.1. Creating a what-if copy of a project16.2.1.2. Setting a what-if baseline16.2.2. Updating Project with Approved Change Requests16.2.3. Flagging Change Requests in Project
17. Reporting on Projects
17.1. An Overview of Project’s Reports17.1.1. Overall Status17.1.2. Financial Performance17.1.3. Task Management17.1.4. Resource Management17.2. Text-Based Reports17.2.1. Generating Text-Based Reports17.2.2. Customizing Text-Based Reports17.2.2.1. Creating or copying a report17.2.2.2. Customizing a task or resource report17.2.2.3. Customizing a timescaled report17.2.2.4. Customizing a calendar report17.3. Working with Visual Reports17.3.1. Generating a Visual Report17.3.2. Rearranging and Formatting an Excel Visual Report17.3.2.1. Adding fields to the graph17.3.2.2. Filtering the data that appears17.3.2.3. Categorizing information17.3.2.4. Summarizing and drilling down17.3.2.5. Formatting the chart17.3.3. Rearranging and Formatting a Visio Visual Report17.3.4. Customizing Visual Report Templates17.3.5. Saving Report Data
18. Closing a Project
18.1. Obtaining Project Acceptance18.2. Tying Up Loose Ends18.3. Producing Project Closeout Reports18.3.1. Summarizing a Project18.3.2. Reporting Performance18.3.2.1. Cost performance18.3.2.2. Schedule performance18.3.2.3. Quality performance18.3.3. Documenting What You Learned18.3.3.1. Don’t skip this step!18.3.3.2. Gathering what you learned18.3.3.3. Remembering your lessons18.4. What to Do with Project Information
IV. Project Power Tools
19. Working on Multiple Projects
19.1. Managing Multiple Projects19.1.1. Creating a Master Project19.1.2. Removing a Project from a Master Project19.1.3. Linking Tasks in Different Projects19.2. Sharing Resources Among Projects19.2.1. Creating a Resource Pool19.2.2. Connecting a Project to a Resource Pool19.2.3. Opening and Saving Sharer Projects19.2.4. Detaching a Sharer Project from the Resource Pool19.2.5. Editing Resource Pool Information
20. Exchanging Data Between Programs
20.1. Copying Information20.1.1. Copying Project Data to Other Programs20.1.2. Copying Data from Other Programs into Project20.1.3. Creating Pictures of Project Information20.1.3.1. Taking a picture for Word, PowerPoint, or Visio20.1.3.2. Taking a picture of a Project view20.2. Importing and Exporting Data20.2.1. Importing Data into Project20.2.2. Exporting Data from Project20.2.3. Using an Existing Map20.2.4. Exchanging Data with Excel20.2.4.1. Exporting Project data to Excel20.2.4.2. Exporting an entire project to Excel20.2.4.3. Importing data from Excel20.2.4.4. Using an Excel template to import data20.2.5. Working with Project and Visio20.2.5.1. Displaying Project data in a Visio Gantt Chart20.2.5.2. Displaying Project data in a Visio timeline20.2.5.3. Exporting Visio Gantt Charts to Project20.2.5.4. Exporting Visio timelines to Project
21. Linking and Embedding
21.1. Linking and Embedding21.1.1. Linking and Embedding Project Data in Other Programs21.1.1.1. Linking Project files to other programs21.1.1.2. Embedding Project files in other programs21.1.1.3. Linking Project table data to other programs21.1.2. Linking and Embedding Data into Project21.1.2.1. Linking and embedding entire files into Project21.1.2.2. Linking and embedding parts of files in Project21.1.2.3. Linking tabular data in Project21.1.3. Working with Linked and Embedded Objects21.1.3.1. Editing linked objects21.1.3.2. Managing linked objects21.1.3.3. Editing embedded objects
22. Project on the Internet
22.1. Hyperlinking to Information22.1.1. Creating a Hyperlink to a File or Web Page22.1.2. Modifying Hyperlinks22.1.3. Creating a Hyperlink to a Location in the Project File22.2. Integrating Project and Outlook22.2.1. Adding Project Tasks to Outlook22.2.2. Importing Tasks from Outlook22.2.3. Building a Resource List from an Outlook Address Book22.2.4. Sending Project Information to Others22.2.4.1. Sending Project files via email22.2.4.2. Routing a Project file to several recipients22.2.4.3. Publishing a Project file to an Exchange folder
V. Customizing Project
23. Viewing What You Want
23.1. Creating Your Own View23.1.1. Modifying Basic View Contents23.1.1.1. Modifying a single-pane view23.1.1.2. Modifying a combination view23.1.2. Creating a New View23.1.3. Changing the Looks of a Gantt Chart View23.1.3.1. Changing the way task bars look23.1.3.2. Changing task bar text23.1.3.3. Designing your own task bar style23.1.3.4. Stacking more than one task bar in the same space23.1.3.5. Changing the layout of task bars23.1.3.6. Changing how gridlines look23.1.3.7. Fast formatting with the Gantt Chart Wizard23.1.4. Customizing the Timescale23.1.5. Changing a Usage View’s Appearance23.1.6. Customizing the Resource Graph23.1.6.1. Choosing fields to display23.1.6.2. Changing the way Resource Graph bars look23.1.7. Modifying a Network Diagram23.1.7.1. Choosing fields and formatting for network diagram boxes23.1.7.2. Laying out boxes23.1.8. Customizing the Calendar View23.2. Changing Tables23.2.1. Switching the Table in a View23.2.2. Changing Table Contents23.2.3. Modifying a Table Definition23.2.4. Creating a New Table23.3. Changing the Way Text Looks23.3.1. Changing Categories of Text23.3.2. Changing Selected Text23.4. Filtering Through Information23.4.1. Creating and Editing Filters23.4.2. Defining Filters23.4.2.1. Comparing a field to a value23.4.2.2. Comparing two fields23.4.2.3. Creating multiple test filters23.4.2.4. Creating changeable filters23.4.3. Quick and Dirty Filtering with AutoFilter23.5. Grouping Project Elements23.5.1. Working with Groups23.5.2. Creating a Group23.5.3. Changing Group Intervals
24. Defining Your Own Fields and Forms
24.1. Defining Your Own Fields24.1.1. Customizing a Field24.1.1.1. Creating lists of valid values24.1.1.2. Calculating field values24.1.1.3. Calculating values in summary rows24.1.1.4. Displaying values graphically24.1.2. Coding Tasks and Resources24.1.2.1. Setting up a template for outline code values24.1.2.2. Setting up an outline code lookup table24.2. Building Your Own Forms24.2.1. Creating a Form24.2.1.1. Adding a field to a form24.2.1.2. Adding text to a form24.2.1.3. Including a button on a form24.2.1.4. Grouping form contents
25. Customizing Toolbars and Menus
25.1. Customizing Menus and Toolbars25.1.1. Before You Customize a Menu or Toolbar25.1.2. Adding a Command to a Menu or Toolbar25.1.3. Adding a Menu to Another Menu or a Toolbar25.1.4. Modifying a Menu or Toolbar Entry25.1.4.1. Editing button images25.1.4.2. Removing entries from menus and toolbars25.1.4.3. Rearranging entries on a menu or toolbar25.1.4.4. Changing the width of a drop-down list25.2. Creating New Toolbars and Menus25.2.1. Creating a New Toolbar25.2.2. Copying a Toolbar to Create a New One25.3. Editing Toolbars and Menus25.3.1. Renaming Toolbars and Menus25.3.2. Deleting Toolbars and Menus25.3.2.1. Deleting in the Organizer25.4. Creating Keyboard Shortcuts
26. Reusable Project: Templates
26.1. Sharing Custom Elements26.2. Storing Project Settings and Elements26.2.1. Copying Elements Between Files26.2.1.1. Making customized elements available to new projects26.2.1.2. Sharing a customized element with someone else26.2.2. Removing Customized Elements from Files26.2.3. Renaming Customized Elements26.3. Building Templates for Projects26.3.1. Creating a Project Template26.3.2. Making Your Templates Easy to Find26.3.3. Editing a Template26.3.4. Creating a Project File from a Template
27. Saving Time With Macros
27.1. What You Can Do with Macros27.2. Recording Macros27.3. Running Macros27.3.1. Running Macros in the Macros Dialog Box27.3.2. Running a Macro from a Toolbar or Menu27.3.3. Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Run Macros27.4. Viewing and Editing Macro Code27.5. Learning More About Programming Project
VI. Appendixes
A. Installing Project
A.1. Installing Project on Your ComputerA.1.1. Before You InstallA.1.2. Installing Project for the First TimeA.1.3. Customizing Your InstallationA.1.4. Upgrading Project from an Earlier VersionA.2. Activating ProjectA.3. Maintaining and Repairing ProjectA.3.1. Adding and Removing FeaturesA.3.2. Repairing Your Project InstallationA.3.3. Uninstalling Project
B. Getting Help for Project
B.1. In Search of Project HelpB.1.1. Searching for AnswersB.1.2. Targeted HelpB.1.3. Online and Offline HelpB.2. Microsoft Office OnlineB.3. Interactive and In-depth AssistanceB.3.1. Discuss Among YourselvesB.3.2. Project Blogs
C. Keyboard Shortcuts
C.1. How to Use Keyboard ShortcutsC.2. Keyboard Shortcuts for Microsoft ProjectC.2.1. All-time Keyboard Shortcut FavoritesC.2.2. Project OutliningC.2.3. Displaying Project InformationC.2.4. Moving Around in a Project ViewC.3. Selecting Elements in a Project View TableC.3.1. Keyboard Shortcuts for Editing Within a ViewC.3.2. Navigating Within Dialog Boxes and FormsC.3.3. Help Shortcuts
Index
About the Author
Colophon
Copyright

Content preview from Microsoft Project 2007: The Missing Manual

Chapter 4. Breaking Work intoTask-Sized Chunks

When you organize a simple activity like seeing a movie with friends, you probably don’t bother writing out the steps. You just call your friends, pick a movie, get tickets, and buy popcorn without a formal plan. However, for more complex projects—like preparing your income tax return or launching a new product line—identifying the work involved is key to planning how and when to get it done. For example, missing the April 15 deadline can cost you hundreds of dollars in penalties. That new product may make a profit only if you keep costs below $100,000 and get it on the shelves before Thanksgiving. At such times, cost, delivery dates, and other objectives are important.

That’s where a WBS (work breakdown structure) comes in. Carving up the project’s work into a hierarchy of progressively smaller chunks until you get to bite-sized pieces is the first step to figuring out how and when everything will get done. If you’re new to managing projects, don’t panic—you’ve built a WBS before. The movie example in the previous paragraph is actually a simple WBS. The structure of a WBS is much like the system of blood vessels in your body, with the aorta representing the entire project and the smaller blood vessels as progressively smaller chunks of the overall work at each level (summary tasks). The hoards of tiny capillaries that deliver blood to every part of your body correspond to the individual tasks (called work packages) at the bottom of ...

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Microsoft Project 2007: The Missing Manual

by Bonnie Biafore

Chapter 4. Breaking Work intoTask-Sized Chunks

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