Mastering Microsoft® Project 2010

Course Length   2 Days / 14 PDUs

Course Abstract
Learn to use this powerful tool to manage projects. Build plans, create resource-leveled schedules, establish baselines, produce status reports and make clear task assignments. Project managers and team leaders will learn the features of this tool while following the same five-step planning method taught in our Principles of Project Management course. This presentation begins with the basic concepts and leads participants through all the functions they’ll need to plan and manage a small to medium-sized project. The course is loaded with tips for making the most practical use of this tool!

To get the most from any project management software, the user must understand the project management techniques upon which the software is based. This course presents the most popular project management software in the context of how a project manager will use it. Participants in this course learn the functions of the software and the project management concepts which make the software effective. This presentation begins with the basic concepts and leads participants through all the functions they’ll need to plan and manage a small to medium-sized project, including how to level resources and capture both cost and schedule progress.

Audience
Beginner and intermediate users of Microsoft Project that need to plan and manage a project using Microsoft Project.

Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the discipline of project management as it applies to using Project.
• Leverage the new the Ribbon to navigate the application
• Create a Work Breakdown Structure
• Identify Task Relationships
• Define Resources within Project
• Make Work Package Estimates
• Create an Initial Schedule
• Create a Resource Leveled Schedule
• Capture actual performance data
• Format Output and Print Reports
• Create new projects in SharePoint and Excel
• Set up a Project with a Calendar, Start date, and scheduling method
• Understand Manually Schedule vs. Auto Schedule modes
• Set project baselines and use them to measure progress
• Integrate Multiple Projects

Course Outline
Lesson 1 – Introduction to Mastering Microsoft Project
How does Project integrate with the project management discipline? The best strategies for navigating the application using the new Ribbon. Includes introduction of features that are new in Project 2010.

Lesson 2 – A Quick and Easy Overview of Managing with Project
Get the big picture on using Project to plan and manage a project. See the high-level process that will be the basis for the remainder of the course.

Lesson 3 – Setting Up a New Project
Start a project off right. Open it from Excel or SharePoint or create a new project within Project. Establish a calendar and set the basic parameters for the scheduling engine.

Lesson 4 – Manually Schedule vs. Auto Schedule
A major new feature in Project 2010! Understand how to turn off Project’s scheduling engine and when to do it.

Lesson 5 – Building a work breakdown structure (WBS)
What is a WBS? Get a grip on tasks, summary tasks and milestones. Know the difference between WBS numbering and outline numbering. Guidelines for a better WBS.

Lesson 6 – Establish task relationships
Introducing task dependencies and network diagrams. What are lag, lead and delay? Format the network diagram.

Lesson 7 – Defining Resources within Project
Resources accomplish the work on projects. Know the different resource types and how to establish their characteristics.

Lesson 8 – Making Work Package Estimates 
Create duration estimates and effort driven schedules. Use effort and task types to control Project’s scheduling engine.

Lesson 9 – Creating an Initial Schedule
Use critical path analysis to create a schedule. Understand scheduling constraints.  “Crash” a schedule.

Lesson 10 – Create a Resource Leveled Schedule
Balance the available people and other resources with the need for speed on your project. Realistic schedules have realistic expectations about resource availability.

Lesson 11 – Managing the Project
Capture plan vs actual information to identify performance problems and communicate project progress. Use a project baseline to find variance. How to split tasks and reschedule work.

Lesson 12 – Formatting output and printing Reports
Communicate effectively. Format the immense amount of information in Project into meaningful reports.

Lesson 13 – Managing Multiple Projects
Combine many smaller projects together to see multi-project views of resource use or coordinate among projects.

 

 

Microsoft® Project 2013: Part 1

Course Length: 1 day

Course Description

Overview:
Welcome to Microsoft® Project 2013: Part 1. This course is designed to familiarize you with the basic features and functions of Microsoft Project Professional 2013 so that you can use it effectively and efficiently in a real-world environment.
This course covers the critical knowledge and skills a project manager needs to create a project plan with Project 2013 during the planning phase of a project. In other words, if your supervisor assigns you to lead a project, this course will enable you to draft a project plan with Project 2013 and share it with your supervisor (and others) for review and approval.
You can also use this course to prepare for the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Certification exam for Microsoft Project 2013.

Course Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to create and engage in basic management of a project using Microsoft Project Professional 2013. They will:

• Create a new project plan.
• Manage time in a project plan.
• Manage tasks in a project plan.
• Manage resources in a project plan.
• Share a project plan.

Target Student:
Students taking this course are responsible for managing projects in a work environment. This includes creating and maintaining project plans.

Prerequisites:
To ensure your success in this course, you should have basic project management knowledge and skills. The following course can help you in meeting this requirement: Project Management Fundamentals.  You should also have basic knowledge and skills for using any current Windows® operating system—preferably Windows 8. The following course can help you meet this requirement:

• Using Microsoft® Windows® 8 or 8.1
• Microsoft® Windows® 8 Transition from Windows 7

Course Content

Lesson 1: Starting a Project
Topic A: Project Management 101
Topic B: Navigate and Customize the Project 2013 Interface
Topic C: Add Tasks to a Project
Topic D: Add Resources to a Project
Topic E: Save a Project

Lesson 2: Working with Project Calendars
Topic A: Manage Project Time Frames
Topic B: Change Working Time

Lesson 3: Working with Project Tasks
Topic A: Manage Project Tasks
Topic B: Add Summary Tasks and Milestones

Lesson 4: Working with Project Resources
Topic A: Manage Project Resources
Topic B: Allocate and Level Work Resources

Lesson 5: Delivering a Project Plan
Topic A: Print Project Views
Topic B: Share Projects
Topic C: Export Projects

Appendix A: Microsoft Project 2013 Exam 74-343

 

 

Microsoft® Project 2013: Part 2

Course Length: 1 day

Course Description

Overview:
Welcome to Microsoft® Project 2013: Part 2. This course is designed to familiarize you with the advanced features and functions of Microsoft Project Professional 2013 so that you can use it effectively and efficiently in a real-world environment.

In Microsoft® Project 2013: Part 1, you learned the basic features of Microsoft® Project Professional 2013 during the planning phase of a project. You gained the knowledge and skills to:

• Create a new project plan. This includes starting a blank project file or starting a project file from a template.
• Manage time in a project plan. This includes changing the project time frame and calendar.
• Manage tasks in a project plan. This includes adding tasks and linking them together into paths.
• Manage resources in a project plan. This includes adding people, equipment, and materials to a project and assigning them to tasks.
• Share a project plan. This includes saving, printing, emailing, and exporting project files.

Microsoft® Project 2013: Part 2 covers the advanced knowledge and skills a project manager needs to update a project plan in Project 2013 during the execution, monitoring, and controlling phases of a project. In other words, once your project plan is approved by the project sponsor, this course will enable you to manage the project so that it is completed on time, within budget, and according to scope.

Each lesson in this course is built around the executing, monitoring, and controlling tasks that can be accomplished using the advanced commands found on one of these Project 2013 tabs: PROJECT, TASK, VIEW, or REPORT. This will enable you to become a “power user” and leverage the full potential of the application.

You can also use this course to prepare for the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) in Microsoft Office Project 2013 certification.

Course Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to engage in advanced management of a project plan using Microsoft Project 2013.
You will:

• Manage the project environment.
• Manage task structures.
• Generate project views to manage a project.
• Produce project reports to share a project’s status.

Target Student:
Students taking this course are responsible for managing projects in a work environment. This includes creating and maintaining project plans.

Prerequisites:
To ensure your success in this course, you should be able to create a new project plan, manage time in a project plan, manage tasks in a project plan, manage resources in a project plan, and share a project plan. This can be accomplished by taking the following course: Microsoft® Project 2013: Part 1.

Course Content

Lesson 1: Managing the Project Environment
Topic A: Link Projects
Topic B: Baseline a Project
Topic C: Work with Custom Fields
Topic D: Change Project Options
Topic E: Extend Project with Apps

Lesson 2: Managing Task Structures
Topic A: Change a Task List
Topic B: Create a Network Diagram
Topic C: Manage the Critical Path
Topic D: Use Lag and Lead
Topic E: Analyze Earned Value

Lesson 3: Generating Project Views
Topic A: Use View Commands
Topic B: Use Existing Views
Topic C: Create Custom Views
Topic D: Format and Share the Timeline View

Lesson 4: Producing Project Reports
Topic A: Use Existing Reports
Topic B: Create Custom Reports
Topic C: Export Visual Reports

Appendix A: Managing Projects with Microsoft Project 2013 Exam 74-343

 

 

Download PDF:
MS Project for Project Managers
Project 2013 – Part 1
Project 2013 – Part 2