Microsoft Project Fundamentals

Lesson 5Build the Schedule

LESSON OBJECTIVES

• Demonstrate how to switch a project and tasks between automatic and manual scheduling.
• List the three key pieces of information you see quickly on the Gantt Chart bars.
• Name three of the four major schedule drivers for your project.
• Identify the significance of a task with a duration of 0.
• Demonstrate how to link and unlink dependent tasks.
• Set up a series of sprints in an agile project.
• Name the default constraint type in Project.
• Apply a date constraint on a task.
• Specify the difference between a deadline marker and a date constraint.
• Describe the use of base calendars, project calendar, and task calendars.

You've detailed your work breakdown structure and started your project plan with tasks developed, sequenced, and outlined. Now you can dive in to scheduling those tasks, and this work will help you estimate the finish date for the overall project. Along with the project start date, the major drivers of your schedule are the task durations, task dependencies, and any hard dates a task might require.

In this lesson, you'll decide whether you want to use Microsoft Project's automatic or manual scheduling feature, and you'll learn about the Gantt Chart view in which you can work with a visual representation of your project schedule.

In your practice with the major schedule drivers, which are used in automatic scheduling, you'll learn how to set task durations, link related tasks, and enter date constraints. You'll see how ...