Ellen Lehnert

MS Project’s import/export function is not as clear cut as it seems, but if you follow some of the tips below the procedure should work more smoothly for you. The […]

One of my favorite PM stories from the classroom was that someone wrote on a class evaluation that I taught a “supper” class. I happened to see it and chuckled. […]

Oftentimes people want to plan a project from the finish date and manage it from the start date. The benefit of doing so is that the project manager can flag […]

  At one organization where I worked, the CIO had seen something on the value of earned value. They brought me in to teach a two-day Microsoft Project class to […]

If you have connected a project with an external resource pool and you wish to disconnect the project from the pool there are two steps you will need to take. […]

1. Use the autofilter (the small down arrow to the right of the column name) on the Start and Finish columns to see tasks by timeframe. Then filter for specific […]

If you use Microsoft Project to manage your projects, you know how important it is to work efficiently and effectively. Luckily, there are a few tips and tricks you can […]

Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This webinar is eligible for 1 Category A PMI® PDUs in the Technical Project Management talent triangle category. If you are claiming […]

Fran from Houston, TX asks: I’m working with Microsoft Project Server 2010, and at times I’d like to download a project from the server and work with it offline, make […]

Delin, Harold, and Michael of Kalamazoo, MI, ask: In MS Project 2010 desktop, we will be managing several projects using a Master project. We noticed that since each project used […]

Jim from Denver asks: My management has asked me to implement Microsoft Project Server and to have 500 people entering time by the end of the month to get resource […]

Abhishek asks: I’m doing scheduling for multi-tower projects. Is there any way to see the resource usage for a particular tower? Ellen answers: The way you create and manage this […]

JP-PM asks: I was wondering why Microsoft Project creates a conflict right off the bat in this example: Task 1: 2 hrs work assigned to Jack and Jane Task 2: […]

Julie from New York City asks: I am in the process of putting a proposal together for a prospective client. The client will have eight batches of work to be […]

Wayne from Santa Fe, NM asks: I created a project containing 400 tasks. After entering the tasks I realized that my calendar wasn’t correct and made some changes. I also […]

Project management is both an art and a science. Estimating task durations and work draw on the project manager skills and experience. Estimates take into consideration factors such as resource […]

Gary of Muscatine, IL asks: We have multiple schedulers who create their own schedules using a customized template. After the schedules are created, we would like to combine them so […]

Danielle of McLeansboro, IL asks: I hire flat amount contractors to perform multiple tasks. What is the best way to keep track of the schedule and the contract costs? We […]

Steve in Phoenix, AZ asks: Do you have any tips and tricks to help new users with Microsoft Project? Ellen answers: Using Project can become a tricky endeavor at times. […]

Olga from Chicago asks: I want to create customized views, tables, groupings, and filters to be used by project managers who are the users of Microsoft Project Server 2010. The […]

Ellen from Wheaton, IL asks: Why does Microsoft Project 2010 have some bothersome behavior?! Answer: Like an old friend or co-worker that you spend many hours a day with, Microsoft […]

Carol from Madison, WI asks: Is there a view where I can see the summary tasks as well as the detail tasks for over-allocated resources? I’d also like to see […]

Rick from San Jose, CA asks: During the execution of my project, my baseline needs to be updated because of change requests from my clients. What is the best way […]

Lisa from Charlotte, NC asks: I am managing a very large schedule. Is there a quick, easy way to see which tasks are late and which are running on schedule? […]

Nancy from Bartlett, IL asks: I’m managing many resources in my project schedule. When I use the Resource Usage view, the resources aren’t in an order that’s simple to use. […]

Heather from Naperville, IL asks: When I export tasks to Excel, I seem to export summary tasks, milestones, and detail tasks. Is there any way to export just detail tasks? […]

Bob of OakBrook, IL asks: I would like to have a report that shows task name and resources assigned with their skills, department, and email addresses. How can I create […]

Greg from Omaha asks: In Microsoft Project 2007 the current activity reports all sound similar. What’s the difference between these reports? Answer: When I look through the names of the […]

Roger from New York asks: Has anyone ever written a process/macro/view/something whereby I can produce a timesheet of sorts that tells my resources what tasks they’re to work on this […]

Amit of Boston, MA asks, “During class you are encouraging us to use the three sets of notes in Microsoft Project to help journalize information of how a project was […]

Gail of Hoffman Estates, IL asks: I have dates that I just cant miss. What is the best way to plan for those dates and make sure that I’m on […]

Adenor from Oakbrook, IL asks: I have a task in a schedule that must start after an unknown date and must end on a specific date. I’ve tried to enter […]

Ron from Cleveland, OH asks: Is it a good practice or bad to link summary tasks? Answer: In general I don’t believe that it’s a best practice to link summary […]

Casper of Dallas, TX asks: Our projects are subject to the weather for our installations. We build into our schedules and contracts at least 30 days of weather cushion (about […]

Ammar of South Africa asks: Using Microsoft Project 2007, can I view and display interim plans in a Gantt chart view? Also, how can I display interim plan data on […]

Ira H. of Northbrook, IL asks: I have a schedule for a short project where the resources are working on other projects as well. Because of this, I cant assign […]

Julie C. of Boston, MA asks: I’ve completed installing Microsoft Project Server but am having trouble getting the users to really work with the new system. We have been though […]

Gary in Muscatine, IA; Cindy in Madison, WI; and Pam of Silver Springs, MD write: I took a class in Microsoft Project 2007 (and/or Microsoft Project Server 2007), and I’m […]

Bob from Atlanta, GA asks: The primary tracking method we use is percent duration complete. I don’t want the hours that a resource works updated when I update the percent […]

Claire asks: When looking at a resource usage sheet displaying assigned work, how does one distinguish between unallocated time and exception time? If, for example, the week of 10/19 for […]

A user asks: I am fairly new to Microsoft Project. Is there a tool or resource out there that lists standard US holidays for the next 10 years as formulas […]

A user asks: “I am fairly new to Microsoft Project. Is there a tool or resource out there that lists standard US holidays for the next 10 years as formulas […]

Jay of Mt. Vernon, IL asks: I have tasks that will consume material resources at a rate of a number of items per hour. Is there anyway I can use […]

Mike from Dallas asks: Our company is starting to use Microsoft Project Server and they want to send me to class. If I have been using Project Standard for a […]

Cathy from Bismarck, ND asks: I have a resource that has done some of the work on a task and they will be leaving the project.  How do I assign […]

Barbara from Denver, CO asks: I want to used earned value calculations to help manage my projects. However, when I look at the BCWS and BCWP fields, the data doesn’t […]

Angelo A asks: “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find within Microsoft Project a cumulative resource graph over time, representing the total headcount (in total hours) […]

Brenda of Lincolnshire, IL and Tonya of Ann Arbor, MI write: I want to print sections or phases of a project schedule. What’s the best way to do this? Answer: […]

Question: I seem to use only the Gantt chart view. Are there other ones that could help me manage my projects? Answer: In fact there are several that are standard […]

Bob G. of South Bend, IN and Chad of Marshalltown, IA both asked: Can you modify the resource usage view to show a percentage of work time on a task […]

Question: When I try leveling in a project that has over-allocation of resources, I’m never sure what to do with the options I’m shown during the process. Can you explain […]

Question: We installed the software for Microsoft Project Server. I’m not sure my users are ready to use it yet. What are my next steps? Answer: This question could take […]

Don M. of Bozeman, MD asks: Our projects are performed by multiple departments within our organization. How can I get a Gantt chart and task list per department? It’s a […]

What I would really like to see is a report that would show me all tasks that are due by week. When I use the date range filter, I am […]

It takes a lot of clicks to get the actions I need. Do you have any shortcuts to cut down on the amount of clicking that I have to do? […]