Microsoft Project 2019: Up To Speed

By R.M. Hyttinen

The Project 2019: Up To Speed guide helps you to get up and running quickly with the world's most popular project management application.  This handy step-by-step guide is written from scratch, starting with basic Microsoft Project and project management topics and moving on to more advanced features of the application, designed to help you to become more productive more quickly.  Though comprehensive, the information in this book is presented in a clear, concise manner with screenshots providing helpful visual guidance all along the way.

In no time at all, you're be creating and updating project files, managing resources, linking and scheduling task, tracking project progress, updating costs, updating work performance and much more.

Some of the topics include: Understanding Project Management

A Look at the Project Environment

Creating a New Project

Entering Project Information

Creating a Project Calendar

Saving and Closing a Project

Opening an Existing Project

Hiding the Ribbon

Setting Project Options

Using Tell Me to Obtain Help

Entering, Editing & Rearranging Tasks

Inserting and Deleting Tasks

Adding a Project Summary Task

Outlining Tasks

Adding a Recurring Task

Displaying and Customizing WBS Codes

Understanding Task Relationships

Linking Tasks

Adding Lead Time and Lag Time

Changing Task Dependency

Splitting Tasks

Setting Task Type

Setting Task Constraints

Setting Milestone Tasks

Setting Task Deadlines

Inspecting a Task

Working in Network Diagram View

Entering Resources

Creating a Resource Calendar

Assigning Resources to Tasks

Filtering Resources

Effort-Driven Scheduling

Entering Resource Costs

Entering Fixed Costs

Using the Cost Table

Working in Calendar View

Formatting a Gantt Chart

Using More Views

Using Split Views

Using Task Usage & Resource Usage Views

Sorting Tasks & Resources

Using AutoFilters

Using Tables

Using Project's Agile Features

Using Team Planner View

Identifying Slack in a Project

Saving a Baseline Plan and Interim Plan

Leveling Overallocated Resources

Updating & Tracking Projects

Updating Task Progress & Work Performed

Manually Updating Costs

Rescheduling Uncompleted Tasks

Filtering Tasks

Copying and Pasting to Other Applications

Importing a Task List

Exporting Project Data

Using the Copy Picture Command

Viewing Standard Reports

Customizing a Report

Modifying Report Formatting

Modifying a Header and a Footer

Inserting a Graphic into a Report

Creating Visual Reports

Work with Visual Report Templates

Creating a Resource Pool

Linking Projects to a Resource Pool

Updating Resource Pool Information

Consolidating Projects

Linking Tasks between Projects

Sharing Elements between Projects

Creating a Project Plan Template

Formatting Bar Styles

Formatting Timescales

Creating Custom Fields, Tables and Views

Creating Custom Groups

Using Drawing Tools

Creating & Running a Macro

...and more

• Language: English
• Publisher: PCM Courseware, LLC
• Release date: Jul 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781943005154

Book preview

Microsoft Project 2019: Up To Speed

R.M. Hyttinen

Copyright & License Notes

Microsoft Project 2019: Up to Speed

By R.M. Hyttinen

Copyright © 2019 by R.M. Hyttinen. All rights reserved.

Published by PCM Courseware, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

http://pcmcourseware.com

ISBN: 978-1-943005-15-4

Examples used in this book are fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, incidents, organization or events is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors and omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of information contained within.

If you found this book helpful, please consider leaving a review wherever you purchased this book. Also consider telling your friends about it to help me spread the word about my book.

Thank you so much for supporting my work!

License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold, given away to other people or used in any type of training classes. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite e-book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Trademark Acknowledgements

Microsoft and Microsoft Project are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation. All other known trademarks have been appropriately capitalized and are the property of their respective owners.

Introduction

As the author and founder of PCM Courseware, I am delighted to bring you the next in our Up To Speed series of guides: Microsoft Project 2019 - Up To Speed. Since 2003, PCM Courseware has been publishing innovative Print-On-Demand electronic courseware for both the PC and the Macintosh and beginning with the Up to Speed series, we are now creating software guides for everyone, not just for software trainers.

My mission is to create guides to make learning technology concepts easy, no matter what kind of learner you are. The guides are simple to use yet comprehensive in their effectiveness. Many readers find the step-by-step approach of our manuals to be a valuable self-study resource as well as a handy reference.

You do not need to read the book sequentially, although this can certainly be helpful if you are just starting out with the Windows operating system. I’ve written the book from scratch, starting with basic Microsoft Project topics and moving on to more advanced features of the software, designed to help you to become more productive more quickly.

If you are looking to accomplish a specific task, be sure to take advantage of the handy Table of Contents.

So let’s get started with Microsoft Project 2019 – Up to Speed!

Chapter 1 - The Basics

Understanding Project Management

Welcome to Microsoft Project 2019 Microsoft Project is a powerful project management tool that allows you to track the progress of your projects. Microsoft Project can help you to control your time, money and resources as well as schedule and track every task related to a project. Project management involves planning, scheduling, controlling and monitoring the work activities of a project to ensure that things are progressing according to schedule.

It might first be helpful to determine exactly what a project is. A project can be defined as a one-time organized undertaking with a definite beginning and end toward the attainment of a specific goal. A project may involve a single person or teams of hundreds or thousands of people. The end of a project is attained when the project’s objectives have been reached.

A project is generally divided into phases to provide better management control. Taken together, these phases are known as the project life cycle. The phases that make up the project life cycle as well as the activities related to each phase are as follows:

Initiation Phase - Defining the project and determining the beginning of a project.

Planning Phase - Scheduling of resources and tasks, budgeting, creating a work breakdown structure, determining sequence of project events and tasks, and identifying resource requirements.

Implementation/Controlling Phase - Monitoring project progress, progress reporting, taking necessary corrective measures to ensure the project terminates on time and on budget.

Close-out Phase - Reporting outcomes, formalizing the termination of the project

The key to a successful project is careful planning and monitoring of your project by keeping track of project tasks, costs, resources, and project schedules. Careful monitoring allows you to identify any possible obstacles and modify any project components if necessary. With Microsoft Project, you can handle large or small projects effectively.

Launching Microsoft Project

Launching Project depends on which version of Windows you are using and what has happened since installation. If you are using the latest version of Windows 10, click the Start button and scroll down the list of applications until you see Project. If you are using Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, you can launch Project from the Start Menu – Start > All Programs > Microsoft Office > Project.

To Launch Microsoft Project 2019, follow these steps:

1. If you are running the latest version of Windows 10, click the Start button and scroll downward until you see Project. You can also click the Start button and type: Project until the application is highlighted.

2. If you are using Windows 8, click the Project tile on the Start screen (if you don’t see a Project tile, type: Project until the application is highlighted).

3. If using Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, click the Start button on the Taskbar and trace to All Programs > Project.

4. Click Blank Project.

The Project Environment

When you first start Microsoft Project, the application opens to a new blank project file named Project 1. Gantt Chart view is the default view of Project 2019. The default Project screen is shown in the screen shot below. We will be working with each piece of the Project window in detail in subsequent lessons.

If you are coming to Project 2019 from an older version of Project, you will immediately notice that the user interface has been completely redesigned.

The menu and toolbar system have been replaced by the Ribbon. The Ribbon is designed to help you quickly find the commands you need in order to complete a task. On the Ribbon, the menu bar has been replaced by Command Tabs that relate to the tasks you wish to accomplish. The default Command Tabs in Project are: File, Task, Resource, Report, Project, View and Format.

Different command icons, called Command Sets appear under each Command Tab. The commands that appear depend on the Command Tab that is selected. Each command set is grouped by its function. For example, the Task tab contains commands to add, indent, inspect, move and manage tasks. Contextual Commands only appear when a specific object is selected. This helps in keeping the screen uncluttered.

Under the File tab on the Ribbon is what Microsoft refers to as Backstage view. This view allows for quick access to permissions, meta-data, and common document tasks such as opening, closing, printing and saving files.

On the bottom of some Command Sets is a Dialog Launcher, which when clicked, will launch a dialog box for that set of commands.

On the top-left corner of the screen is the Quick Access Toolbar. This toolbar contains by default the Save, Undo, Redo and Mouse/Touch Display commands. In addition, clicking the drop-down arrow to the right allows you to customize the Quick Access Toolbar to add other tools that you use regularly. You can choose from the list which tools to display on the Quick Access Toolbar or select More Commands to add commands that are not in the list.

If you are using Project on a touch device such as a tablet or smartphone, the handy Touch display mode makes viewing your data much more pleasant. Located by default on the Quick Access Toolbar, this view displays extra space between commands making it easier to select via touch (if you don’t see the Mouse/Touch mode icon, click the arrow on the Quick Access Toolbar and choose Touch/Mouse mode from the list). To display your Project documents in Touch mode, click the Touch/Mouse mode icon on the Quick Access Toolbar and choose Touch from the menu. To switch back to standard mode, click the Touch/Mouse mode icon again and choose Mouse from the menu.

We will be working in detail with the various Project tabs and commands in subsequent lessons.

Let’s take a look at the parts of the Project window:

Active View Indicator: Displays the name of the active view.

Backstage View: Located under the File tab, Backstage View allows for quick access to file commands such as opening, closing, saving and printing files.

Close Button: Closes the active Project document.

Command Sets: Command icons, grouped by category, under each command tab.

Dialog Launcher: Launches dialog boxes or task panes for a particular set of commands.

Gantt Chart Pane: Provides a graphical representation of tasks.

Gantt Table: Shows specific information about task, resources and assignments, depending on the view. The default