Have you ever set up a new project and gotten stuck with default calendars you didn’t really want? In the following short article and my upcoming webinar, I will show you how to fix unexpected calendar issues and what precautions should be taken. Let’s consider a default setup for Working hours per day in Microsoft Project for the Web. Here is my Project:

What’s next? Well, let me create one task with an eight-day duration. See the figure below:

As you can see, our task will start on Monday, 4/5/2020, and finish on Monday, 4/12/2020. Notice that it will be performed during the weekend, as well.

Now I will create three Tasks: Task 7 hours, Task 8 Hours, and Task 9 hours, with durations as show in the figure below:

As you can see, one day is eight hours. In Task 9 hours, the Finish date is 4/6/2020, and the Start date is 4/5/2020, In Task 8 hours, the Finish date is 4/5/2020, and the Start date is 4/5/2020.

How is it so, and what if I want that my days to cover nine hours, but only from Monday to Friday? The default value is that our task is starting from 09:00 AM and finishing at 05:00 PM. To see that, I’ve used Dynamics 365:

and:

and finally:

Now I will show you default working time. To do that, navigate to settings:

And then to Calendar Templates:

The result is shown below:

Project for the Web uses this default template if I do not define another, but I can create a new template with working hours from 09:00 AM to 06:00 PM, during working days. To accomplish that, first I have to create a resource with those working hours. I will call this Generic Resource.

To do this, first, go to the Resource page in Dynamics 365:

And then:

Finally, I will create the new Resource:

Now, set up working time as outlined below.

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Step 5:

Since those working hours are valid only until 3/28/2020, I will repeat my steps as shown:

And:

Finally:

OK, now we must go back to the Settings:

And:

And, then:

I will call my template: Weekdays Calendar from 09:00 AM to 06:00 PM:

OK. I am done here! Now I will create a brand new Project for the Web:

Task has an eight-day duration, and Task 7 hours, Task 8 hours, Task 9 hours, and Task 10 hours as shown:

As you can see, Task (with the eight day duration) is now showing as going to be finished on 4/15/2020, which is a Wednesday (Saturday and Sunday are no longer counted as working hours). You can also see that duration of one day is nine hours, not eight anymore!

Complicated? Maybe. Powerful? Oh, yes!

As I started out by sharing, Project calendars and resource Calendars are important for every Project. In Microsoft Project for the Web, they can be defined, but not like in the Project Desktop or Online versions. When using Project for the Web, calendars are available using Dynamics 365 / PowerApps. To learn more than this article outlines, check out my on-demand webinar.

Written by Nenad Trajkovski

Nenad Trajkovski, born in Zagreb in 1963, is an accomplished professional with a background in Electrical Engineering. With expertise in enterprise systems (ERP) development and implementation, he has served diverse sectors including banking, casinos, automotive, wholesale, and oil industries. Nenad excels in business process management, IT, and financial accounting. Currently, Nenad is a seasoned consultant and Project Manager, specializing in business systems implementation. He is also a respected trainer for Project Management and Risk Management at the Microsoft Innovation Center in Varaždin. Nenad's speaking engagements have earned him recognition, including being named the best speaker at WinDays08 and ranking among the top speakers at various Microsoft conferences. Nenad holds multiple certifications including Certified Accountant, PMP, PMI – RMP, MCP, MCTS – Microsoft Project 2010, and MCT.

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