Computer based Project Management

Using MS Project 2010

Training program on
Day 4
Project Planning
Work, Units and Duration
Effort Driven Scheduling
The Scheduling Formula
Work = Duration x Units
40 hours task duration x 100% resource units = 40 hours of work
20 hours task duration x 200% resource units = 40 hours of work
Task Types
Changing Task Types
Defining task types changes how tasks are scheduled. For any task,
setting the task type determines which part of the scheduling equation
Microsoft Project uses to schedule a task. Once a resource assignment is
created, tasks are scheduled using this formula:
Duration = Work / Units
Work = Duration x Units
"Effort driven" checkbox

This option tells Microsoft
Project to keep the total
task work at its current
value. The duration of a
task shortens or lengthens
as resources are added or
removed from a task, while
the amount of effort
necessary to complete a
task remains unchanged.
Assigning Additional Resources to a Task
There are two ways to assign multiple resources to a task:

Assign multiple resources when the assignment is created.
Assign additional resources after the assignment is created.
Resolving Resource Problems
Understanding How Resource Conflicts Occur
As you assign resources to tasks, Project checks the resources
calendar to make sure that the resource is working. However, Project
doesnt assess whether the resource is already obligated when you
assign the resource to a new task; Project enables you to make the
assignment. Be aware, though, that the additional assignment may lead
to overallocating the resource. Overallocation occurs when you assign
more work to a resource than the resource can accomplish in the time
that youve allotted for the work to be completed.
Examining Resource Allocations over Time
Here, you will focus on resource allocation-how the task assignments youve made
affect the workloads of the work resources (people and equipment) of a project.
The relationship between a resources capacity and his or her task assignments
is called allocation. Each work resource is in one of three states of allocation:

Under-allocated
Fully-allocated
Over-allocated
In Microsoft Office Project 2010, a resources
capacity to work is measured in units; the maximum
capacity of a given resource is called maximum units.
Units are measured either as numbers (such as three
units) or as a percentage (such as 300% units).
Here are a few other things to keep in mind when viewing resource allocation:

By default, the Resource Usage view displays the Usage table; however, you can
display different tables. On the View menu, click Table: Usage, and then click the
table you want displayed.

By default, the Resource Usage view displays work values in the timescaled grid.
However, you can display additional assignment values, such as cost and
remaining availability. On the Format menu, point to Details, and then click the
value you want displayed. To add to or customize the appearance of fields
displayed in the Resource Usage view, click Detail Styles on the Format menu.

Instead of using the Timescale command on the Format menu to change the tiers
of the timescale, you can click the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons on the Standard
toolbar. However, this method might not produce the exact level of detail you want.
If it does not, use the Timescale command on the Format menu.

To see allocations for each resource graphed against a timescale, you can display
the Resource Graph view by clicking the Resource Graph command on the View
menu. Use the arrow keys or horizontal scroll bar to switch between resources in
this view.

The Resource Management toolbar contains a handy collection of buttons when
youre looking at allocation issues, leveling resources, or performing other
common activities that relate to resources. This toolbar is hidden by default. To
display it, on the View menu, point to Toolbars and then click Resource
Management.
Spotting Resource Conflicts
Using views to spot resource conflicts
Use a resource view, such as the Resource Sheet view or the Resource Usage
view, to find resource conflicts. In these views, overallocated resources appear
in red. In addition, a Caution icon appears in the Indicator column to signal an
overassigned resource.
You also can see a graphic representation of a resources allocation by
switching to the Resource Graph view. To display the view, select Resource
Graph from the View bar or choose View Resource Graph.
The Resource Allocation view is useful for working with overallocations; a
Gantt Chart in the lower pane shows the tasks assigned to the resource that
you select in the top pane. Tasks that start at the same time overlap in the
Gantt Chart pane. This view helps you pinpoint the tasks that are causing the
resources overallocation.
Using filters to spot resource conflicts
Filtering is another simple technique that you can use to resolve resource
conflict problems. If you filter the Resource Usage view to display only
overallocated resources, the problems become even more apparent. To filter
the view, switch to it first by choosing View Resource Usage. Then open
the Filter list box on the Formatting toolbar and choose Overallocated
Resources, or choose Project Filtered Overallocated Resources.
Next, add the Overallocation field to the view to identify the extent of the
resources overallocation. Choose Format Details Overallocation.
Project adds a row to the timescale portion of the view to show you the
number of hours that you need to eliminate to correct the overallocation.
Resolving Conflicts
Changing resource allocations
If you play around with resource allocations, you may be able to resolve a
resource conflict. Adding a resource is one obvious way to resolve an
overallocation.
Switching resources
You also can resolve resource conflicts by switching resources. You can use
this technique when one resource is overallocated but you have another
resource available thats capable of doing the job. You switch resources by
replacing resources on the task in question.
Start in the Resource Usage view, where you can focus on resource conflicts
When you are ready to switch resources, I suggest that you create a
combination view that shows the Gantt Chart in the top of the view and the
Resource Usage view in the bottom of the view
Then, follow these steps:
1. In the upper pane, find and click the task on which you want to switch
resources. In the bottom of the window, Project displays all the tasks
assignments for each resource assigned to the selected task.
2. Click the Assign Resources button to open the Assign Resources
window.
3. Highlight the resource you want to switch.
4. Click the Replace button. The Replace Resource dialog box appears.
5. Select the resource you want to use on the task.
6. Fill in the Units column.
7. Click OK in the Replace Resource dialog box.
8. Click Close in the Assign Resources window.
Scheduling overtime
You also can resolve a resource conflict by scheduling overtime for the resource.
Overtime in Project is the amount of work that is scheduled beyond an assigned
resources regular working hours, and overtime hours are charged at the
resources overtime rate. Overtime work does not represent additional work on a
task; instead, it represents the amount of time thats spent on a task during
nonregular hours. By scheduling overtime, the resource may finish the task
faster and therefore eliminate the conflict
1. Display the Task Entry view (choose View More Views Task Entry
and select Apply).
2. Click the Task Form to make it the active pane.
3. Choose Format Details Resource Work. Project displays the Ovt.
Work column in the Task Form pane. In this column, 0h means that you have
not yet assigned overtime.
4. Select the task in the top pane to which you want to assign overtime.
5. Go to the bottom pane, and fill in the overtime amount for the appropriate
resource.
Delaying tasks by leveling resource workloads
If you have scheduled several tasks to run concurrently and you now find
resource conflicts in your project, you can delay some of these tasks to
levelor, spread outthe demands that youre making on your resources.
Leveling is the process of resolving resource conflicts by delaying or splitting
tasks to accommodate the schedules of assigned resources. You can ask
Project to select the tasks to delay or split by using its leveling feature, or you
can control the process manually by examining the project to identify tasks
that you are willing to delay or split.
Letting Project level resource loads
When Project does the leveling for you, it redistributes a resources
assignments and reschedules them according to the resources working
capacity, assignment units, and calendar. Project also considers the tasks
duration, constraints, and priority.
To level tasks automatically, follow these steps:
1. Choose Tools Level Resources to open the Resource Leveling dialog box
2. Select the Automatic option button to have Project automatically level
resources, if necessary, whenever you make a change to your schedule.
Select Manual to perform leveling only when you click the Level Now button
in this dialog box.
3. Use the Look for Overallocations on a . . . Basis list box to select a basis.
The basis is a time frame, such as Day by Day or Week by Week. (The
Indicator box in the Resource Usage view may contain a note that suggests
the appropriate basis.)
4. Select the Clear Leveling Values before Leveling check box to make Project
2007 reset all leveling delay values to 0 before leveling. If you dont check
this box, Project 2007 does not reset leveling values but builds upon the
values. During leveling, the scheduling for previously leveled tasks will
probably not change.
5. In the Leveling Range For panel, select either to level the entire project
or to level only for specified dates.
6. In the Leveling Order list box, select the order that you want Project to
consider when leveling your project. If you choose ID Only, Project
delays or splits the task with the highest ID number. If you choose
Standard, Project looks at predecessor dependencies, slack, dates, and
priorities when selecting the best task to split or delay. If you choose
Priority, Standard, Project looks first at task priority and then at all the
items that are listed for the Standard leveling order.
7. Select any of the following options:
Level Only Within Available Slack: This avoids changing the end date of
your project.
Leveling Can Adjust Individual Assignments on a Task: In this case,
leveling adjusts one resources work schedule on a task independent of
other resources that are working on the same task.
Leveling Can Create Splits in Remaining Work: This allows leveling to
split tasks to resolve resource conflicts.
Level Resources with the Proposed Booking Type: Check this box to
have Project include tasks containing proposed resources during the
leveling process.
8. Click Level Now to apply leveling.
You can review the effects of leveling from the Leveling Gantt Chart view.
Choose Views More Views Leveling Gantt and then click Apply. Project
adds green bars to your Gantt Chart, which represent the duration of tasks
before leveling. Depending on the nature of your project, Project may build
more slack into your tasks.
To remove the effects of leveling, reopen the Resource Leveling dialog box
(choose Tools Level Resources) and click the Clear Leveling button. A
subsequent dialog box enables you to clear leveling for the entire project or
for selected tasks only.
Making adjustments to leveling
You can adjust leveling when automatic leveling doesnt provide acceptable
results or when you have just a few resource conflicts to resolve. To make
leveling adjustments to resources in Project, use the Resource Allocation
view and follow these steps:
1. Choose View More Views. From the More Views dialog box, highlight
Resource Allocation and click Apply.
2. Highlight the task that you want to delay in the top pane.
3. In the bottom pane, enter an amount in the Leveling Delay field. Project
delays the task accordingly and reduces the resources conflict.

Custom Views
Customizing a Toolbar
Custom Fields
Sharing Custom Views and Other Elements
Between Project Plans
The Organizer is the feature you use to share customized
elements, such as views, among project plans.
The list of elements provided by the global template includes the following:
Calendars
Filters
Forms
Groups
Maps (import/export)
Reports
Tables
Menus and toolbars
Modules (VBA macros)
Views
When you do work with the global template, you do so through the
Organizer. Some results that you can accomplish relating to the
global template include:

1. Create a customized element, such as a custom view, and make it
available in all project plans you work with by copying the custom
view into the global template.
2. Replace a customized element, such as a view or table, in a
project plan by copying the original, unmodified element from the
global template to the project plan in which youve customized the
same element.
3. Copy one customized element, such as a custom view, from one
project plan to another.
The settings in the global template apply to all project plans you work
with in Project. Because we dont want to alter the global template you
use, in this exercise well focus on copying customized elements
between two project plans.
On the Tools menu, click Organizer.
Examining Task Costs
The schedules status (Did tasks start and finish on time?), although critical to
nearly all projects, is only one indicator of overall project health. For projects that
include cost information, another critical indicator is cost variance: Are tasks
running over or under budget? Task costs in Project consist of fixed costs applied
directly to tasks, resource costs derived from assignments, or both. When tasks
cost more or less than planned to complete, cost variance is the result. Evaluating
cost variance enables you to make incremental budget adjustments for individual
tasks to avoid exceeding your projects overall budget.
Examining Resource Costs
Project managers sometimes focus on resource costs as a means of measuring
progress and variance within a project. However, resource cost information also
serves other people and other needs. For many organizations, resource costs
are the primary or even the only costs incurred while completing projects, so
closely watching resource costs might directly relate to the financial health of an
organization. It might not be a project manager, but instead an executive, cost
accountant, or resource manager who is most interested in resource costs on
projects as they relate to organizational costs.

Another common reason to track resource costs is for billing either within an
organization (for example, billing another department for services your
department has provided) or externally. In either case, the resource cost
information stored in project plans can serve as the basis for billing out your
departments or organizations services to others.
Examining Task Costs
Examining Resource Costs
Reporting Project Costs Variance with a Stoplight View
PROJECT UNCERTAINTY
AND RISK MANAGEMENT
Calculating Probabilistic
Activity Times
Three Time Estimates
pessimistic (a)
most likely (m)
optimistic (b)

The Statistical Distribution of all
Possible Times for an Activity
Activity Expected Time and
Variance
2
2
E
6
) (
Var
6
) (
6
) 4 (
T
|
.
|

\
|

= =

=
+ +
=
a b
a b
b m a
o
o
95 Percent Level
Task will be a or lower 5 percent of the
time
Task will be b or greater 5 percent of
the time

3 . 3
) ( a b
= o
90 Percent Level
Task will be a or lower 10 percent of the
time
Task will be b or greater 10 percent of
the time

6 . 2
) ( a b
= o
95 Percent Level (Alternative
Interpretation)
Task will be between a and b 95
percent of the time

90 Percent Level (Alternative
Interpretation)
Task will be between a and b 90
percent of the time

29 . 3
) ( a b
= o
An AON Network
An MSP Version of a Sample
Problem Network
A Pert/CPM Network for the
Day Care Project
An MSP Calendar for the Day Care
Project, 4/16/00 to 5/27/00
The Probability of Completing
the Project on Time
2
) (

o

=
D
Z
=NORMDIST(D,,o

,TRUE)
The Statistical Distribution of Completion
Times of the Path a-b-d-g-h
Selecting Risk and Finding D
2

o Z D + =
NORMINV(probability,,o

,TRUE)
AON Example
Activity Description
Immediate
Predecessors
A Build internal components
B Modify roof and floor
C Construct collection stack A
D Pour concrete and install frame A, B
E Build high-temperature burner C
F Install pollution control system C
G Install air pollution device D, E
H Inspect and test F, G
Activity Description Time (weeks)
A Build internal components 2
B Modify roof and floor 3
C Construct collection stack 2
D Pour concrete and install frame 4
E Build high-temperature burner 4
F Install pollution control system 3
G Install air pollution device 5
H Inspect and test 2
Total Time (weeks) 25
Project Schedule
AON Network
G
E
F
H
C A
Start
D B
H
(Inspect/
Test)
7
AOA Network
6
5
D
(Pour
Concrete/
Install Frame)
4
C
(Construct
Stack)
1
3
2
Determining the Project Schedule
Perform a Critical Path Analysis
A
Activity Name or
Symbol
Earliest
Start
ES
Earliest
Finish
EF
Latest
Start
LS
Latest
Finish
LF
Activity Duration
2
LS/LF and ES/EF Times
E


4
F


3
G


5
H


2
4 8 13 15
4
8 13
7
13 15
10 13
8 13
4 8
D


4
3 7
C


2
2 4
B


3
0 3
Start
0
0
0
A


2
2 0
4 2
8 4
2 0
4 1
0 0
Computing Slack Time
Earliest Earliest Latest Latest On
Start Finish Start Finish Slack Critical
Activity ES EF LS LF LS ES Path
A 0 2 0 2 0 Yes
B 0 3 1 4 1 No
C 2 4 2 4 0 Yes
D 3 7 4 8 1 No
E 4 8 4 8 0 Yes
F 4 7 10 13 6 No
G 8 13 8 13 0 Yes
H 13 15 13 15 0 Yes
Critical Path
E


4
F


3
G


5
H


2
4 8 13 15
4
8 13
7
13 15
10 13
8 13
4 8
D


4
3 7
C


2
2 4
B


3
0 3
Start
0
0
0
A


2
2 0
4 2
8 4
2 0
4 1
0 0
ES EF Gantt Chart
A Build internal
components
B Modify roof and floor
C Construct collection
stack
D Pour concrete and
install frame
E Build high-temperature
burner
F Install pollution control
system
G Install air pollution
device
H Inspect and test
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
LS LF Gantt Chart
A Build internal
components
B Modify roof and floor
C Construct collection
stack
D Pour concrete and
install frame
E Build high-temperature
burner
F Install pollution control
system
G Install air pollution
device
H Inspect and test
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
CPM assumes we know a fixed time
estimate for each activity and there is
no variability in activity times
PERT uses a probability distribution for
activity times to allow for variability
Variability in Activity Times
Three time estimates are required
Optimistic time (a) if everything goes
according to plan
Pessimistic time (b) assuming very
unfavorable conditions
Most likely time (m) most realistic
estimate
Variability in Activity Times
Estimate follows beta distribution
Variability in Activity Times
Expected time:
Variance of times:
t = (a + 4m + b)/6
v = [(b a)/6]
2
Estimate follows beta distribution
Variability in Activity Times
Expected time:
Variance of times:
t = (a + 4m + b)/6
v = [(b a)/6]2
Probability of
1 in 100 of > b
occurring
Probability of
1 in 100 of
< a occurring
P
r
o
b
a
b
i
l
i
t
y

Optimistic
Time (a)
Most Likely Time
(m)
Pessimistic Time
(b)
Activity
Time
Computing Variance
Most Expected
Optimistic Likely Pessimistic Time Variance
Activity a m b t = (a + 4m + b)/6 [(b a)/6]
2

A 1 2 3 2 .11
B 2 3 4 3 .11
C 1 2 3 2 .11
D 2 4 6 4 .44
E 1 4 7 4 1.00
F 1 2 9 3 1.78
G 3 4 11 5 1.78
H 1 2 3 2 .11
Probability of Project
Completion
Project variance is computed by
summing the variances of critical
activities
o
2
= Project variance
= (variances of activities
on critical path)
p
Probability of Project
Completion
Project variance is computed by
summing the variances of critical
activities
Project variance
o
2
= .11 + .11 + 1.00 + 1.78 + .11 = 3.11

Project standard deviation
o
p
= Project variance
= 3.11 = 1.76 weeks
p
Probability of Project
Completion
PERT makes two more assumptions:
Total project completion times follow a
normal probability distribution
Activity times are statistically independent
Probability of Project
Completion
Standard deviation = 1.76 weeks
15 Weeks
(Expected Completion Time)
Probability of Project
Completion
What is the probability this project can be
completed on or before the 16 week
deadline?
Z = /o
p

= (16 wks 15 wks)/1.76
= 0.57
due expected date
date of completion

Where Z is the number of standard
deviations the due date or target date lies
from the mean or expected date
Probability of Project
Completion
What is the probability this project can be
completed on or before the 16 week
deadline?
Z = /o
p

= (16 wks 15 wks)/1.76
= 0.57
due expected date
date of completion

Where Z is the number of standard
deviations the due date or target date lies
from the mean or expected date
.00 .01 .07 .08
.1 .50000 .50399 .52790 .53188
.2 .53983 .54380 .56749 .57142

.5 .69146 .69497 .71566 .71904
.6 .72575 .72907 .74857 .75175
From Appendix I
Probability of Project
Completion
Time
Probability
(T 16 weeks)
is 71.57%
0.57 Standard deviations
15 16
Weeks Weeks
Determining Project
Completion Time
Probability of
0.01
Z
Figure 3.15
From Appendix I
Probability of
0.99
2.33 Standard
deviations
0 2.33
Variability of Completion Time
for Noncritical Paths
Variability of times for activities on
noncritical paths must be considered
when finding the probability of
finishing in a specified time
Variation in noncritical activity may
cause change in critical path
What Project Management
Has Provided So Far
The projects expected completion time is
15 weeks
There is a 71.57% chance the equipment
will be in place by the 16 week deadline
Five activities (A, C, E, G, and H) are on the
critical path
Three activities (B, D, F) are not on the
critical path and have slack time
A detailed schedule is available
Thank You