Microsoft Project 2013: The Missing Manual

Table of contents

1. A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
2. The Missing Credits
   1. About the Author
   2. About the Creative Team
   3. Acknowledgments
3. Introduction
   1. What’s New in Project 2013
   2. Where Microsoft Project Fits In
   3. Choosing the Right Edition
   4. Complementary Software
   5. About This Book
      1. About the Outline
      2. The Very Basics
      3. About→These→Arrows
      4. About MissingManuals.com
      5. About the Missing CD
      6. Safari® Books Online
4. 1. Project Management: The Missing Manual
   1. 1. Projects: In the Beginning
      1. What’s So Special About Projects?
      2. What Is Project Management?
      3. Why Manage Projects?
      4. Picking the Right Projects
         1. The Importance of Business Objectives
         2. Common Selection Criteria
            1. Payback Period
            2. Net Present Value
            3. Internal Rate of Return
      5. Gaining Support for a Project
         1. Identify Who Has a Stake in the Project
         2. Documenting Stakeholders
      6. Publicizing a Project and Its Manager
   2. 2. Planning a Project
      1. Project Planning in a Nutshell
         1. The Benefits of Project Plans
      2. Defining the Project
         1. What’s the Problem?
         2. Defining the Project’s Goal and Objectives
         3. What Strategy Will You Use to Solve the Problem?
         4. Identifying Project Results
         5. Gauging Success
         6. Defining Project Boundaries
         7. Documenting Project Assumptions
      3. Documenting How You’ll Run the Project
      4. Laying Out Project Processes
         1. Communicating
         2. Managing Change
         3. Managing Quality
         4. Managing Risk
            1. Identifying Risks
            2. Assessing Risks
            3. Planning Risk Response
            4. Tracking Risks
5. 2. Project Planning: More Than Creating a Schedule
   1. 3. Getting to Know Microsoft Project
      1. Launching Project 2013
      2. Getting Around Project
         1. Navigating the Ribbon and the Quick Access Toolbar
            1. Managing Files in Backstage View
            2. A Tour of the Other Ribbon Tabs
            3. Finding Commands on the Ribbon
            4. Taming the Project Ribbon
            5. Work Quicker with the Quick Access Toolbar
         2. Working with Views
            1. Choosing a View
            2. The Anatomy of Project Views
         3. ScreenTips and Smart Tags
      3. Scheduling Manually or Automatically
         1. Manually Scheduling Tasks
            1. Setting the Start and Finish Date for a Task
            2. Creating Tasks with Incomplete Information
            3. Planning from the Top Down
         2. Automatically Scheduling Tasks
         3. Setting the Task Mode
            1. Setting the Task Mode for New Tasks
            2. Switching the Task Mode as you Work
            3. Changing the Mode of an Existing Task
   2. 4. Creating a Simple Project
      1. Creating a New Project File
      2. Creating a Task List
         1. Creating Work Tasks
         2. Defining How Long Tasks Should Take
         3. Adding Milestones
      3. Organizing Work
      4. Putting Tasks in the Right Order
      5. Switching Tasks to Auto Scheduled Mode
      6. Assigning People and Other Resources
         1. Add People to Your Project
         2. Assign Resources to Tasks
      7. Saving Your Project
   3. 5. Setting Up a Project File
      1. Creating a New Project File
         1. Creating a Blank Project File
         2. Using a Template to Create a Project File
         3. Specifying a Template Folder
         4. Creating a Project File from an Excel Workbook
      2. Setting the Project Start Date
      3. Saving a New Project
         1. File-Saving Shortcuts
            1. Setting File Format and Location
            2. Setting up Project to Save Automatically
            3. Settings for Saving to your Computer and the Cloud
         2. Saving Projects to Other File Formats
         3. Protecting Your Project Files
      4. Opening a Project File
         1. File-Opening Shortcuts
      5. Setting Standard Workdays
         1. Choosing a Project Calendar
         2. Setting Calendar Options
      6. Defining Work Times with Calendars
         1. Creating New Calendars
         2. Modifying Calendars
         3. Defining Work Weeks and Exceptions
            1. Understanding Work Weeks
            2. Understanding Exceptions
            3. Defining Work Weeks for a Calendar
            4. Defining a Work Week’s Working and Nonworking Days and Times
            5. Setting Aside Holidays and Other Exceptions to the Work Schedule
            6. Defining Recurring Exceptions
         4. Applying Calendars
   4. 6. Identifying the Work to Be Done
      1. Breaking Down Work into Manageable Chunks
         1. Identifying Work from the Top Down
         2. Developing a WBS from Start to Finish
         3. Constructing a WBS from the Bottom Up
         4. When Is Enough Enough?
      2. Adding Tasks to Your Project File
         1. Creating Tasks
         2. Creating Milestones
         3. Creating Repeating Tasks
         4. Importing Tasks from Another Office Program
            1. Importing Tasks from Word or Outlook
            2. Using an Excel Template to Import Data
      3. Organizing Tasks
         1. Inserting Summary Tasks
         2. Reorganizing the Task List Outline
         3. Building a WBS from the Top Down
         4. Rearranging Tasks
            1. Inserting Additional Tasks
            2. Copying Tasks
            3. Moving Tasks
            4. Deleting Tasks
      4. Documenting Task Details
         1. Documenting Work Details in Word
         2. Adding Details in Task Notes
      5. Setting Up a Custom WBS Code
   5. 7. Building a Schedule
      1. Estimating Task Work and Duration
         1. Understanding Work and Duration
         2. Getting Good Estimates
            1. How Accurate do Estimates Need to be?
            2. Ways to Estimate Work
            3. Getting Estimates from the Right People
            4. Don’t Ask for Only One Number
            5. Don’t Pad Estimates
            6. Give Feedback on Estimates
         3. Getting Estimates into Project
            1. Exporting Work Packages to Excel
            2. Importing Estimates into Project
      2. Linking Tasks
         1. How Tasks Affect One Another
         2. Creating Finish-to-Start Task Dependencies
         3. Creating and Modifying All Types of Task Links
            1. Filling in Links in Gantt Chart View
            2. Working on Task Links in the Task Information Dialog Box
            3. Defining Task Dependencies in the Table Area
            4. Editing Links by Double-Clicking Them
         4. Removing Task Links
         5. Delaying or Overlapping Tasks
      3. Scheduling Tasks to Accommodate Specific Dates
         1. Manually Scheduling Task Dates
         2. Types of Constraints
         3. Setting and Changing Constraints
         4. Preventing Unwanted Date Constraints
         5. Setting Deadline Reminders
         6. Scheduling Task Work Time with a Task Calendar
   6. 8. Building a Team for Your Project
      1. Identifying Project Resources
         1. Who’s Responsible for What
            1. Creating a Responsibility Matrix in Excel
            2. Filtering a Responsibility Matrix in Excel
         2. Resource Planning
         3. Who Reports to Whom
            1. Creating a Project Organization Chart in Microsoft Visio
      2. Understanding Project’s Resource Types
      3. Adding Resources to Your Project File
         1. Adding Resources in Resource Sheet View
         2. Adding Resources from Excel
            1. Copying and Pasting Resource Data
            2. Importing Resource Data Using an Excel Template
         3. Adding Work Resources from Your Email Address Book
      4. Removing Resources from Your Project
      5. Defining When Work Resources Are Available
         1. Specifying a Resource’s Work Schedule
         2. Specifying How Much Your Resources Are Available
         3. When Availability Varies
      6. Defining Costs for Resources
         1. Setting Up Work and Material Costs
         2. When Pay Rates Vary
         3. Specifying Cost for Cost Resources
      7. Using Generic or Tentative Resources
         1. Using Generic Resources
         2. Working with Proposed Resources
      8. Adding More Resource Information
         1. Filling in Other Resource Fields
         2. Adding a Note to a Resource
   7. 9. Assigning Resources to Tasks
      1. Assigning Work Resources to Tasks
         1. Assigning Resources with the Dialog Box
         2. Assigning Resources in Task Form View
         3. Assigning Resources in a Gantt Chart Table
            1. Copying a Resource to Multiple Tasks
         4. Finding the Right Resources
            1. Finding Resources by Criteria
            2. Finding Resources with Available Time
            3. Reviewing Availability in Detail
         5. Quickly Assigning Resources with Team Planner
            1. Anatomy of Team Planner View
            2. Assigning Tasks with Team Planner
            3. Scheduling Tasks with Team Planner
            4. Eliminating Overallocations with Team Planner
      2. Assigning Material Resources to Tasks
      3. Assigning Cost Resources to Tasks
      4. Reviewing Resource Assignments
      5. Understanding Duration, Work, and Units
         1. Assignment Units vs. Peak
      6. Modifying Resource Assignments
         1. Adding and Removing Resources from Tasks
         2. When Effort Drives the Schedule
         3. Controlling Assignment Changes with Task Types
            1. Keeping Resources Assigned with the Same Units
            2. Maintaining Task Duration
            3. Maintaining the Same Amount of Work
   8. 10. Setting Up a Project Budget
      1. Putting a Price Tag on Your Project
      2. Reviewing Cost Information
         1. Seeing Overall Project Costs
            1. Viewing the Total Project Cost in the Project Summary Task
            2. Viewing the Total Project Cost in Project Statistics
         2. Seeing Costs for Tasks, Resources, and Assignments
         3. Adding Custom Budget Information
      3. Comparing Costs to Your Budget
         1. Step 1: Create and Designate Budget Resources
         2. Step 2: Assign Budget Resources to the Project Summary Task
         3. Step 3: Enter Budget Cost and Work Values
            1. Entering Budget Totals for the Project
            2. Entering Budget Totals by Time Period
         4. Step 4: Associate Resources with Their Budget Types
            1. Creating a Custom Resource Text Field
            2. Classifying Resources by Budget Category
         5. Step 5: Compare Budget Resource Values
      4. Setting the Project’s Fiscal Year
   9. 11. Reviewing and Fine-Tuning Your Plan
      1. Reviewing the Schedule and Cost
         1. Understanding the Critical Path and Slack Time
         2. Reviewing the Critical Path
            1. Displaying the Critical Path in Project
            2. Filtering the Task List to Show Critical Tasks
            3. Showing Critical Tasks in a Gantt Chart Table
            4. Comparing Finish Dates to Deadlines
            5. When Too Many Tasks are Critical
            6. When the Critical Path is Incomplete
         3. Reviewing Project Costs
            1. Using Project Cost Reports
      2. Project Tools for Change
         1. See Why Tasks Occur When They Do
         2. Seeing What Changes Do
         3. Undoing Changes
      3. Making Sure Tasks Are Set Up Correctly
         1. Reviewing Task Dependencies
            1. Highlighting Task Paths
            2. Reviewing Dependencies in Task Form View
         2. Finding and Changing Manually Scheduled Tasks to Auto Scheduled
         3. Freeing Tasks from Date Constraints
      4. Building Reality into Assignments
         1. Replacing Generic Resources with Real Ones
         2. Assigning Part-Time Workers
         3. Modeling Productivity in Project
         4. Adjusting Tasks for Resource Capability
      5. Balancing Workloads
         1. Finding Resource Over- and Under-Allocations
            1. Finding Overallocated Resources with Resource Sheet View
            2. Finding Overallocations with Team Planner View
            3. Viewing Assignments with Resource Usage View
            4. Finding Overallocations with Resource Graph View
            5. Viewing Assignments in Resource Allocation View
         2. Accepting Overallocations
         3. Eliminating Overallocations with Team Planner
         4. Rescheduling a Task to Another Day
         5. Replacing Resources
         6. Adjusting Work Contours
         7. Delaying Assignments
         8. Leveling Assignments
            1. Prepping Your Schedule for Leveling
            2. Prioritizing Projects and Tasks
            3. Changing Task Priority
            4. Changing Project Priority
            5. Using Leveling Gantt View
            6. Setting Leveling Options
            7. Applying and Clearing Leveling
      6. Shortening the Schedule
         1. Adjusting Resource Assignments
            1. Increasing Units to Decrease Duration
            2. Using Slack Time to Shorten the Schedule
         2. Splitting Tasks into Smaller Pieces
         3. Overlapping (Fast-Tracking) Tasks
            1. Finding Tasks to Fast-Track
            2. Modifying Task Dependencies to Overlap Tasks
         4. Paying More for Faster Delivery
            1. Time Vs. Money
            2. Using a Spreadsheet to Choose Tasks to Crash
      7. Reducing Project Costs
         1. Checking for Cost Errors
         2. Adjusting the Schedule to Reduce Cost
         3. Adjusting Assignments to Reduce Cost
         4. Rethinking Your Budget
      8. Playing What-If Games
         1. Inactivating Tasks
         2. Comparing Projects
   10. 12. Saving the Project Plan
       1. Obtaining Approval for the Plan
       2. Storing Project Documents
       3. Preserving the Original Plan in Project
          1. Setting a Baseline
             1. Editing a Set Baseline
          2. Setting Additional Baselines
          3. Adding New Tasks to a Baseline
          4. Saving Sets of Start and Finish Dates
          5. Clearing a Baseline
          6. Viewing Baselines
             1. Viewing Baseline and Current Values in a Gantt Chart View
             2. Viewing Baseline Values in a Table
6. 3. Projects in Action
   1. 13. Tracking Status
      1. Methods for Tracking Status
         1. Updating Assignments vs. Updating Tasks
         2. What Data to Collect
      2. Preparing to Update Your Project
         1. Setting Tasks to Auto Scheduled Mode
         2. Setting a Baseline
         3. Project Settings for Status Updates
            1. Settings in the Schedule Category
            2. Settings in the Advanced Category
         4. Setting Up a View to Make Updating Easy
      3. Obtaining Status Data
         1. Collecting Task Status from Team Members
            1. Creating an Update Form
            2. Gathering Status Updates
            3. Importing Information from Other Tracking Systems
         2. Collecting Status Data about Other Resources
      4. Updating Schedule Status in Project
         1. Setting the Status Date
         2. Updating Tasks That Run on Schedule
         3. Updating Completed Tasks That Didn’t Run on Schedule
         4. Updating Tasks That Are in Progress
            1. Updating Actual and Remaining Duration
            2. Updating Actual and Remaining Work
            3. Updating Percent Complete and Remaining Duration
         5. Updating the Project Using Resource-Assignment Status
            1. Entering Actual Work Complete and Remaining Work
            2. Entering Percentage of Work Complete
            3. Entering Actual Work by Time Period
         6. Updating the Whole Project
            1. Rescheduling Unfinished Work in the Project
            2. Updating the Project as Scheduled
      5. Updating Project Costs
         1. Updating Actual Costs for Work Resources
         2. Updating Actual Costs for Material Resources
         3. Updating Actual Costs for Cost Resources
         4. Updating Actual Fixed Costs on Tasks
   2. 14. Evaluating and Correcting Project Performance
      1. Scheduled, Baseline, and Actual Values
      2. Is the Project on Time?
         1. Checking Status at the Project Level
         2. Keeping Your Eye on Critical Tasks
         3. Looking for Delayed Tasks
            1. Looking for Tasks Heading for Trouble
      3. Is the Project Within Budget?
         1. Comparing Costs Using Views and Filters
         2. Evaluating Costs with Reports
         3. Comparing Project Costs to a Budget
      4. Earned Value Analysis
         1. Gauging Performance with Earned Value Measures
         2. Analyzing an Earned Value Graph
         3. Using Additional Earned Value Measures
         4. Viewing Earned Value in Project
         5. Controlling How Project Calculates Earned Value
      5. Getting Back on Track
         1. A Review of Project-Tuning Techniques
         2. Assigning Overtime
         3. Reducing Scope by Inactivating Tasks
   3. 15. Managing Change
      1. Setting Up a Change-Management System
         1. Managing Change Requests
         2. The Change Review Board: Deciding on Changes
         3. Tracking Change Requests
      2. Managing Changes in Project
         1. Finding the Effects of a Proposed Change
            1. Creating a What-If Copy of a Project
            2. Setting a Change Request Baseline
            3. Flagging Change Requests in Project
            4. Inactivating Change-Request Tasks Until You Need Them
         2. Updating Project with Approved Change Requests
   4. 16. Reporting on Projects
      1. An Overview of Project’s Reports
         1. Overall Status
         2. Financial Performance
         3. Task Management
         4. Resource Management
      2. Working with Graphical Reports
         1. Generating Graphical Reports
         2. Customizing Graphical Reports
            1. Specifying What to Display
            2. Customizing a Chart
            3. Customizing a Table
            4. Customizing a Text Box
            5. Organizing Report Elements
            6. Report-wide Customization
            7. Creating a Custom Report from an Existing Report
            8. Creating a Brand-New Graphical Report
      3. Working with Visual Reports
         1. Generating a Visual Report
         2. Rearranging and Formatting Excel Visual Reports
            1. Adding the Measures you Want to see to the Graph
            2. Filtering the Data that Appears
            3. Categorizing Information
            4. Summarizing and Drilling Down
            5. Formatting the Chart
         3. Rearranging and Formatting Visio Visual Reports
         4. Customizing Visual Report Templates
         5. Saving Report Data
      4. Printing Views to Report Project Information
   5. 17. Closing a Project
      1. Obtaining Project Acceptance
      2. Tying Up Loose Ends
      3. Producing Project Closeout Reports
         1. Summarizing a Project
         2. Reporting Performance
            1. Cost Performance
            2. Schedule Performance
            3. Quality Performance
         3. Documenting What You Learned
            1. Don’t Skip this Step!
            2. Gathering What you Learned
            3. Remembering Your Lessons
      4. What to Do with Project Information
7. 4. Project Power Tools
   1. 18. Working on More Than One Project
      1. Managing Multiple Projects
         1. Linking Tasks in Different Projects
      2. Sharing Resources Among Projects
         1. Creating a Resource Pool
         2. Connecting a Project to a Resource Pool
         3. Opening and Saving Sharer Projects
         4. Detaching a Sharer Project from the Resource Pool
         5. Editing Resource Pool Information
         6. Creating a Master Project
         7. Removing a Project from a Master Project
   2. 19. Exchanging Data Between Programs
      1. Copying Information
         1. Copying Project Data to Other Programs
         2. Copying Data from Other Programs into Project
         3. Creating Pictures of Project Information
      2. Importing and Exporting Data
         1. Importing Data into Project
         2. Exporting Data from Project
         3. Using an Existing Map
         4. Exchanging Data with Excel
            1. Exporting an Entire Project to Excel
            2. Exporting Project Data to Excel
            3. Importing Data from Excel
         5. Working with Project and Visio
            1. Displaying Project Data in a Visio Gantt Chart
            2. Displaying Project Data in a Visio Timeline
            3. Exporting Visio Gantt Charts to Project
            4. Exporting Visio Timelines to Project
      3. Integrating Project and Outlook
         1. Adding Project Tasks to Outlook
         2. Importing Tasks from Outlook
         3. Copying Tasks from an Email
         4. Building a Resource List from an Outlook Address Book
         5. Sending Project Information to Others
            1. Sending Project Files Via Email
   3. 20. Linking and Embedding
      1. Understanding Linking and Embedding
      2. Linking and Embedding Project Data
         1. Linking Project Files to Other Programs
         2. Linking Project Table Data to Other Programs
         3. Embedding Project Files in Other Programs
      3. Linking and Embedding Data into Project
         1. Linking and Embedding Entire Files into Project
         2. Embedding Parts of Files in Project
         3. Linking Tabular Data in Project
      4. Working with Linked and Embedded Objects
         1. Editing Linked Objects
         2. Managing Linked Objects
         3. Editing Embedded Objects
      5. Hyperlinking to Information
         1. Creating a Hyperlink to a File or Web Page
         2. Modifying Hyperlinks
         3. Creating a Hyperlink to a Location in the Project File
8. 5. Customizing Project
   1. 21. Viewing What You Want
      1. Creating Your Own Views
         1. Modifying Basic View Contents
            1. Screen Types
            2. Modifying a Single View
            3. Modifying a Combination View
         2. Creating a New View
         3. Modifying a Gantt Chart View
            1. Changing the Way Types of Task Bars Look
            2. Changing the Way Selected Task Bars Look
            3. Changing Task Bar Text
            4. Designing Your Own Task Bar Style
            5. Stacking More than One Task Bar in the Same Space
            6. Changing the Layout of Task Bars
            7. Changing How Gridlines Look
            8. Fast Formatting with the Gantt Chart Wizard
         4. Customizing the Timescale
         5. Changing a Usage View’s Appearance
         6. Customizing the Timeline
            1. Adding Tasks to the Timeline
            2. Changing the Appearance of Tasks on the Timeline
            3. Customizing the Info on the Timeline
         7. Customizing Team Planner View
         8. Customizing Resource Graph View
            1. Choosing Fields to Display
            2. Changing the Way Resource Graph Bars Look
         9. Modifying a Network Diagram
            1. Choosing Fields and Formatting for Network Diagram Boxes
            2. Laying Out Boxes
         10. Customizing Calendar View
      2. Changing Tables
         1. Switching the Table in a View
         2. Changing a Table’s Contents
         3. Modifying a Table Definition
            1. Creating a New Table
      3. Formatting Text
         1. Changing Categories of Text
         2. Changing Selected Text
      4. Filtering Through Information
         1. Applying Filters
         2. Creating and Editing Filters
         3. Defining Filters
            1. Comparing a Field with a Value
            2. Comparing Two Fields
            3. Creating Compound Filters
            4. Creating Changeable Filters
         4. Quick and Dirty Filtering with AutoFilter
      5. Grouping Project Elements
         1. Working with Groups
         2. Creating a Group
         3. Changing Group Intervals
      6. Defining Your Own Fields
         1. Understanding Custom Fields
         2. Customizing a Field
         3. Creating Lists of Valid Values
         4. Calculating Field Values
         5. Calculating Values in Summary Rows
         6. Displaying Values Graphically
         7. Coding Tasks and Resources
            1. Selecting and Naming a New Outline Code
            2. Setting Up a Template for Outline Code Values
            3. Setting Up an Outline-Code Lookup Table
   2. 22. Customizing the Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar
      1. Customizing the Quick Access Toolbar
      2. Customizing the Ribbon
         1. Turning Tabs On and Off
         2. Creating Custom Tabs
         3. Creating Custom Groups
         4. Adding Commands to Custom Groups
         5. Rearranging Tabs and Groups
         6. Renaming Tabs and Groups
         7. Removing Ribbon Elements
         8. Restoring a Built-in Tab or Group
         9. Resetting Ribbon Customizations
      3. Sharing a Custom Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar
   3. 23. Reusing Project Information
      1. Understanding the Types of Templates
      2. Storing Project Settings and Elements
         1. Storing Customized Project Options
      3. Sharing Custom Elements
         1. Copying Elements Between Files
            1. Making Customized Elements Available to new Projects
            2. Sharing a Customized Element with Someone Else
         2. Removing Customized Elements from Files
         3. Renaming Customized Elements
      4. Building Templates for Projects
         1. Creating a Project Template
         2. Making Your Templates Easy to Find
         3. Editing a Template
         4. Creating a Project File from a Template
   4. 24. Saving Time with Macros
      1. What You Can Do with Macros
      2. Recording Macros
      3. Running Macros
         1. Running Macros from the Macros Dialog Box
         2. Running a Macro from the Ribbon
         3. Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Run Macros
      4. Viewing and Editing Macro Code
      5. Learning More About Programming Project
9. 6. Appendixes
   1. A. Installing Project
      1. Installing Project on Your Computer
         1. 32-Bit or 64-Bit Project?
         2. Before You Install
         3. Installing Project 2013 for the First Time
         4. Customizing Your Installation
         5. Upgrading Project from an Earlier Version
         6. Installing Project Pro for Office 365
      2. Activating Project
      3. Maintaining and Repairing Project
         1. Adding and Removing Features
         2. Repairing Your Project Installation
         3. Uninstalling Project
   2. B. Getting Help
      1. In Search of Project Help
         1. Searching for Answers
         2. Online and Offline Help
      2. Microsoft Office Online
      3. Interactive and In-Depth Assistance
         1. Discuss Among Yourselves
         2. Project Blogs
         3. Getting Social with Project
   3. C. Keyboard Shortcuts
      1. How to Use Keyboard Shortcuts
      2. Project Keyboard Shortcuts
         1. All-Time Keyboard Shortcut Favorites
         2. Project Outlining
         3. Displaying Project Information
         4. Moving Around in a Project View
         5. Selecting Elements in a Project View Table
         6. Editing Within a View
         7. Navigating Within Dialog Boxes and Forms
         8. Help Shortcuts
10. Index
11. About the Author
12. Copyright