Table of Contents

Introduction xxiii


Part I Getting Started the Right Way 1


Chapter 1 Project 2010 as an Enabling Tool for Project
Managers 3


Why Do People Think Project Is Hard to Use? 4


Accidental or Not, Knowledge Is Important 4


Credentials Will Help Close the Gap 5


Is It Me, or Is It the Software? 6


When to Use Project 7


Projects Are Supposed to End?Really 9


Projects vs. Product Life Cycles 9


Consider the Impact 10


Strategic Importance of Project 2010 12


Strategy Drives Projects 12


Working on the Right Projects in the Right Way 13


Improving Results with a Proven, Effective Approach 15


Planning, Communicating, and Tracking 16


Proven Effective over Time 16


Summary 17


Key Terms 18


Chapter 2 Mapping the Project-Management Process Groups to
Microsoft Project 2010 19


Mapping Project to Your Methodology Will Increase Effectiveness
20


An Overview of the PM Process Groups 21


Initiating Processes and Project Usage 23


Planning Processes and Project Usage 26


Executing Processes and Project Usage 30


Monitoring and Controlling Processes and Project Usage 33


Closing Processes and Project Usage 35


Summary 38


Key Terms 38


Chapter 3 Overview of Enterprise Project Management
39


What Is EPM? 40


Enterprise Project Management Overview 40


Enterprise Standards and Controls 42


EPM as a Central Repository for Resources and Projects 44


Enterprise Resource Capabilities 44


Central Repository for Projects 47


When to Consider EPM 48


Understanding Roles within EPM 50


Executives and EPM 50


Resource or Functional Managers and EPM 50


Team Members and EPM 52


Project Managers and EPM 52


Portfolio Managers and EPM 54


Mapping EPM to PMBOK 55


Summary 56


Chapter 4 Getting Started and Setting Up the Microsoft
Project Environment 57


Getting Started, and Moving Around Project 58


Welcome to the Ribbon 59


The Default Gantt Chart with Timeline View 62


Other Views 64


Using Project Templates to Get Started 67


Importing Plans from Excel 69


Key Options and Settings You Need to Know About 71


Manual or Automatic Scheduling 71


Project Summary Task and Outline Number 71


Scheduling Approaches and Default Task Types 74


Other Options 79


Working with Calendars 79


Creating New Calendars 79


Controlling Conversion Factors 81


Project Start- and End-Date Options 82


Displaying the Project Start and Current Dates in a Gantt Chart
83


Summary 84


Hands-On Exercises 86


Part II Planning Essentials 89


Chapter 5 Creating and Entering the Work Breakdown Structure
and Task Arrangement 91


What Is a WBS, and Why Is It Important? 92


What Is a WBS? 92


Creating a WBS, and Its Importance to Project 93


Right-Sizing Your Plan 96


Progressive Elaboration and Defining Project Phases and
Milestones 97


Determining Your Project Tasks and Milestones 99


Entering Your WBS: Phases, Tasks, and Milestones 100


Getting to Know the Task Name Column 100


Outlining (Indenting and Outdenting) Tools 102


Collapse and Expand: Show Outline 106


Managing Your WBS 107


Using the WBS Coding Tool 107


Conducting What-if Scenarios with Multilevel Undo 109


Summary 111


Hands-On Exercises 112


Chapter 6 Estimating and Entering Duration or Work
115


Estimating Duration vs. Estimating Work?What?s the
Difference? 116


Estimating Duration for a Project 117


Entering Duration Estimates for a Project 118


Using the Task Information Dialog Box 125


Estimating Work for a Project 126


Program Evaluation and Review Technique 127


What Is PERT? 128


Summary 130


Hands-On Exercises 131


Chapter 7 Setting Dependencies and the Critical Path
133


Setting Dependencies 134


Understanding Dependencies 134


Dependency Types 135


Dependency Scenarios and Creating Networks 136


Impact of User-Controlled (Manual) Scheduling on Dependencies
139


Setting Dependencies in Project 143


Using Constraints and Deadlines 150


Constraints 150


Deadlines 154


Understanding and Viewing the Critical Path 156


What Is the Critical Path? 157


Calculating the Critical Path 158


Viewing the Critical Path and Slack in Project 159


Summary 162


Hands-On Exercises 163


Chapter 8 Assigning Resources and Costs 167


Setting Up Your Resource Pool 168


Using the Resource Sheet View 168


Sharing Resources across Projects 178


Assigning Resources and Costs 180


Using the Resource Names Column 180


Split-Screen View and Details 181


Assign Resources Function 187


Task Information 187


Team Planner (Project Professional Only) 189


Analyzing Resource Usage and Resource Leveling 191


Analyzing Resource Utilization 191


Resource Leveling 194


Summary 199


Hands-On Exercises 201


Chapter 9 Understanding the Calculation Engine for Automatic
Scheduling 203


Six Factors that Drive the Calculation of Time (Dates and
Duration) for Automatic Scheduling 204


Project Start Date 204


Calendars 206


Task Constraints and Deadlines 207


Task Durations 210


Task Dependencies 210


Resource Assignments and Task Types 211


Four Factors that Affect the Calculation of Cost 212


Standard and Overtime Rates 213


Cost Per Use 214


Fixed Cost 214


Resource Assignment Level 215


Switching from Manual Scheduling to Automatic Scheduling 217


Task Level 217


Summary-Level Impact 218


Summary 222


Hands-On Exercises 223


Part III Communicating and Reporting Essentials 225


Chapter 10 Understanding Views 227


Understanding Major View Components 228


Data Group 230


Other View Commands 234


Task Views 235


Accessing Other Views from the Gantt Chart 237


Timeline View 238


Task-Usage Views 240


Network Diagram 242


Calendar View 244


Resource Views 246


Team Planner View (Project Professional) 247


Resource Sheet View 247


Resource Usage View 249


Resource Form 250


Resource Graph 251


Summary 252


Hands-On Exercises 253


Chapter 11 Using Tables and Custom Fields 255


Creating Custom Fields 256


Custom Text Fields 257


Other Custom Fields 265


Using Tables and Creating Custom Tables 267


Using Existing Tables 267


Creating Custom Tables 271


Summary 279


Hands-On Exercises 280


Chapter 12 Using Filters, Groups, and Sorts 283


Using Filters and Highlights 284


Using Predefined Filters 284


Using Highlights 287


Creating Custom Filters 288


Using Groups 291


Built-in Groups 291


Custom Groups 296


Using Sorts and Auto-filters 298


Sorts 298


Auto-Filters 299


Summary 301


Hands-On Exercises 302


Chapter 13 Creating Custom Views, Formatting, and Reporting
305


Creating Custom Views 306


Key Elements of a View 306


Creating a Custom View 307


Formatting Text and Bar Styles 311


Formatting Text Styles 311


Formatting Bar Styles 313


Sharing and Sending Project Information and Reports 318


Enhanced Copy and Paste 319


Copy Picture 320


The Organizer and the Global.MPT Template 320


SharePoint Synchronization 323


File Types 324


Visual Reports 325


Summary 327


Hands-On Exercises 328


Chapter 14 Creating Master Schedules with Inserted Projects
331


Creating Master Schedules 332


Setting Up a Master Project File 332


Setting Up Cross-Project Links 335


Cross-Project Linking Options and Showing Links Between Projects
337


Critical Path Across Projects 340


Default Settings 340


Changing the Settings 341


Reporting and Analyzing Across Projects 342


Sharing Resources Across Projects 342


Analyzing Resources Across Projects 345


Roll-Up Reports 346


Summary 348


Hands-On Exercises 349


Part IV Tracking and Analyzing Essentials 351


Chapter 15 Setting and Maintaining Baselines 353


Understanding and Setting Baselines 354


Understanding Baselines 354


Setting a Baseline 355


Viewing Baselines 356


Tracking Gantt View and the Variance Table 356


Formatting the Gantt Chart to Display the Baseline 358


Maintaining Baselines 359


Clearing a Baseline 360


Rolling-Wave Planning with Baselines 361


Adding New Tasks After a Baseline Has Been Set 362


Resetting a Baseline 363


Multiple Baselines 364


Summary 366


Hands-On Exercises 367


Chapter 16 Updating and Tracking Status 369


Understanding and Entering Percent Complete 370


Different Types of Percent Complete 370


Entering Percent Complete 373


Understanding and Entering Actuals 375


Current and Status Date 375


Using the Status Date for Automatic Updates 378


Entering Actuals 380


Summary 389


Hands-On Exercises 390


Chapter 17 Variance Analysis and Taking Corrective Action
391


Understanding Variance 392


Types of Variance 392


Viewing Variance 393


Analyzing Variance and Taking Corrective Action 398


Understanding Slippage 398


Earned-Value Analysis 402


Understanding Earned-Value Techniques and Values 402


Using Earned-Value Analysis in Project 407


Summary 409


Hands-On Exercises 410


Appendix A Microsoft?s Certification Program
411


How Do You Become Certified on Project 2010? 412


Tips for Taking a Microsoft Exam 413


Certification Objectives Map 413


Appendix B About the Companion CD 419


What You?ll Find on the CD 420


Video Walkthroughs 420


PDF of the Book 420


Adobe Reader 420


System Requirements 420


Using the CD 421


Troubleshooting 421


Customer Care 421


Index 423

About the Author

Robert Happy, PMP, MCT, MCTS, is President and Senior Consultant of Project Management Practice, Inc., a PMI Registered Education Provider and Microsoft Certified Partner. Robert has over 17 years' project management experience. He is the author of Implementing an Effective Project Management Culture, which was presented and published at the 2001 Project Management Institute's (PMI) international symposium.