MS Project assignment
ariel-di
project_assignment_f2015-updated.pdf
SCM435 – Project Management
MICROSOFT PROJECT ASSIGNMENT (COMBINED)
THE PALMERS GOLF COURSE PROJECT
Project background
Palmers Golf Course is a two-year-old signature golf course based in Auckland, NZ. Being unique, the
number of memberships is increasing and putting strain on the existing information system.
The current system is used only by Accounts Department to process Accounts Payables and Receivables.
With the steep increase in the memberships, Bookings and Maintenance the Human Resource department is
getting overwhelmed with the paper work. Therefore, there is a need to add these functions to a new system.
You are the Project Leader for SoftSystems Ltd., which has been contracted by Palmers Golf Course to
undertake this project. You need to advise how to develop the new system in a tightly constrained time
period. Specifically, you have been advised that the project can start no earlier than Mon, January 4th 2016
and must be completed by Thu, May 19th 2016.
You report to Ms Smith, the Project Manager for SoftSystems Ltd, who liaises with Palmers Golf Course.
You will report your progress and plans of the project to Ms Smith.
Note: There is a lot of information included to provide context for what you will do in this assignment.
Please read carefully, and thoroughly to ensure the directions are followed. Also, to make it more clear, the
steps that you will perform in Microsoft Project are all written in the Courier New font.
Setting the Project Start Date
Click on the Project Tab in the Ribbon, and then go to Project
Information. Set the project start date to Mon, January 4th 2016. Do NOT
enter finish date. Click OK.
Setting default values
Set Current Date
The computer's internal clock initially determines the date listed in the Current Date text box.
To access the Current Date, click again on the Project Tab, then Project
Information.
The current date box appears. Changing this date box has several implications:
• The date determines the location of the dashed (current) date line on the Gantt chart timeline.
• The Current Date appears in the header of the Project Summary standard report. You can also display the
Current Date in headers or footers on other reports.
• You can use the Current Date to track the progress of the project, specifically to record the progress of all
tasks scheduled to be in progress or finished as of the date in the Current Date text box.
For this assignment, you will, initially, leave the Current Date as defined by the computer clock, please
check that it is correct.
Click OK, to close the Project Information box.
Click on File, then in Project Information, choose Advanced Properties,
then Summary tab and in the Title box type PALMERS GOLF COURSE. This names the
project, which will then appear on your printouts. You should also enter your name (Author) and other
optional data.
Set the Calendar
The calendar in this assignment should match the New Zealand calendar by the addition of non-working
days. Setting a new calendar can be done either (a) by modifying the standard calendar or (b) by creating a
new base calendar. You will do the latter (b).
Microsoft Calendars
Microsoft Project can support a large number of projects including large, complex projects, which are
usually broken down into sub-projects. Changing the working days on the standard calendar affects all
projects, with potentially unanticipated consequences. Therefore, each project should have its own base
calendar.
• Microsoft Project contains an internal standard calendar that defines the default working and non-
working days used for scheduling tasks in your projects. It assumes five working days per week,
Monday - Friday, eight hours of work per day (including an hour off for lunch). The default schedule is
8:00am to 12:00pm and 1:00pm to 5:00pm. No statutory holidays are set in the original standard
calendar.
• The standard calendar forms the basis for the base calendar, which applies to all resources in a project. It
would recognise special dates or circumstances that apply to a specific project. In this assignment the
base calendar will account for statutory holidays.
• The Base calendar is the basis for resource calendars, which apply to specific resources (groups of
people, material, equipment, facilities required to complete a project). Each resource has its own
calendar, which is linked to a designated base calendar (by default the standard calendar). A resource
calendar inherits all the elements of its base calendar. It can be edited to record the days and hours when
the availability of the resource differs from the normal working times such as holidays, differing hours of
work on particular days, or availability of special equipment.
Microsoft Project uses the base calendar and the resource calendars to schedule the start dates for tasks.
When Microsoft Project schedules a task, it notes the earliest possible starting date, based on when the
predecessors to the task will be completed. If resources are required, Microsoft Project consults the resource
calendars to find when they are available and the task is scheduled to start on the next available working
hour for the assigned resources. If no resources are assigned, the project's base calendar is used to schedule
the start and finish of the task.
In this assignment, a group of senior secondary students who are undergoing work experience training will
be made available to assist you in this project. They will be available two afternoons per week. The resource
calendar for these students would initially show them as having the same hours as the base calendar but
would be modified to increase the number of non-working days and show afternoon working hours only.
Set the Working Time
Note:
• The software checks all time entries for consistency. Each successive time must be later in the day than
the preceding time text box.
• You must use the top From and To text boxes first, only then can you fill the bottom pair. You cannot
leave the top work period row blank.
• You can restore default working hours by clicking on the default button.
• To change more than one day at a time, hold down the ctrl key and click on non-contiguous days; or hold
down the shift key and click to select a block of days. Now your time entries will affect all the selected
days.
• Use either the 24-hour clock, or the 12-hour clock using am and pm suffixes to enter times. If you enter a
time without using an am or pm suffix, the computer uses the first instance of the time following the
Default Start Time. If that is 8:00 am then 3:30 without a suffix is assumed to be 3:30 in the afternoon
and a pm suffix is attached.
• A shortcut hint: on the hour, enter 10 for 10:00 am, and 5 pm for 5:00 pm.
• Noon is entered as 12:00 pm and midnight as 12:00 am.
• To remove a work period delete both the From time and the To time for the period.
Set the Project Calendar
You will now create a calendar for this project by accounting for the extra non-working times reflected by
statutory holidays.
1. Go to Project Tab in the Ribbon, then click on Change Working Time. 2. Click the Create New Calendar … button at the top right corner. 3. The "Create New Base Calendar" box appears. Enter ‘Palmers Calendar’
in the Name text box.
4. Choose the Create New Base Calendar button and click OK. 5. We will only change holidays, (non-working days) on this calendar.
Scroll to Mon February 1st 2016 (Auckland Anniversary Day), Select that
date, then in the Exceptions Tab in the entry area below, enter
“Auckland Anniversary Day” in the Name field, and then make sure the
Start and Finish date are correct. Repeat this process for:
Mon February 8th 2016 (Waitangi Day)
Fri March 25th 2016 (Good Friday)
Mon March 28th 2016 (Easter Monday)
Mon April 25th 2016 (Anzac Day)
6. Check the calendar and ensure you have made no errors when entering
the non-working days. Click OK.
7. Choose Timescale dropdown menu from the View Tab in the Ribbon and select Timescale, then click on the Nonworking Time Tab. Click on the
Calendar pull down menu and select Palmers Calendar. Click OK.
8. Within the Project Information box from the Project menu select Palmers Calendar from the Calendar pull down menu. Click OK. This
assigns the Palmers Calendar as the base calendar for this project.
Setting a Finish Date
The Project Information box (choose Project, Project Information) can give you a global view of the whole
project and you can do "what if" type scenarios from this box. For example, you could enter either a start
date or a finish date in the Project Information box to function as an anchor point for scheduling the tasks in
the project. If you enter the start date, Microsoft Project schedules the first task in the project to begin at that
date and calculates the project's finish date based on that starting date. If you enter the finish date, Microsoft
Project schedules the tasks at the end of the project first and works backward. The final task is scheduled to
end by the finish date; the task that precedes the final task is scheduled to end in time for the final task to
begin, and so on. You cannot specify both a start date and a finish date.
Most projects have a deadline. If you don't intend to assign resources or you do not need Microsoft Project to
help you reconcile resource overloads, you can safely schedule the project from a fixed finish date. Most
projects also have limited resources. If you want the program to help you adjust the schedule to resolve
resource overloads (levelling) you must schedule the project from a fixed start date. This is the approach you
will adopt in the assignment.
Set the Gantt chart bar display
Click on the following in sequence to set the Gantt chart bar display:
1. Gantt Chart Tools Tab 2. Format Tab 3. Make sure the Critical Tasks checkbox is Checked:
What did this do? Now when tasks are added to the Gantt chart the bars will be coloured red if they are on
the critical path and when duration and links are added to the project you will be able to readily identify on
the screen what tasks lie on the critical path. When the project actually gets underway, you will be using a
different Gantt chart display to highlight any variances between ‘planned’ and ‘actual’ activity on the tasks.
Enter tasks in the schedule
The first step in creating your schedule is to enter task headings and tasks. With the Gantt chart on the
screen, begin by typing a list of tasks or events that need to be done in order to move the project forward,
preferably in the approximate order they will happen. Tasks entered are assigned the default duration of one
day (1d). It is easy to delete and insert tasks and to relate tasks so that each task will be scheduled
appropriately.
1. At the bottom left-hand corner of the Project window, click on the
“New Tasks…” button. Make sure all new tasks are entered as Auto
Scheduled.
2. In the first field in the Task Name column type PALMERS GOLF COURSE
PROJECT
3. Press Enter.
4. In field #2 enter, Initial Study
5. Continue entering these task headings, one in each Task Name field:
Feasibility Study
Requirements Analysis
Requirements Specification
System Design
Coding & Testing
System Testing
Now is a good time to save your work using the Save As command under the File menu, ensure you have
selected the appropriate drive (e.g., H:) in the drives box on the "Save As" screen. In the File Name box,
give this file an appropriate name (e.g., Palmers_D1_EnterTasks).
Note:
If you wish to make corrections you can use the white Entry Bar. Make the corrections and press enter or click on the tick button.
To delete tasks, select the task and use the Delete key. If you inadvertently delete a task immediately click the Undo button on the toolbar.
Here and below, do not be concerned about not understanding what this means. This project information is about various stages of systems development project, but it is not necessary for you to understand
systems development terminology to carry out this assignment.
Select the Feasibility Study task. Then either use the Insert key on the
keyboard or choose New Task from the Insert menu. This enters a blank
line above the current task.
Repeat until there are three cells between "Initial Study" and "Feasibility Study". In the three blank cells
enter:
Study Existing System
Carry Out Interview(s)
Prepare Documentation
Continue by inserting the relevant number of blank lines below each task heading and then enter in the
following:
Under "Feasibility Study" enter:
Identify Problems
Understand and Analyse Problems
Estimate Project Cost
Assess Project Risk
Propose Solution
Task Scheduling
Under "Requirements Analysis" enter:
Investigate Current Environment
Investigate and Define Requirements
Under "Requirements Specification" enter:
Prepare Specifications
Prepare Use Case Diagram
Prepare Data Dictionary
Prototyping
Under "System Design" enter:
Design New System
Design Test Plan
Under "Coding & Testing" enter:
Coding
Unit Testing
Integration Testing
Update Data Dictionary
Under "System Testing" enter:
Hardware & System Testing
Acceptance Testing
Prepare Documentation
Some of the Task Name information is not completely visible in the field. To view the full field, place the
cursor on top of the vertical line to the right of “Task Name” in the dark grey title area. Its shape will change
to a thin vertical line with two arrows. You may "drag" the line and view the enlarged Task Name field.
As you progress with your work, you’ll need to regularly save the project. In the File Name box, give this
file an appropriate name (e.g., Palmers_D1_EnterTasks).
Although there will be places in the assignment where it is recommended that you save your data, you
should use common sense and save more regularly. Don’t forget to have a backup file saved too.
Durations and Milestones
With your tasks entered, you are now ready to enter duration for each task in the Duration field. Duration is
an estimate of how long it will take to complete each task. Enter durations by using a number followed by a
letter to indicate the unit of measure: days (d), weeks (w), hours (h), and minutes (m). The default duration is
1d.
Note: Here and below, do not be concerned about calculating the duration yourself. For this project, we are
giving you the durations that should be used throughout the project.
A vital part of project management is to place "milestones" in order to identify significant events in your
schedule or to measure the progress of your project. A milestone is created by declaring it as a task of zero
days duration. Microsoft Project displays the milestone symbol on the Gantt chart at the start of that day. To
the right of the milestone symbol is the start date for the task, such as:
Set Milestones
You are to add milestones, which are the dates project deliverables are due. To enter the first milestone:
1. Insert a blank task line above Task 13 Requirements Analysis.
2. Type "Deliverable to Project Manager".
Repeat this process one more time at the end of the project, after “Prepare Documentation”.
Set Durations
The durations shown in the Gantt chart on the next page are to be entered in the Duration column.
1. Select the Duration field for the first task.
2. Type a number for the duration length followed by the duration unit
abbreviation.
3. Press the enter button or the tick mark.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 to enter durations for all the tasks in your
project.
Having completed all the duration entries plus adding the two milestones, your Gantt chart should look
similar to the chart below with "PALMERS GOLF COURSE PROJECT” as Task 1 and "Initial Study”
as Task 2.
3
This Gantt chart shows it will take 10 working days (2 weeks, there are 5 working days per week), as defined
by the duration of tasks 26 and 27, to complete the project (the red bars). By definition, these are the critical
paths and are shown in red on your screen. However this assumes each task is independent and running in
parallel with each other, starting at the same time and same date. Nothing could be further from the truth and
it is time to change the Gantt chart to reflect this.
Designating tasks and sub-tasks To show the structure of the project, that is the hierarchical nature of task headings and subtasks, the
subtasks are indented to the right of the task heading.
To do so, select the subtasks and click the Indent button (right pointing arrow on the Formatting toolbar) or choose Outline from the Project menu
and then choose Indent.
Select tasks 3 - 5 and indent them.
Note that the Task Summary "Initial Study" has become bold, its Gantt Bar has changed shape and colour
and the length of the bar is now the same as the longest duration of the subtasks.
Continue indenting the subtasks associated with:
Feasibility Study, Requirements Analysis, Requirements Specification, System Design, Coding & Testing,
System Testing. To check on the structure, it is helpful to show all of the subtasks by clicking on the +
symbol on each Task Summary, as shown below. On completion your chart should look similar to that
below.
Now it is necessary to make all the tasks part of the project. To do so, indent all Task Summaries so that they become a sub-task of PALMERS GOLF COURSE PROJECT.
Note how the PALMERS GOLF COURSE PROJECT Summary Bar now takes on the duration of the
longest Task Summary (10 days) as shown below. Pay attention to the and in front of the project
tasks.
Now is a good time to save your work using the Save As command under the File menu. In the File Name
box, give this file an appropriate name (e.g., Palmers_D1_Indent).
Establishing Relationships between Tasks
The next step is to link the tasks in sequence and see how long it will take to finish the project. When you
link one task to another, you establish a relationship between tasks and specify a sequence of events.
When a task begins after the previous task finishes, this is a finish-to-start relationship. The finish-to-start
relationship is the most common and is the default one in Microsoft Project.
A finish-to-finish relationship is one in which both tasks finish at the same time.
A start-to-start relationship is one in which both tasks start at the same time.
The least common relationship is a start-to-finish relationship in which the completion of one task depends
on the start of a later task.
A task that must start or finish before another task is called a predecessor task. A task that depends on the
start or finish of a preceding task is called a successor task.
As a general guideline, link sub-tasks to sub-tasks within a group and then link Summary Tasks to other
Summary Tasks.
* * * Practice exercise starts here. This is just practice, at completion, Exit WITHOUT saving * * *
The two buttons for creating links and breaking links are represented by the two "chains" shown in the
Standard toolbar.
To create a link:
1. In the Gantt chart select the tasks you want to link in the correct order i.e. predecessor before successor.
2. Click the Link Tasks button on the toolbar.
To remove a task relationship:
1. In the Gantt chart, select the tasks you want to unlink.
2. Click the Unlink Tasks button on the toolbar (the "broken" chain), or choose Unlink Tasks from
the Edit menu.
To change the type of relationship (between two tasks):
1. Select the second sub-task of already linked sub-tasks.
2. Click the right button of the mouse to open a drop-down menu.
3. Click on Information.
4. Click on the Predecessors tab.
5. Click on the Type field (for example, "Finish-to-Start (FS)").
6. Click on the downward arrow above the information, this will open a drop-down menu.
7. Click on the new type of relationship (e.g., Finish-to-Finish).
8. Click OK. Note how the bars for the task and its predecessor now have the same finish date.
* * * Practice exercise ends here. At completion, Exit WITHOUT saving * * *
You will now create links on the PALMERS GOLF COURSE PROJECT. Later you will be called upon to
shorten the duration of the project due to the consequence of either a completion date requirement or the
amount of resources used. Normally there is a third consideration, the cost, but this is beyond the scope of
Deliverable #1.
Select tasks 3 - 5 inclusive and link these in a Finish-to-Start
relationship.
Note:
• The bars are now red because they are currently the critical path.
• The duration of "Initial Study" is the sum of all linked subtasks and equals 10 days (3 days + 2 days + 1
week [which is equivalent to 5 working days]).
Complete linking the tasks by linking them in a Finish-to-Start
relationship:
Link tasks 7 - 13 inclusive
Link tasks 15 - 16 inclusive
Link tasks 18 - 21 inclusive
Link tasks 23 - 24 inclusive
Link tasks 26 - 29 inclusive
Link tasks 31 - 34 inclusive
Tasks 9 and task 10 can go in parallel so they both finish at the same
time (a finish-to-finish relationship). Change the finish-to-start
relationship to finish-to-finish relationship as discussed above.
In order to show the total duration of the project it is necessary to link the Task Summaries. Select a Task summary; click on hide subtasks button (a - (minus) symbol in the
View Tab Outline) and all its subtasks will become hidden thus making
the next Task Summary become adjacent.
Repeat this process through the rest of the project so that only the Task Summaries are displayed. Select
all Task Summaries then click Link (finish-to-start) button. This method
summarizes the project at the Task Summary level, which is useful for reporting purposes. Click on the show all tasks button (+ + button) under the Outline option in the View
Tab to restore the full Gantt chart display.
Do NOT link the PALMERS GOLF COURSE PROJECT Task to the other Task Summaries.
Now you should analyse and format the chart to give an overall view. Note that the duration of the project is
now 110 days, all tasks are on the critical path, and your Gantt chart is spread over 6 or more pages. To get
an overall view of the project, select Zoom from the View menu, then Entire Project.
Looking further at the Gantt chart shows that the milestones have shifted due to their relationship with their
predecessor. The duration of the whole project is "task-driven". To check the global project information,
view the Project Information box in the Project Tab. This will show you the project start date and the project
finish date as well as the name of the calendar in use (Palmers Calendar). With a starting date of Mon Jan
4th 2016 the project would conclude on Fri June 10 2016. This finish date is completely unsatisfactory as
the project due date is Thu, May 19th 2016. Click cancel.
Setting milestones The final date will be set by the milestone at the end of the project (Task 34).
To adjust the milestone, double click on the task to display “Task Information”. 1. Then click on the “Advanced" tab. 2. In the “Constraint Type” change to "Must Finish On" by using the pull
down menu.
3. Then change Constraint Date to the required date of Thu May 19 2016 for that milestone.
4. Click OK.
If the date is earlier than the one shown prior to changing, a ‘Planning Wizard’ screen will come up advising
of the difficulties being encountered with this deadline. For the purposes of this assignment, the date is not
negotiable, therefore click on the last option, "Continue, A Must Finish On
Constraint will be set". Click Ok. Another screen will now come up advising of a
scheduling conflict. Select, "Continue. Allow the scheduling conflict". Note how on
the Gantt chart the time folds back to the milestone. This means that the duration of the project will have to
be shortened. This will be addressed shortly.
To meet an organizational deadline, the milestone at task 13 must set to
Wed February 10th 2016. Note again there is a problem with this milestone being achieved as shown
by the "fold back" in the Gantt chart.
Despite these changes, note that the total duration for the project as shown on Task 1 remains the same at
110 days. What has just happened? See column “Finish Date” (down two columns from Duration column).
We still have MS Project scheduling the entire project on finish date of Fri June 10th 2016 (showing 110
days). However, the last milestone 34 “Deliverable to Project Manager” has to be handed in on the Thu,
May 19th 2016 (the date specified by the Project Manager, Ms Smith). From now on in the assignment we
are going to use the Thu, May 19th 2016 date and milestone as a critical path to bring the project in on time.
This will happen in Deliverable #3. For now you have finished Deliverable #1 Initial Gantt Chart,
however, keep going to get the necessary paperwork to hand in.
Formatting the Deliverable
The following formatting steps are required for the first deliverable (such as inserting footers). Microsoft
Project will enter the project start and finish dates for you automatically.
To set footers: 1. Click on the File Tab, choose Print, then choose the Page Setup link
under the Print settings.
2. On the Page tab, choose Landscape orientation. 3. Click on the Footer tab. 4. In the Alignment box, select Left tab and type Project Start Date:
then select Project Start Date from the General drop-down menu below,
then click on Add button.
5. Select Centre tab, delete the page number field and type your name. 6. Select Right tab and type Project Finish Date: then select Project
Finish Date from the General drop-down menu below, then click on Add
button.
7. Click on OK to save these footer settings. 8. Check footer details using Print Preview.
To view the Gantt chart so that the whole project fits on one page: View, then click on Entire project (in the Zoom category), then OK.
Click on Page Setup: select the Page tab: in Scaling, adjust to 80%
normal size; go to View tab, tick "Fit timescale to end of page"; click
Print Preview button to check that the chart takes one page and shows
the columns listed for Deliverable #1. You may need to continue
adjusting the % of scale to get the best fit.
At this stage you have completed the creation of a schedule. You have done a lot of work on this project and
it would be a very good idea to save your work. It also would be a good idea to make a duplicate of this file
at this time, (e.g., save as Palmers_D1_Duplicate)
Deliverable #1: Initial Gantt Chart
Microsoft Project file: Palmers_Deliverable_1
The first Deliverable in this assignment is your Gantt chart with the columns Info (Indicators), Task Name,
and Duration. The footer includes the fields Start Date, your name and Finish Date, as specified. All the
tasks and subtasks are listed with correct durations; no misspelled words; milestones correct; and tasks
linked. Be sure to print preview to ensure that the footer is formatted correctly.
Deliverable #1: Initial Gantt Chart………………………………………..……………………..30 points
Note: This document is the combination of two separate MS Project assignments. Therefore, do not
submit your Project file yet. You will submit the completed Project file for both assignments below
after completing the Deliverable #2 instructions below.
Deliverable 2: Resource Management
Adding Resources to the Project
People and equipment are the resources that do the work in your project. With Microsoft Project, you can
assign resources to tasks and then use the software's tools and views to manage these resources and the
overall project more efficiently. It will ensure you have sufficient people and equipment to meet your
schedule and create work schedules for resources.
Assign resources when your goal is to:
• Track the amount of work done by the people and equipment assigned to the tasks.
• Ensure high accountability and understanding of the project – responsibilities for the implementation of
tasks are made clear and the risk of tasks being overlooked is decreased.
• Have greater flexibility in planning when and how long tasks take to complete.
• Monitor those resources that have too little or too much work assigned.
• Keep track of resource costs.
If you do not enter resource information, Microsoft Project calculates your schedule using just task duration
and task relationship information (i.e., task-driven scheduling in the Gantt chart you have created). This
assumes unlimited resources are available to complete the tasks, which is not a very realistic view of project
management.
Resource assignments affect the length of time it takes to complete a task; this is called resource-driven
scheduling.
Create a resource list
You need to create a resource list. While assigning resources, this will save you time. The software assigns
the amount of work specified for a task to a resource. Scheduling depends on the resource's work schedule,
or resource calendar and other task assignments. For example, if you assign a one-day task to a resource and
the resource works full-time, then the resource will be scheduled to work on the task for the equivalent of a
full day, starting with the earliest available unscheduled time that meets the task constraints. Once a resource
is assigned to a task, the resource name appears next to the task bar on the Gantt chart.
In this project you will assume that your company staff will consist of a Chief Programmer, a Senior
Programmer, three Programming-Analysts and a Programmer. Three high-school students are also able
to work on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons only, excluding any public holidays. They will provide
unskilled assistance but would benefit by getting work experience training. They will have an unimaginative
title, Student. Also, Client will be used in some tasks.
If you haven’t already done so, Open Palmers_Deliverable_1.mpp.
To create a Resource List:
1. From the Task Tab, click on the Gantt chart icon on the far left of
the Ribbon and choose Resource Sheet.
2. In the Resource Name column enter the title of the Staff member.
3. In the Max. Units column, enter the number of resource units available
for this resource (default is 100 % per each one unit). For example to
use 3 Programmer-Analysts you should key in 300%.
4. Verify that the Base Calendar column lists the Palmers Calendar. If it doesn’t choose Palmer’s Calendar from the dropdown menu when you click
on the Base Calendar field for each resource.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 for each of the staff titles, except the student.
6. Repeat steps 2-3 for the three students.
7. Due to the students working Wednesdays and Thursdays only, it will be
necessary to create a new calendar, let's call it the "Students
Calendar". To do so, follow instructions to create a new calendar as
described earlier in "Set the Project Calendar" section (Page 8). The
Students Calendar inherits the characteristics of the Base Calendar.
Ensure that you click on "Make copy of Palmers Calendar" when you
create it. Show working hours are Wednesday and Thursday for a start
time of 1:00pm and a finish time of 5:00pm. Monday, Tuesday and Friday
are to be made non-working days.
8. Repeat step 4 for student, choosing Students Calendar. 9. For each Staff, enter the standard $ rate as shown below.
Your Resource Sheet should look like this:
Return to the Gantt chart by choosing Gantt chart from the View menu.
Assigning and removing a resource
In your Gantt chart, you now have a project of known duration, even though it does not yet meet time
constraints. It currently assumes that one person is working full-time on the project; this is the default value.
This person is operating on the same calendar as the project base calendar (e.g., the project is using the
Palmers Calendar, a resource using the Palmers Calendar is the default). When you allocate one staff to a
task, the duration will not change. Should you allocate a resource using a different calendar (i.e., a student)
then the duration will change.
By assigning resources (people or equipment) to tasks, you can make sure you have enough resources to
accomplish the tasks in your project. You can assign one resource, a part-time resource, multiple resources,
or multiple units of the same resource to a task. The software displays the unit percentages next to the
resource name by the task bar on the Gantt chart.
You can also change the resource quantities allocated to a task. In this case, for resource-driven tasks the task
duration will change when you change the number of units for the same resource assigned to a task. This
enables you to reduce the amount of time required to complete a task to meet a deadline. There are
safeguards in the software to stop you from entering more resources units than you have available – you will
be warned of over-allocation.
How to assign resources: There are several ways of assigning resources. The method you will use is to
employ the Resource Pool just created. It will be helpful to use the Resource Tab that contains the Resource
Assignment button as well as other buttons related to working with resources.
Select a task on the Gantt chart and then open the Assign Resources box by clicking on the Assign Resources
button from the Resource Tab. In the Assign Resources box select a resource and click on the Assign
button. If more than one unit is needed, enter the quantity in the Units field beside the resource name.
Remember that you are not restricted to integers.
Assigning a resource to several tasks: Select the tasks in the Gantt chart (using the ctrl key to select the tasks
that are not adjacent), and then in the Assign Resources box select the resource and then the Assign button.
Changing the number of resources used on a task: To decrease or increase the number of resources allocated
to a task, double click on the task, which opens the Task Information box, then on the Resources tab. Select
the Units field and change the figure.
Removing a resource assignment: Select the task on the Gantt chart, click the Assign Resources button on
the Resource Tab. Select the appropriate resource and click on the Remove button.
Practical example of resource application You are going to do some "what -if" tests to see the impact of resources on the duration of a task as well as
changing some durations. Start with a just-saved file (i.e., save your work before beginning these tests).
* * * Practice exercise starts here. At completion, Exit WITHOUT saving * * *
On the Gantt chart, select Task 26, Coding. This task currently has duration of 2 weeks. Likewise, on the
Gantt chart note the duration of the Task Summary Coding & Testing (24d) and also the total project time
for Palmers Golf Course Project (110d). Double click on task 26 and from the Task Information box note
that the start and finish dates are Thu April 21st 2016 and Thu May 5th, 2016 respectively.
Allocate to this task the resource of one student (“OK” then “continue and allow the scheduling conflict” if
asked). Note how the Gantt bar has now extended and also the Task Summary and Palmers Golf Course
Project duration times have increased. Clicking on the Task to produce the Task Information shows the
finish date has changed as well.
Obviously this resource allocation is not good for the project but it does demonstrate how the Resource
Calendar created for the students is automatically taken into account when those resources are allocated to
a task.
Re-enter the Resource Assignment box and increase the Students assigned from one (100% units) to four
(400% units). You have now allocated more students than are available. To see this graphically
demonstrated, from the Task Tab, click on the Gantt Chart icon at the left of the Ribbon and choose
Resource Graph. In the left-hand window, click on the scroll bar at the bottom to display the Students box.
Note how the title is in red, which shows there is an over-allocation. In the right window, drag the horizontal
scroll bar until the date of around May 1st, 2016 is displayed. You will then see the student allocation in blue
as well as the over-allocation in red. A similar view is in Resource Usage, under the View menu. Against
Student you will see the total work time (80 hours). Drag the cursor until you can see the time allocations on
May 1st, 2016 and you will see, in red, 16 hours per day over 5 days.
As this is not a successful task allocation, firstly reduce the number of students employed on the task to 1.
Then remove the students completely from the task by clicking on the Tools, Assign Resources, click on
Student then on the Remove button. Check on the Gantt chart that the duration for Task 26 has been restored
to 2w.
* * * Practice exercise ends here. At completion, Exit WITHOUT saving * * *
Task constraints One aspect of project management is determining lead and lag times. Microsoft Project assumes all new
tasks can start immediately after the preceding task has finished. However, in real projects some tasks can
start while another is in progress (lead time) and in other situations there may need to be some time between
the finish of one task and the start of the next (lag time). Microsoft Project cannot do this for you; this is your
responsibility as Project Planner.
Lead and Lag Times in Projects
Lead time: The amount of overlap between the completion of one task and the start of its successor. For
example, you might want to start moving furniture into some offices while carpet is still being laid in other
offices.
Lag time: The amount of delay between the completion of one task and the start of its successor. For
example, a lag time of two days might be required between painting a room and laying carpet.
These are the instructions to perform when changing the relationships between the tasks with lag and lead
times added.
Choose the correct successor task and then double click on that task. Select the Predecessors tab, click on
"Finish-to-Start (FS)" in the Type field, click on the downward arrow above to open the drop-down menu,
select the type of relationship required then click in the Lag field to the right if required and enter the
amount, then OK. For lead time, enter the number prefaced with a minus sign.
To change the relationship between the tasks with lag and lead times:
(Use the instructions above to carry out the tasks below)
Firstly, double check that the following successor tasks have the finish-to-start relationships:
• Task 3 must precede task 4
• Task 4 must precede task 5
• Task 7 must precede task 8
• Task 8 must precede task 9
• Task 10 must precede task 11
• Task 11 must precede task 12
• Task 12 must precede task 13
• Task 15 must precede task 16
• Task 18 must precede task 19
• Task 19 must precede task 20
• Task 20 must precede task 21
• Task 23 must precede task 24
• Task 26 must precede task 27
• Task 27 must precede task 28
• Task 28 must precede task 29
• Task 31 must precede task 32
• Task 32 must precede task 33
• Task 33 must precede task 34
To further expand your Project Management skills, set tasks 26 and 27 with a finish-to-
finish relationship on a one-day lag. Note how the “Coding & Testing” Task Summary has reduced by nine
days (from 24 to 15 days) as task 27 (ten days) now runs in parallel with task 26, minus a one-day lag.
Repeat this process for tasks 19 and 20.
Also, set the relationship between task 3 and task 4 with a start-to-start
relationship.
Note: Tasks 3-13 should now be coloured blue and the duration time for the project should be 94.5 days.
Now would be a good time to SAVE your file with these new task constraints before allocating resources in
the next step. In the File Name box, name this file (Palmers_D3_Lead_Lag_Times).
Allocating resources to Palmers Golf Course Project Make a backup copy of your file BEFORE you start assigning resources and rescheduling tasks to fix the
over-scheduling problem you currently have. As you perform multiple changes of resource allocations, the
software does not keep the original duration and you may have to revert to the saved backup copy.
It is important to grasp the concepts of task allocation as this procedure, if misunderstood, can lead to much
confusion and incorrect results. Microsoft Project does not know if a task needs 1 employee or 10 employees
to undertake the task. At this stage we are going to decide how many staff it is going to take to perform a
task.
Entering resources for each task
You can adjust each task one-by-one, but if you want to allocate the same number of staff to a number of
tasks, highlight the tasks (use the ctrl key), then select Assign Resources from the Tools menu and make the
assignment.
Enter the following resources for the following tasks. Only these
resources must be entered. Go to Tools, Assign Resources, to enter in the
following resources, all at 100% (the window can stay open to assign all
the resources). While assigning the resources, if the planning wizard
window pops up – choose the option Continue, Allow the schedule conflict.
Task 3 Programming Analyst, Chief Programmer
4 Client, Chief Programmer
5 Senior Programmer, Programming Analyst
7 Programming Analyst
8 Programming Analyst 9 Senior Programmer, Chief Programmer 10 Senior Programmer, Chief Programmer 11 Senior Programmer, Programming Analyst 12 Senior Programmer 15 Senior Programmer, Programming Analyst 16 Programming Analyst, Chief Programmer
18 Programmer, Senior Programmer
19 Student, Programmer 20 Student 21 Programmer
23 Programming Analyst, Senior Programmer
24 Programmer, Senior Programmer 26 Programmer, Programming Analyst
27 Programmer, Programming Analyst 28 Programming Analyst 29 Student, Senior Programmer 31 Senior Programmer, Programmer
32 Programmer, Client 33 Senior Programmer, Programming Analyst
The following figure shows Programming Analyst and Chief Programmer being assigned to Task 3. If you
assign your first resource (Programming Analyst) to the task and later assign second resource (Chief
Programmer) then, the information box for the corresponding task will show a warning information
suggesting you to ‘Click to set how the task is rescheduled as a result of the assignment’. This would change
the duration to half as you have doubled your resources. To confirm select the first of the 3 options.
But if you assign both resources simultaneously then the duration wouldn’t get changed. To change the
duration to half, you need to first look at the work against each resource. From the View Tab, in the Split
View category, click the checkbox next to Details, and select Task Form from the dropdown menu to see
all the details about the resources allocated to a task. You would notice that work against each resource may
still be the total work for that task. Example for the task 3, each resource should work for 12 hours each (half
of 8(hours)*3(days)=12 hours) and not 24 hours each (that would make the total work to be 48 hours). If this
is 24 hours, then you need to change this to 12 and then duration would get halved.
It is necessary to note that the duration of tasks should have changed when the allocation of two people were
added to a task above. Let’s CHECK and see.
You will need:
1. a printout of Deliverable #1 with original durations.
2. a printout of the Gantt chart just performed with resource allocations just added.
Notes about resource allocations
By comparing the printouts of Deliverable #1 and the Gantt chart of resources just allocated, check the tasks
with 1 resource (person) allocated. You will find that the durations are the same.
However, for the tasks with 2 (or more) resources (people) allocated, the durations should have halved or
changed. In fact, it is better to see how what the s/w has done when you allocated the resources. You may
also like to insert a pre-defined column called ‘Work’ in your Gantt Chart (see the figure below). Also, from
the main menu select Split under Window to see all the details about the resources allocated to a task. For
example, for Task 3, we can see the resources (personnel) allocated and the amount of person-hours they are
working. Each resource is shown to be working for 12 hours (half of the total work is allocated to each
resource) as total work is 3 days (8*3 = 24 hours).
CHECK the tasks that have 2 resources allocated have halved under the duration column (such as 3, 4, 5, 9,
10, 11, 15, 16, 18, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32 and 33). If any need to be changed, use the instructions above
using the Split window with the Task Form in the lower half. Change the Work for each resource to half of
what it is if the duration didn’t get cut in half when assigning 2 resources, then click the OK button
For task 32 in the image above, the work was 24h each before changing it to 12h each to halve it, then click
the OK button.
Note: All your tasks should now be blue and the total duration of the project should change to 94 days.
As you have made quite a lot of changes now would be a good time to SAVE.
The Budget
Before finishing let’s have a look at the budget of the project thus far. The budget should show a total cost
of $38,280.00, check.
View the ‘Cost Overview Report’.
From the Report Tab, then Costs, choose More Reports. The dialog box
that appears has several categories on the left. Click on the
Dashboards category and then select the Cost Overview report. Verify that the
total costs are $38,280.00.
Deliverable #2: Resource Management
Microsoft Project file: Palmers_Deliverable_2
Deliverable #2 in this assignment includes your Microsoft Project file from Deliverable 1 above with
Resources added and assigned to the appropriate tasks.
Deliverable #2……………………………………………………………………………………. 30 points
The criteria listed for Deliverable #1 Gantt chart also apply here. Specified changes in the project must be
shown and each task must show the staff and student resources allocated to the task.
