Using Microsoft Project 2010

Sonia Atchison has been working with Microsoft Project since 1999. In 2006, she joined the writing team at Microsoft that produces end-user Help content and videos for Project and Project Server, planning and writing content for the 2007 and 2010 releases.   Brian Kennemer has been helping people understand and work with Microsoft Project since 1998. He has worked at Microsoft, where he specialized in Project Server deployments and was a member of the Enterprise Project Management Center of Excellence. He currently does Project Server consulting at forProject Technology, Inc., a Microsoft partner that specializes in Earned Value Management System products that work with Project and Project Server. He lives in the forests north of Seattle with his wife, Alicia, and his children, Riley, Jesse, and Alivia.  

Table of Contents

Introduction     1

How This Book Is Organized     2

Using This Book     2

Special Features     3

About the UsingWeb Edition     3

1  Introduction to Managing Projects with Microsoft Project 2010     4

What Microsoft Project 2010 Can Do for You     4

What Version of Project 2010 Do You Need?     6

Laying a Foundation     6

  Project     7

  Task     7

  Resource     7

  Assignment     7

What’s New in Project 2010?     7

  Updated User Interface     7

  Manually Scheduled Tasks     9

  Team Planner View     9

  Timeline     10

  New Table Customization     11

  SharePoint Collaboration     12

2  Navigating Project 2010     14

Using the Ribbon     14

Using the Timeline     15

  Share the Timeline with Others     16

Understanding Project Views     16

  What Views Are Available in Project 2010?     16

Working with Project Views     36

  Grouping Data in a View     36

  Sorting Data in a View     38

  Filtering Data in a View     40

  Highlighting Data in a View     41

  Displaying Two Views at Once     43

3  Starting a Project     45

Setting Up a Project     45

  Creating a New Project     45

  Saving a Project     47

Setting Project Properties and Options     49

  Setting Project Properties     49

  Setting Project Options     50

Choosing a Project Start or Finish Date     51

Setting Up Your Project’s Calendars     52

  Modifying an Existing Base Calendar     53

  Changing a Working Day to a Nonworking Day     54

  Changing a Nonworking Day to a Working Day     55

  Changing Default Working Times     56

  Changing Working Times for a Specific Time Period     57

  Creating a New Base Calendar     57

  Setting Up Your Project’s Calendar     59

How Does Project 2010 Schedule Tasks?     60

  Scheduling Methods in Project 2010     60

  What Factors Does the Project Scheduling Engine Consider?     61

  Which Scheduling Method Should I Use?     62

4  Working with Tasks     65

Understanding Task Types     65

  Fixed Units     66

  Fixed Work     66

  Fixed Duration     67

Adding Tasks to Your Project     67

  Adding a New Task     67

  Setting a Task Calendar     70

  Indenting and Outdenting Tasks     71

Setting Up Task Dependencies     72

  Adding Dependencies Between Tasks     74

Creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)     76

  Setting Your Project’s WBS Code Structure     78

5  Working with Resources     82

Understanding Resource Types and Other Factors     82

Adding Resources to Your Project     84

Adjusting Resource Calendars     86

Assigning Resources to Tasks     87

  Assigning a Resource Using the Task Information Dialog Box     87

  Assigning a Work Resource Using the Team Planner View     89

Editing an Existing Resource Assignment     89

  Splitting a Task to Create a Gap in Work     90

  Fine-Tuning a Resource’s Work Schedule for a Task     91

  Assigning Remaining Work on a Task to Another Resource     92

6  Accounting for Project Costs     94

Understanding Types of Costs     94

Creating a Budget for Your Project     95

  Creating and Assigning Budget Resources     95

  Adding Values to Budget Resources     98

  Pairing Resources with Budgets     98

Comparing Actual Cost and Work Values with the Project Budget     100

Accounting for Overtime Spent on Project Tasks     102

  Planning for Overtime Work and Costs     102

  Recording Actual Overtime Work and Costs     103

7  Capturing Project Progress     106

Baselining Your Project     106

Gathering Status Updates from Resources     108

  Actual Start, Percent Work Complete, Remaining Work     109

  Actual Work Per Day, Remaining Work, Expected Finish Date     116

Assessing the Impacts of Updates     119

8  Sharing Your Project with Others     121

Reporting on Your Project     121

  Generating and Customizing a Visual Report     123

  Generating and Customizing a Basic Report     126

Sharing Data with Others     131

  Copying the Timeline     132

  Exporting Data to Excel     132

  Taking a Picture of Your Project Data     133

  Saving the Project As a PDF or XPS File     134

Collaborating with Others on Your Project     135

9  Customizing Project 2010     137

Creating Custom Fields     137

Adding and Removing Columns in a View     140

  Adding a Column to a View     141

  Hiding a Column in a View     142

Saving a Set of Columns as a Table     143

Creating and Editing Views     145

10  Understanding Project Options     149

General Project Options     150

  User Interface Options     150

  Project View     151

  Personalize Your Copy of Microsoft Office     153

Display Options     153

  Calendar     154

  Currency Options for This Project     154

  Show Indicators and Options Buttons For     156

  Show These Elements     156

Schedule Options     156

  Calendar Options for This Project     157

  Schedule     159

  Scheduling Options for This Project     160

  Schedule Alerts Options     162

  Calculation     163

  Calculation Options for This Project     163

Proofing Options     165

  AutoCorrect Options     165

  When Correcting Spelling in Microsoft Office Programs     166 

When Correcting Spelling in Project     166

Save Options     167

  Save Projects     167

  Save Templates     168

  Cache     168

Language Options     169

Advanced Options     169

  General     170

  Project Web App     172

  Planning Wizard      172

  General Options for This Project     172

  Edit     174

  Display     174

  Display Options for This Project      177

  Cross Project Linking Options for This Project     179

  Earned Value Options for This Project     180

  Calculation Options for This Project     180

Customize Ribbon Options    182

  Customize the Ribbon     182

Quick Access Toolbar Options     184

  Customize the Quick Access Toolbar     186

Add-Ins Options     186

Trust Center Options     187

11  Dealing with Problems     189

Problem: One of My Resources Is Overallocated     189

Problem: My Schedule Goes Longer Than My Deadline     193

Problem: My Costs Are Exceeding My Budget     195

  Assigning Work to Fewer People     197

  Cutting Back on What Needs to Get Done     197

  Trimming Budget Amounts     197

Index     198