Author: Praveen Malik
Praveen Malik, PMP, has two-plus decades of experience as a project management instructor and consultant. He regularly conducts project management workshops in India and abroad and shares his project management thinking in his blog, PM by PM.
Back to Basics: Why do Projects Fail?
I was working for an IT services company in early 2000. The much-dreaded Y2K problem had just passed without giving us too much trouble, and we had gotten a big project from a U.S based Fortune 500 company. They wanted us to re-engineer their existing system using Java and CORBA. Those were the two of the hottest technologies in those days probably at the peak of the hype cycle. I remember that we were all elated and just couldn’t believe our luck that we will be using the latest and greatest technology. What we didn’t realize at the time was just how much new technology can hurt a project. Anything that is new and unknown just increases a project’s complexity—and that’s just what happened. In those days, the Internet was still in its infancy. In addition, there was not much out there about CORBA. Somehow, we got hold of a book on the topic, but it had to be shared among all the team members. To cut the story short, we faced a lot of risks and issues because of the new technology being used. Somehow, we finished the project, but it took six months longer than what we had originally estimated. An unknown technology is only one of the reasons for project failure. There are many others, some of which are more harmful than an unknown technology. A PwC study of over 10,640 projects found that only a tiny, tiny portion of companies (2.5% to be exact) completed 100% of their projects successfully. Failure is part of project management. Let’s try to understand why! Failed vs. Challenged Projects A project is considered a failure if it does not meet the defined objectives or if it fails to deliver the agreed-upon requirements. Some projects are also considered failed if they don’t meet financial parameters or if they fail to meet the Return on Investment (ROI) target. A project is considered challenged if it delivers most or all of the agreed-upon requirements, but if it is delivered late and/or goes over budget. A project is also considered as challenged it fails to achieve the right balance between the six project management constraints. Delivering most of the requirements means that the final product, service, or result has fewer features and functions than it was originally envisaged. Reasons Projects Fail or Become Challenged Power Skills Related Reasons A project sponsor is a person or a group who provides resources and support for the project and is accountable for enabling success. If there is no sponsor or if a sponsor does not have the requisite authority, a project is doomed from the start. A project can fail if there is no clear authority and/or accountability established. For example, a project manager is either not identified early or does not have sufficient authority to lead the project. Challenges or failure can occur when the senior management gives more focus to technology or technical details, losing sight of the desired business outcome. A final leadership-related reason for failure is the general lack of transparency. For example, if the leadership does not share all the details with the team. Organization Related Reasons An organization’s priorities can change in the middle of the project, leading to changes in a project’s priorities, as well. This results in failure or a project becoming challenged. The same is true if there is a lack of organizational culture to complete the projects. Many organizations give greater thrust to building a preeminent product. In the process, they lose focus on customer demand, and the product launch is invariably delayed. Projects can fail or become challenged when there is no consistent methodology for managing projects within an organization. Different projects use different methodologies of project management. Project Management-Related Reasons One of the most common reasons for project failure is when a project manager is either inexperienced or not knowledgeable enough. Many people are taken from technical roles and pushed directly into project management without being given proper training. Even when the project managers are experienced, they often spend more time on implementation and put the plan on the back burner. Overall poor planning results in challenges/failure. Sometimes plans are made for the senior management and quality auditors, but then they are not followed. The plan not being followed in letter and spirit dooms a project. If there is inadequate monitoring and control, many projects do not follow a proper process for monitoring on a regular basis and run into difficulty. In some projects, the periodicity of monitoring is not decided while in others monitoring is done superficially. Project Initiation-Related Reasons In my previous article, I wrote about how to start a project. The chances of failure increase if projects are not initiated properly. Here are some major points from that article, which can lead to project failure: Goals and objectives are either not properly defined or are unclear and fuzzy. Goals and objectives change frequently. Shifting goal posts are never good for any kind of project. The customer is not involved right from the beginning of the project. Resource Related Reasons Project team members have inadequate domain knowledge or experience. Project team roles are not properly or clearly defined. There is a lack of resources for planning and team members do not have proper assignments. There is a lack of coherence among the team members. They do not actively help each other. Project team members are not motivated. Some of the project’s team members, who are more experienced or knowledgeable than the others, are over-allocated (i.e. they are assigned more tasks than they can chew). Project team members do not have the requisite tools to produce consistent results. Scope Related Reasons The project scope is not properly defined. A project cannot succeed without a formal scope statement and Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). There is frequent scope creep. Scope creep is the addition of features and/or functionality to product scope without corresponding adjustment to customer-approved time or cost. There are too many changes in the project. Changes are part and parcel of every project and they are not bad, but too many changes can lead to project failure. Schedule Related Reasons Project tasks are either not properly estimated or the project team makes too many estimation assumptions. Timelines are unrealistic (usually happens because of customer or senior management pressure). The project schedule is not properly defined. The best way to create a good project schedule is by carefully analyzing the project network diagrams. Risk Management-Related Reasons Risks are not identified, documented, analyzed, and prioritized. There is inadequate or poor risk planning. Risks are not regularly monitored, re-analyzed, and re-prioritized. Other Reasons There is inadequate or poor-quality planning. There are inadequate testing activities. There is inadequate or poor communication among project stakeholders. The project team does not regularly communicate with the customer. Customers do not regularly participate in project activities and team meetings. Conclusion I have written thirty-four reasons for failed or challenged projects. From your experiences you could possibly add a few more, but they will most likely be related to the reasons written above. More important than finding the reasons for failure is finding out what is ailing your project. You should read these reasons again, cogitate, and brainstorm with your team to come up with two or three major reasons for harm within a challenged or failing project. Then, take some positive actions to make your project successful while there is still some time. Which reason from the above list is most detrimental for the project? Would you add anything else to the above list? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
Back to Basics: How to Start a Project?
Aristotle was a great philosopher, but it’s my belief that if he had lived today, he would have become a great project manager. Living in 4th century B.C., Aristotle wrote a series of books on politics. He gave reference to the popular proverb, “Well begun is half done,” in one of his treatises. He wrote: “The mistake lies in the beginning; as the proverb says, ‘Well begun is half done;’ so an error at the beginning, though quite small, bears the same ratio to the errors in the other parts.” This wisdom is as relevant today (and maybe even more so), as it was a few centuries ago. In today’s world, we can easily deduce that the chances of successfully completing a project become higher if you begin it well. An important question arises: how DO you start a project? In one of my previous posts, I wrote about the role of a project manager and listed responsibilities as they related to five different process groups. Let’s look at properly starting a project from this basis. 1. Start with Understanding the Project You might not get much information about the project at the start, but you should look at the feasibility study documents, the contract, the statement of work, and the project brief. As a project manager, you should thoroughly read these documents and take notes about following aspects of the project: Project goals Project timeline and budget Stakeholder expectations with respect to the scope of work and final deliverables Success criteria, which might include things like on-time delivery, sticking to the defined budget, and handing over a defect free product Do not hesitate to call your client or other stakeholders if you are not sure of something. It is absolutely essential that you gather as much information as possible before you proceed to the next step. I usually hold a series of meetings with main stakeholders at the start of the project. I probe them about the project and ask them about their expectations from the project. I also try to gauge how can they help me in completing my tasks. You can do the same thing. Remember that this is your project, and it is your neck which is on the line. So, do what you have to do to gather as much information as possible. You may have to meet with stakeholders several times before you get the required clarification. Remember: “Well begun is half done.” 2. Define Key Objectives After you have gathered the initial information about the project and understand the Project Goals, you should start defining the key objectives of the project. Goals are different from objectives. A goal is like a vision that defines the project outcome. It provides a summary of the project’s purpose. Goals are generally very broad and are not measurable. Objectives, on the other hand, are specific actions that can measured. While defining project objectives, ensure that everyone is aligned with both the project and the organizational goals. Use the SMART framework (below) to write effective project objectives: Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound For example, a project goal might be to improve the customer service. Converted to a SMART objective, it would be: Increase the average customer satisfaction ratings from 4.3 to 4.5 over a period of six months. You should collaborate and validate project objectives with senior stakeholders, including the project sponsor and customer before proceeding further. 3. Develop a Project Charter Start creating the project charter after you have thoroughly understood the finer elements of the project and defined its objectives. A project charter is one of the most important documents in a project; if not the most important. It is essential for defining the project’s purpose and communicating the same to stakeholders. The project charter authorizes the existence of the project and defines its essential elements. According to the PMBOK Guide, the project charter not only authorizes the existence of the project, but also gives the project manager the authority to use organizational resources for project activities. Generally, project charter is a small document. The major elements are: Vision and purpose Description Objectives High level scope and requirements High level milestone schedule Overall budget Initial risks Main stakeholders and their respective roles Project manager’s name Project sponsor’s name and signature Although the objectives, timeline, and deliverables of a project may change over time, the project charter builds a foundation for the project team. After putting together the project charter document, you should get it signed by the project sponsor. It has no significance without the sponsor’s signature. 4. Hold a Kick-off Meeting Hold a project kick-off meeting after your project charter is ready. The charter can be circulated to the attendees before the meeting is held, but this gives you a chance to explain the ingredients of the charter to everyone involved with the project. The main purpose of the project kick-off meeting is to formally launch the project and get it off the ground. This meeting serves as a starting point for the project where the stakeholders get to understand the nature of the project and its overall objectives. The meeting provides direction and clear next steps for executing the project. Here a some of the main ways a project kick-off meeting can help the project get off to a good start: Introduces main stakeholders to each other and explain their respective roles in the project Establishes a common understanding for the project Defines the success criteria Establishes a shared understanding of the tasks that are required to be completed Gains commitment from the stakeholders Acts as a forum for the project team, project sponsor, and other main stakeholders to get on the same page A successful kick-off meeting can be the key to set the tone and direction for the project. If a kick-off meeting is done correctly, it can make a huge difference in the success of the entire project. Note: In some organizations, the project kick-off meeting is held to prepare the charter. Over to you Which other things do you do while initiating a project? Do you think project charter adds value to the project especially when the project parameters change over a period of time? Is it important to talk to the stakeholders at the beginning of a project or can it be left for later stages? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
What Are the Different Project Organizational Structures?
A company’s organizational structure is the system that defines a hierarchy within the organization. It typically describes job functions and reporting relationships. It can also describe how activities are directed to meet organizational goals. A formal organizational structure helps in the internal working of an organization and helps in its future growth. It determines how work flows within an organization and allows groups to work together in their respective functions to manage tasks. There are three prevalent types of organizational structures in the project management industry today: Projectized Organizations Functional Organizations Matrix Organizations Let us take a closer look at each of these types of organizations and understand how they impact projects. Projectized Organizations Projectized organizations are considered to be the best type for project managers (PMs). PMs are the true bosses, as they have a lot of autonomy and authority. They have the complete freedom to make major project decisions. In these types of organizational structures, project managers have appointed at the start a project and a team is assigned to them. The team is disbanded after the project is completed. This type of organization; however, does not offer job security to project managers and project staff. See the below figure. These types of organizations offer full-time role to PMs, who can either manage a large project or manage multiple smaller projects simultaneously. This type of structure is followed in those companies where most of the work is project work (as opposed to operational work). For example, companies doing consulting, R&D, software development, and construction work follow this type of organizational structure. Functional Organizations Functional Organizations are at the opposite end of the spectrum. They are organized into divisions or departments, which contain people who have similar skills and competencies. These divisions are called functional units and the person heading the unit can be referred to as the functional manager. Examples of such units are Accounting, Engineering, Production, Procurement, Marketing, etc. Functional managers hold complete authority over their functional units in these types of organizations. They can make decisions related to budgeting, hiring people, resource allocation, procurements etc. All the people in a functional unit report directly or through a hierarchy to the functional manager. These type of organization structures do not usually have a project manager. Projects are initiated and managed by the functional managers in functional organizations. However, if project management position is available, then the role of PM is usually very limited. A project manager is called either an expediter or coordinator in such organizations. Project managers in such organizations don’t have any real authority. They provide project support and coordinate tasks among different people, but the functional managers are the real bosses. They assign resources to a project and assign the tasks. People usually work part-time in project roles. Matrix Organizations The matrix organization structure is a combination of the above two types of organizational structures. This combination helps the companies to efficiently utilize the resources and improve turnaround time. They can respond faster to market and customer demands while decreasing the lead time for launching new products. Most large companies follow a matrix structure. In these types of organizations, project managers and functional managers share authority. Project managers get more authority in this structure than they get in functional organizations without losing focus on functional services. In these types of organizations, project managers are usually appointed by the Director of Projects at the start of a project and they come back to project managers’ pool after their project finishes. The functional managers choose the project team members and allocate them to the project. The team members work with the project manager while the project is going on and they return back to their functions once the project is finished. The major disadvantage of these type of organizations is that employees have to report to more than one manager; however, there are three flavors of Matrix organizations: Strong Matrix Balanced Matrix Weak Matrix Let’s take a closer look at the different type of Matrix organizations. Strong Matrix A Strong Matrix structure is closer to a Projectized organization. The project manager tends to get more power than the functional managers in this type of structure. In these types of organizations, functional managers are mainly responsible for deciding which resources will be allocated to the project, but after that, the project manager takes over. Team members report to the project manager for the duration they are allocated to the project and the project manager is free to assign tasks to them. Functional managers typically have no say in how the project is managed. Weak Matrix This Weak Matrix structure is closer to a Functional organization. The functional managers have more power than the project manager(s). In this type of structure, a project manager can be thought of as a project coordinator or project expeditor. They do not have any real power and just concentrate on coordination and administration. All major decisions are made by the functional managers. Balanced Matrix Balanced matrix organizations provide similar kind of power to both project managers and functional managers. In a balanced matrix, communication problems can arise when there is not enough clarity about team members’ reporting. Conclusion An organization’s structure is what links and aligns different parts of an organization so that it can perform smoothly. An organization’s success in achieving its goals is invariably linked to the structure it chooses. Organizational structure influences how projects are managed within a company. To aid the strategic alignment, leadership should understand the benefits and limitations of different types of organizational structures. Project managers should understand the type of organization in which they are working and manage their projects accordingly by considering the following factors before starting a project: Degree of project/functional orientation Extent of the project manager’s (office) authority Collocation and management of project members Allocation of resources Control/authorization Reporting procedures and systems Which type of organization do you work for? Do you think it is an appropriate structure for the business that your company is into? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
Back to Basics: Project Manager vs. Project Sponsor
I regularly conduct PMP training workshops. About one hour in, I discuss project stakeholders, and almost always the same question comes up: What is the difference between the project manager and the project sponsor? Students ask me this question because different organizations use different titles to represent project roles. It seems there is always a difference of opinion about the role of the project manager vs. the project sponsor. In this article, I will be covering the differences between these two roles. Differences In a previous ‘Back to Basics’ article, I wrote about the role of a project manager. I compared the project manager to a conductor of an opera. For our purposes here, let’s liken the project manager and project sponsor to the director and producer of a movie. Here is an excerpt from screenskills.com: Directors are the creative leads for the film. They hold the creative vision throughout the whole process, from pre-production to the final edit. They are employed by the executive producer or producer, who is ultimately in charge of the production. Directors start with a script and work with a screenwriter and sometimes a script editing team. It’s not uncommon for the director to be the screenwriter, as well. These two paragraphs clearly enunciate the difference between a movie director and producer. Project managers are akin to the movie directors. They hold the project vision, and their main job is to orchestrate and drive the team to meet the Project Goals. Project sponsors, on the other hand, are like movie producers. They provide funds and resources for the project, and their main job is to provide support to the project manager, so that the manager can meet the Project Goals. Relationship between Manager and Sponsor Project sponsors usually sit one level above project managers. The following diagram depicts the relationship between them. As you can see, the project manager is shown as a subordinate of the sponsor, but it is also possible that there is no direct reporting relationship between the manager and sponsor. Even if there is no reporting relationship between them, sponsors are always higher up in the organizational hierarchy than managers. Sponsor have higher authority and more decision-making power than managers. Role of a Project Manager The PMBOK Guide defines the project manager as the person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives. A project manager is involved in day-to-day handling of the project and does everything that is necessary to meet the project objectives. A project manager oversees all aspects of a project which includes team management, schedule preparation, resource assignments, budgeting, and progress tracking. Go back to my previous article to fully understand the role of a project manager. Role of a Project Sponsor The PMBOK Guide defines the project sponsor as a person or group who provides resources and support for the project, program, or portfolio and is accountable for enabling success. Sponsors are senior officers. They are generally not involved in day-to-day handling of the project, but they provide support to project managers in order to make the project successful. Sponsors provide funds, resources, leadership, and support to successfully complete the project. They keep the project’s costs and schedule under control while making sure that the project delivers quality results. Sponsors represent the business side of a project. Generally, their involvement in the project starts much before the project manager is identified. Sometimes, their involvement starts even before the inception of the project. Sponsors carry the overall ownership of a project. They try to promote the project within and outside the performing organization. They keep the project on the priority list of the organization and approve changes to the project when necessary. They act as a conduit between the senior executive team and the project manager. Sponsors identify and assign the project manager to the project. They authorize the project manager to use the organizational resources to complete the project. Let’s consider the responsibilities of a project sponsor initiation to closing of a project. Initiation The sponsor completes the following tasks during the initiation phase of the project: Defines project objectives and success criteria. Organizes project kick-off meeting to announce formal start of the project. Identifies members of the core project team. Identifies and appoints the project manager. Signs off on project charter. Gives mandates to the project manager to use organizational resources to complete the project objectives. Provides business documents , such as the business case, feasibility study, and contract, to the project manager. Gives commitment to provide funds and resources throughout the project. Gives guidance and provides leadership to the project team. Planning During the planning phase, the sponsor does the following: Participates in initial project meeting for the development of scope, schedule, resource plan, and project organizational chart. Verifies the project scope statement to ensure that it’s well defined. Negotiates with the customer to keep project scope within pre-defined limits. Reviews and approves the project schedule. Negotiates with functional managers to get experienced and skillful team members. Ensures that the project is adequately staffed. Decides project budget and conveys it to the project manager. Reviews and approves the overall project plan. Provides support to the project manager for any challenges or escalations. Helps the project manager to mitigate project threats and realize opportunities. Resolves differences of opinion among the project stakeholders to gain consensus. Execution During execution, the sponsor: Provides support to the project manager and project team for doing project work. Ensures funds are disbursed in a timely manner. Shields the project from unnecessary interreference from internal and external stakeholders. Encourages and motivates the project manager and team members to complete the project deliverables. Helps in third party contract Acts as a conduit between project manager and senior executive committee. Prevents unnecessary changes and scope creep. Takes care of additional funding and resource requirements. Monitoring and Controlling Throughout the monitoring and controlling phase, the sponsor performs the following tasks: Periodically assesses project deadlines or goals. Approves adjustments to project plan as necessary. Implements change control processes and approves documented change requests. Evaluates project progress and provides feedback when appropriate. Provides approval of the finished project deliverables. Identifies, addresses, and resolves any issues as they emerge. Provides approval of the completion of key project milestones. Makes adjustments to the approved project plans. Closing When a project is complete and during the closing phase, the sponsor: Evaluates project performance based on previously defined success criteria. Ensures project is successfully handed over to the customer. Ensures that customer signs-off on the project. Participates in the project lessons learned session to determine project successes and failures. Provides guidance for creating the project closure report. Releases or reassigns the project team members. Helps in closing the open third-party contracts. Helps in taking care of any legal formalities. Conclusion Project managers and project sponsors have a hierarchical and symbiotic relationship. Both have a motive to complete the project objectives successfully. They have their own set of responsibilities, but they collaborate with each other to ensure that the project benefits are realized. What title do you use for project sponsor in your organization? Do you know of any other responsibilities of a project sponsor? Do you think project managers and sponsors have some overlapping responsibilities? I would love to hear from you in the comments section below.
Back to Basics: What is the Role of a Project Manager?
There are a few reasons you may wish to understand the role of a project manager more fully. Perhaps it is because you are looking for a project management job and want to have a career in project management. Alternatively, you may be applying for the PMP or a similar project management exam. If your reason is the former, I must warn you that project management (PM) is not for the faint hearted. It requires travel on an uncharted path and sometimes calls for a swim in the troubled waters. It will likely snatch peace and tranquility from your life. However, if you have made up your mind, consider that there is a brighter side. A project manger’s profession is one of the top paying in the world. If your reason was the latter, then you are likely already fishing in troubled waters and well accustomed to day-to-day PM travails. That said, before applying to a PM exam, you need to have a solid understanding of the project manager’s role. You will need to describe as part of your exam application form. Your application might be rejected if you do not write it carefully. If you are eligible for the PMP exam, you can read the PMP Exam Content Outline (ECO) to understand the role of a project manager (also abbreviated PM). ECO provides a detailed list of tasks that a project manager is supposed to perform. ECO is slightly long and hard to read but, if you want, you can give it a try. Otherwise, read on to understand the role of a project manager in simpler terms. The Role of a Project Manager The role of a project manager is akin to the role of a conductor of an orchestra. He/she creates a perfect symphony by coordinating numerous musicians who are playing various different musical instruments. Just like a conductor, the project manager coordinates, integrates, and harmonizes the activities of the project team to deliver a successful product. A project manager plays a pivotal role in achieving the goals of the project. They may not be skillful and knowledgeable in all aspects of the project and might not perform technical work, but they are always accountable for delivering the finished product. In order to achieve Project Goals, the PM has stay on top of all kinds of activities throughout the project putting a proverbial finger in every pie. In some cases, the job of a project manager starts even before a project is formally initiated (he/she could be involved in business benefits analysis, proposal preparation, and/or a feasibility study, for example). In most cases, the job starts with the project’s initiation. Let us look at responsibilities of a PM from Initiation to Closing. Initiation Planning Execution Monitoring And Controlling Closing Conclusion I have listed various responsibilities that come under the purview of a project manager, but the above is by no means exhaustive. To use an old expression, a project manager may have to do “anything and everything under the sun” in order to meet stakeholder expectations and deliver a quality finished product. In sum, the role of a PM is to successfully meet the project objectives within defined constraints and handover the result to the customer. On the way, the PM has to take care of stakeholders’ interests and ensure that the business benefits are achieved. If you are already a PM, which, out of all the responsibilities mentioned in the previous section, do you find most difficult to fulfil? What other responsibilities could be added to the list? I would love to hear from you below. Learn how an MPUG Membership helps individuals and teams become better project manage professionals and Microsoft Project users through highly cost effective online training. Join MPUG to attend live training webinars, access 500+ hours of on-demand sessions, receive certificates of completion and earn the Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs) that you need to become a Project Management Professional (PMP) Watch an MPUG training webinar for free and improve your Microsoft Project skills in less than 1 hour.
Back to Basics: How Are Projects Different from Operations?
You are likely reading this article because you are part of MPUG community, and you’re aware of a tool called Microsoft Project (MSP). Do you know why MSP was first called Microsoft “Project” or why, for that matter, Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) tools contain the word “Project”? And, why there are no standalone “Operational” scheduling tools? To be honest, I don’t have a clear or definite answer to these questions. I have found; however, that scheduling for a project is much more difficult than scheduling for an operation. I have written this article to discuss projects and operations. We’ll explore differences and similarities between these business terms. I hope you’ll gain a better understanding of projects and operations from reading it. A Brief History of Projects and Operations Projects and operations have been happening since the beginning of mankind. In fact, a case could be made for such pre-dating mankind and going back to the Neanderthal age. In fact, early projects and operations were tools of survival for humans and Neanderthals. In very early days, hunting or building home were projects. Such activities can still be considered projects in today’s day and age. On the other hand, cooking food or making clothing would fall into the operations category. Although projects and operations are as old as human history, a clear distinction between these two terms came about only after World War II. Before that time period in history, all business work was treated as operational work. However, during the war, projects become more complex and sophisticated. Governments and private industries initiated and invested heavily in new weapon development endeavors, which were required to be successfully completed in record times. Although a grim prospect to consider, the development of war weapons gave rise to the recognition of project management as a science distinct from operations management. What are Projects? As per the PMBOK Guide, a project is a temporary endeavor to create a unique product, service, or result. Notice the definition contains two keywords: “temporary” and “unique.” Temporary implies that the endeavor is time bound. It has a definite start and finish date. Unique means that the endeavor is undertaken to produce or result in something that has not been done before. Temporary does not mean that the result of a project is insignificant or has a low utility. It also does not mean that a project has a short timeframe. It just means that the endeavor has a definite start and finish date. Projects cannot go on and on and result in something distinct. We can think of a project as an agent of change. Here are a few examples of projects from the business world: Constructing a building Developing a software Designing a new machine Landscaping a garden We undertake projects in our personal lives, too. Here are a few examples: Organizing a wedding or celebration Organizing a holiday trip What are Operations? The simplest definition of an operation is that it’s not a project. In short, operations are not temporary and they do not yield unique results. They are ongoing without a defined end date. Operations are repetitive and they maintain a certain status-quo. Here are a few examples of operations from the business world: Running a bus service Supplying electricity to homes Manufacturing ingots Periodic maintenance of a garden Here are some operations that we perform on a daily basis personally: Getting ready for work Cooking meals Differences Between Projects and Operations Some differences to consider between projects and operations are as follows: Projects Operations Create unique results Create non-unique results Create new knowledge Use existing and pre-defined knowledge Have a defined start and finish date Ongoing and repetitive Are agents of change Maintain status quo Are inherently risky since there is no existing knowledge. Are relatively less risky You can check also this video for a quick overview of the difference between the two terms. Similarities Between Operations and Projects There are many similarities between operations and projects: Both are performed to achieve business objectives. Both are planned, executed, and monitored/controlled. Both are constrained by time, cost, and resources. Both are performed by individuals. Conclusion I have noticed that most people who are curious about the distinction between projects and operations are so because they are preparing for a project management exam. Perhaps this article has satiated your curiosity. Understanding the differences is extremely important and especially if you are applying for the PMP exam or any other PMI exam. As part of the exam application process, you will likely be asked to list the details of the projects that you have done. I have seen many aspirants provide instead a description of operations they have performed on their application. This leads to a PMI audit and ultimately the rejection of their application. Did you read this article because you are preparing the PMP exam, or do you want to get into project management? Is your job mostly project-oriented or is it operational? Between projects and operations, which one do you think is more important for running a business? I would love to hear from you below.
Ten Best Microsoft Project Tips –Transcription
Please find below a transcription of the audio portion of Praveen Malik’s webinar, Ten Best Microsoft Project Tips, being provided by MPUG for the convenience of our members. You may wish to use this transcript for the purposes of self-paced learning, searching for specific information, and/or performing a quick review of webinar content. There may be exclusions, such as those steps included in product demonstrations. You may watch the recording of this webinar at your convenience. Melanie: Welcome. Hello. Welcome to the Ten Best Microsoft Project Tips and Tricks. We’re excited to be here with you today. Please join in today with questions and comments. You can post questions to the question chat window. Just click and drag that window out of the control panel for easier use so it’s easier to type questions in there. I’d also like to take one moment and announce this event that just gone onto our schedule using Agile PM with Microsoft Project online. The authors for this session also did the Agile section in the Microsoft Project step-by-step, so please join in for that next week. Melanie: And our PDU activity code is on the screen. We are going to be doing some polls in the beginning of the session, just so we can anonymously get familiar with each other and have our speaker get familiar with you as well. So you’ll see those coming up in about a minute here. And now I’d like to introduce our organizer and speaker for this event, Praveen Malik, PMP. Praveen has two decades of experience as a project management instructor and consultant. He regularly conducts project management workshops in India and abroad and shares his project management thinking in his blog, PM-by-PM. Welcome Praveen. Praveen: Thank you Melanie. It’s nice to be here on board with everybody here, and I’m thinking that this session is going to be useful for everybody. Let’s just hope for the best. So as Melanie said that this session going to last for about an hour and we will hold 50 minutes of discussions that as I’ll tell you a few things about Microsoft Project, and after our 50 minutes you’ll get a chance to ask questions and I’ll answer them. Of course, you can ask questions in the chat window at any point in time, but the last 10 minutes are reserved for the question-answer sessions only. So talking about myself a little bit, Melanie has already given a small introduction about me, but let me just briefly say that my Microsoft Project experience dates back to 1998 when I first got accustomed to it. Praveen: My manager at that point of time just told me, “Okay, this is Microsoft Project, go ahead and create a Microsoft schedule, a project schedule.” And I didn’t have any idea of what MSP was. I didn’t have any knowledge about what scheduling is or how to do all these things. I was new at that point of time, but then I got the hang of it. Of course, I learned by doing a lot of mistakes at that point of time because we didn’t have the internet resources at that point of time. But nowadays you have plethora of resources on internet. You have a lot of books on Microsoft Project, so it’s quite easy to get a hang of it. Praveen: And secondly over the years Microsoft Project has grown more internship and more user friendly. So having said that, it has been nice experience over the years. I have used Microsoft Project consistently over so many years now. And it has given me a lot of experience and knowledge about how MSP works, what are the pitfalls, how to use it in the best manner possible. So without taking too much of time on about my introduction on Microsoft Project and anything else, I’ll just start with the topic at hand. Melanie: Praveen, our first poll as well has come in. So have you done planning using Microsoft Project? 56% of respondents use it extensively and 44% said they have created small plans. Praveen: That’s good. So most of the people have used it, whether they have created small plan or they have been using extensively. That’s very good. And so they will be able to follow me and I hope they will pose some serious questions. Melanie: And I’m also sharing the poll about expectations for the webinar. Praveen: Okay. So, I’ll wait for maybe one more minute before I start, let the people answer the poll question. Melanie: And we’ll share this poll as well. So our expectations from this webinar, 93% of the audience wants to get new insights. 4% wants to earn PDU and 4% want to start using MS Project. Praveen: Okay. So its new insights then? Melanie: Yes. Praveen: Okay. Melanie: And then let’s do one more for ease of usage. So how would you rate Microsoft Project on ease of usage? And we’ll share that poll as well. So 3% thought it was very easy to use, 26% easy, 65% neither easy or difficult and 6% difficult. Praveen: Okay. Melanie: Thank you so much. Praveen: So most people think that it’s neither too difficult nor too easy. That’s okay. Melanie: Just enough to get in trouble. Praveen: Yeah. Okay, so let’s get started. So I created a small PPT for the topic at hand, I’ll just go to the first slide. So the topic as Melanie had already told you about it’s the Ten Best Microsoft Project Tips for the beginners. So we already see that most of you are using it extensively or at least have used a little bit of it, so you are not exactly a beginner. Melanie: I don’t have your screen up yet, can you share your screen? Praveen: It’s not there, okay, I’m sorry for that. [inaudible 00:07:04] Melanie: Now I see your PowerPoint. Praveen: Can you see that? Melanie: I see your PowerPoint deck. Praveen: Okay. And can you see my Microsoft Project screen? Melanie: Yes I can. Praveen: Okay, then that’s great. Okay, let’s go back. Okay. So let me just restate the topic, the best 10 Microsoft Project tips for beginners. So we already know from the full questions that there are no bigness here, most of the people have been using it extensively and many of you also have used it for small projects. So, that way it’s not for the beginners, but I’m saying you are not really the beginners but I’m sure this session is going to be useful for you. So we’ll talk about 10 points, 10 things that you’ll find useful when you are starting to create a Microsoft Project schedule. So what I’ve done is I’ve created a slide deck where we are going to talk about these 10 points, and the first point… I’ll go point by point. And the first point is define the project start date. Praveen: So I’m just jumping over to Microsoft Project and I’ll show you what start date is and how do you define it. So this is the Microsoft Project screen and you see the top menu over here, you have file, task, resources and there’s a project menu over here. And when you go to the project menu, there is something called project information. So if you click on it, a small dialogue box opens up and by default you’ll see the start date as today’s date which is 4/52022. Now here I’m in India, so by default Microsoft Project uses DD/MM/YY format. Praveen: So if you are in United State you will see maybe MM/DD/YY format. And of course you can set it up, you can change the format. So I’m not going into the how to set up the format or do those kind of things, but we’ll stick to the point at hand which is the utility of start date and how to set it up. So by default it is today’s date but if you want you can change it. You can just click on this drop down here and a calendar will show you, it’ll show you a calendar and then you can select any date that you want. You want let us say coming Monday, you can say 9/5/22 which is May 9th 2022. And you will also see field for the current date, which is of course today’s date. So I’m not going into the rest of the fields here because we need to concentrate on the start date. So whatever the start date may be, so you should define it and why you should define it I’ll come to that in a minute. Praveen: I’ll just go over to the second point, I’ll explain what the second point is and then come back to this point and through an example I’ll show you why do we need a start date and what happens if you don’t have a start date? Okay, so this is… I have set it up for 9/5 which is May 9th, I’m just saying okay here and let us go to our power point. So the second point here is change the default task setting to auto schedule. So going back to the Microsoft Project. So by default the task in Microsoft Project are manually scheduled. And as soon as you open up new project, you should change that to auto schedule. So what is manually scheduled? What is auto scheduled? Let’s just understand it in a minute. Right now if you see on the bottom of the screen it says new task manually scheduled. Praveen: So manually scheduled is also okay. Let’s just look at an example first and then I will be able to differentiate better. So let’s say I have a task alpha and I have a task bravo. Now both are manually scheduled here. Here you’ll see in the second column task mode, in the task mode if you click on that drop down here it has automatically selected as manually scheduled, but you can change it to auto scheduled if you want. But right now let us keep it at manually scheduled. So I have a task called alpha, I have a task called bravo, and what I want to do is let us say… you will see that there is no start date here. I want to select a start date. So we wanted to start the project on 9th, so let’s say ninth year, and let’s say the duration for this task is two days. Melanie: Praveen, quick question from the audience. Can we start the start date earlier than today’s date? Praveen: Yes you can. You can, I’ll show you. I’ll go back to the project information dialogue, I’ll show it to you. Melanie: Thank you. Praveen: Okay, so this is alpha, so when you set two days it automatically calculated the finish date as 10/5 which is 10th of May. And similarly let us say this is a three day task and I want to… I don’t want to put a date here, I’m just saying the predecessor. I just want to have the predecessor as .alpha for the task one. So I’ll put number one here in the predecessor column. If I put predecessor as one, what it means is that bravo is dependent on alpha and it should start immediately after alpha is finished. So let me press enter here. I have put already entered number one, let me press the enter key. So when you press the enter key, this is what happens that automatically the data is calculated and the start date is calculated, which is 11/5, and the finished data calculated as 13/5 which is three days from 11/5. Praveen: So now I have these two tasks, let us go to project information. And here I had the start date as 9/5. Now let me change the start date to… let us say for the timing to 13, something I’m just putting a number here. So now even though I have put the start date as 13, these two dates are not changing. Biologically they should change, why they should change because the project started itself with 13. So the first task should start at least on 13 if not be after that. So this is not happening because these tasks are manually scheduled. Basically the thing… the difference between manually schedule and auto schedule is that whenever you change something in the system, whatever that may be, the rest of the things should be automatically calculated. Praveen: If the tasks are manually scheduled, then those things are not automatically calculated, but if they’re auto scheduled then those things are calculated. So, let’s take another example. Let us say instead of two days, I am putting it as one day here. So now when I put one day here, the task was started on nine. The task started as nine and finished it is also nine that is starting in the morning and finishing in the evening. But if you see bravo start date has not changed, it’s still 11th. Let me just undo it. Praveen: So this was a previous date that is two days starting on nine and finishing on 10th, and then bravo finish the starting on 11th and finishing on 13th. So now what I’m going to do is instead of two days I’m putting the duration as one day, by putting it as one day the finished date of alpha will change, but start date of brow is not changing. The reason is that these tasks are manually scheduled. So what I’m going to do now is… so we will use our best practice, that the best practice is that the all task should be auto scheduled. So what I’m going to do is I’m going to make it auto scheduled and new tasks also at the bottom of screen, I’m just saying all the new tasks should be auto scheduled. So whenever I add a new task here, now a third task here it’ll be auto scheduled. Praveen: Let’s say I add a task called Charlie here. Now you will see this is also auto scheduled in the third call. So rather than going into the column and changing task by task from manual schedule to auto schedule, you can just go to the bottom and change that task from manually scheduled to auto schedule. There are users of manually scheduled tasks also, the users comes when you don’t want Microsoft Project to do the calculations for you. You want to have a complete control over your schedule, but in most of the situation you want Microsoft Project to do the calculations automatically. Otherwise, things like these will not happen. Like this task is finishing on a particular date and this task should start immediately after that, if it is not auto schedule it’ll not start immediately after that. And that might create a problem in your project schedule. Praveen: So right now I have over two or three tasks, but if you have hundreds of tasks you cannot possibly look at all the tasks and the start dates and the finish date of all the task and see whether it should have started or not started, or the start date is correct or incorrect and all those kind things. So it’s better to leave the things that are auto calculation more and let Microsoft Project tell you what it is doing and what it is not. Okay, so coming back, what I did was I just made them auto scheduled, and you would notice that it automatically… the start date of this task, alpha became 13th because our start date for the project was 13th, right? So automatically it calculated it. So, now let’s take that question that we had, can start date before today’s date? Yes, it can be. So let us say I wanted to start this project on, let us say April 25th. Praveen: So I’ll say, “Okay,” so it’ll not give me any warning or anything like that. It’ll just say, “Okay, do you want to start on 25th April?” I don’t mind it, you go ahead and do it. What I’m going to do is I’m automatically going to calculate everything for you. So now you’ll notice that since we changed the project start date to 25th, alpha is starting on 25th, finishing on 25th. Bravo which is a successor to alpha is starting on 26th and finishing on 28 or whatever. And Charlie has no predecessor, so the Microsoft Project is all thinking that Charlie will also start on 25th. Now whenever Microsoft Project does any calculation, it highlight the changes in a light blue color like this. So for example right now what I’m going to do is I’ll just say instead of one day for alpha, I’m going to make it let us say two days again. Okay. So, when I press the enter key here, it’ll change the alpha start date… Oh, sorry. It’ll change the alpha finished date and it’ll change bravos start and finish date. So let’s see, I’m pressing enter. Praveen: So, that’s what it has done. It has changed the finished date, it has changed the start date and finished it of Bravo. And you will see that these three cells are highlighted in blue. Microsoft Project is telling me that these are the three cells I have changed. If there’s anything wrong, please take notice of it, make a note of it and do the necessary if you want. Okay, so going back to our Microsoft Projects slide. So these are the two things that we discussed, so quickly let me just summarize. You want to define the project start date upfront at the very beginning, because it is possible that the start date might change after you scheduled your project. So let’s say today you wanted to start the project on 9th of May, but for some reasons after two days that maybe client informed you that no the project has to be started on 15th of May, so you have to change the start date. So you don’t want to change the whole schedule, you just go there and change the start date and Microsoft Project will do this other calculations for you. Praveen: And second point is related that if you want Microsoft Project to do the calculations for you, you want to change the default task setting from manual schedule to auto schedule. Let’s go to the third point, define your project calendar. Let’s go back to Microsoft Project. Okay, so if you go to the project menu, there is something called change working type. And if you click on it, you’ll see a fancy screen over here. This is a project calendar. So by default Microsoft Project has three calendars, 24 hours calendar, night shift calendar and standard calendar. I’m not going into too much of detail, I’ll just stick to the point that you should have a calendar. But let me just briefly tell you that 24 hour calendar means that the people are working 24 hours a day. And so of course the same person will not work probably 24 hours, they might be three shift or something like that. Or maybe there are equipment which are being used 24 hours a day. So in those cases 24 hour calendar is useful. Praveen: Night shift calendar is useful when you have a night shift. So from let us say 8:00PM in the evening till let us say maybe 4:00AM in the evening or something like that. Again, if you want you can change these calendars. By default the Microsoft Project uses a standard calendar. Standard calendar means a normal day calendar, which says if you look at this portion here, it says the working times are 8:00AM to 12:00PM, and then 13:00PM… or we can say 1300 hours to 1700hrs. So what it essentially means is that Microsoft Project is saying that it is a eight hour working day, with a one hour break in between. If you want you can change these working times also. Again, I’m not going into that thing because I’m not talking [inaudible 00:24:12] What I want to tell you is that right upfront you should define your project calendar. What does it mean? So, our project was starting on… right now it is starting on 25th April, and let me just close it for the time being. Praveen: And maybe Charlie let me just say the predecessor is number two, which is… and Charlie the duration is let us say four days. So right now if you see the project is starting on 25th and finishing on 5th of May. So I’m going to change working time, what I’m going to do is I’m going to add a holiday. Let us say for some reason… let us say this 3rd of May is a holiday. So what I’m going to do is I’m saying some holiday, and I’m saying third is a holiday, third start and third finish, and I’m clicking okay. So as soon as you click okay, so what will happen is you will see that Microsoft Project has made this cell as blue, which is the finished date of Charlie has changed from fifth to sixth. Why it has changed from fifth to sixth, because third is a holiday. Praveen: So going back to change working time, let’s take one more example. Let us say… I’m just saying another holiday. And I’m saying fourth is also a holiday for some reason. So I’m saying okay. The date has changed from sixth to ninth, why six to ninth? We’ve taken a one day holiday. The reason is that Saturdays and Sundays are counted as weekend and a holiday. So, third is a holiday, fourth is a holiday, fifth and sixth they’re Saturday and Sunday. [inaudible 00:26:39] So the project at the Charlie will finish on 9th of May. Praveen: So, basically what I’m trying to say is if you do not have this calendar, these dates will not be automatically calculated and obviously for every project you have some holidays in between. So I have a small exercise for you and that exercise involves read more about project calendars. Read what 24 hour calendar is, what night shift calendar is. Can you make a six day working calendar? [inaudible 00:27:19] A five day working calendar? Can you make it six day calendar? If yes, how? Can you add a new calendar? Yes, you can. There’s a button here. Create a new calendar If you want to. You can, if you want to. So that’s another exercise. Create a new calendar and see and play around with it and see how it happens. Read about task calendar, read about resource calendar. So these are like… I’ve given a whole list of tasks to you. I’ll just open the note. [inaudible 00:27:57] Yeah. Melanie: Before you switch off this screen with the [inaudible 00:28:02] we have a question from the audience. I cannot change a task from auto to manually scheduled, is there a setting that is preventing this change? Praveen: See, there is a setting that I know. So the person should… let me just close that first. So if you click on the bottom of the screen, this should come up. Auto scheduled, manually scheduled. That happens every time. If you have it disabled, then again you can do it. For each task you can do it from here in this column but if both the things are disabled, then you have to go to settings. So you go to file and there is options here and there are so many settings here. I don’t remember on the top from top of my head, how to do it, where the exactly that setting is. But if you search for it about, I think it’ll be scheduled somewhere and you can change it. By default, it might not be allowing you to change but you can find the adoption somewhere here and right now I can only… yeah, here it is. New tasks are created auto scheduled here, just check in your Microsoft Project setting what does it say here in the project option schedule and there’s a drop down here. Melanie: That’s super helpful, thank you. There’s another question while you’re on here. Praveen: Yeah. Melanie: What I find difficult is that duration can be a week, [inaudible 00:29:52] during that week for that task is not a hundred percent. It will only be four hours out of the whole week, how do you show that? Praveen: Okay, that can be done. That’s not part of the points that I wanted to cover but let’s take this question at the end of the webinar. The 10 minutes that we have done it for Q&A. So let’s take up this question because it’s going to take up maybe three, four minutes to explain about duration, and effort and maybe related things. So just hang on to your question for a little while and we’ll answer it, of course IF the time permits. Okay. So going back, I wanted to write down something, the exercises that I was talking about. Read about these things. Task calendar, resource calendar, 24 hours calendar and night shift Calendar and lastly, create a new calendar. Let’s not read about… read about those four calendars and create a new calendar for yourself. Okay. So I hope… I’ll just give you five seconds to note it down. Okay, let us go to our presentation. Okay, let’s look at the fourth point. So it says create a complete list of tasks. Create a complete list of task means… Praveen: Like this is a list of tasks, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. So whatever the tasks are there, please first of all identify those tasks in your project and create a complete list of those tasks. So I have another project schedule here where I have just entered some tasks. So I entered 11 tasks here. Just to save some time, I just entered it before the session began. So it says interview users, old system walkthrough, old documentation study, document requirements, use case analysis, present requirements document, get requirements approval, create prototype, create system architecture, create DB design and create design. Oh sorry, get design approval. So I created these 11 tasks. So it is not important what these tasks are. Praveen: Maybe some of you might have realized it’s about something about to do with requirement analysis and design of a project. Now it could be a software project, it could be maybe a machine requirement, requirements and design of new machine, or it could be anything else also. But basically, the thing is that I have listed down all the tasks without thinking about what the duration of the task would be, what would be the start date? What would the finished date? I just list it down the task. I’m just going to do a change it to auto scheduled, all the new task. And what I’m going to do is make this task also as auto schedule. I’ll have to do it now one by one, because I didn’t do it here. Okay, my bad. Okay, just take maybe 20 more seconds. Meanwhile think about your questions. put it on chat. Praveen: Okay, here we go. I just added these tasks and automatically you have the start date and finished date and the duration as well. But don’t worry about the duration start and finished date right now, don’t worry about the start date of the project also. I’ve taken it as default as today’s date. What I’m trying to say is that you should create a completive list of tasks before doing anything else. The reason here is that if you have… the project is about listing the tasks and then completing those tasks. So first, if you have the list of tasks then only you should start scheduling. Then only you should start putting up your duration and the start and finished it. If you miss out any task, then it’ll create a problem at a later point of time. Praveen: Let us say, I have 11 tasks here but let us say a project would have easily have maybe 200, 500 tasks, or maybe sometimes even more than that. And I have entered maybe 200 tasks but I didn’t do with auto analysis and later when I started doing the project, I’m halfway through the project and I realized, “Oh, I have missed maybe 50 tasks.” In that point of time it’ll create a serious problem because initially you didn’t think about those 50 tasks. Of course, in a real project, you will tend to miss out maybe a few tasks five, 10 tasks here or there but that is pardonable, that is given because we are all humans we tend to miss a few things here or there. But we should do a deeper analysis before actually beginning the project so that we do not consciously lose out the tasks. Praveen: Okay. So going back. Point number fifth is, do not assign dates and duration at first which is what I have already told you. this one. So do not worry about what the duration is, what is the start date? What is the finished date? Do not worry about this at point at the point of time. Just concentrate on listing down all the tasks. Even if it is going to takes you two days, five days a week just to let down the task, do that. Of course it’ll depend on the size of the project and the complexity of the project, but do that first. Let’s go to point number six. Create WBS using indent and outdent. WBS is a acronym for work breakdown structure. So I’m not going to explain what work breakdown structure is. Praveen: Most of you would know about that but basically work breakdown structure means that you divide the whole project into smaller, more manageable tasks. So there’s a higher level task and then there are lower level tasks. So what I’m going to do is I’m going to write out a list of tasks, I’m going to change it to a proper WBS. So what I’m going to do is I’m going to insert a task right at the beginning. So how do you insert? You just right click here and you say insert tasks. So automatically Microsoft Project will insert a task here. So I’m going to say requirements analysis here and all these tasks, that is number two till number eight, are part of requirements analysis. So what I’m going to do is I’m going to shift them inside, that is indent. How do you do that? To go to task here and click on indent task. There’s a small green right arrow. If you take the mouse over it, it’ll say indent task. Praveen: So click on indent tasks. So what will happen is now all these tasks are shifted inside and this requirement analysis is the major task, this is called summary task. What is the meaning of summary task? I’ll tell you in a minute. Let me add another task here. So I’m going to add another task in between and let’s say design and I’m going to the tasks below it. Okay, because the design is also shifted so I’m going to outdent it. So just like indent you have an outdent which is a left arrow. Okay. So I have two summary tasks requirement analysis and design. So this is a WBS. WBS means you have a higher level task which is called requirement analysis and then you have a lower level task which is called all these tasks. If you want, you can go to another level also. So let us say I wanted another indentation. So I’ll just insert one more task here, I’ll just say collect requirements. What I want to do is these three task number three, four and five. These are three ways to collect requirements so I’m going to indent them here. Praveen: So it’s not important whether you are understanding the task, or the nature of the task, or the meaning of these tasks, it is not important. What is important is that I have a higher level task then I have a slightly lower level task and then I have a lowest level task, which is this one. So the higher level tasks are called summary tasks, right? And similarly design is also a summary task. So what is a purpose of the summary tasks? So for example, let us say interview user is a one day task. So Microsoft Project is automatically you will notice calculating the start and finished date and all system walkthrough it will happen after interview users. So I’m putting a predecessor heres three days and I’m just putting a predecessor as four here. Okay. Praveen: So for all system walkthrough, let us say that duration is two days. So Microsoft Project will automatically calculate the start and finish date. And for this, the duration is three days. So again now my Microsoft Project will calculate the start and finish. Now you notice this summary tasks. So automatically the duration is coming out to be six days and there’s a start date and there’s a finished date for the summary task. What it means here is that the first task in this group, which is interview user is starting on four, five which is fourth May. So in the summary task, the start date is four, five and the last task in this group is finishing on 11, five. So the finished date is 11, five. So the duration is calculated, finished minus start. That is the difference between the start and finished date, which is coming out to be six days. Similarly, the next higher level task which is requirement analysis, the dates are automatically calculated. So once you have… let’s go back to the PPT. Praveen: So once you have listed down the task, you create the WBS, you do the indentation, indent or outdent as the case needed maybe, and you create a proper WBS and you define the whole structure of the project. At this point, you start defining the task relationships. What is task relationships? I have already shown them to you, like here predecessor. So the relationship is there’s a relationship between task three and task four, task three is a predecessor and task four is a successor. What it means is as soon as the task three finishes, task four will start. So there are actually four types of relationships. Let me write them down in the note pad and I want you to read about it. Read about relationships. Praveen: Finish to start, it is also called FS. Finish to finish, it is called FF. Start to start, is called SS and then last one is start two finish, which is called SF. Okay. So read about them. By default, Microsoft Project creates all relationships as finish to start. Finish to start basically means that the predecessor task finishes then only the successor task can start. Okay, let us go back to Microsoft Project here. So if I add predecessor here for this task, let us say number five here, automatically you will see the start and finished date will be calculated and the summary tasks also will be changed if the calculations change them. I’m going to press enter now, just notice the blue cells. Praveen: So these date are changed and the summary task, this cell is changed. So this is about defining the relationship. Now, what you want to do is you have to define relationship through for all the tasks in the project. Why do you want to do that? Because after you do all these things and you change the start date, then automatically the Microsoft Project will calculate everything for you. If the predecessor successor relationships are not there and you change something, then the Microsoft Project has no way of knowing how to do that calculations. So the point here is going back to the PPT. You create the list of tasks, you do the WBS, then that define the task relationships. And at this point of time after defining the task relationship, now you can enter the task. You enter the duration and the dates. Praveen: Okay, the next point is making note of date constraints. What is date constraints? Let’s go back to project again. When you click on any task, sorry. When you double click on any task, a small dialogue box open up. In that small dialogue box, there are multiple tabs and there’s a tab called advanced tab. And here you can define some constraints if you want to. So why default the constraint here is as soon as possible, what does it mean? As soon as a predecessor task completes start the current task, that is as soon as possible. But there are other constraints also like finish new earlier then and… yeah, must finish on et cetera and there is something called deadline also. So let us use this task and constrain called deadline as an example. Praveen: So here, what I’m going to do is let us say I’m putting a task constrained for this as fifth May. That is deadline as fifth May. So this task should finish, the deadline for this task is fifth May. It should finish on fifth may. I’m pressing okay. So right now nothing happens, right? But what I’m going to do is because this task is finishing on fourth, what I’m going to do is this use case analysis. What I’m going to do is let’s say the duration of this task is four days, I’m going to press enter. So yeah, it was not visible earlier. Let me just undo it and let’s do it again. So right now if you will see. Praveen: This is one day and the task is finishing on 4th of May but the there’s a task constraint, there’s a task deadline of fifth may. Now what I’m going to do is I’m going to change the duration to four days. As soon as say four days, the finished date changes to ninth which is beyond the deadline. So automatically Microsoft Project shows you a warning. This warning says this task goes passes deadline which is Thursday, fifth may. So whenever you see some symbol here, just take your mouse over it and it will tell you what it means. So in our case, this task is breaching the deadline and that’s why it’s showing us warning So the point here was that you should always make a note of different data constraints. So as an exercise what I want you to do is I want you to study all different task constraints. Praveen: So there are number of them here, study them, understand what works in which situation. By default, you will not have a deadline. By default, you will have as soon as possible if you have a finish to start relationship. Okay, let’s go to the next point. Okay. Avoid putting predecessors in summary tasks, this is quite simple. Basically do not put a predecessor here or here, in any of the summary tasks. So let us say design is dependent on let’s say requirement analysis. So don’t put one here. Of course you can do it, Microsoft Project will allow you to do it but do not do it because the reason is design is not in itself a task. It’s a summary task, it’s a summary of all these lower level tasks. So it is possible that the create prototype, this one, task number 11 is dependent on task number eight which is quite possible. So you can write eight here which is perfectly okay but do not put one here, completely no. Sorry, here. Completely no, because design is not dependent on requirement analysis. One of the task under design is dependent on one of the task under requirements. Praveen: Okay, let us go back to our PPT. Let’s look at the last point. It says, save your baseline. This is again very simple. Okay, let’s say you have completed your schedule, you have all the duration start date, finished date, all the relationships are defined, everything else is finished. Now, what you want to do is you want to save a baseline. What is a baseline? Baseline is a standard, meaning that these dates are now your benchmark. You will measure your performance, that is your project performance against these dates. So you want to save a baseline. So to show it to you what I’m going to do is I’m going to right click on this column and here when you are in right click, you will see a dropdown menu here. There’s something called insert column. So I’ll say insert column and I’ll say baseline. So there’s something called baseline start. I’ll insert another column which is called baseline finish. This one. Praveen: So right now you will see the baseline start and baseline finish, they are blank. It says NA. What it means is, right now you have not defined your baseline. What you want to do is you want to define it. So you go to project menu, there is an option called set baseline. You click on set baseline and there’s another dropdown type of menu appears. You say set baseline and there’s a dialogue box here. I’m not going to explain this dialogue box to you, you just say okay. When you say okay, all the baseline start… all the dates in the baseline start and all the dates in the baseline finish will be populated. Let’s say I’m going to press okay now. So what Microsoft Project has done is it has copied the start dates to baseline start, copied the finish to baseline finish. Now what will happen is even if you change any particular date here, the baseline will remain the same. Praveen: So for example, right now our project is going to start on four five. So what I want to do is… for some reason, client told me, no, no, you cannot start on four, five you have to start on, let us say six, five. So I said, okay. I put six here. So as soon as I put six here, the start dates would change. I’m going to press okay now. So you’ll see the start date six, five changed, the finished date changed. So all the dependent tasks, everything, you will see all these blue cells, everything changed, even the summary task changed but the baseline start and the baseline finished they are not changing, they’re intact. So even if you change something in the middle of the project, the baseline dates will remain same. Now you can measure your performance. That is your project performance, whether you’re delayed, not delayed, et cetera against the baseline dates. Praveen: Okay, so these are the 10 points that I wanted to cover. Of course, I’ve covered it quickly. Assuming that all of you have the basic knowledge about Microsoft Project and given the [inaudible 00:54:57] of time we had one hour, so five minutes are left. So we’ll do go to the quick Q&A session quickly and maybe take up a few questions. So first of all, let’s take up the question that was there earlier which was about effort and duration. I’m going to the project, the sample project that I had. So basically what I’m going to do is let’s insert a column here. There’s a column called work. You should put work here and so right now you will see that this alpha as a duration of two days with eight hours working day, but the work is zero hours. Work is duration into duration in days, into eight hours. That’s a very simplistic formula but for the timing to explain it, just remember this. Work is number of days into eight hours, that is one days eight hours working. Notice change are because there is no resource assigned to this task. Praveen: So let us assign a resource. Let’s say Praveen assigned to this task. So automatically you’ll say two into eight is 16 and automatically it says it’ll calculate the work for you. Let us say bravo is assigned to my clone. Praveen’s clone if there is one. So now you notice the word column. So it is three days, three into eight, which should come out to be 24 hours. Just notice the blue cell. Whenever you change anything, just notice the blue cells. Okay. So basically work is number of days multiplied by eight. However, it is possible that you want to change. You want only to work for fours a day. That is possible, so what you can do is I’m going to quickly show you something, some [juglary 00:57:27]. I’ve gone into resource menu here and I’m going to… not this one. Where is resource? Yeah, the resource sheet. Yeah, here. I’m going to resource here. So these two resources are here, Praveen and Praveen clone and what I’m saying is this is 100% assigned. Praveen: Instead of 100% assigned, I’m going to say Praveen is only 50% assigned. 50% assigned means he’s going to work only four hours a day for whatever reason, maybe he has earned it. He’s the best resource out there, so only 50% of the time. So now you’ll see Microsoft Project is making this in red and it’s showing me some warning, I’m not going to overlook it. It says the resource is overlooked. Why this is overlooked, let’s go back to [inaudible 00:58:31] Yeah, this is overlooked because on two days he’s working 16 hours, but he is supposed to work only four hours a day. So what I have to do is, instead of two days I have to make it four days. And instead of 32 hours, I have to make it 16 hours, right? Again, it’s okay changing. I have to change the task type here instead of fix two durations. Again, I’m doing some juglary those who understand it fine, otherwise just ignore it. So I’m saying four days, 16 hours. Now there should not be any warning, let’s go back to our associate. Now you’ll see the Praveen is not in red, it’s perfectly okay. Praveen: Okay, so I answered this question very quickly. I don’t know the person who asked this question was able to understand it or not, but just a quick pointer how to look at it. Number one, work is equal to duration into eight hours. Eight hours is the standard working time for a person. Second pointer is you can change a location from a 100% to 50% or even 25% if you want to. So if you change it from a 100% to 50% what it means is, instead of working eight hours a day this person will work only four hours a day. The third thing is when you do these kind of juglary you have to be conscious of the fact what is happening in the duration column, what is happening in the work column. To look at that there is something called task type. When you double click on a task, go to general… oh, sorry, go to advance. There’s something called task type. There are three task types, fixed duration, fixed unit, fixed work. So read about them. What I’ve done is right now, I’ve changed it to fixed work. Praveen: Okay, I’ve explained it very quickly, maybe not complete justice to the question but that’s how much time we have. Okay, so we have… it’s end of time for us but I think we can take one or two more questions if Melanie permits. Melanie: Praveen if it’s okay with you, I will show the PDU for a minute here for people who have to have a hard stop at one, and then I will stop the recording. And if we have questions I can open up the mic for a couple questions right afterwards if that’s okay. Praveen: Yeah. Melanie: For those of you who have to leave, thank you for being here today. The PDU activity code is MPUG on the screen, and please join us in the next few weeks. We have this great agile session coming up which I mentioned next week, we’ll finish off with the overview of the pin box guide that was a three part series, and then data visualization with Excel which is also a three part series, exciting step. I will close out of this presentation… Well, I will end the recording here and then we’ll open up for questions. Thank you.
Ten Best Microsoft Project Tips
Event Description: Nowadays, most software is easy to use. MS Project is one of the most user friendly software out there. Unlike other scheduling software, you don’t need a user manual to use the main features of MS Project. However, you would not be able to exploit the power of MS Project if you do not know what’s happening behind the scenes. MS Project will give unexpected results if you do not enter your data properly. In this session, you will learn about a step-by-step approach to create a proper project schedule. It will help you understand the intricacies of MS Project in a simple and easy manner. Learning Objectives: Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs):This Webinar is eligible for 1 PMI® PDU in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle. Presenter Info: Praveen Malik, PMP, has two-plus decades of experience as a project management instructor and consultant. He regularly conducts project management workshops in India and abroad and shares his project management thinking in his blog, PM by PM.