A Beginner's Guide to
Microsoft Project 2007

Microsoft Office Project offers numerous options for project management.  You have ease of use, flexibility and much more in the programme.  You will be able to control a project at work, create schedules, and make sure finances are in line.  The teams working on the projects can be tracked and you will find time management easier to obtain through the system program, reporting, planning, and other tools.  There is a standard and professional version of the MS Project software.  The professional version allows you to collaborate with other individuals on projects by sending things through the computer and file sharing.

To help you understand the Microsoft Project software we have taken a look at the differences in 2007 that make it a better programme.  The first new option is being able to trace the source of issues.  For example, you can determine what is holding up the team or project from meeting the task dates set.  You should also be able to find issues involving accountability.  The task drivers will allow you to enter in constraints, vacation time, and other scheduling conflicts that may arise.

When you make a change to a project in the 2007 software, you are now able to track these changes and find out how they will impact the project.  You can highlight any item that has been changed recently.  This will also give you a chance to see what these changes will do to the project and whether you wish to make the changes permanent.

The What-If scenario

You can undo and redo changes to views, data, and options at a multi level to make sure everything you do will be worthwhile.  It also allows you to see the implications of what you are doing.
Another addition to the entire software is the ease of controlling finances.  You are able to see the budget field, assign the appropriate budgets to projects and programs as well as look at the new cost resource information.
Lastly you have the ability to be flexible in the project with tracking and analysis.  You can use core metrics to add the formulas you need specific for the project as well as graphic images.
With Microsoft Office Project 2007 you can use it anywhere in your life that you need to track a project.  Even if you don’t need the budget and cost tracking you can still make sure you are on time with a project for school or something else.  In this guide we also want to help you with a few help tips to guide you through using the programme.  There are plenty of commands to use in this programme that make it worthwhile to understand what you will be using.

Scheduling

With Microsoft Project you have very little changes to the overall structure of the programme for tools.  Everything is easy to find and in the same place it has been before with a few additions.  The first thing to look at regarding the Microsoft Project is how scheduling works.
Since a project is based on scheduling you have to know how to enter in the information as well as what is required.  For the scheduling you will need to know the overall project duration, individual work items that need to be completed, and the resources to complete those tasks.  So in project scheduling you will be asked for the durations, task dependencies, and constraints. 
Once you offer this information to the project programme it will calculate the start and finish date for each task.  You can also enter in resource information and assign tasks to specific individuals.  Basically how the scheduling works is that each person needed for the project will be given a specific amount of time to complete that task. 

In the spreadsheet or project calendar you will see the task and the expected time of completion for that project.  Sometimes you may see one day or more under one task.  In the calendar there are steps shown on the project spreadsheet as well.

As you are working on creating the project you will need to enter in the work, units, and working times in the calendar.  In a business not everyone will have the same hours.  This means that you need to let the programme know when the lunch breaks are and the time that person works.  This will help the project software outline the amount of days needed for the task completion.  You can also put in vacation time for scheduling if necessary.  Lead time, lag time, task types, resource availability, and the driving resource can all affect the scheduling needs that you have. 

Let’s take a look now at how the project start date can affect the entire schedule.  First of all the project start date is normally a default date set by the programme that you need to change.  In order to actually offer the correct or projected completion date, you have to have the right start date in the programme.  This will offer a more accurate view of the project you are creating.

To begin a project you have to enter the start date first.  Then you can move from the start date to the tasks such as dependencies or constraints that need to be applied.  This will help calculate the finish date of the project.   If you have a specific finish date, you may have to correct some assumptions made by the project or add in the constraints that you have.

In Microsoft Project you have default settings for the calculation of the schedule.  The duration of the tasks is part of this default calculation.  To change the units the programme is defaulting to, you can go to the calendar tab in the options dialogue box.  Then you will select your start and end time to eliminate the default settings.

Analysis of Project

When you create a project you are able to track the success and completion of the project through the analysis tool.  There are five pieces of information that will help you analyze the progress being made and therefore track the tasks being done.  These five items are duration, work, start date, finish date, and cost.  Within these five things you need to plan, schedule, see actual, and then remaining. 
In the analysis the project will have the information you entered and when it was scheduled.  As a task is completed you will see the actual time and resources it took to discover the remaining time and resources.  This helps determine if you are on track.  You may find variances between the time or resources if something unexpected occurred.

Planning Wizard

In MS Project you have a planning wizard.  This wizard is a tool to help you get the project completed.  It is similar to the resource information task.  Basically to start you have probably been making changes in the project to see what best fits.  So when you make changes you can hold down the CTRL button and select several tasks or resource rows at a time.  Then by clicking either task or resource information you can enter the same information for all spots.  The planning wizard comes into play when you want to keep the changes you made recorded.  The planning wizard will keep track of the changes you keep repeating to make it easier for you in the future for changes. 
The planning wizard can also help you design a template that you need for the project.  In other words there are templates within Project that you can use every time if you have the same types of projects.  Through the planning wizard some of the information can also be included in the saved template to make sure it is there when you need it.

Adding Columns, hiding columns

In wizard you have the option of many tools. Something that could be essential to your project is hiding rows that you need, but everyone else doesn’t need to see.  For example if you are passing a project out not everyone needs the contact information.  So you can add a column in the project and then hide it by using your toolbar.  To hide a column you can select sheet view, then the column you want hidden.  Then click on the edit menu and click hide column.  When you want to view it again you just need to select the column to the right of the hidden column.  Then select insert menu and click column.  Type the field name, title and other information asked and the column will appear again.