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Microsoft® Project 2007: introduction

Project management is a skill that can help you get ahead, and Project 2007 can make it easy for you
to sharpen and demonstrate your project management skills. It includes tools to help you get organized
so you can effectively manage a project's scope, deadlines, costs and resources. This class covers
project management fundamentals and how to use Project 2007 to plan your projects.

Lessons
1. Introduction to project management
This lesson provides the basics of managing a project using Microsoft Project
2007. You'll discover how Project 2007 can help you manage project time,
resources, costs and scope, plus you'll learn how to get started in Project 2007.
2. Working with tasks
Defining, listing, organizing and scheduling tasks are key to any project's
success. In this lesson, you'll discover how to list tasks in a project, organize
them into phases and schedule them to be certain your project comes in on
time.
3. Managing resources
Most projects involve multiple resources. In this lesson, you'll discover how to
assign people and equipment to tasks and define working times for resources to
ensure effective resource management.
4. Tracking and reporting
Once a project has been created and resources assigned, you need to track the
project and create reports. In this lesson, you'll learn how to save a baseline of
your project, enter progress data, print your plan and generate reports.

Introduction to project management


This lesson provides the basics of managing a project using Microsoft Project 2007. You'll discover how Project
2007 can help you manage project time, resources, costs and scope, plus you'll learn how to get started in
Project 2007.
 

Welcome
PMs (project managers) have a lot on their plates. They must plan, organize,
and manage resources to successfully complete assignments while keeping
specific project goals and objectives in mind. Budgets, for instance, or project
scopes are traditionally under the control of a PM as much as scheduling
aspects. For many PMs, the only way to balance the work is to use special
software designed for project management.

Microsoft® Project 2007 is a time-honored project management program that


offers you the ability to control project work, schedules, and finances using a
fairly simple interface. It also makes it easy for you to sharpen and demonstrate
your project management skills by including organizational tools to help you
effectively manage a project's scope, deadlines, costs, and resources.

This course is designed for a general business audience interested in


understanding project management principles and working with Project
2007. To get the most out of this course, you should be familiar with
Microsoft® Windows Vista® and basic computer functions.

What to expect in the course


This course covers project management essentials and how to use Project
2007 to plan your projects. The four lessons in this course are described as
follows:

Lesson 1 introduces you to the basics of managing a project using Project


2007. You'll discover how Project 2007 can help you manage project time,
resources, costs, and scope, plus you'll learn how to get started in Project
2007.
Lesson 2 shows you how to list tasks in a project, organize them into
phases, and schedule them to be certain your project comes in on time.
Lesson 3 explains how to assign people and equipment to tasks and define
working times for resources to ensure effective resource management.
Lesson 4 focuses on how to save a baseline of your project, enter progress
data, print your plan, and generate reports.

Beyond the lessons, be sure to complete the assignments and quizzes. They're
designed to test your new knowledge and skills and give you hands-on practice
with Project 2007.

Let's get started with the topics in Lesson 1.

Project management basics


Unlike many types of work in an organization, a project is a temporary venture Microsoft Project
with a beginning and an end. Projects can involve almost any type of activity or
goal, and are typically collaborative in nature. In business, a project is often
considered to be a temporary organization of related tasks in order to deliver Microsoft Project lets you
an end result, which usually involves a business goal of some sort. manage, communicate, and
report project information
quickly and efficiently. When
Projects typically involve the following: used with Project Server, it
also enables you to view
Time resource information across
Money your entire organization.
Resources
Scope

Let's take a look at each one separately.

Time
»  Microsoft Project

Projects are expected to be completed in a certain amount of time; it's rare that
one is open-ended. Time frames, however, can vary wildly. Some might be
very short -- a matter of weeks or less -- and others might be very long,
involving multiple phases.

For example, assume a software package must be installed throughout an


international organization. A project manager might decide it's best to roll out
the software in stages: perhaps European Union users get the software first,
with Asian users receiving it after European users have had a chance to try it
out. The PM might even decide that each separate European Union country
needs a separate time frame for the rollout, extending the entire project even
longer.

Regardless of how a project's time frame is determined, the timing must be


carefully tracked by the PM to ensure that budgets, resources, and other issues
don't go into overruns.

Money

Budgets are major concerns for PMs. When a project doesn't come in on time,
for example, cost overruns can go into the millions of dollars on some projects.
That's a heavy burden for the PM, who's responsible for budget management.

As a result, the ability to track where money is going on a project is critical for
PMs. If requests must be made for additional monies, the first thing executives
will want to know is how the original monies were spent. Knowing that dollars
were eaten up by, say, a key resource or a testing issue can help a PM justify
the need for an increased budget.

On the flip side, coming in under budget can be a feather in the cap for a PM.
It's usually only possible, however, when dollars are being tightly monitored
through some sort of tracking program.

Resources

There are two primary types of resources on projects: people and materials.
The people can come from many different areas of an organization, which
means that a project manager might need to track the hours an individual
spends on a project to determine the costs related to that person's work. You
might also need to track things like skills sets or experience levels.

When you manage people on a project, you need to assign them to specific
tasks, too. That means part of your role will be to assign work to teams,
and tasks to individuals.

Materials can involve all kinds of things, all of which make managing materials
quite complicated. For example, you might need to know the type, brand, cost,
and capacity of all equipment being used on a large project spread over
several geographic locations.

No matter what the resource, a PM needs visibility to things like workloads,


availability, and other items at all times during a project.

Scope

For project managers, understanding the scope (extent) of a project is critical.


Without knowledge of the total work required to complete a project, a PM can
struggle to meet deadlines, find the right resources, and properly manage
costs.

Scope creep can sometimes occur on a project -- it's the incremental


expansion of the scope of a project through added requirements that impact
the schedule and budget.

A complete project scope, then, is necessary up front to determine how a


project will be managed and controlled. A skilled PM clearly defines project
requirements early in the project, and communicates those effectively to
everyone else on the project. Many PMs create scope management plans that
specify how, when, and why changes will be allowed on a project.

Next, learn how Project 2007 helps you manage projects.

How Project 2007 helps you manage projects


 
The beauty of a software program like Project 2007 is that it helps you handle
all the key aspects of a project through a single interface. The following
sections give you an overview of project components and how Project 2007
enables you to manage them effectively.

Creating and controlling project schedules

From the initial definition of a project to a final report, Project 2007 uses
wizards to help you plan and schedule every last detail. Integration with other
Microsoft® Office programs also makes it simple to take information from say,
Microsoft® Excel®, and drop it into your project plan.

Because Project 2007 offers custom display fields, too, you can also easily
modify toolbars, formulas, and other items for your specific needs. Throughout
a project lifecycle, you can track, consolidate, and analyze information to
quickly determine how the project is going and where schedules might need
adjustment.

Managing finances

Project 2007 has a variety of cost enhancements designed to help you more
effectively estimate and manage project costs. A new "Cost" resource, for
instance, improves cost estimation and tracking, whereas cost codes can help
you map financial fields typically tracked in project accounting systems.
Different types of budget reports are also available so you can perform a
detailed analysis of your costs.

Assigning and tracking resources

There are often many variables involved in resource allocation. With Project
2007, you can not only assign resources to the project but you can assign
tasks to resources and teams, link dependent tasks, balance workloads, and
perform other key actions.

Overseeing project risks and issues

No project is trouble-free. A successful PM can spot potential trouble spots,


though, by anticipating and quickly responding to risks. Project 2007 has
several different ways to help manage risks, from a risk management planning
option to charting options such as Gantt charts that can help you quickly spot
problems in time frames and resources.

In the next section, you'll take a look at how to navigate Project 2007.

Getting started with Project 2007


If you've worked with Microsoft Office products before, you'll find that Project Pick your partners
2007 follows a similar navigation system typically used in Office. Figure 1-1 carefully
shows you the menu bar and default toolbars (Standard, Formatting, and
Project Guide) that appear at the top of the main window.
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project and not your PC -
trust your HP Compaq PC to
be your reliable project
Figure 1-1: The Project 2007 menu bar and default toolbars. assistant.

Enlarge image

The Project Guide toolbar in the lower-left part of the toolbar area has four
buttons: Tasks, Resources, Track, and Report. Clicking a button opens the
Project Guide for that particular feature, which appears along the left side of the
window. The Project Guide asks like a wizard, walking you through steps and »  HP 7000 series desktop
offering links to related information. You can use the Project Guide to PCs
accomplish many things, such as creating a project, adding resources, tracking
the progress of a project, generating a report, and so on. The Project Guide for
working with tasks is shown in Figure 1-2.

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Figure 1-2: The Tasks Project Guide.

If the Project Guide isn't showing, do one of the following:

Select Tools > Options from the menu bar, click the Interface tab, and then
check the Display Project Guide checkbox in the "Project Guide settings"
section.
Select View > Turn On Project Guide.

Changing views in Project 2007

There are several types of views you can use in Project 2007 to help you focus
on different aspects of your project -- they help you visualize and work with
your data in many ways. Just select View on the menu bar and then select the
view of your choice. Some of the most common views are:

Gantt Chart: Consists of a table and a bar chart so you can see both tasks in
a written and graphical format
Network Diagram: Displays your tasks in a flowchart format
Tracking Gantt: Displays your project's schedule and progress against that
schedule

Using a split view

You can review your project information in two different ways by using a
combination (split) view in which the screen splits into two panes. The top pane
displays your data in one view, the bottom pane in another view. To use a split
view:
1. Select Window > Split. The screen splits into two panes.
2. Click anywhere in the bottom pane.
3. Select the View menu, and then select the view you want to appear in
the bottom pane.

To return to a single view, select Window > Remove Split.

Changing cell background color

One handy feature in Project 2007 is the ability to highlight cell backgrounds.
This can help you quickly spot information that meets certain criteria, such as
an important milestone. You can highlight individual cells (up to 10 at a time) or
categories of cells. To highlight individual cells, select the cells you want to
highlight, select Format > Font, select a new background color from the drop-
down list, and then click OK.

To highlight categories of cells, select Format > Text Styles. Open the Item to
Change drop-down menu and select the category of cells you want highlighted,
such as Critical Tasks as shown in Figure 1-3. Select a new background color
you want for that category, and then click OK.

Figure 1-3: Selecting a category of cells to highlight.

Enlarge image

Using multiple-level undo

With Project 2007, you can make multiple changes -- and undo them multiple
times. Just use the Undo button (the backward blue arrow on the Standard
toolbar) to "undo" up to 20 changes. If you need to add more levels of undo,
you can increase the setting by going to Tools > Options > General. Enter the
number of undo levels you want in the Undo levels box.

Now that you know the essentials of the Project 2007 interface, read on to
learn how to create and save projects.

Creating and saving projects


 
You can create a new project either manually or by using the Project Guide. To
create and save one manually, follow these steps:
1. Select File > New from the menu bar at the top of the main Project 2007
window.
2. Click Blank Project in the left pane.
3. Click in the first blank field in the Task Name column and enter a task,
such as Create a plan.
4. In the Duration column, use the up and down arrows to select a time
frame for your task, such as 3 days.
5. In the Start column, select a date. Use the current date.
6. In the Finish column, note that Project 2007 has already filled in a date
three days from now.
7. Leave the Predecessors column blank. You'll learn what a predecessor
is and how to add data to this column in Lesson 2.
8. To save the file, select File > Save. In the Save As dialog box, type L1-
Practice in the File name text box, select a location in which to save
your file (such as a folder on your hard disk), and then click Save.

When saving your project, you can create a new folder in which to save your
projects by clicking the New Folder button in the Save As dialog box. It's
recommended you create a special folder, such as My Projects, to hold your
files while working through this course.

That's it -- you've just created and saved your first project with Project 2007.

Creating a new project using the project guide

When you use the Project Guide to create a project, the Guide steps you
through every aspect of project creation, which is a far more detailed approach
than manual creation. Because of the depth of this process, we'll just take a
quick look at how a simple project is created with the Project Guide's
assistance.

First you define the project:

1. Select File > New.


2. Click Blank Project in the New Project task pane on the left. The Project
Guide now displays the Tasks pane.
3. Click Define the project.
4. Follow the wizard prompts to enter the estimated date your project will
begin. For this example, use the current date. At the bottom of the
Project Guide, click Continue to Step 2.
5. Select No at the prompt to use Project Server and Project Web Access,
and then click Continue to Step 3.
6. Click Save and Finish.

The next phase is to define general working times:

1. In the Project Guide Tasks pane, click Define general working times.
2. Using the calendar template drop-down menu, select a template that
works best for your project. Figure 1-4 shows the 24 Hours template
being selected. Click Continue to Step 2.
Figure 1-4: Selecting a calendar template.

1. To define the work week, select specifically which days and hours apply
to your project. Select work days by ensuring each box is checked. To
change the working hours, select the I want to adjust the working hours
shown for one or more days of the week option, shown in the middle of
Figure 1-5. Additional options appear that let you select hours of
operation for each work day. When you're finished, click Continue to
Step 3.
Figure 1-5: Defining work days and hours of operation.

1. In the Set Holidays and Days Off screen, you can click the Change
Working Time link to make adjustments to your regular work days.
These changes will be incorporated into your project timeline. When
you're ready, click Continue to Step 4.
2. The next screen, Define time units, lets you change the number of hours
that make up a work day (the default is 8), number of hours in a work
week (40), and the number of days in a work month (20). Review the
information in the Define time units screen but don't change anything.
Click Continue to Step 5.
3. Click Save and Finish. You can close the file when you're finished
without saving it.

At this point, you would begin listing tasks in the project. As you can see, the
guide gets very detailed. In a large project, you might need several days to
complete the creation process. The guide, however, gives you a logical
approach to the entire project and helps to ensure you don't leave out
important elements.

Moving on

In this lesson, you learned the basics of project management and how to
navigate in Project 2007. In Lesson 2, you'll learn how to work with tasks,
which are key to any project's success. Before you move on, however, take the
quiz and complete the assignment for this lesson.

Assignment #1
For this assignment, you'll create a new project plan for a fictitious company named Swish Home
Makeovers, which specializes in unique renovations of any room in your house. You'll use the
Project Guide in Microsoft Project 2007 to create the plan and define the days and hours of
operation.

Follow these steps:

1. Select File > New from the menu bar.


2. Click Blank Project in the New Project task pane on the left.
3. In the Project Guide, click Define the project.
4. Follow the wizard prompts to enter the estimated date your project will begin. For this
example, use the current date. At the bottom of the Project Guide, click Continue to Step 2.
5. Click No at the prompt to use Project Server and Project Web Access, and then click
Continue to Step 3.
6. Click Save and Finish.

Now you'll define general working times:

1. In the Project Guide, click Define general working times.


2. Ensure the Standard calendar template is selected in the drop-down menu in the Project
Guide, and then click Continue to Step 2.
3. The Standard calendar template uses Monday through Friday as the work week, and 8:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a one-hour lunch period for the working hours. Leave the I'll use the
hours shown in the preview on the right option selected, and then click Continue to Step 3.
4. Review the information in the Set Holidays and Days Off screen but don't change anything.
Click Continue to Step 4.
5. Review the information in the Define time units screen but don't change anything. The
defaults are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week, and 20 days per month. Click Continue to
Step 5.
6. Click Save and Finish.

To save your work:

1. Select File > Save As, type Swish Project 2007 in the File name text box, select a folder in
which to save your file, and then click Save.
2. Close the file and exit Project 2007.

In Lesson 2's assignment, you'll add tasks to your project.

Quiz #1
Question 1:
True or False: A project is a temporary organization of related tasks in order to deliver an end result.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 2:
True or False: Projects are usually open-ended.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 3:
Which of the following are essential components of business projects? (Check all that apply.)
A) Time
B) Money
C) Delays
D) Resources
 
Question 4:
True or False: Microsoft Project 2007 enables project managers to handle key aspects of a project through a
single interface.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 5:
True or False: The Project Guide is a wizard that helps you set up new projects.
A) True
B) False
 

Working with tasks


Defining, listing, organizing and scheduling tasks are key to any project's success. In this lesson, you'll discover
how to list tasks in a project, organize them into phases and schedule them to be certain your project comes in
on time.
 

Defining tasks
 
Welcome back! In Lesson 1, you were introduced to the Microsoft Project 2007
interface and learned how to set up a project file via the manual and guided
methods. In Lesson 1's assignment, you set up a project file using the Project
Guide but stopped short of adding tasks. That's where we begin this lesson.

As you use Project 2007, you'll see that the tasks you enter into it are critical.
That's because tasks -- the pieces of work that must be accomplished in order
to successfully complete a project -- show you exactly what needs to be done
as well as what's actually getting done in a project.

You can list tasks in any way you choose. Some people prefer to list tasks at
fairly high levels, whereas others like to show even the tiniest piece of work that
must be accomplished. It's up to you to determine the level of detail.

When you enter a task, keep in mind that you also need to track each one
and enter progress status on them. If yours is an extremely large project,
it's probably not practical to attempt to list every work item each project
team is working on.

A more practical approach in many situations is to strike a balance between


listing high-level phases, tasks, subtasks, and key milestones that each team
must report on. Also, keep in mind what you truly need to know in order to keep
your project from derailing. Think about things like:

How critical is the task to the project?


What's the highest level involved in the task -- will reports from that level be
enough to help me effectively manage the project?
How often can I actually get and enter information about the tasks I'm
listing?

Once you've made a determination about the level of comfort you need when
tracking your project, you can start entering tasks into your plan. Let's move on
to how you actually list tasks in Project 2007.

Listing tasks
In Lesson 1, you saw how simple it is to create and save a new project. Now Using the change
let's take a look at some additional details surrounding tasks. highlighting feature
Entering tasks Project 2007 has a feature
called Change Highlighting
turned on by default. This lets
When you enter tasks into your project, you're asked to provide a task name, a you see the impact of
time frame for the task, start and finish dates (Project 2007 fills in the finish potential changes to your
date automatically), and whether each task is dependent on the launch or plan before you commit to the
completion of another task. change. For example, if you
were to change the finish
date of a task, the duration
Task names should be easy to understand, not just for you but for anyone else date for it and other tasks
reading the plan. Try to avoid using acronyms or other terms that might cause might be impacted, as well as
confusion. other start and/or finish
dates. Project 2007 highlights
those specific cells so you
Project 2007 assumes that every task needs at least one day to complete. can quickly see everything
Even if a task will only take a few hours, list it as requiring a minimum of one that's impacted, and the
day. If you need more days for a task, just use the up and down arrows Gantt chart is also
provided in the Duration column. immediately updated to
reflect the change. If you
don't like what a change
Based on the start date you select, Project 2007 automatically fills in the finish
might do to your plan, just
date for you.
click the Undo (backward
blue arrow) button on the
As you enter tasks, Project 2007 assigns an ID number to each task. For toolbar.
example, if you enter eight tasks, Project 2007 numbers each task starting with
1 and ending with 8. You can use this ID number to track the relationship
between different tasks through the use of predecessors. A predecessor is a
task that must start or finish before another task (the successor) can start or
finish. Predecessors indicate dependent relationships between tasks.

You can enter predecessors manually, but Project 2007 will also prompt you
about them as well. Let's walk through the steps using tasks named A, B, and
C to show you how predecessors work. Follow these steps to add three tasks,
one task at a time:

1. Create a new blank file in Project 2007 and name it Sample Project-<
initials>.mpp. You can leave the default work days and hours of
operation.
2. In the first field of the Task Name column, type A and press Tab to move
to the Duration column.
3. Use the up and down arrows to select a time frame for your task. For
this example, select 3 days and press Tab.
4. In the Start column, use the current date for task A. Notice that the
Finish date is entered automatically.
5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for task B, with a 2-day duration and a start
date 3 days from today. When entering the Start date for task B, the
Planning Wizard dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 2-1, asking if
you want to link item B to item A. Select Move "B" without adding a link"
and click OK. This indicates there are no dependencies between items
A and B -- both tasks can start and finish independent of the other.

Figure 2-1: Planning Wizard dialog box.


1. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for task C, with a 1-day duration and a start
date 7 days from today. When the Planning Wizard dialog box appears,
select Link them. "C" will always follow "B." This creates a dependency
between items B and C.
2. Save your file but leave the project plan open.

Now take a look at the Gantt chart to the right of your tasks -- a blue line with
an arrow connects tasks B and C, indicating a link (or dependency). Double-
click the blue line to open the Task Dependency dialog box shown in Figure 2-
2, which indicates that Task B must be completed before Task C can start.

Figure 2-2: Task Dependency dialog box.

Enlarge image

As you move through your project plan, you can add or delete predecessor
relationships wherever you need to:

To enter a predecessor manually, in the Predecessors column, enter the ID


number of the task that should be linked to the task you're entering.
If you need to remove one, open the Task Dependency dialog box and click
Delete. Project 2007 automatically questions your action by providing you
with prompts to continue with removal or not.

You'll learn about constraints, which are related to predecessors and task
dependencies, in the "Scheduling Tasks" section later in this lesson. Next, find
out how to import tasks and indicate milestones.

Importing tasks and indicating milestones


 
Project managers often need to compile information from other sources into a
project plan. One way to do that is to import tasks. There are several ways to
import tasks into Project 2007:

Import information from another file format, such as a Microsoft Excel


worksheet, a text file, or a database.
Import a Microsoft Outlook task.
Link or embed data from Excel.

Linking or embedding Excel data is a great way to save yourself some time. As
the Excel source file is updated, changes are automatically included in your
project plan, too. Here's how to link data from an Excel source document to
your project plan:

1. Open the Excel file that contains the data you want to use.
2. Select the data you'd like to link, such as fields, cells, records, or rows.
3. Click Copy.
4. In your project plan (Sample Project, for example), select View > Gantt
Chart. (You can use another view, if you want.)
5. Click the empty Task Name field below task C.
6. Select Edit > Paste Special. The Paste Special dialog box appears.
7. Select the Paste Link option on the left, select Text Data in the As list as
shown in Figure 2-3, and click OK.
Figure 2-3: Linking Excel data.

Enlarge image

The information from your Excel file appears in your project plan, as shown in
Figure 2-4. In the future, you can open the linked Excel document by double-
clicking any of the linked fields in Project 2007.

Figure 2-4: Linked data in Project 2007.

Importing an Outlook Task list

To import your task list from Outlook into your project plan, follow these steps:

1. Select Tools > Import Outlook Tasks.


2. If a Microsoft Office Outlook dialog box appears asking for permission to
continue, click Allow.
3. In the Import Outlook Tasks dialog box in Project 2007, check the
checkbox next to each task you want to import, as shown in Figure 2-5.
Click OK.

Figure 2-5: Importing Outlook tasks.

Enlarge image

Each task is added to your project plan in the first open row.

Indicating milestones
Occasionally you'll have tasks you want to mark as major events for your
project. These are called milestones. You work with milestones in your plan
using Gantt Chart view. Follow these steps to turn an existing task into a
milestone:

1. Right-click the task. (For this example, select task A.)


2. Select Task Information from the shortcut menu. The Task Information
dialog box appears.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Check the Mark task as milestone checkbox, as shown in Figure 4-6,
and then click OK.

Figure 2-6: Marking a task as a milestone.

Enlarge image

In the Gantt chart, the task appears with a black diamond to indicate its status
as a milestone. Next, learn how to organize tasks into phases.

Organizing tasks into phases


One way to make your project plan manageable is to group tasks into phases. Print your Project calendar
Some people like to group tasks that share certain characteristics, whereas
others prefer to group tasks by time frame. You can organize tasks by listing
every possible task first and then grouping them, or you can list major phases Bring your Project calendar
first, dropping tasks into each phase as you determine them. There's no right or and notes to meetings to
wrong way to group tasks. disseminate your ideas to
your team.

Project 2007 "thinks" in terms of hierarchies and timelines, similar to a ladder


approach to outlining all the tasks required to complete the project.

As you enter tasks with related timelines, it's simple to create phases through
the use of summary tasks and subtasks. Once you've created a task, you just
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1. Create a subtask in the field below a primary task, and then select the
row for the subtask when you're done entering it. For this example, let's
assume task C is a subtask of task B in your project plan -- go ahead
and select row 3.

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To select a row, click its ID number.
guide

1. Click the Indent button, which is the green right-pointing arrow on the
Formatting toolbar. (If you don't see the Indent button, right-click a blank
area of the toolbar and select Formatting.)
Task C is now shown as a subtask of task B, indicated by a double black down
arrow and duration bar on the task B row in the Gantt chart, as shown in Figure
2-7. To remove a subtask, just select the row and then click the Outdent button
(the green left-pointing arrow).

Figure 2-7: Creating subtasks.

When you create a subtask, Project 2007 automatically makes the primary task
a "summary" task. You can collapse a primary (summary) task to help you view
your plan from a very high level. When you need to see all the subtasks, you
can click the plus sign next to each summary task to expand them.

In the next section, you'll take a look at how to schedule tasks using deadlines
and constraints.

Scheduling tasks
Sometimes you need to adjust the start or finish dates in Project 2007 for a Keep track of your tasks
task. There are several ways you can apply restrictions to the way these dates
are calculated. You can use:
Use HP handhelds to stay
Flexible constraints, which don't have specific dates associated with them. connected to your team and
These are titled As Late As Possible (ALAP) or As Soon As Possible to stay on task.
(ASAP).
Semi-flexible constraints, which allow a task to finish at any time but require
an associated start or finish date. These are titled Start No Earlier Than
(SNET), Start No Later Than (SNLT), Finish No Earlier Than (FNET), and
Finish No Later Than (FNLT).
Inflexible constraints, which use a specific date to control start and finish
dates. These are titled Must Start On (MSO) and Must Finish On (MFO). »  HP iPAQ hx2700 pocket
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To use constraints on a task, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the desired task. For this example, let's use task A in your
project plan.
2. Select Task Information from the shortcut menu.
3. Click the Advanced tab. »  Handheld buying guide
4. Using the Constraint type list, select a constraint type. For this example,
select Finish No Later Than.
5. Select a constraint date about 30 days from now, as shown in Figure 2-
8, and click OK.

Figure 2-8: Constraining tasks.


Enlarge image

If you receive a conflict prompt from Project 2007, click Continue and then
click OK.

Setting deadlines

You might not want to lock in your schedule to a specific constraint, yet you still
might need to set a deadline date to help you determine whether a task
finished after its deadline. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the task in question. For this example, let's use task B in your
project plan.
2. Open the Task Information dialog box, and then click the Advanced tab.
3. Open the Deadline list and select a deadline date on the calendar. For
this example, select one day prior to the finish date.
4. Click OK.
5. Save your file.

Now take a look at the information column next to task B, shown in Figure 2-9.

Figure 2-9: Missed deadline indicator.

Enlarge image

A red diamond with a small exclamation point appears, which tells you this task
has missed its deadline.

Moving on

In this lesson, you worked with tasks: adding them to your project plan, and
organizing and scheduling them. In Lesson 3, you'll learn how to manage
different types of project resources. Before you move on, be sure you take the
quiz and complete the assignment for this lesson.

Assignment #2
For this assignment, you'll add several tasks and dependencies to your Swish project plan.
Follow these steps:

1. Open the Swish Project 2007.mpp file in Microsoft Project 2007.


2. Enter the tasks outline in the following table. Don't link tasks other than where noted
(Predecessors).

ID Task Duration Start Predecessors


Number

 
1 Demo Customer A main floor powder room and 1 day 1/5/2009
living room wall (north)
2 Paint/tile Customer A bath 2 days 1/6/2009 1

 
3 Finalize blue prints and permitting for Customer A 3 days 1/7/2009
rock wall with engineer

4 Rock in living room fireplace, Customer A 3 days 1/12/2009 3

 
5 Assess Customer B home and interview client 1 day 1/5/2009

6 Research carpeting and drapery costs, Customer 2 days 1/6/2009 5


B

7 Write and submit proposal to Customer B 1 day 1/8/2009 6

Table 3-1: Tasks for the Swish project plan.

1. Save the file.

Scroll over and take a look at your Gantt chart to see how it reflects the tasks on your plan.
That's it for now. In Lesson 3's assignment, you'll add resources to your project.

Quiz #2
Question 1:
True or False: Tasks are pieces of work that must be accomplished in a project.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 2:
True or False: Microsoft Project 2007 assigns an ID number to every task.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 3:
Which of the following are ways to import tasks into Project 2007? (Check all that apply.)
A) Import information from another file format, such as a Microsoft Excel worksheet, a text file, or a
database.
B) Import a Microsoft Outlook task.
C) Add milestones.
D) Link or embed data from Microsoft Excel.
 
Question 4:
True or False: Summary tasks are formed when subtasks are created.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 5:
True or False: There are three different types of constraints you can use in Project 2007.
A) True
B) False
 
Managing resources
Most projects involve multiple resources. In this lesson, you'll discover how to assign people and equipment to
tasks and define working times for resources to ensure effective resource management.
 

Exploring types of resources


Welcome back. If you worked carefully through lessons 1 and 2 and completed Project server accounts
the assignments, you've picked up several new Microsoft Project 2007 skills.
Now you're ready to work with project resources.
Microsoft Office Project
Server 2007, along with
In most projects, there are generally two types of resources involved: people Microsoft Office Project Web
and equipment. Within those two general categories, however, there are also Access, let you and remote
subcategories. team members collaborate
on projects by logging onto
the server and reporting the
For example, you might add employees to your project using a list of enterprise status of tasks. You need to
resources -- resources that are available through and to the entire organization. create a Project Server
With enterprise resources, a project manager can add people or materials on account before you're
an as-needed basis. Plenty of resource sharing occurs with enterprise allowed to connect to Project
resources, which can sometimes be tricky when scheduling tasks and project Server. To create an account,
deadlines or milestones. select Tools > Enterprise
Options > Microsoft Office
Project Server Accounts and
A resource is the people, equipment, or materials used to complete tasks in a follow the prompts. Project
project. Server isn't covered in depth
in the lessons, so you should
read up on this service to
Or, you might add resources to your project that are more limited -- these are decide if it's something your
called non-enterprise resources. It might not be as easy to get these resources, next project could benefit
but the benefit is that once they're assigned to your project, no one else can from.
use them. It's far easier to manage a project with non-enterprise resources
because they're dedicated to the project and you can rely on them to meet
deadlines.

Generic resources are a third type of resource. These are used when you know
you have a specific type of staffing need -- such as programmers or engineers -
- but you don't have a specific person in mind for the job. Generic resources
can be easily replaced with enterprise resources to slot in specific names.

These types of resources are often added using Microsoft Office Project
Server; however, you can also import resources from lists you already
developed such as in Microsoft Excel. When you use the Project Guide to add
resources, it walks you through the steps of using Project Server.

Let's move on to how you actually assign resources using Project 2007.

Assigning human resources


You can add resources to a project plan in several different ways. One method Booking types
is manual. Other methods include adding resources from Project Server, a
company address book, or a company directory.
You can assign one of two
booking types to resources.
At this point in the course, your project plan should have several tasks in it. "Proposing" a resource
Now we'll assign people and materials to some of those tasks to give you an indicates the resource is
idea of how the process works. under consideration;
"committing" the resource
means the resource has
To get started: been approved. To commit
resources, for example, go to
the Project Guide under
1. Open Sample Project-<initials>.mpp in Project 2007. Resources and click Specify
2. When prompted to reestablish links, click OK. the booking types for
3. Click the Resources button on the Project Guide toolbar. The Resources resources. Select one or
Project Guide appears on the left side of the main window, as shown in more resources in the current
Figure 3-1. project plan, and then click
Commit resources. A new
column appears in your
Resource Sheet indicating
that your selected resources
are committed to your
project. Click Done to return
to the next steps in the
Project Guide.

Figure 3-1: The Resources Project Guide.

In the Resources pane:

1. Click Specify people and equipment for the project.


2. In the next screen, select Enter resources manually.

A Resource Sheet displays in the center of your window. The default view of
this sheet includes Resource Name, Email Address, Windows User Account,
Group, Standard Rate, and Overtime Rate.

You can use an expanded Resource Sheet view if you prefer: Select View >
Resource Sheet to see additional columns of information, such as Cost/Use,
Accrue At, and Base Calendar.

Let's go ahead and enter a human resource using the standard view. Follow
these steps:

1. On the first row in the Resource Name column, enter a name for the
resource. For this example, enter Lori Kane.
2. Under Email Address, enter Lori's address of lkane@fabrikam.com.
3. Leave Windows User Account blank.
4. Under Group, enter Engineering.
5. Under Standard Rate, enter $25/hour.
6. Under Overtime Rate, enter $43/hour. Your project plan should
resemble Figure 3-2.

Figure 3-2: Sample human resource entry.

Enlarge image
Let's add one more person using the preceding steps: Benjamin Martin,
bmartin@fabrikam.com, Accounting group, $23/hour standard rate, $39/hour
overtime rate. After you've entered this second resource, click Done in the
Project Guide pane.

Now let's assign resources. In the Project Guide:

1. Click Assign people and equipment to tasks.


2. Click Assign resources. The Assign Resources dialog box appears.
3. On the project plan, select task C (row 3).
4. In the Assign Resources dialog box, select a resource name. For this
example, select Lori Kane, as shown in Figure 3-3.

Figure 3-3: Assigning a human resource.

Enlarge image

1. Click Assign, and then click Close.

In the project plan, the Resource Names column should now show Lori Kane
for task C. If you can't see the column, just use your mouse pointer to expand
the plan to the right. Her name should also appear in the Gantt chart shown in
Figure 3-4. Click Done at the bottom of the Project Guide and save your work.

Figure 3-4: A resource name shows up in two places in the project plan.

Enlarge image

That's the basic way to enter a human resource. Next, you'll learn how to enter
material resources.

Entering material resources


To enter material resources, you'll follow some steps already used in the Take it with you
human resources section with some key differences. You need to:

Insert a Materials column Whatever the phase of your


Select a type of resource project, HP notebooks offer
Enter information that indicates how the material is measured low-cost computing without
compromising mobility or
To enter material resources, follow these steps: style.
1. In the Project Guide, click Specify people and equipment for the project.
2. Select Enter resources manually.
3. On the project plan, click the Email Address column header to highlight
the entire column.
4. Select Insert > Column from the menu bar.
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5. Open the Field name list, scroll down and select Type, as shown in
notebook PC
Figure 3-5, and then click OK.

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Figure 3-5: Specifying field names.

1. Highlight the Email Address header column.


2. Select Insert > Column, open the Field Name list, scroll down and
select Material Label, and then click OK.

The Type field automatically fills in with resource options: Work, Material, or
Cost.

Now that you've added Type and Material Label columns, you're ready to begin
entering materials. Follow these steps:

1. In the first blank Resource Name field, enter Sheetrock.


2. In the Type field, select Material.
3. In the Material Label field, enter SF (square feet).
4. Double-click the Standard Rate field to open the Resource Information
dialog box.
5. Click the Costs tab, enter 10 under Per Use Cost, and then click OK.
6. In the Project Guide, click Assign people and equipment to tasks.
7. Select Task Z.
8. Click the Assign Resources button on the toolbar. The Assign
Resources dialog box appears.

1. Select Sheetrock, and then enter 10 under Units.


2. Click Assign, and then click Close.

Ten square feet of sheetrock should display in the Resource Names field for
task Z.

As you can see, you can add any type of material required, and then quickly
assign it to your project plan. In the next section, you'll take a look at how to
schedule your tasks using deadlines and constraints.

Assigning work to multiple teams


 
Often, project managers don't know at the beginning of a project which specific
person is going to perform the actual work on a task. It might be necessary to
assign work to a team instead. To do that, you'll need to create a team in
Project 2007, associate team names to a custom Team Name field, and then
assign team leaders and team members. The steps for doing all this are a bit
lengthy, but they're actually fairly simple to complete and Microsoft Office
Project Help can walk you through them.

The caveat, however, is that assigning work to teams in the manner just
described is designed to work with Project Server. If you don't have access to
Project Server, you have to enter individual resource names. One way around
this is to enter Team Leader names, and assign a set of tasks to that team
leader. Many people use this process, especially in large projects where
tracking hundreds of people and tiny tasks would be a daunting chore in and of
itself.

Regardless of how you assign the work to multiple teams, you'll want to keep a
close eye on workloads and availability to ensure the amount of work is
reasonable for the team. One way to do that is to use Resource Usage view
and check for overallocated resources. Follow these steps to see your plan in
this view:

1. Select View > Resource Usage. The project plan is displayed in


Resource Usage view.
2. Select Format > Detail Styles. The Detail Styles dialog box appears.
3. Scroll down, select Percent Allocation, click Show, and then click OK.

A Resource Leveling indicator (a yellow diamond with an exclamation point)


displays next to any resources that appear to be overallocated, plus the
person's name displays in red. Figure 3-6 shows an example of an
overallocation.

Figure 3-6: Resource Usage view showing an overallocation.

Enlarge image

Although this is useful when reviewing how an individual resource is being


used, it's not necessarily useful when you've used the individual as a team
leader. To avoid confusion, just make yourself some notes about how many
people are on that person's team, and monitor the total number of hours
required to complete the tasks assigned to that team. To add a note to a
particular resource, follow these steps:

1. Click the resource in Resource Usage view.


2. Select Project > Resource Notes from the menu bar.
3. Enter the details about the team, and then click OK.

A notes icon appears next to that resource name in your project plan. Just
double-click the icon to see the notes wherever you see the icon.

Moving on

You've learned how to manage both human and material resources using
Project 2007. In Lesson 4, you'll learn how to track and report progress on your
project. Before you move on, test your skills by taking the quiz and get further
hands-on practice in Project 2007 by completing the assignment.

Assignment #3
For this assignment, you'll add some resources to your Swish project plan. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Swish Project 2007.mpp file in Microsoft Project 2007.


2. Click the Resources button on the Project Guide toolbar.
3. In the Project Guide, click Specify people and equipment for the project.
4. Select Enter resources manually.
5. On the first available line, enter a name for a human resource. For this example, enter Paula
Neves.
6. Under Email Address, enter Paula's address of pneves@swishmakeover.com.
7. Leave Windows User Account blank.
8. Under Group, enter Designer.
9. Under Standard Rate, enter $60/hour.
10. Under Overtime Rate, enter $90/hour.
11. Click Done in the Project Guide.
12. Click Assign people and equipment to tasks.
13. Click Assign resources.
14. On the project plan, select task 3.
15. In the Assign Resources dialog box, select a resource name. For this example, select Paula
Neves (the only resource at this point).
16. Click Assign, and then click Close.
17. Review the information in the Project Guide. If you're satisfied with the assignment, click
Done.
18. Enter another human resource: Arlin Hanke, ahanke@swishmakeover.com, Engineer, $75/hr
standard rate, $100/hr overtime rate. Assign Mr. Hanke to the same task as Paula Neves. If
prompted to change the duration, choose to leave it as is.
19. Save the file.
20. Change the duration from 3 days to 1 day for task 3. Which cells become highlighted? Why?
Undo the change.
21. Using the skills you learned in Lesson 3, add two material resources to your project plan: 1
ton of field rock and 5 bags of cement for the Customer A fireplace. Research and enter a
reasonable cost per unit for each item. Assign the material resources to task 4, Rock in living
room fireplace, Customer A.
22. Save and close the file, and exit Project 2007.

In Lesson 4's assignment, you'll save a baseline of your project and print the plan.

Quiz #3
Question 1:
True or False: You can manage human and material resources using Microsoft Project 2007.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 2:
What are the different ways resources can be added to a Project 2007 project plan? (Check all that apply.)
A) Manually
B) Using Microsoft Office Project Server
C) Using Microsoft Exchange Server
D) Using a company address book or directory
 
Question 3:
True or False: A Resource Sheet shows you information about each resource.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 4:
True or False: When you add a material resource, you should first add a Material Label column.
A) True
B) False
 

Tracking and reporting


Once a project has been created and resources assigned, you need to track the project and create reports. In
this lesson, you'll learn how to save a baseline of your project, enter progress data, print your plan and generate
reports.
 

Saving a baseline of your project


Welcome back. At this point in the course, you know how to create and set up Provide detailed plans
a simple project plan in Microsoft Project 2007, and add tasks and resources.
With those skills under your belt, let's focus on progress checking and
reporting. Keep your team on track by
printing agendas and project
goals prior to meetings.
When you create a project plan, it's important to use your best estimates in the
plan. How long various tasks will take, logical start and finish dates,
approximated costs, and other aspects of a project plan should be as accurate
as possible. If they aren't, you might find yourself scrambling at some point to
figure out where, when, and why things changed -- and that's a tough spot to
be in when executives are hounding you or a missed contractual obligation is
staring you in the face.
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One of the best methods for tracking a project is to create a baseline of it at the
beginning of the project and/or at the end of every phase. A baseline helps
measure changes in a project plan by tracking multiple reference points in five
categories:

Start dates
Finish dates
Durations
Work
Cost estimates

You can also set additional baselines that might be specific to your project.
Setting a baseline for your project is a smart way to compare planned actions
and values against actual data; it lets you quickly see if your project is derailing
or staying on track.

You can set a baseline for an entire project or for specific tasks.

To get started, open your sample project file (Sample Project-<initials>.mpp) in


Project 2007, and then follow these steps to set a baseline for the entire
project:

1. Select View > Gantt Chart.


2. Select Tools > Tracking > Set Baseline. The Set Baseline dialog box
appears.
3. Ensure Baseline is selected in the Set baseline list.
4. Under For, leave Entire Project selected and click OK.
Figure 4-1: Set Baseline dialog box.

That's it -- your baseline is set. Now let's move on to entering progress


information.

Entering progress information


One way to enter progress information into your plan is to use the Project Integration with Microsoft
Guide. Click Track on the Project Guide toolbar to display the Track Project Outlook 2007
Guide in the left pane, and then follow these steps:

Did you know you can install


1. Click Prepare to track the progress of your project. an add-in that lets you report
2. Click No when prompted to use Project Server and Project Web Access, your actual work and status
and then click Continue to Step 2. of your tasks to someone
3. Determine which tracking method works best for you. In this example, else through Outlook 2007?
let's use Always track by entering the Percent of Work Complete, which You need Microsoft Office
is the default setting. Project Server 2007, and
4. Click Save and Finish. then you can use the add-in
5. Click Check the progress of the project. to send manual or automatic
updates to anyone you want.
Check Microsoft Office
Notice that two new columns appear that you haven't seen before: Status Project Help for specific
Indicator and % Work Complete. The Status Indicator column gives you quick information about the add-in
information about task status. In the % Work Complete column, you can select and how to use it.
a specific task and update the task to the specific percentage completed using
the up and down arrows.

Figure 4-2: Status Indicator and % Work Complete columns.

There's another simple method for updating progress using percent completed
if you don't mind using general percentage information instead of being
specific. First, you need to display the Tracking toolbar (select View > Toolbars
> Tracking).

A series of percent complete icons from 0 to 100 appear on your toolbar, as


shown in Figure 4-3. Just select a task, click one of the percentage options,
and Project 2007 automatically updates the plan for you.

Figure 4-3: The Tracking toolbar.

Next up is reviewing and finalizing your plan.

Reviewing and finalizing the plan


 
Now that you've set a baseline and entered progress information, you can
review and finalize your plan. To review how your plan is tracking to the
baseline plan, select View > Table: variable > Variance.

The Table menu changes depending on what's active in Project 2007.

Your plan appears on-screen and should look similar to Figure 4-4. Your tasks
are all listed along with start and finish dates, then there are columns showing
the Baseline Start and Baseline Finish dates along with Start Variance and
Finish Variance columns. The Gantt chart shows any variances between the
two plans, if any.

Figure 4-4: Project 2007 makes it easy to compare baseline information against
your actual progress.

Enlarge image

Finalizing your plan

Many project managers say that a project isn't final until every task is complete,
while others say a plan is final once it's been approved by management.
However, if you're in the early stages of a project, it's probably safe to assume
that changes will be made to the plan. As a result, it's a good idea to keep a
good grip on your plan by using version control.

Version control is a method of finalizing a plan, at least temporarily, through the


naming of the file. When you're required to send the plan to others, clearly note
the date in the file name. Also, add your initials to it. So if you send the plan on
December 10, 2009, and your name is John Doe, your project plan might be
named My Project 2007 example_121009_JD.mpp.

If you make multiple changes in a single day, just add "v1" or "v2" after your
initials to help you remember which plan contains the latest possible
information. It might seem a bit cumbersome to use version control; however, if
you work in a large organization or on a large project, it can get tricky trying to
remember what the most recent plan was and who changed it. Version control
helps you stay in control and manage whatever the current "final" version
happens to be.
In the next section, you'll learn how to print your plan.

Printing a plan
 
You can print your plan using the standard File > Print command; however,
there are other ways to print your plan. For example, you might want to print
the Calendar view of your plan.

Before you print, optimize the print job by checking your options in File > Page
Setup. For example, use Landscape instead of Portrait to fit more columns on
a page.

To print a particular view of your plan, follow these steps:

1. Select View.
2. Select the view you want to print in, such as Calendar.
3. Select File > Print Preview. Review the file layout in preview mode, as
shown in Figure 4-5, to be sure it's what you want.

Figure 4-5: Print Preview mode.

Enlarge image

1. Click Print, and then click OK in the Print dialog box.


2. Click Close to exit Print Preview, if necessary.

Now let's take a look at various reports you might need throughout your
project.

Printing reports
Besides printing the basic project plan, you'll often need to print various Visual reports
reports. There are six different types of report categories you can print reports
from depending on your needs. To access the report categories:
You can display your
project's information in a
1. Click Report on the Project Guide toolbar. graphic format using
2. In the Project Guide, click Select a view or report. Microsoft Excel and
3. Click Create a project report. Microsoft® Visio®. These
4. Click Display Reports. The Reports window appears, as shown in Figure kinds of visual reports are
4-6. often more effective when
you need to present
information from your project
plan to others; people learn in
different ways and many
people learn better when they
can see information in a
visual format. The bonus to
using Excel or Visio to
produce visual reports is that
you can customize the report
to display specific fields and
easily change how the report
displays.

Figure 4-6: Project 2007 report categories.

Enlarge image

Overview reports

With Overview reports, you can print reports reflecting a summary of the entire
project, top-level tasks, critical tasks, milestones, and/or working days. The
idea is to create a report that offers general information about one of these
areas so you and others have a high-level understanding of the project and its
status.

Current activities

If you need to know the specific status of tasks on your project, print a Current
Activities report of some sort. Those include Unstarted Tasks, Tasks Starting
Soon, Tasks in Progress, Completed Tasks, Should Have Started Tasks, and
Slipping Tasks.

Costs

There are five different Costs reports you can print: Cash Flow, Budget,
Overbudget Tasks, Overbudget Resources, and Earned Value. Each one helps
you see how your project's actual costs compare to budgeted costs.

Assignments

When you need to understand what human resources are doing, create an
Assignments report. There are four: Who Does What, Who Does What When,
To-do List, and Overallocated Resources.

Workload

You can quickly check on task usage and resource usage using reports in the
Workload category. A helpful aspect to the Workload reports is that you can
change time increments to reflect specific pay periods, too.

Custom

If the above reports don't fit your needs, you can develop your own custom
reports using a variety of filters and information.

To print most reports, just select the report category of your choice, click
Select, select a report, click Select, and then click Print in the Print Preview
window.

Moving on

In this lesson, you learned how to track and report progress on your project, as
well as review your plan and print various aspects of it. At this point, you know
enough about Project 2007 to start using it effectively for your next project.
There are, of course, more detailed actions you can perform in Project 2007,
which are explained in the Help feature and on Microsoft Office Online. Before
you leave the class, however, don't forget to take the quiz and complete the
assignment.

Assignment #4
For this assignment, you'll save a baseline of your project and then print the plan in
Gantt Chart view. Follow these steps:

1. In Microsoft Project 2007, locate and open Swish Project 2007.mpp.


2. Select View > Gantt Chart.
3. Select Tools > Tracking > Set Baseline.
4. In the Set Baseline dialog box, ensure Baseline is selected under Set Baseline.
5. Under For, leave Entire Project selected and click OK.
6. Select View > Task Usage.
7. Select File > Print Preview.
8. Click Print, and then click OK.
9. Switch to Gantt chart view and print the project plan again.
10. Use the Report feature to select and view at least five different reports. You don't
have to print them unless you want hard copies.
11. Close the file and exit Project 2007.

Quiz #4
Question 1:
True or False: A baseline helps measure changes in a project plan.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 2:
True or False: You can set a baseline for an entire project or for specific, multiple tasks.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 3:
True or False: You can quickly enter tracking information by using the Tracking toolbar.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 4:
True or False: Current Activities is a type of report category.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 5:
True or False: You should use version control on your project plan.
A) True
B) False
 
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