Microsoft Office Project 2007 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies

by Elaine Marmel, Nancy C. Muir

Microsoft Office Project 2007 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies®

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2007931548

ISBN: 978-0-470-13767-3

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Authors

Elaine Marmel is President of Marmel Enterprises, LLC, an organization that specializes in technical writing and software training. Elaine left her native Chicago for the warmer climes of Arizona (by way of Cincinnati, Ohio; Jerusalem, Israel; Ithaca, New York; Washington, D.C., and Tampa, Florida) where she basks in the sun with her PC, her dog Josh, and her cats, Cato, Watson, and Buddy, and sings barbershop harmony with the 2006 International Championship Scottsdale Chorus. Elaine spends most of her time writing; she has authored and co-authored over 50 books about Microsoft Project, QuickBooks, Peachtree, Quicken, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word for Windows, Microsoft Word for the Mac, Windows, 1-2-3 for Windows, and Lotus Notes. From 1994 to 2006, she also was the contributing editor to monthly publications Peachtree Extra and QuickBooks Extra.

Nancy C. Muir is the author of over 50 books on topics including project management, desktop applications, the Internet, distance learning, and e-commerce. She is the author of Microsoft Project For Dummies, and Microsoft Project For Dummies Quick Reference. She has also written or contributed to several textbooks for middle-school students. Her books have won awards for excellence and have been translated into over a half-dozen languages. Prior to her writing career, Ms. Muir trained Fortune 500 companies in project management software, and taught technical writing at the university level. Her company, The Publishing Studio, specializes in writing, editing, and consulting services for the publishing industry.

Dedication

To my brother and sister-in-law for always being there for me, and to my co-author, Nancy Muir — working with you inspires me, and you’re fun when we’re not working, too.

— Elaine Marmel

To Earl for his ongoing love and support, and to my co-author, Elaine Marmel, for being as great a friend as she is a writer.

— Nancy Muir

Authors’ Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Kyle Looper for thinking up this project and trusting us to take it on. Our editor, Blair Pottenger, has made this book a delight to work on, as he always does. Thanks also to copy editor Virginia Sanders and technical editor Thuy Le for making sure our work is accurate and literate. We also want to acknowledge the Microsoft Project team and their product manager, Adrian Jenkins, for the help they provided during the beta testing of Microsoft Project 2007.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Blair J. Pottenger

Acquisitions Editor: Kyle Looper

Copy Editor: Virginia Sanders

Technical Editor: Thuy Le

Editorial Manager: Kevin Kirschner

Media Development and Quality Assurance: Angela Denny, Kate Jenkins, Steven Kudirka, Kit Malone

Media Development Coordinator: Jenny Swisher

Media Project Supervisor: Laura Moss-Hollister

Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Senior Project Coordinator: Kristie Rees

Layout and Graphics: Claudia Bell, Stacie Brooks, Denny Hager, Shane Johnson, Stephanie D. Jumper, Barbara Moore, Melanee Prendergast, Erin Zeltner

Proofreaders: Aptara, Christy Pingleton

Indexer: Aptara

Anniversary Logo Design: Richard Pacifico

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Contents

Title

Introduction

About This Book

How This Book Is Organized

Conventions Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Book I : Project Management

Chapter 1: A Project Management Overview

The Life of a Project

Everybody Plays a Role

Getting a Few Project Management Concepts under Your Belt

Resource Management Basics

Chapter 2: The Ins and Outs of Using Project

The Basics of Computerized Project Management

What You Have to Put Into Project

Keeping a Project on Track

Keeping Others in the Loop

Chapter 3: Just What Tasks Should You Include?

First Things First: Define the Business Need

Target Practice: Project Goal Setting

Taking a Look at Your Project’s Scope

Breaking Your Project into Phases

Chapter 4: Exploring the Project Environment

Exploring Menus and Toolbars in Project

Navigating Project

Finding Another View

Changing Views

Displaying and Hiding Project Guide

Chapter 5: What’s New in Project 2007

Exploring the Many Versions of Project

Getting out of Hot Water with Multiple Undo

Spotting Changes with Change Highlighting

Knowing What’s Driving Your Tasks

Making Reports More Visual

A New Resource: Cost

Working with Budgets

Book II : Project Basics

Chapter 1: Building a Project Plan

Creating That First Project

Making Global Project Settings

Save That Project!

Chapter 2: Creating That First Task

Tackling Task Basics

The Many Different Ways to Create a Task

Chapter 3: Exploring Task Views

A View for Every Need

Finding Just the Right View for You

Discovering Various Task Views

What Resource Views Tell You

The Best Views for Tracking Progress on Your Project

Displaying Combination Views

Chapter 4: Working with Calendars

The Big 4: Base, Project, Resource, and Task Calendars

Understanding Calendar Options and Working Times

Getting the Project Calendar Set Up

Letting Project Guide Make Calendar Settings For You

Making Changes to Task Calendars

Setting Up Resource Calendars

Creating Your Own Custom Calendar Template

Sharing Calendars with Other Projects

Chapter 5: Getting Help

Entering the Universe of Project Help

Exploring Microsoft Office Project Help

Going Online to Find the Answer

Running Diagnostics

Putting Project Guide to Work

Book III : Getting Your Plan in Order

Chapter 1: Organizing the Structure of a Project Plan

A To-Do List . . . or a Project Schedule?

Creating Structure in the Schedule

So, What Happens When You Reorganize the Outline?

Chapter 2: Assigning Outline Codes to Tasks

Understanding Outline Numbers

Letting Project Assign Outline Numbers

Understanding Outline Codes

Designing Your Own Outline Numbers

Outline Numbers and Codes and Renumbering

Chapter 3: Using WBS Coding

What’s a WBS Code?

Creating WBS Codes

Creating a WBS Chart

Customizing WBS Codes

WBS Codes and Renumbering

Chapter 4: Linking and Consolidating Projects

Connecting Projects with Hyperlinks

Consolidating Projects

Dependencies in Consolidated Projects

The Critical Path in a Consolidated Project

Sharing Resources Using a Resource Pool

Book IV : Establishing Task Timing

Chapter 1: Looking at Timing

Understanding What Drives Timing

Scheduling Backwards or Forwards

Surviving Schedule Shock

Chapter 2: Defining What Drives Task Timing

Finding Just the Right Task Type

Setting Task Duration

Starting and Pausing Tasks

Understanding Effort-Driven Tasks

Chapter 3: Adding Dependencies

Why Dependencies Are Needed

Understanding Dependencies

Setting Dependencies

Visualizing Task Dependencies

Chapter 4: Working with Constraints and Deadlines

Beginning with the Start and Finish Dates

Understanding How Constraints Work

Establishing Constraints

Setting a Deadline

Book V : Working with Resources and Costs

Chapter 1: Creating Resources

What Exactly Is a Resource?

All Kinds of Resources

Creating Resources

Chapter 2: Understanding Costs

Accruing Costs All Over the Place

Assigning Costs to Resources

Chapter 3: Assigning Resources to Tasks

Locating the Right Resource for the Job

Your Assignment Is . . .

Making Sure of Availability

Sharing Resources

When Do My Resources Work?

E-mailing an Assignment to Your Team

Chapter 4: Tallying Costs

How Your Settings Affect Your Budget

How Project Calculates Costs

Examining Cost Data

The Value of a Project Summary Task

Book VI : Communicating Project Information

Contents at a Glance

Chapter 1: Working with Views

What’s a View?

Selecting the Startup View

Making a View Handy to Display

Sorting Tasks in a View

Filtering a View

Grouping Information

Using Combination Views

Customizing a View

Creating a New Combination View

Printing Your Project

Chapter 2: Working with Tables

Understanding Tables

Understanding Indicators

Making Changes to a Table

Customizing Tables

Working with the Details of Usage Views

Chapter 3: Preparing Traditional Reports

Preparing and Printing Reports

Preparing Big Picture Reports

Reporting on Task Status

Reporting on Costs

Reporting on Assignments

Preparing Workload Reports

Viewing Custom Reports

Adapting Reports to Suit Your Needs

Chapter 4: Creating Visual Reports

Preparing a Visual Report

Visually Reporting on Task Usage

Visually Reporting on Resource Usage

Visually Reporting on Assignment Usage

Preparing Visual Task Summary Reports

Preparing Visual Resource Summary Reports

Preparing Visual Assignment Summary Reports

Customizing Visual Reports

Book VII : Resolving Problems in Your Plan

Chapter 1: Working with Filters

Filtering to Spot Resource and Schedule Problems

Filtering in Action

Working with Groups

Chapter 2: Solving Resource Conflicts

Keeping Resources in Line

Combining Solutions

Chapter 3: Reviewing Timing and Costs

Timing is Everything

Doing It All in Less Time

Getting It for Less

Making Your Project Timing Realistic

Chapter 4: Putting Final Changes into Place

Getting to a Final Project Plan

Selling Changes to Shareholders

Book VIII : Tracking

Chapter 1: Working with Baselines and Interim Plans

Understanding Baselines and Interim Plans

Setting a Baseline

Saving an Interim Plan

Changing a Baseline or Interim Plan

Clearing Baselines and Interim Plans

Viewing the Critical Path

Chapter 2: Entering Actuals

What’s Involved in Tracking?

Collecting Tracking Information

Setting Up to Track

Ways to Record Actuals

Viewing Progress

Chapter 3: Reviewing Your Budget

The Basics of Earned Value Fields

Examining Cost Variance

Physical % Complete Versus % Complete

Book IX : Advanced Project Topics

Chapter 1: Working Your Own Way

Controlling the Project Guide’s Behavior

How Many Times Can You Undo?

Switching Between Open Projects

Customizing the Way You Open

Customizing the Way You Save

Customizing the Toolbars

Customizing the Menus

Using the Organizer to Share Project Elements

Chapter 2: Changing the Look of a Project

Changing Fonts

Applying Special Formatting to Gantt Chart View

Working with the Network Diagram

Modifying Calendar View

Chapter 3: Using Macros

Understanding Macros

Creating a Macro

Using a Macro

Chapter 4: Importing Information into Project

Using Graphic Objects in Project

Getting Tasks from Outlook

Importing Excel and Access Information into Project

Importing Project Exchange Files into Project

Importing Text or Comma-Separated Files into Project

Chapter 5: Exporting Project Information

Copying Pictures into Office Programs

Saving Visual Reporting Information

Exporting Project Data to Excel

Exporting Project Data to Text Files

Book X : The Basics of Project Server

Contents at a Glance

Chapter 1: Understanding Project Server

What Is Project Server?

Do You Need Project Server?

Planning the Implementation of Project Server

Chapter 2: The Project Server Administrator

Understanding the Structure of the Project Server Database

Reviewing Defaults

Working with Users

Working with Views

Working with the Enterprise Global Template

Creating Enterprise Custom Fields

Establishing Enterprise Calendars

Working with Enterprise Resources

Loading Projects into the Project Server Database

Managing Timesheet and Task Settings

Customizing Project Web Access

Checking in Enterprise Projects and Resources

Managing Information in the Project Server Database

Backing Up and Restoring

Managing the Queue

Chapter 3: Project Server and the Project Manager

Logging onto Project Server

Working with Web-based Projects

Creating Status Report Layouts

Receiving Task Updates from Team Members

Chapter 4: Project Server and the Team Member

Understanding the Project Web Access Home Page

Customizing the Home Page

Working with Your Tasks

Working with Your Timesheet

Integrating the Outlook Calendar with Project Web Access

Reporting Status

Glossary

: Further Reading

Introduction

Project management has been around as long as there have been people coming together trying to get things done. Some ancient fellow with a lot of ambition probably took the lead as the very first project manager. He carved diagrams in stone tablets to help his team members understand his strategy and actually talked to them to communicate progress (no e-mail in those days!). Unlike you, this early project manager had no senior management to report to, no formal budget, and no cubicle, but the fundamental spirit of a project was there.

Over the years, project management has evolved into a sophisticated discipline that involves standardized methodologies and techniques. Project managers have a toolkit that includes detailed analyses and projections, tools to track time and money, and highly visual reports to impress management. Project management software — which has been around only about 25 years or so — has brought a new face and functionality to project management that would have left our ancient project managers speechless.

About This Book

Microsoft Office Project 2007, the most recent version of the world’s most popular project management software, provides a treasure trove of functionality; it makes the features of your average word processing software look like child’s play in comparison.

All that functionality can be wonderful, but if you’ve never used project management software, those features can also be a bit overwhelming. One key to making the leap from your traditional project management methods to project management software is to understand how its features relate to what you do every day as a project manager. Another is to get a book like this one that tells you all about Project’s features and how to use them. Even if you have used project management software or Project itself before, this book offers a wealth of advice and information on Project 2007 features that can help you get productive right away.

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