Project: Level 1 (1 day)

Course Overview

This foundation level course is aimed at delegates who need to be able to plan a project and create a timeline for presentation and progress tracking. It is specifically designed for the first time user and those that are self-taught. It will provide delegates with knowledge and skills that will enable them to manage small to medium sized projects effectively. It is recognised that many delegates have a need to prepare and present timelines and other task-based reports without the need to manage resources. This course is aimed at these delegates.

The course deals with how to configure Microsoft Project to reflect corporate working calendars; to design a Work Breakdown Structure and to input WBS data into a project to create a Gantt Chart. Once the Gantt Chart has been created, other views will be introduced together with methods of modelling the project more effectively and monitoring & reporting changes and progress.

Audience

Newcomers to the role of Project Manager who wish to manage task-based projects. Current Project Managers who have had little formal training in their role and would like to consolidate or expand their knowledge.

Skills Gained

By the end of the course the delegate will be able to:

• Set up the working parameters for a new project
• Create a Work Breakdown Structure using Top Down Design
• Input task data into a new project
• Link tasks and create summary tasks
• Constrain tasks
• Use milestones effectively
• Create a baseline
• Deal with changes to the project
• Report & record progress on the project

Prerequisites

• No prior knowledge of Microsoft Project is required.
• Delegates need to be familiar with working in a Microsoft Windows environment i.e. mouse skills, working with multiple windows and screen elements such as scroll bars, menu bars and toolbars.

Course Outline

Microsoft Project Environment

• Views
• Tables
• Reports

Preliminary steps

• Start Date vs End Date
• Options
• Calendar
• Working hours
• Non-working times

Creating a Work Breakdown Structure

Entering Task Data

• Gantt Chart method
• Network Diagram method
• Formatting

Linking & Constraining

• Link types
• Constraints
• Deadlines
• Milestones

Saving a Baseline

Tracking Gantt Chart

Detail Gantt Chart

• Free Slack vs Total Slack
• Critical Path

Making Changes to the project

Showing Progress on the project

• Reports
• Tracking Gantt Chart
• Filters

Project: Level 1 (1 day) / MPR-11