Microsoft Project 2019 For Dummies

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

Part 1 Getting Started with Project 2019

Chapter 1 Project Management, Project 2019, and You

Introducing Project Management

Defining project manager

Identifying what a project manager does

Introducing Project 2019

Getting to Know You

Navigating Ribbon tabs and the Ribbon

Displaying more tools

Tell Me What You Want to Do

Chapter 2 Starting the Project

Creating the Project Charter

Introducing the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Organizing the Work

Starting the Project

Entering project information

Weighing manual scheduling versus automatic scheduling

Entering the WBS

Entering tasks

Importing tasks from Outlook

Inserting hyperlinks

Inserting one project into another

Promoting and demoting: The outdent- and-indent shuffle

Saving the Project

Chapter 3 Becoming a Task Master

Creating Summary Tasks and Subtasks

How many levels can you go?

The project summary task

Moving Tasks Up, Down, and All Around

Moving tasks with the drag-and-drop method

Moving tasks with the cut-and-paste method

Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Collapsing and Expanding the Task Outline

Showing Up Again and Again: Recurring Tasks

Setting Milestones

Deleting Tasks and Using Inactive Tasks

Making a Task Note

Chapter 4 The Codependent Nature of Tasks

How Tasks Become Dependent

Dependent tasks: Which comes first?

Dependency types

Allowing for Murphy’s Law: Lag and lead time

Setting the Dependency Connection

Adding the dependency link

Words to the wise

Understanding that things change: Deleting dependencies

Chapter 5 Estimating Task Time

You’re in It for the Duration

Tasks come in all flavors: Identifying task types

Effort-driven tasks: 1 + 1 = ½

Estimating Effort and Duration

Estimating techniques

Setting the task duration

Controlling Timing with Constraints

Understanding how constraints work

Establishing constraints

Setting a deadline

Starting and Pausing Tasks

Entering the task’s start date

Taking a break: Splitting tasks

Chapter 6 Check Out This View!

A Project with a View

Navigating tabs and views

Scrolling around

Reaching a specific spot in your plan

More Detail about Views

Home base: Gantt Chart view

Resourceful views: Resource Sheet and Team Planner

Getting your timing down with the Timeline

Going with the flow: Network Diagram view

Calling up Calendar view

Customizing Views

Working with view panes

Modifying Network Diagram view

Resetting the view

Part 2 Managing Resources

Chapter 7 Creating Resources

Resources: People, Places, and Things

Becoming Resource-Full

Understanding resources

Resource types: Work, material, and cost

How resources affect task timing

Estimating resource requirements

The Birth of a Resource

Creating one resource at a time

Identifying resources before you know their names

Many hands make light work

Managing Resource Availability

Estimating and setting availability

When a resource comes and goes

Sharing Resources

Skimming from resource pools

Importing resources from Outlook

Chapter 8 Working with Calendars

Mastering Base, Project, Resource, and Task Calendars

Setting the base calendar for a project

Understanding the four calendar types

How calendars work

How one calendar relates to another

Scheduling with Calendar Options and Working Times

Setting calendar options

Setting exceptions to working times

Working with Task Calendars and Resource Calendars

Setting resource calendars

Making the change to a resource’s calendar

Creating a Custom Calendar Template

Sharing Copies of Calendars

Chapter 9 Assigning Resources

Finding the Right Resource

Needed: One good resource willing to work

Custom fields: It’s a skill

Making a Useful Assignation

Determining material and cost-resource units

Making assignments

Shaping the contour that’s right for you

Benefitting from a Helpful Planner

Chapter 10 Determining a Project’s Cost

How Do Costs Accrue?

Adding up the costs

When will this hit the bottom line?

Specifying Cost Information in the Project

You can’t avoid fixed costs

Entering hourly, overtime, and cost-per-use rates

Assigning material resources

How Your Settings Affect Your Costs

Part 3 Before You Baseline

Chapter 11 Fine-Tuning Your Plan

Everything Filters to the Bottom Line

Setting predesigned filters

Putting AutoFilter to work

Creating do-it-yourself filters

Gathering Information in Groups

Applying predefined groups

Devising your own groups

Figuring Out What’s Driving the Project

Inspecting tasks

Handling task warnings and suggestions

Chapter 12 Negotiating Project Constraints

It’s about Time

Applying contingency reserve

Completing a task in less time

Getting What You Want for Less

The Resource Recourse

Checking resource availability

Deleting or modifying a resource assignment

Beating overallocations with quick-and-dirty rescheduling

Finding help

Leveling resources

Rescheduling the Project

Chapter 13 Making the Project Look Good

Looking Good!

Formatting the Gantt Chart

Formatting taskbars

Zeroing in on critical issues

Restyling the Gantt chart

Formatting Task Boxes

Adjusting the Layout

Modifying Gridlines

Recognizing When a Picture Can Say It All

Creating a Custom Text Field

Chapter 14 It All Begins with a Baseline

All about Baselines

Saving a baseline

Saving more than one baseline

Clearing and resetting a baseline

In the Interim

Saving an interim plan

Clearing and resetting an interim plan

Part 4 Staying on Track

Chapter 15 On the Right Track

Developing a Communications Management Plan

Gathering data

Applying a tracking method

Using the tracking tools

For everything, there’s a view

Tracking Work for the Record

Specifying the status date

Remaining on track

Determining the percent complete

Recording start and finish information

Knowing what to do when John works three hours and Mary works ten

Uh-oh — we’re in overtime

Specifying remaining durations for auto-scheduled tasks

Entering fixed-cost updates

Moving a Task

Update Project: Sweeping Changes

Tracking Materials

Tracking More Than One: Consolidated Projects

Consolidating projects

Updating consolidated projects

Chapter 16 Project Views: Observing Progress

Seeing Where Tasks Stand

Baseline versus actual progress

Lines of progress

Delving into the Detail

Tracking Progress Using Earned Value Management

Calculating Behind the Scenes

Earned-value options

An abundance of critical paths

Chapter 17 You’re Behind — Now What?

Using Project with Risk and Issue Logs

Printing interim plans and baselines

Printing task notes

What-If Scenarios

Sorting tasks

Filtering

Examining the critical path

Using resource leveling (again)

Determining which factors are driving the timing of a task

How Adding People or Time Affects the Project

Hurrying up and making modifications

Throwing resources at the problem

Shifting dependencies and task timing

When All Else Fails

Taking the time you need

Finding ways to cut corners

Chapter 18 Spreading the News: Reporting

Generating Standard Reports

What’s available

Overviewing the dashboard reports

Creating New Reports

Gaining a new perspective on data with visual reports

Creating a visual report

Fine-Tuning a Report

Dragging, dropping, and sizing

Looking good!

Spiffing Things Up

Call the Printer!

Working with Page Setup

Getting a preview

Printing, at last!

Working on the Timeline

Adding tasks to the Timeline

Customizing the Timeline

Copying the Timeline

Chapter 19 Getting Better All the Time

Reviewing the Project

Learning from your mistakes

Debriefing the team

Comparing Versions of a Project

Building on Success

Creating a template

Mastering the Organizer

Part 5 The Part of Tens

Chapter 20 Ten Golden Rules of Project Management

Roll with It

Put Your Ducks in a Row

Expect the Unexpected

Don’t Put Off until Tomorrow . . .

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

Document It

Keep the Team in the Loop

Measure Success

Maintain a Flexible Strategy

Learn from Your Mistakes

Chapter 21 Ten Cool Shortcuts in Project 2019

Task Information

Resource Information

Frequently Used Functions

Subtasks

Quick Selections

Fill Down

Navigation

Hours to Years

Timeline Shortcuts

Quick Undo and Repeat

Appendix: Glossary

Index

EULA