One of the most important considerations when setting up a schedule in MS Project is the architecture. You might ask yourself the question: In how many ways am I going to have to present these tasks? For example, in federal contracting we often need to schedule to both the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and the Integrated Master Plan (IMP). Both of these structures are hierarchical, so how do we manage them? In Microsoft Project, the answer lies in understanding outline codes!
Using outline codes properly can make your schedule much easier to navigate. They also look great in presentations and reports. I’ve created a short video, How to Use Outline Codes in Microsoft Project, which I hope will get you started. You may never go back to using Summary Tasks again!
My video is less than 15 minutes long and you’ll learn how to:
- Generate up to ten hierarchical structures in MS Project
- Easily expand and contract levels of your hierarchies
- View levels by color and/or summarized data
- Capture outline code views for presentations and reports
Have you used outline codes? What has your experience been? Comment below.
