Microsoft Project 2013: The Missing Manual

Creating a Task List

The foundation of any schedule is the work that needs to be done to achieve the project’s objectives and to deliver the desired results. Before you can do anything else, you need a list of the tasks to perform, from beginning the project to sweeping up the confetti at the end. This section describes how to build a list of individual tasks.

Creating Work Tasks

In this test drive, you’ll create the first few tasks for the project—getting your team signed up for the fundraising event. After that, you can practice by filling in the rest of the tasks on your own.

Note

If you want to jump ahead and see the finished schedule, you can download the sample project CyclingTeamEntry.mpp from this book’s Missing CD page at http://www.missingmanuals.com/cds.

Here are the steps for adding tasks to your project:

1. Click the first cell in the Task Name column on the left side of the screen, type Research entry requirements, and then press Enter.

   Project automatically selects the blank Task Name cell below the one you just filled in.

   The Task Name cell is the only one you have to fill in. Because Project initially creates new tasks as manually scheduled, it leaves the Duration cell for your first task blank. The icon in the Task Mode cell (a pushpin with a question mark next to it) indicates that more information is needed. (You’ll fill that in later.)

   Tip

   Your project schedule will be easier to understand if the task names you use describe the work that the tasks represent. Start with a verb that identifies the work to be performed, and then add a noun for the item the work is performed on—for example, “Submit entry form.”

2. In the selected Task Name cell, type the next task’s name, and then press Enter to add the following tasks:

   • Line up team members

   • Submit entry form

   • Receive fundraising materials

   • Fill out online team profile

   Figure 4-2 shows what the task list looks like when you’re done.

Figure 4-2. Because Project initially sets tasks to Manually Scheduled mode, you don’t have to fill in the Duration field. The pushpin-and-question-mark icon in the Task Mode cell tells you that information about the task is missing. When you’re ready to fill in how long a task should take, simply type the duration in the Duration cell.

Defining How Long Tasks Should Take

Estimating how long tasks should take can be the most difficult part of scheduling. You need to look into your crystal ball and give your best guess—er, informed estimate—of each task’s duration. You can find entire books on this subject alone, but Chapter 7 provides a brief introduction to estimating. For now, you’ll simply fill in a few task durations in the test-drive project. Here’s how:

1. Click the Duration cell for the “Research entry requirements” task.

   Manually scheduled tasks don’t need to have a duration initially. However, to complete your schedule, every task needs a duration. Project sets the duration of Auto Scheduled tasks to one day unless you fill in a different value.

2. Enter the duration (the length of working time from start to finish) you think it will take to complete this task (Figure 4-3).

   You can enter durations in minutes (m), hours (h), days (d), weeks (w), or months (mo). Type the number followed by the abbreviation for the unit you want to use. For example, type 3d for 3 days or 6h for 6 hours.

   

   Figure 4-3. When you type durations like 3d, 2w, or 8h, Project replaces the abbreviated units with more complete text. For example, when you type d, Project substitutes “days.” When you click a Duration cell, arrow buttons appear that you can click to increase or decrease the duration by one unit.

3. Repeat step 2 for each task in your task list.

   When you fill in a duration, you’ll see a task bar appear on the right side of the screen; its length represents the task’s duration. In Figure 4-3, the ends of the task bar are faded, because the task doesn’t have a start or finish date yet. You’ll see how to define task dates on Putting Tasks in the Right Order.

Adding Milestones

Milestones are markers you can use to indicate progress in your project. They’re perfect for identifying crucial decisions that affect the project, like a go/no-go decision, or the completion of a significant portion of the project, like your team’s profile being published on the charity’s donation website. Completing a milestone is like crossing off an item on your to-do list. Because milestones usually mark some type of goal, they’re set to zero duration. (For more about milestones, see Creating Milestones.)

Here’s how you add a milestone:

1. Click the blank Task Name cell below the “Fill out online team profile” task. Then, in the Task tab’s Insert section, click Milestone.

   Project names the task <New Milestone> and puts “0 days” in the Duration cell. On the right side of the screen, the task bar symbol is a diamond, as shown in Figure 4-4. (Don’t worry about the milestone’s date just yet.)

2. In the Task Name cell, type Team signup complete.

   You’ll learn more about task naming in Chapter 6. A good way to differentiate milestones from work tasks is to name the milestone based on what was accomplished.

As you practice adding more tasks to your Project file, be sure to add milestones to mark the end of each portion of the project.

Figure 4-4. The milestone’s Duration cell reads “0 days” because most milestones don’t include any work. Because milestones have zero duration and work, you can add as many as you want without increasing the duration of the project.