Microsoft Project 2019 For Dummies

Cynthia Snyder Dionisio is a project management consultant, trainer, and author. She also leads the team that creates the PMBOK Guide, the standard for project management that is published by the Project Management Institute. She has written more than a dozen books, including A Project Manager's Book of Forms and A Project Manager's Book of Tools and Techniques.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 2Icons Used in This Book 3Beyond the Book 3Where to Go from Here 3Part 1: Getting Started with Project 2019 5Chapter 1: Project Management, Project 2019, and You 7Introducing Project Management 7Defining project manager 8Identifying what a project manager does 9Introducing Project 2019 10Getting to Know You 11Navigating Ribbon tabs and the Ribbon 13Displaying more tools 17Tell Me What You Want to Do 18Chapter 2: Starting the Project 19Creating the Project Charter 20Introducing the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) 22Organizing the Work 23Starting the Project 24Entering project information 25Weighing manual scheduling versus automatic scheduling 27Entering the WBS 29Entering tasks 30Importing tasks from Outlook 32Inserting hyperlinks 34Inserting one project into another 35Promoting and demoting: The outdent-and-indent shuffle 36Saving the Project 37Chapter 3: Becoming a Task Master 39Creating Summary Tasks and Subtasks 39How many levels can you go? 41The project summary task 41Moving Tasks Up, Down, and All Around 43Moving tasks with the drag-and-drop method 43Moving tasks with the cut-and-paste method 44Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Collapsing and Expanding the Task Outline 44Showing Up Again and Again: Recurring Tasks 47Setting Milestones 48Deleting Tasks and Using Inactive Tasks 49Making a Task Note 50Chapter 4: The Codependent Nature of Tasks 53How Tasks Become Dependent 54Dependent tasks: Which comes first? 54Dependency types 55Allowing for Murphy’s Law: Lag and lead time 58Setting the Dependency Connection 59Adding the dependency link 59Words to the wise 61Understanding that things change: Deleting dependencies 62Chapter 5: Estimating Task Time 65You’re in It for the Duration 66Tasks come in all flavors: Identifying task types 66Effort-driven tasks: 1 + 1 = ½ 69Estimating Effort and Duration 70Estimating techniques 71Setting the task duration 72Controlling Timing with Constraints 74Understanding how constraints work 74Establishing constraints 75Setting a deadline 76Starting and Pausing Tasks 77Entering the task’s start date 77Taking a break: Splitting tasks 78Chapter 6: Check Out This View! 81A Project with a View 81Navigating tabs and views 82Scrolling around 84Reaching a specific spot in your plan 85More Detail about Views 86Home base: Gantt Chart view 86Resourceful views: Resource Sheet and Team Planner 87Getting your timing down with the Timeline 88Going with the flow: Network Diagram view 89Calling up Calendar view 90Customizing Views 91Working with view panes 91Modifying Network Diagram view 96Resetting the view 100Part 2: Managing Resources 101Chapter 7: Creating Resources 103Resources: People, Places, and Things 103Becoming Resource-Full 104Understanding resources 104Resource types: Work, material, and cost 105How resources affect task timing 105Estimating resource requirements 107The Birth of a Resource 107Creating one resource at a time 108Identifying resources before you know their names 109Many hands make light work 110Managing Resource Availability 111Estimating and setting availability 112When a resource comes and goes 113Sharing Resources 114Skimming from resource pools 114Importing resources from Outlook 116Chapter 8: Working with Calendars 119Mastering Base, Project, Resource, and Task Calendars 120Setting the base calendar for a project 120Understanding the four calendar types 120How calendars work 121How one calendar relates to another 121Scheduling with Calendar Options and Working Times 122Setting calendar options 123Setting exceptions to working times 124Working with Task Calendars and Resource Calendars 126Setting resource calendars 127Making the change to a resource’s calendar 128Creating a Custom Calendar Template 130Sharing Copies of Calendars 132Chapter 9: Assigning Resources 135Finding the Right Resource 135Needed: One good resource willing to work 136Custom fields: It’s a skill 137Making a Useful Assignation 138Determining material and cost-resource units 138Making assignments 139Shaping the contour that’s right for you 142Benefitting from a Helpful Planner 144Chapter 10: Determining a Project’s Cost 147How Do Costs Accrue? 148Adding up the costs 148When will this hit the bottom line? 149Specifying Cost Information in the Project 150You can’t avoid fixed costs 150Entering hourly, overtime, and cost-per-use rates 152Assigning material resources 153How Your Settings Affect Your Costs 155Part 3: Before You Baseline 157Chapter 11: Fine-Tuning Your Plan 159Everything Filters to the Bottom Line 159Setting predesigned filters 160Putting AutoFilter to work 161Creating do-it-yourself filters 163Gathering Information in Groups 165Applying predefined groups 166Devising your own groups 166Figuring Out What’s Driving the Project 169Inspecting tasks 169Handling task warnings and suggestions 170Chapter 12: Negotiating Project Constraints 173It’s about Time 174Applying contingency reserve 174Completing a task in less time 175Getting What You Want for Less 178The Resource Recourse 179Checking resource availability 179Deleting or modifying a resource assignment 180Beating overallocations with quick-and-dirty rescheduling 181Finding help 182Leveling resources 182Rescheduling the Project 186Chapter 13: Making the Project Look Good 187Looking Good! 188Formatting the Gantt Chart 188Formatting taskbars 188Zeroing in on critical issues 191Restyling the Gantt chart 192Formatting Task Boxes 193Adjusting the Layout 195Modifying Gridlines 197Recognizing When a Picture Can Say It All 199Creating a Custom Text Field 200Chapter 14: It All Begins with a Baseline 205All about Baselines 205Saving a baseline 206Saving more than one baseline 207Clearing and resetting a baseline 209In the Interim 210Saving an interim plan 211Clearing and resetting an interim plan 212Part 4: Staying on Track 213Chapter 15: On the Right Track 215Developing a Communications Management Plan 216Gathering data 216Applying a tracking method 217Using the tracking tools 218For everything, there’s a view 219Tracking Work for the Record 220Specifying the status date 221Remaining on track 222Determining the percent complete 222Recording start and finish information 223Knowing what to do when John works three hours and Mary works ten 224Uh-oh — we’re in overtime 226Specifying remaining durations for auto-scheduled tasks 227Entering fixed-cost updates 228Moving a Task 229Update Project: Sweeping Changes 230Tracking Materials 232Tracking More Than One: Consolidated Projects 233Consolidating projects 233Updating consolidated projects 235Chapter 16: Project Views: Observing Progress 237Seeing Where Tasks Stand 238Baseline versus actual progress 238Lines of progress 238Delving into the Detail 241Tracking Progress Using Earned Value Management 244Calculating Behind the Scenes 246Earned-value options 246An abundance of critical paths 247Chapter 17: You’re Behind — Now What? 249Using Project with Risk and Issue Logs 250Printing interim plans and baselines 250Printing task notes 251What-If Scenarios 253Sorting tasks 253Filtering 254Examining the critical path 255Using resource leveling (again) 257Determining which factors are driving the timing of a task 258How Adding People or Time Affects the Project 259Hurrying up and making modifications 259Throwing resources at the problem 259Shifting dependencies and task timing 261When All Else Fails 262Taking the time you need 263Finding ways to cut corners 263Chapter 18: Spreading the News: Reporting 265Generating Standard Reports 266What’s available 266Overviewing the dashboard reports 267Creating New Reports 268Gaining a new perspective on data with visual reports 270Creating a visual report 270Fine-Tuning a Report 271Dragging, dropping, and sizing 272Looking good! 273Spiffing Things Up 274Call the Printer! 277Working with Page Setup 277Getting a preview 282Printing, at last! 283Working on the Timeline 283Adding tasks to the Timeline 284Customizing the Timeline 285Copying the Timeline 286Chapter 19: Getting Better All the Time 287Reviewing the Project 288Learning from your mistakes 288Debriefing the team 290Comparing Versions of a Project 291Building on Success 293Creating a template 293Mastering the Organizer 294Part 5: The Part of Tens 297Chapter 20: Ten Golden Rules of Project Management 299Roll with It 299Put Your Ducks in a Row 300Expect the Unexpected 301Don’t Put Off until Tomorrow 302Delegate, Delegate, Delegate 302Document It 303Keep the Team in the Loop 303Measure Success 304Maintain a Flexible Strategy 305Learn from Your Mistakes 305Chapter 21: Ten Cool Shortcuts in Project 2019 307Task Information 307Resource Information 308Frequently Used Functions 309Subtasks 310Quick Selections 310Fill Down 310Navigation 310Hours to Years 311Timeline Shortcuts 311Quick Undo and Repeat 312Appendix: glossary 313Index 321