Below is a list of common questions I asked about MS Project. Please review the list of questions and their answers before you e-mail me with any queries about the use of Project.
How do I display the Project Summary Task?
The Project Summary task appears in the first row of your project plan and summaries your entire project, providing you with total costs, duration, work-loads etc. You display it through project options. Select Tools and then Options. Select the View tab and in the Outline options switch on the Project Summary check box and click OK. The Project Summary task will now appear in row zero.
How do I create a summary task?
Summary Tasks are created through in-direct action, that is, you perform the action on another task which then creates a Summary above it.
Enter the summary task in the normal fashion ensuring that it is the row above the tasks that it will summaries. Now select the tasks below it which it is to summaries by dragging with the mouse. Move to the Formatting toolbar and click on the Indent button (2nd button from the left). This will demote the selected tasks by one outline level and make the task above a Summary.
How do I create a Milestone?
Enter the task as a normal task and then change its duration to zero.
How do I display the Critical Path in the Gantt Chart?
Run the GanttChartWizard (Format, GanttChartWizard). Follow the instructions ensuring that you select Critical Path in Step 2.
Can I squeeze my project so I can see all the tasks on the screen?
Yes and No.
The project timescale can be zoomed to show all the task bars within the width of the available screen, but you cannot zoom vertically to squeeze all the task rows.
To fit all the task bars on the screen select View, Zoom and then the Entire Project radio button followed by OK. 'View, Zoom, Entire Project' works in most views including the Network Diagram and the Resource Graph.
How do I find out how much Slack (float) a task has?
Change the table to the schedule table (View, Table: , Schedule) and move the vertical grippable divider to reveal the Total and Free Slack columns
Can I display the WBS code with my tasks?
Yes, either insert a column into your table selecting WBS Code as the field. Or, select Tools, Options and the View tab and in the Outline options select Show Outline Codes and click on OK. This will display the outline code (which by default is the same as the WBS code) in front of the task name.
When I change to the split pane view to check through the dependencies for errors, I only see the predecessors. What do I need to change to see both predecessors and successors?
You need to change the details of the lower pane by selecting Format, Details, Predecessors and Successors. This can also be achieved by right-clicking in the lower pane and selecting Predecessors and Successors from the object menu.
How do I remove a task dependency?
When you can clearly see the errant link in the Gantt Chart or Network Diagram, double click on the link line, the Task Dependency will appear. Check the to and from details to ensure you have the required link and then click on the Delete button.
If the errant is not clearly visible, select the two incorrectly linked tasks using the mouse and the Ctrl key and then click on the Unlink Tasks button on the toolbar.
How do I enter a lead time?
Lead is simply negative lag. Identify the required link line (use the Zoom In and Goto Selected Task buttons if necessary) double-click on it to bring up the Task Dependency form and enter the lead time as negative value in the Lag box and click on OK.
We are receiving a pay rise in April, How can I include this in my Project?
A resources cost rate can rise and fall during the life of a project. To model this bring up a resource's Resource Information form (double click on the resource) and move to the Cost tab. In the Cost Rate Table move to the second row and enter the date of the pay rise (01/04/04) in the Effective date column. Next enter rates for Standard and where applicable overtime and Cost per use. These values can be entered as percentages.
Unfortunately this is the only way of modeling a cost rate rise and has to be done individually for each resource.
I can enter multiple pay rates for a resource using the A-E tabs in the cost section of Resource Information, but how do I set which of these rate the resource uses' on each task?
Change to the Resource Usage View and move to the relevant resource. The task assignments are listed below the resource, double-click on the assignment you wish to change. In Assignment Information use the drop-down to select the required cost-rate and click on OK. The same process can be preformed in the Task Usage view.
Is there a simple way to check that every task has a resource assigned to it?
Move to the Resource Usage view and check the assignments listed under unassigned, this should only include milestones.
My project contains resource over-allocations, how do I get Project to show me where they occur?
Change to the Resource Allocation view (View, More Views, Resource Allocation) and display the Resource Management toolbar (View, Toolbars, Resource Management). Click on the Goto Next Overallocation button. Project will move through the plan and select the next resource over-allocation. Repeatedly click on the Goto Next Overallocation button to see all of the problems in your project.
I have created a custom report which I would like to use in more than one project. Do I need to recreate the report in each project?
No. A custom report can be transfer into Project's global template file, the global.mpt and this makes it available to all your projects. Open the project plan in which you created the custom report. Select Tools, Organizer and then the Reports tab. Select your custom report in the list under the project (the column on the right) and click on the Copy button. This will transfer the report into the global.mpt and it will now appear in the list on the left.