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Primavera Project Management

Table Of Content

Ch. Title Page

1 Introduction to Primavera 2

2 Introduction to Project Management 8

3 Quick Tour 40

4 Setting Up the Enterprise Project Structure 54

5 Adding New Project 59

6 Creating work breakdown structure (WBS) 76

7 Adding Activities 80

8 Scheduling 96

9 Creating Calendars 107

10 Activity Codes 116

11 Customizing Layouts 122

12 Printing Layouts 132

13 Defining Resources 139

14 Working with Cost Accounts and Project Expenses 155

15 Analyzing Resources and cost 162

16 Leveling 177

17 Updating the project 185

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Chapter 1: Introduction to Primavera





The Project Management module enables users to track and analyze performance. It is a multiuser, multi-project system with scheduling and resource control capabilities supporting multi-tiered project hierarchies, resource scheduling with a focus on roles and skills, recording of actual data, customizable views, and user-definable data.

The module is ideal for organizations that need to simultaneously manage multiple projects and support multiuser access across a department or the entire organization. It supports an enterprise project structure (EPS) with an unlimited number of projects, activities, baselines, resources, work breakdown structures (WBS), organizational breakdown structures (OBS), user-defined codes, and critical-path-method (CPM) scheduling and resource leveling. Large-scale implementations for organizational-wide project management use it with Oracle or SQL Server as the project database. For smaller implementations, you can use Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE).

The module also provides centralized resource management. This includes resource timesheet approval and the ability to communicate with project resources who use the Timesheets module. In addition, the module provides integrated risk management, issue tracking, and management by threshold. The tracking feature enables users to perform dynamic cross-project rollups of cost, schedule, and earned value. Project work products and documents can be assigned to activities and managed centrally. The Report Wizard creates customized reports that extract specific data from its database.

Project Management Process OverviewThe hierarchical structuring of data serves as the foundation before the addition of actual project data. The following is a suggested sequence for setting up these structures:

Set up the organizational breakdown structure (OBS), which is the hierarchical arrangement of your company’s management structure, either as roles or




individuals.

Set up the enterprise project structure (EPS), which is the hierarchical structure that identifies the company-wide projects and enables organization and management of those projects in your organization.

Set up a resource hierarchy that reflects your organization’s resource structure and supports the assignment of resources to activities.

For each project, set up the work breakdown structure (WBS), which is a hierarchical arrangement of the products and services produced during and by a project.

Once the OBS is established, the EPS can be set up. An EPS can consist of multiple root nodes, which enable particular types of projects to be grouped together, such as project templates or high-risk projects. Within each root node, you can further break down an EPS into multiple EPS nodes, such as Capital Improvement projects and Manufacturing projects, to categorize the types of templates projects.

The WBS acts as a continuation of the EPS for the individual projects in the organization. A WBS provides organization and control of project and activity information through a hierarchy of WBS elements. When you create projects, the Project Management module automatically creates a WBS element at the same hierarchy level and with the same name as the project. You can set anticipated project dates, budgets, and spending plans for a WBS at a high level to indicate when the work should occur and how much its planned budget and monthly spending will be before any projects are added to the EPS. In addition, you can use the pre-established budget amounts and funding information you set for WBS elements for their project and activity counterparts.




The following example represents how the OBS, EPS, and WBS structures interrelate within one branch of the EPS.




Global and Project specific dataA project consists of a combination of global and project – specific data.

Global Data

Global data provides the global structure needed to manage multiple projects. It is available to all projects across the organization and provides the structure necessary for centralized project and resource management.

Examples of centralized project management include:

- Project structure- Project codes- Admin categories and performances.

Examples of centralized resource management include :

- Resources, Resource codes- Cost accounts

Project - Specific Data

Project – specific data is only available to the project in which it is defined

- Dates- Work Breakdown Stricture ( WBS )- Activities.- Activity relationships- Baselines- Expenses- Risks, Thresholds and Issues- Work Products & Documents- Project Web Site




Global / Project - Specific Data

The following types of data are global, as well as project – specific:

- calendars- reports- Activity codes

System administrators define global data. Project managers define project-specific data to further control their projects.




Chapter 2: Introduction to Project Management




Project Management

Projects are critical to the success of any organization. They are the activities that results in new or changed products, services. Projects increase sales, reduce costs, improve quality and customer satisfaction.As organizations have recognized the criticality of projects to their success, project management has become a focal point of improvement efforts.Project management aims to finish the project on time, within budget and at the required level of technical quality.

What is a project?Organizations perform work. Work generally involves either operations or projects, although the two may overlap. Operations and projects share many characteristics; for example, they are:

- Performed by people.- Constrained by limited resources.- Planned, executed, and controlled.

Operations and projects differ primarily in that operations are ongoing and repetitive while projects are temporary and unique.Project is any work that:

- Has a temporary endeavor with a beginning and an end. - Creates a unique product , service or result.- Done for a purpose.- Has interrelated activities.




Project Management contextProject Management context

Project management exists in a broader context that includes program management, portfolio management and project management.




Project Management Life CycleThis life cycle describes what you need to do to manage the project. It follows PMI’s process groups:

- InitiatingInitiating.-- Planning.Planning.-- Executing.Executing.-- Monitoring &Monitoring & Controling.Controling.-- Closeout.Closeout.

These process groups represent the whole life of the project except under two circumstances:

- Where a project ( program ) is broken down into multiple projects ;or - A project is considered to have many phases.

In these cases the process groups may repeat throughout the project’s (program’s) life. The processes groups do not necessary follow one after the other but frequently overlaps during the life of the project. Look at the figure




Project Management Process GroupsProject Management Process Groups

Initiating ProcessesDefining and authorizing the project or phase.Planning ProcessesDefining and refining objectives and selecting the best of the alternative courses of action to attain the objectives that the project was undertaken to address.Executing ProcessesCoordinating people and other resources to carry out the project management plan for the project.Monitoring and Controlling ProcessesRegularly measures and monitor progress to identify variances from plan so that corrective action can be taken when necessary.Closing ProcessesFormalizing acceptance of the product, service or result and brings the project or phase to an orderly end.




Project PlanningProject Planning

Planning is the seed of successWithout project planning, project success will be difficult. Team members would have limited understanding of expectations, activities may not be probably defined, and resource requirements may not be understood.

There are four reasons for project planning:a. To eliminate or reduce uncertainty.b. To improve efficiency of the operation.c. To obtain a better understanding of the objectives.d. To provide a basis for monitoring and controlling work.

- Project planning must be systematic, flexible enough to handle unique activities, disciplined through reviews and control.

- Planning is determining WHAT needs to be done, by WHOM, and WHEN, in order to fulfil one's assigned responsibility.

- Planning is the process of preparing for the commitment of resources in the most effective fashion.

Planning Techniques- Network Planning :

o PERT (Program Evaluation & Review Technique).o CPM (Critical Path Method).

Both can be represented either by arrow diagram or precedence diagram.- Line of Balance.- Linear Programming.




PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Techniques)PERT was developed by U.S. Navy during the late 1950s to accelerate the development of the Polaris fleet ballistic missile. The development of this weapon involved the coordination of the work of thousands of private contractors and other government agencies. The coordination by PERT was so successful that the entire project was completed 2 years ahead of schedule.The time required to complete the various activities in a research and development project is generally not known a priori. Thus, in its analysis PERT incorporates uncertainties in activity times.Duration time activity

Te = Tp + 4Tm + To 6

WhereTe = estimate timeTo = optimistic timeTm = most probable timeTp = pessimistic time

Because of its ability to handle uncertainties in job times, PERT is extensively used in research and development projects.

CPM (Critical Path Method)The critical path method closely resembles PERT in many aspects but was developed independently by E.I. du pont de nemours company. The major difference between PERT & CPM is the CPM does not incorporates uncertainties in job times. Instead, it assumes that the activity times are proportional to the amount of resources allocated to them, and that by changing the level of resources the activity times and the project completion time can be varied. Thus CPM assumes prior experience with similar projects from which relationships between resources and job times are available. CPM then evaluates the trade-off between project costs and project completion time.




Typical Steps For Project Management

I. Project Planning

1- Define the project2- List the project activities3- Sequence the activities (ADM, PDM)4- Activity Duration Estimating (PERT, CPM)5- Activity Resource Estimating6- Schedule Calculation

- Define critical path- Floats calculation- Schedule compression- Leveling

7- Cost Estimating8- Develop Budget

II. Project Monitoring & control

1. Schedule Control

2. Cost Control




Project Planning

1- Define the project: Create WBS

- The WBS is a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team, to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables. The WBS organizes and defines the total scope of the project.

- Methods used during scope definition are: I. Work breakdown structure templates (or WBS from a previous project)

II. Decomposition (subdivision).

- The WBS subdivides the project work into smaller, more manageable pieces of work, with each descending level of the WBS representing an increasingly detailed definition of the project work. The planned work contained within the lowest-level WBS components, which are called work packages, can be scheduled, cost estimated, monitored, and controlled.

Work Package:

I. The lowest level of a WBS.

II. Work packages are further broken down during the Activity Definition Process.

Decomposition : How to develop WBS?

- Identify major issues. - Break down each issue into smaller deliverable units. - Subdivide deliverables into measureable units (work package). - Structure and organize the WBS- Define for each work package time, resource, cost, responsibility…. - Review.




Developing WBS will answer the following:What tasks must be done? Who will do each one? How long will each task take? What materials/supplies are required? How much will each task cost?

WBS StructureWBS Structure

2- Activity Definition

- Defining the schedule activities involves identifying and documenting the work that is planned to be performed.

- The Activity Definition process will identify the deliverables at the lowest level in the work breakdown structure (WBS), which is called the work package.

- Project work packages are planned (decomposed) into smaller components called schedule activities to provide a basis for estimating, scheduling,




executing, and monitoring and controlling the project work.

Upon finishing this step we get activity list, activity attributes ( identifier, codes,..) and milestone list

3- Activity Sequencing- Activity sequencing involves identifying and documenting the logical

relationships among schedule activities.

- Schedule activities can be logically sequenced with proper precedence relationships, as well as leads and lags to support later development of a realistic and achievable project schedule.

Dependency DeterminationDependency Determination - Mandatory dependencies (Hard Logic)

Those dependencies which are inherent in the nature of the work being done. They often involve physical limitations.

- Discretionary dependencies (soft logic)Those dependencies that are defined by the project management team. These dependencies can be changed if needed, while the others cannot easily be changed.

- External dependencies Those dependencies that are involve a relationship between project activities and non-project activities.




Network Presentation

Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM) ADM is a method of constructing a project schedule network diagram that uses arrows to represent activities and connects them at nodes to show their dependencies. This technique is also called activity-on-arrow (AOA) and, although less prevalent than PDM, it is still used in teaching schedule network theory and in some application areas.

• ADM uses only finish-to-start dependencies and can require the use of “dummy” relationship called dummy activity which has zero duration and are shown as dashed line.

Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) PDM is a method of constructing a project schedule network diagram that uses boxes or rectangles, referred to as nodes, to represent activities and connects them with arrows that show the dependencies. This technique is also called activity on-node (AON), and is the method used by most project management software packages. Finish-to-Start. The initiation of the successor activity depends upon the completion of the predecessor activity.

Finish-to-Finish. The completion of the successor activity depends upon the completion of the predecessor activity.




Start-to-Start. The initiation of the successor activity depends upon the initiation of the predecessor activity.

Start-to-Finish. The completion of the successor activity depends upon the initiation of the predecessor activity.

Leads and Lags :- A lead may be added to start an activity before the predecessor activity is

completed. - A lag is inserted waiting time between activities




4- Activity Resource Estimating

- Estimating schedule activity resources involves determining what resources (persons, equipment, or materiel) and what quantities of each resource will be used, and when each resource will be available to perform project activities

- The output of the activity resource estimating process is an identification of the types and quantities of resources for each activity or work package.

5- Activity Duration Estimating

- The Activity Duration Estimating process requires that the amount of work effort required to complete the schedule activity is estimated.

- The process of estimating schedule activity durations uses information on schedule activity scope of work, required resource types, estimated resource quantities, and resource calendars with resource availabilities

6- Schedule Development- Project schedule development, an iterative process, determines planned start

(ES,LS) and finish dates (EF,LF) for project activities.- Schedule development can require that duration estimates and resource

estimates are reviewed and revised to create an approved project schedule that can serve as a baseline against which progress can be tracked.

- Schedule development continues throughout the project as work progresses, the project management plan changes, and anticipated risk events occur or disappear as new risks are identified.

Critical path method (CPM)

- The critical path method includes determining the longest path in the network diagram (the critical path) and the earliest and latest an activity can start and the earliest and latest it can be completed.

- Critical Path : The critical path is the longest duration path through a network diagram and determines the shortest time to complete the project.




- The critical path method calculates the theoretical early start and finish dates, and late start and finish dates, for all schedule activities without regard for any resource limitations, by performing a forward pass analysis and a backward pass analysis through the project schedule network paths.

Calculate 4 times of each activity

ES : early start timeLS : latest start time EF : early finish timeLS : latest finish time




Forward calculation

EF = ES + D

Backward calculationBackward calculation

LS = LF – D




Critical PathCritical PathPaths:

- 1 - 2 - 5= 10

- 1 -2 - 4 - 5 = 12

- 1 - 4 - 5 = 10

- 1 - 3 - 4 - 5 = 8

The Critical Path is the longest duration path through a network diagram and determines the shortest time to complete the project.

Critical activities1- ES = LS 3- EF – ES = D2- EF = LF 4- LF – LS = D




Floats calculationFloats calculation

Total Float (TF)The total float TF of activity is the maximum time that activity can be delayed without causing delay in the final project completion. It is computed by:

TF = (LF – ES) – D

Free Float (FF)Free float is the maximum time activity may be delayed without affecting the start of the successor activities. It is computed by:

FF = (EF – ES) – D




Bar ChartsBar Charts




Schedule CompressionSchedule Compression

Schedule compression shortens the project schedule without changing the project scope, to meet schedule constraints, imposed dates, or other schedule objectives. Schedule compression techniques include: Crashing: Schedule compression technique in which cost and schedule tradeoffs are analyzed to determine how to obtain the greatest amount of compression for the least incremental cost. Fast tracking: A schedule compression technique in which phases or activities that normally would be done in sequence are performed in parallel. Fast tracking can result in rework and increased risk.




Resource Leveling

Resource leveling is a schedule network analysis technique applied to a schedule model that has already been analyzed by the critical path method. Resource leveling is used to address the situation where shared or critical required resources are only available at certain times or are only available in limited quantities, or to keep selected resource usage at a constant level during specific time periods of the project work.




Monitoring and controlling the Project

- Monitoring the ongoing project activities against the project management plan and the project performance baseline so that;

o Corrective action can be taken when necessary.o Recommendation of preventive action in anticipation of possible

problems .- The key benefit of this process group is that project performance is observed

and measured regularly to identify variances from the project management plan.

1- Schedule Control

Schedule Baseline

- The project schedule used for control is the approved project schedule, which is referred to as the schedule baseline.

- The schedule baseline is a component of the project management plan. It provides the basis for measuring and reporting schedule performance as part of the performance measurement baseline.

Schedule control is concerned with:

- Determining the current status of the project schedule

- Influencing the factors that create schedule changes

- Determining that the project schedule has changed

- Managing the actual changes as they occur.

Schedule control is a portion of the Integrated Change Control process




2- Cost control Cost Baseline The cost baseline is a time-phased budget that is used as a basis against which to measure, monitor, and control overall cost performance on the project. It is developed by summing estimated costs by period and is usually displayed in the form of an S-curve, as illustrated in Figure. The cost baseline is a component of the project management plan.

Project cost control includes: Influencing the factors that create changes to the cost baseline Ensuring requested changes are agreed upon Managing the actual changes when and as they occur Assuring that potential cost overruns do not exceed the authorized funding periodically and in total for the project Monitoring cost performance to detect and understand variances from the cost baseline




Performance Measurement AnalysisPerformance Measurement Analysis

Performance measurement techniques help to assess the magnitude of any variances that will invariably occur. The Earned Value Technique (EVT)Earned Value Technique (EVT) compares the cumulative value of the budgeted cost of work performed (earned - EV) at the original allocated budget amount to both the budgeted cost of work scheduled (planned - PV) and to the actual cost of work performed (actual - AC). This technique is especially useful for cost control, resource management, and production.

The earned value technique in its various forms is a commonly used method of performance measurement. It integrates project scope, cost (or resource) and schedule measures to help the project management team assess project performanceThe earned value technique uses the cost baseline assess project progress and the magnitude of any variations that occur.

The earned value technique involves developing these key values for each schedule activity, work package, or control account: Planned value (PV): PV is the budgeted cost for the work scheduled to be completed on an activity or WBS component up to a given point in time. Earned value (EV):EV is the budgeted amount for the work actually completed on the schedule activity or WBS component during a given time period. Actual cost (AC): AC is the total cost incurred in accomplishing work on the schedule activity or WBS component during a given time period.

The PV, EV, and AC values are used in combination to provide performance measures of whether or not work is being accomplished as planned at any given point in time.




The most commonly used measures are cost variance (CV) and schedule variance (SV).

Cost variance (CV): CV equals earned value (EV) minus actual cost (AC). Formula: CV = EV - AC

Schedule variance (SV):SV equals earned value (EV) minus planned value (PV).Formula: SV = EV - PV

These two values, the CV and SV, can be converted to efficiency indicators to reflect the cost and schedule performance of any project.

Cost performance index (CPI). - A CPI value less than 1.0 indicates a cost overrun of the estimates. - A CPI value greater than 1.0 indicates a cost under run of the estimates. - CPI equals the ratio of the EV to the AC. The CPI is the most commonly

used cost-efficiency indicator. Formula: CPI = EV/AC

Schedule performance index (SPI). The SPI is used, in addition to the schedule status, to predict the completion date and is sometimes used in conjunction with the CPI to forecast the project completion estimates. SPI equals the ratio of the EV to the PV. Formula: SPI = EV/PV




Performance Measurement BaselinePerformance Measurement Baseline

Planned Value (PV)Planned Value (PV)




Earned Value (EV)Earned Value (EV)

Actual Cost (AC)Actual Cost (AC)

Schedule Variance (SV)Schedule Variance (SV)




PV = $42,000

EV = $38,000

AC = $48,000

SV = EV – PV

= $38,000 - $42,000 = - $4,000

SPI = EV / PV

= $38,000 / $42,000

= 0.904 Less than 1

i.e Project behind schedule

Cost Variance (CV)Cost Variance (CV)PV = $42,000

EV = $38,000

AC = $48,000

CV = EV – AC

= $38,000 - $48,000 = - $10,000

CPI = EV / AC

= $38,000 / $48,000

= 0.79 Less than 1

i.e cost overrun




Forecasting

Forecasting includes making estimates or predictions of conditions in the project's future based on information and knowledge available at the time of the forecast.

Forecasts are generated, updated, and reissued based on work performance information provided as the project is executed and progressed.

The work performance information is about the project's past performance and any information that could impact the project in the future, for example, estimate at completion and estimate to complete.




Formula for EAC

1- EAC based on atypical variances.EAC = AC + (BAC- EV). EAC = Actual to date plus remaining budget (BAC – EV). This approach is most often used when current variances are seen as atypical and the project management team expectations are that similar variances will not occur in the future.

2- EAC based on typical variancesEAC = (AC + (BAC –EV) / CPI) EAC = Actual to date plus the remaining project budget (BAC – EV) modified cumulative cost performance index (CPI). This approach is most often used when current variances are seen as typical of future variance.

3- EAC using a new estimateEAC = AC + ETCEAC = Actual to date plus a new estimate for the remaining work.This approach is used when original estimate was fundamentally flawed.

- This CPI is the cumulative.




Chapter 3 : Quick Tour




Getting Started

Start the Project Management module Click Start, then choose Programs, Primavera, Project Management.

Log in Before using the module, you must enter a valid login name and password.

- Type your login name.

- Type your password.

- Click OK




The WorkspaceWhen you first open a project, the Home workspace displays the main functions available in the module. For example, click Activities to focus on activity data and customize layouts. The workspace for each main window consists of a menu bar, navigation bar, directory bar, toolbar, and command bar.


Navigation BarDirectory Bar



Home Window

Item Function

- Title barDisplays current application and name of open projects.

- Menu bar Perform functions in primavera.

- Directory bar Quickly display primavera widows.

- Navigation barMove between open windows, display and hide the Directory bar, and open Help.

- Status barDisplays user’s login name, data date of open projects, access mode and current baseline.

- Use the navigation bar to move between open windows, display and hide the directory, and open Help quickly for a specific window

- Use the directory to display windows quickly. Choose View, Toolbars, Directory, to display or hide the directory bar. To display or hide directory bar button text, choose View, Toolbars, Directory Button Text.




Open Project

Access Modes- Read Only

o You can view data, but cannot input or change data.- Shared

o Multiple users can view, input and change datao The default setting

- Exclusiveo The current user is only user who can edit data on these projects




o Other user can access these projects in Read Only mode.

Activity Window

Item Function

1. ToolbarDisplays icons that allow you to change look of layout

2. Command bar Displays options for adding or removing activity data.


2

1

4

3



3. Activity Details View / edit detailed information for selected activity.

4. Layout Options bar

Displays menu of available options for activities window

What Is a Layout?

- A layout is a customizable view of project information. To customize a layout to meet specific needs, you can choose from a wide range of project information, columns, colors, fonts, and activity groupings, and you can display these data in the top and/or bottom layouts. For example, show a Gantt Chart in the top layout and an Activity Table in the bottom layout. Each time you change the way data are presented in the top and bottom layouts, you create a unique layout. The module automatically prompts you to save a layout when you close it, allowing you to define a unique name for it so you can use the layout again with the current project or a different project.




Activity Table

- Displays activity information in spreadsheet format. Use this type of layout to quickly update a project. Use the Fill Down function to quickly copy and paste contents of rows in the Activity Table. You can use filters and group data to see only those activities that occur in your current status cycle. You can customize Activity Table columns. You can also sort, filter, and group activities in the Activity Table, as well as change the font of the activity information and the color of the table background. The Activity Table is displayed in the top and bottom layouts.




Gantt Chart

- Provides a graphical display of activity progress over the course of the project. You can customize Gantt Chart bars, colors, labels, and symbols. You can also sort, filter, and group activities in the Gantt Chart. The Gantt Chart is displayed in the top and bottom layouts.




Activity Usage Spreadsheet

- Displays units, costs, or earned value data by activity over time. Use this type of layout to review per period and rolled up activity resource/cost data. The Activity Usage Spreadsheet is displayed in the top and bottom layouts.




Activity Network

- Provides a graphical display of activities, including logical relationships. You can specify which information you want to display, and you can change the Activity Network colors and fonts. You can also group and filter activities in the Activity Network. The Activity Network is displayed in the top layout only.

Activity Details - Display detailed information for an activity you select in either the Activity

Table or Activity Network. You can also use Activity Details to enter and edit an activity’s information, such as dates, resource assignments, and predecessor and successor relationships. Activity Details is displayed in the bottom layout only.




Resource Usage Spreadsheet - Displays resource data in spreadsheet format. This approach is helpful

when you are updating and maintaining both your organization's resource hierarchy and individual resource information. This spreadsheet is displayed in the bottom layout only.

Activity Usage Profile - Displays a time distribution of activity units and costs in a Bar Chart format.

You can customize all aspects of the Activity Usage Profile display. You can also filter activity information in the Activity Usage Profile. This profile is displayed in the bottom layout only.

Resource Usage Profile - Displays a time distribution of resource units and costs in relation to

activities in a Bar Chart format. You can customize all aspects of the Resource Usage Profile display. You can also filter activity and resource information. This profile is displayed in the bottom layout only. You can also display a stacked histogram for the profile in the Activity window, and in the Resource Analysis type layout in the Tracking window.

Trace Logic - Provides a graphical display of dependency relationships for an activity you

select in either the Activity Table or Activity Network. Trace Logic is displayed in the bottom layout only.




In this sample layout, the top part of the window shows activity data in a Gantt Chart, and the lower part of the window displays the Activity Details.




Customizing Displays

Most windows and dialog boxes include a Display or Layout Options bar at the top of the screen that contains commands that enable you to customize the current display. Click this bar to display a menu of the commands available for that window or dialog box. You can also access many of these commands from the View menu.

o Use Show on Top, Show on Bottom commands to display different Layouts.




Chapter 4 : Setting Up the Enterprise Project Structure




Setting Up the Enterprise Project Structure

- The database of projects is arranged in a hierarchy called the enterprise project structure (EPS). The EPS can be subdivided into as many levels or nodes as needed to parallel work in the organization. Nodes at the highest, or root, level might represent divisions within your company, project phases, site locations, or other major groupings that meet the needs of your organization, while projects always represent the lowest level of the hierarchy. Every project in the organization must be included in an EPS node.

- The number of EPS levels and their structure depend on the scope of your projects and how you want to summarize data.

- Multiple levels enable you to manage projects separately while retaining the ability to roll up and summarize data to higher levels.

All projects must be included in a node- Each node can contain an unlimited number of projects.- Projects always represent the lowest level of the hierarchy.- Placement of a project in hierarchy determines the summary level in

which it is included.




The EPS offers many benefits:

- View project priorities, scope, budgets and resources across the entire project structure or within a specific node.

- Manage projects separately while retaining the ability to roll up and summarize data across multiple projects .

o Each node acts as a master project, rolling up all " child " nodes and projects

o A node can be opened to view all detailed activity information from the "member" project.

- View resource allocation across projects.

Assign security at any level of the project structure to provide users within appropriate access to project information.


Project is the lowest level in the EPS

Root node which is further divided into nodes



Setting Up the Enterprise Project Structure

- To establish the EPS nodes that will contain your projects, choose Enterprise, Enterprise Project Structure.

Add a node to the EPS - Select the node under which you want to add a node.

- The new node will be placed below the selected node in the hierarchy. Click Add in the Enterprise Project Structure (EPS) dialog box.


Click to move nodes up/downor indent/outdent.



- Type a unique ID and name for the node directly in the column cells, or in the EPS ID and EPS Name fields. Accept the responsible manager shown, or click the Browse button in the field to select a different OBS element for the node.

- Use the arrow keys to indent/outdent a node to denote its placement in the EPS, and to move a node up/down in the hierarchy. Click Close.




Chapter 5 : Adding New Project




Adding a New Project to the Enterprise Project Structure

1- Create a New Project Wizard

Choose Enterprise, Projects. Select the EPS node to which you want to add a project. Click Add.

The Create a New Project Wizard guides you through the steps required to add a project, including selecting the node in which to place the project in the EPS, naming the project, and identifying the responsible manager for the project.

2- Import projects You may want to build your EPS using projects previously created in an earlier version of the Project Management module, Microsoft Project, or Primavera Project Planner 3.0 (P3). The Import Wizard prompts you to specify the information to be imported and where the project should be placed in the current EPS hierarchy.

3- Using Project Architect

The Project Architect wizard helps you select and import methodologies as pre-built project plans from the Methodology Management module. Use Project Architect to create a new project plan or to add activities and associated information to an existing project.




Creating new project using wizard

- The create a new wizard can assist you in creating a project

- In the file menu, click new to open a new project wizard.- Click the to view the project structure.- click + to expand groupings- Select a node, and then click to assign your selection.- Click Next




Entering Project Name

- Type a unique project ID,Type project name ,Click Next.

Entering Project Start and End Dates

- Use the calendar to select start and end dates for the project.

- The must finish by field is not mandatory.




- Click in the Responsible Manger field, Select a responsible manger and Click Next.

Selecting Resource Rate Type

- Specify the resource rate type for new resource assignments. The default rate type determines which price/unit is set on the resource assignment. The list displays the rate types defined in the rate types tab in the admin preferences dialog box




Running Project Architect

- Project architect helps you to create a project from an existing methodology (template) you will create the office building addition project from scratch, without the use of a methodology.

- Verify No. do not run the project architect is selected and then click Next.




Projects Window

The project has been created an opened to view high-level information about the project, open the projects window.

The projects window displays the projects within the project structure that you can access . you can also:

- group projects by the project structure , project codes or other project-related items

- filter projects.- Modify column data

The icon indicates that the project is currently open.




Projects Details Tabs

The project detail tabs are located in the bottom layout of the projects window. They can be used to define the project properties and defaults that are applied throughout the selected project




General Tab

The general tab enables you to view or modify general information about the selected project ID, project name and responsible manager can be set when you create the project. If necessary , you can change them here . the remaining fields are set by default.

- Project ID – short , unique identifier for the project.- Project name of the project- Status-Indicates project status based on the table below :

Status Indicates project is …….




Planned Being analyzed before establishing permanent plan

Active Currently being work on

Inactive Completed or on hold

What - if Used as test scenarios

- Responsible manger – individual, selected from the OBS, who is responsible for the project.

- Risk level – Indicates the overall risk in performing the project . you an use the risk level organize filter and report on projects within the project structure . you can enter a value between very high and very low the default is medium.

- Leveling priority – user defined rank of the project among all other projects, considering its importance to the organization's strategy in completing their mission. You can enter a value between 1 and 100 ; the default is 10.

- Check out status – Indicates whether the project is checked in or checked out

- Check out by – Displays the user that checked out the project.- Date Check out – Indicates the date and time the user checked out the

project.- Project Web Site URL – Displays the project's web site address




Dates Tab

The dates tab enables you to edit date information for selected project, the planned start and must finish by dates can be set when you create the project . if necessary, you can change them here.

- Planed start – planned start date of the project.- Must finish by – Date indicating the desired project and date .- Date Date – Date used as the starting point for schedule calculations.- Finish – Non-editable field indicating the latest early finish date calculated

when the project was last schedule. - Actual start and Actual finish – Non-editable field indicating the actual start

and finish dates of the project- Anticipated start and anticipated finish – Expected that can be entered

while planning the project at a high level www.ProjacsTraining.com 70



Notebook Tab

- The Notebook Tab enables you to view or modify project notes, such as the project's purpose, core requirements, or any other project-specific details.

- Notebook Topic – list of topic assigned to the selected node/project.- Detail-User defined description of the selected topic. You can use HTML

editing features, including formatting text, inserting pictures, copying, pasting and adding hyperlinks.




Codes Tab

The Codes Tab enables you assign project codes value to the selected project.

Project codes allow you to group the projects in your project structure to specific categories, such as location or division.

- Unlimited hierarchical project codes are supported - Allow for summarization of large amounts of information across

projects.




Default Tab

Default for new Activities – Indicates the settings that will be used when new activities are added to the project; changing these sittings will not affect existing activities .

- Auto – numbering Default – sets how new activities will be numbered in you project.




Setting Tab Settings tab consists of three sections:

- Summarize data – Indicate the data and the level to which the project was last summarize

- Project Setting-sets the character used to separate WBS level; identifies the month in which the fiscal year beings; and specification of baseline used in eared value calculations

Define critical activities – indicate how critical activities will be displayed




Calculations Tab

Use this Tab to specify how to calculate cost and resource use when you update activities.

Recalculate Actual Units and cost when Duration % complete changes – Mark to calculate actual units and costs as Actual ( unit or cost ) = Budget ( unit or cost ) * Duration % complete

- Project manger performs these calculations whenever you update the duration % complete.




- Values you specify override the application's values. If you clear the checkbox, the application does not estimate actual and the actual field remain blank unless you specify values.

- Link Actual and actual this period units and cost. Mark this checkbox to recalculate Actual and actual this period units and cost when one of them is updated.




Chapter 6: Creating work breakdown structure (WBS)




Creating work breakdown structure (WBS)

A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a hierarchical arrangement of the products and services produced during and by a project. The project is the highest level of the WBS while an individual activity required to create a product or service is the lowest level. Each project in the enterprise project structure (EPS) has its own WBS.

When creating a project, the project manager typically develops the WBS first, assigns work products and documents to each WBS element, and then defines activities for performing the element’s work.

- Each project has a unique WBS hierarchy.- The root level of the WBS is equal to the project ID and name.- Elements within the WBS have a “ child / parent “ relationship, which

means that you can roll up and summarize information from the lower levels.

Creating the WBS Hierarchy

When a project is created, a root level WBS element is added with the same ID and name as the project.

The WBS element added after the root level element is automatically indented to form the second level of the hierarchy.




- In the Command bar, click Add.- Type WBS Code, type a WBS Name

A WBS element that is added under an element is automatically indented from another level of the hierarchy.

Using the Indentation KeysIf you add a WBS element to the wrong level or in the wrong order, you can use the indentation keys located on the Command bar to adjust the structure of the WBS hierarchy.




View the Work Breakdown Structure chart

Click the Display Options bar, then choose Show on Top, Chart View. To change the displayed information, click the Display Options bar and choose Chart Box Template, then an information type.




Chapter 7 : Adding Activities




Activities

Activities are the fundamental work elements of a project. They are the lowest level of a WBS and the smallest subdivision of work that directly concerns the project manager.

- Most detailed work unit tracked in a project schedule.- Contains all information about the work to be performed.- Also known as a task, item, event, or work package.

Activity Components




Adding Activities

Use the Activities window to create , view , and modify activities for the open project. To add an activity to a project , perform one of the following actions :

- Click Add from the Command bar.- In the Edit menu, click Add.- Press Insert on the Keyboard.- Right-click and click Add.

The New Activity WizardDepending on your user preference, you can use the New Activity wizard to help add an activity.

The New Activity wizard walks you through the process of adding an activity.Once you become familiar with the process, you can disable the wizard and add activities directly to the project.

While in the Activities , you can Add from the Command bar to add new activities. The New Activity wizard appears only when you click Add from the Command bar.




Type a unique identifier for the activity.Type an Activity Name

- Click Next.

- Click …. And select a WBS, Click Next.




Assigning Activity TypeActivity Type controls how an activity’s duration dates are calculated.Select the Activity Type according to the activity’s function in the project and the calendar that should be used for the activity during scheduling.

Start Milestone – This type is typically used to mark the beginning of a phase or to communicate project deliverables.

- Zero – duration activity.- Only has a start date.- You can assign constraints, steps, expenses, work products, and documents.

Finish Milestone – This type is typically used to mark the end of a phase or to communicate project deliverables.

- Zero – duration activity.- Only has a finish date.- You can assign constraints, steps, expenses, work products, and documents.




Task Dependent – This type is typically used when the work needs to be accomplished in a given time frame, regardless of the assigned resources availability.

- The activity’s resources are scheduled to work according to the activity calendar.

- Duration is determined by the assigned calendar’s workweek.

Resource Dependent - This type is typically used when multiple resources assigned to the same activity can work independently.

- The activity’s resources are scheduled according to the individual resource’s calendar.

- Duration is determined by the availability of the resources assigned to work on the activity.

Level of Effort - This type is typically used for ongoing tasks dependent on other activities.

- Duration is determined by its predecessor or successor activities, and its assigned calendar.

- Examples include clerical work, a security guard and meetings.- You cannot assign constraints. ( constraints are discussed in a future lesson ).

WBS Summary - This type is used to summarize a WBS level.

- The WBS summary activity comprises a group of activities that share a common WBS level.

- The dates calculated on a WBS summary activity are based on the earliest start date of the activities in the group and the latest finish date of these activities.

- The WBS summary activity duration is calculated based on its assigned calendar.

- You cannot assign constraints to WBS summary activities.




Adding an Activity via Activity Details

- You can use the Activity Details tabs to add an activity, and then enter additional information about the activity.

- In the Edit menu, click Add, or right-click and then click Add.




General Tab- You can add the information about this activity in the Activity Details

tabs.

- On the General tab, verify or enter the Activity ID- Type an Activity Name - Verify an Activity Type.




Status Tab- Use the Status tab to define the selected activity’s duration, constraint, start

and finish dates, labor and nonlabor units and costs, and material costs. You can also use the Status tab to view the selected activity’s float, actual, and completion percentages.

- In Activity Details, click the Status tab.- Type the Original Duration field for new activity.




Notebook Tab

The Notebook tab enables you to assign notes to an activity. Notebook topics are typically instructions or descriptions that further describe the activity according to specific categories of information.




Adding an Activity via Columns- You can use the columns in the Activity Table to add an activity and then

enter additional information about it.

- Select a WBS band in the Activity Table.Press Insert on the keyboard.- In the Activity Name column , type Activity Name.- In the Activity Type column, select Activity Type.- In the Original Duration column, type Activity Duration




Adding Steps

Activity steps allow you to break activities into smaller units and track the completion of those units. Steps provide a list of procedures required to complete the task and provide extra guidance to the resources assigned to the activity.- You can assign an unlimited number of steps per activity.- Steps can be marked completed in Primavera and by the primary resource in

timesheets.

You can also update an activity’s physical percent complete based on the weight you assign to each activity step. Weighted steps enable you to track the progress of an activity based on the number of steps completed.

- Steps do not have duration estimates or dates.- Each step can have an additional explanation in the text area on the right side

of the Steps tab.




Adding Steps to an Activity

- Select an activity ,Click the Steps tab, Click Add.- Type a name and a step description for the step




Step Templates

Activity step templates enable you to define a group of steps common to multiple activities, then assign the template to activities.

Weights may also be defined for steps in the template. if a commonly used step or set of steps have already been defined for an activity , you can convert the steps to a template.

- In Activity Details, click the Steps tab.- Highlight all steps in the Steps tab,Right-click the steps and click Create

Template.- Type a Step Template Name ,Click Ok.




Establishing Relationships

- Create relationships between activities to indicate whether an activity can begin only after other activities start or finish. Once you assign relationships, schedule the project to calculate early and late dates for each activity.

- Establish relationships between activities in the same project, or link projects by creating relationships between activities in different projects within the EPS. You can define relationships to activities in any other project (not including what-if/inactive projects), even if the project is not opened in the current display.

Creating project relationship

Assign relationships using Activity Details - In the Activities window, select the activity to which you want to add a

predecessor or successor relationship.

- Display Activity Details by clicking the Layout Options bar and choosing Show on Bottom, Activity Details, then click the Relationships tab. Click Assign in either the Predecessors or Successors section.

- Select the predecessor or successor activity you want to assign, click the Assign button, then click the Close button. Double-click the Relationship Type field, then select a relationship type. Double-click the Lag field, then type the relationship’s lag time value.




View relationships in the Gantt Chart

- To assign relationships in the Gantt Chart, make sure relationships are displayed onscreen. Click the Layout Options bar, then choose Bars.

- Click Options in the Bars dialog box.

- Click the General tab in the Bar Chart Options dialog box and mark the Show Relationships checkbox, then click OK.




Chapter 7 : Scheduling




Scheduling

What is the Data Date?

- The data date is the date that is utilized as the starting point for schedule calculations.

- Date used to schedule all remaining work.- During the Planning phase the data date should match the project start

date.

Open Ends

Open Ends are activities without a predecessor or successor.No predecessor – Activity uses data date as its Early Start.No successor – activity uses project finish as its Late finishOpen-ended activities can portray an unrealistic amount of positive total float.

It is recommended that each project have only two open ends, the first activity and the last activity.




Scheduling a Project

When you schedule a project, activity dates are calculated according to durations and logic.

Open the project.In the tool menu, click Schedule.Enter the date in the Current data Date field .Click Schedule.

Schedule Log

The Schedule Log records scheduling results, including:

Scheduling/leveling settings Statistics Errors Warnings Scheduling/leveling results Exceptions




In the Tools menu, click Schedule. Click view Log.




Driving Relationship

An activity may have a relationship from a predecessor that determines its Early Start. This logic tie is called a driving relationship.

- A solid relationship line indicates a driving relationship.- A dashed relationship line indicates a non-driving relationship.




Constraints

Constraints are imposed date restrictions used to reflect project requirements that cannot be built into the logic.

Use constraints to build a schedule that more accurately reflects the real-world aspects of the project, provide added control to the project, and impose a restriction on the entire project or an individual activity

Constraints are user-imposed. Two constraints can be assigned to an activity. After applying a constraint, the project must be rescheduled to calculate

the new dates.




Commonly used Constraints

Must Finish By

- Used when an overall project deadline must be met.- Forces all activities in the project to finish by the date ( and time )

specified.- By default, the time is set to 12:00 am., i.e, if you assign a must Finish by

of 01-Jan-09, the project must be finished by the beginning of the day 01-Jan-09.

- Affects the total float of the entire project.- Must be applied in the Projects window on the Dates tab.




- Open the project, In the Directory bar, click Projects.- Click the dates tab.- Click □ in the Must Finish By field, Select a date.

The next step is to reschedule the project to see the effect of the imposed deadline on the late dates and total float in the project plan. , some of the activities contain negative total float.




Start On or After

Use the Start On or After constraint to set the earliest date an activity can begin.

- Forces the activity to start no earlier than the constraint date- Pushes the early start date to the constraint date- Affects the early dates of its successors

- In the Primary drop-down list, select a constraint type.- Click in the Date field.- Select a date.- In the Tools menu, click Schedule ( or press F9 ).




Finish On or Before

Use the Finish On or Before constraint to set intermediate completion points in the project.

- Forces the activity to finish no later than the constraint date.- Pulls the late finish date to the constraint date.- Affects the late dates of its predecessors.

Start On

- Forces the activity to start on the constraint date.- Shifts both early and late start dates.- Delays an early start or accelerates a late start.- Used to specify dates submitted by contractors or vendors.

Start On or Before

- Forces the activity to start no later than the constraint date.- Shifts the late start to the constraint date.- Affects the late dates of its predecessors.- Used to place a deadline on the start of the activity.

Finish On

- Forces the activity to finish on the constraint date.- Shifts both early and late finish dates.- Delays an early finish or accelerates a late finish.- Used to satisfy intermediate project deadlines.

Finish On or After

- Forces the activity to finish no earlier than the constraint date.- Shifts the early finish to the constraint date.- Affects the early dates of its successors.- Used to prevent an activity from finishing too early.

As Late as Possible




- Delays an activity as late as possible without delaying its successors.- Shifts the early dates as late as possible.- Also called a zero free float constraint.

Mandatory Start and Finish

- Forces early and late dates to be equal to the constraint date.- Affects late dates of predecessors and early dates of successors.- May violate network logic.




Chapter 9: Creating Calendars




Creating Calendars

Calendar can be created and assigned to each activity and resource. Calendar assignments are used to schedule activities and level resources.

- An unlimited number of calendars can be created.- The Activity Type determines whether the activity calendar or resource

calendar is used during scheduling.

Calendar Types

There are three calendar pools:

Global calendar pool- Contains calendars that can be used by all projects in the database.- Available for all resources and activities in the database.

Resource calendar pool- Contains separate calendars for each resource.- Available for resources.

Project calendar pool- Contains a separate pool of calendars for each project.- Available for the current project only.

Worktime Types

The calendar consists of three types of worktime:

Standard- Worktime matches the hours set up in the calendar weekly hours dialog

box.- Define which days of the week are workdays.- Define the number of work hours in a workday.

Nonwork - All 24 hours are nonworktime.

Exception- Does not match the work/nonwork setup in the standard calendar weekly

hours dialog box.




Global calendars

Global calendars can be assigned to projects, activities, and resources. Global calendars can also be used as a template to create new calendars.

- Mark the Default checkbox next to the global calendar to set the default calendar assignment for all new projects added to the database.

- To change the default calendar assignment for an individual project, click Enterprise, Projects and elect the Defaults tab.

- You can link resource and project calendars, your changes are applied to all resource and project calendars linked to the modified global calendar.




Viewing a Global Calendar

- Select a Global Calendar.- In the command bar, click Modify to view the calendar's workweek and

nonwork time.- Select Total Work Hours/day to display work hours.- Click Ok.




Adding a Project Calendar

A project calendar can be created to reflect work time for a specific project. This calendar will be created based on the template global calendar, then linked to the calendar containing company holidays.

- In the Calendars dialog box, select Project.- Click Add.- Select the calendar to use as a template, Standard 5 Day Workweek.- Type a Calendar Name.




Instead of re-entering company holidays, the global calendar containing holidays can be linked to the current project calendar.

- In the Command bar, click Modify.- In Inherit holidays and exceptions from Global Calendar, click to link a

global calendar to assign its holidays and exceptions.




Setting the Workweek

Define the workweek for the selected calendar by defining the days of the week and hours per day.

- In the Command bar, click Workweek.- Type working hours for the days of the week.- Click ok.

To Set Nonworktime,

- Select a day.




- In the Command bar, click Nonwork.

Setting Exceptions

There are times where a regularly scheduled workday needs to become a nonwork day, or a regularly scheduled nonwork day needs to become a workday. These conditions create exceptions in the calendar.

- Select a nonwork day.- In the Command bar, click Work.- To save changes to the calendar, click ok.- In the Command bar, click Close.




Calendar Assignments

Use the Select Activity Calendar dialog box to select the calendar an activity should use in the project. Calendars can be global or project specific.

- Select activity.- Click the General tab.- In the Activity Calendar field, click to select a new calendar assignment.- In the Display Options bar, click Global Calendars.- View the available calendars and close the dialog box.




Chapter 10: Activity Codes




Establishing Activity Codes

- Activity Codes are ways to classify and categorize activities according to your organizational and project needs.

- You can use activity codes to view and roll up activities in the activity table; build reports in the Report Wizard or Report Editor; Organize a layout by grouping activities into specific categories; and select and summarize activities.

- Examples of activity codes include Phase, Area, Site, and Division.

Activity codes can be global, which means they are available to all projects in the database.

- Organize activities within a project or across the project structure.- Create an unlimited number of global activity codes.




Activity codes can be project – specific, which means they are available only in the project in which they were created.

- Filter and organize activities based on unique , project specific requirements.

- Create up to 500 activity codes per project.- Each activity code ( global and project ) may contain an unlimited number

of activity code values.- Activity code values can be organized in a hierarchy.

Define project codes and values - Choose Enterprise, Project Codes. Click Modify in the Project Codes

dialog box, then define as many project code definitions as you need.




- To add values to a project code, click Close in the Project Code Definitions dialog box. In the Project Codes dialog box, select the project code for which you want to establish values, then click Add and type the values and descriptions.




Assigning Activity Codes to an Activity

Assign Activity Codes in the Activities window.- Add a column for the activity code in the Activity table.- Use the Activity Details, Codes tab.

- Select an activity .- In Activity Details, click the Codes tab, click Assign.- Select an activity code value, click Assign , and then click Close.




Assigning Activity Codes to Multiple Activities

Use the Command bar to assign an activity code to multiple activities.

- Press Shift + Click to select a activities. - In the Command bar , click Activity Codes.- Assign activity codes value, Close the dialog box.




Chapter 11: Customizing layouts




Customizing layouts

Modifying columns

- You can customize the look and content of the columns included in tables and spreadsheets in the Activities window. Choose which columns you want to include; change the column widths, the order in which columns are displayed, and the row height; specify column fonts and colors; edit column titles; and copy column formats from other layouts.

Add or remove columns - In the Activities window, click the Layout Options bar, then choose

Columns.

Change column fonts, colors, and row height - From the Activities window, click the Layout Options bar, then choose Table

Font and Row. To change a font, click the Font button, then select a new font. To change a color, click the Color button, then select a new color.




Adjusting the Timescale

Gantt Charts, Activity and Resource Usage Spreadsheets, and Activity and Resource Usage Profiles display a timescale that starts just before your project begins and extends until your finish date. This timescale can be shown in different time units, such as years, quarters, and days. You can expand or condense the timescale view to control the size of the bars or columns that appear in the layout.

Change the timescale of a profile, spreadsheet, or Gantt Chart In the Activities window, open a profile, spreadsheet, or Gantt Chart. Click the Layout Options bar and choose Timescale. In the Projects window, right-click in the bar area of a Gantt Chart and choose Timescale.




Formatting Gantt Charts

- A bar in a Gantt Chart can represent many things, such as a milestone, early and late dates for an activity, or summarized data. To visually distinguish the different bars included in a Gantt Chart, specify unique colors, shapes, and patterns. You can display the Gantt Chart in the Projects window when reviewing the EPS, or in the Activities window when reviewing specific projects.

Add and delete bars - Click the Layout Options bar (Activities window) or Display Options bar

(Projects window), then choose Bars.

- Click Add. Type a name for the new bar, then select the timespan the bar represents from the Timescale drop-down list. Double-click the Filter field, then mark each filter you want to apply. Click OK.

- To delete a bar, select it in the Bars dialog box, then click Delete.




Use Bar style tab to specify the shape, color, pattern and position (Row) of the bar.

Use bar setting to define grouping bar setting and bar necking setting.

Use bar labels to select what to display in bar area.

Grouping data

- Group to organize information in categories that share a common attribute, such as enterprise project structure (EPS), work breakdown structure (WBS), code value, or resource. Use predefined grouping options; for example, when displaying the Expenses window, group by vendor, WBS, or category.




Customize grouping In the Activities window, click the Layout Options bar, then choose Group and Sort. You can also click the Display Options bar from the Projects or Resources window and then choose Group and Sort By, Customize.

- When grouping by a hierarchical item, such as WBS, mark the indent checkbox to indent each level

- When grouping by numbers, dates or duration, choose an interval for each group




Sorting Data

- Sorting determines the sequence in which projects, activities, or resources are listed in the current window. You can sort alphabetically, numerically, or chronologically based on the data item you choose.

Specify sort order - In the Activities window, click the Layout Options bar, then choose Group and

Sort. Click Sort. You can also click the Display Options bar from the Projects or Resources window and choose Group and Sort By, Customize, Sort.

- Click Add to specify additional sort criteria




Filtering Data

- Use filters to focus on specific data. A filter is a set of instructions that determines which data display in the current window. You can create one set of filters for activities and one set for projects, or use predefined filters. Filters can be user-defined or global.

- Choose All or Any to combine multiple filters.

- Click to view all activities and remove filters




Create a user-defined filter - In the Activities window, click the Layout Options bar, then choose Filters.

You can also click the Display Options bar from the Projects window and choose Filter By, Customize. Click New. Type a filter name. Click the Parameter cell and select a data item. Double-click the Is cell to select a filtering criteria. Specify a value in the Value field. If the values require a specific entry, you can select from a drop-down list.


If you specify that all criteria must be met, each statement is joined with an “And”. If any criteria can be met, an “Or” is used



Combining Filters

To create a filter that selects any activity from one selection criteria and any activity from another selection criteria, you must define two separate filters and then combine them when you run the filters.




Chapter 12: Printing Layouts




Printing Layouts and Reports

Printing layouts and reports for distribution is an effective way to communicate project data. Define page settings

- From the Print Preview window, click the Page Setup button. Click the Page tab to set orientation, scaling, and paper size.




Set page margins - Click the Margins tab, then specify the values for each margin.




Add headers and footers - You can customize the header and footer. You can also insert a graphic,

such as your company logo, in the header or footer. Click the Header or Footer tab.

- Define Header/Footer section, mark the Show Section Divider Lines checkbox to display lines between each section of the header or footer. Define the values you want to insert in the header or footer.

- Choose Text/Logo to add text variables or a logo, such as your company logo.

- Choose Revision Box to allow space in the header/footer to be able to enter dates, approvals, and revision information.

- If displaying the Gantt Chart in your layout, you can choose to display the Gantt Chart Legend in the header or footer.




Specify layout options - Use the Options tab to select the layout areas and timeframe to include in

the printed layout.

.




Previewing Layouts - The Print Preview option enables you to review the layout or report before

sending it to a printer.

Open Print Preview - To preview a layout, display the layout in the Activities window, then

choose File, Print Preview.

- As you move your mouse over the Print Preview window, the pointer changes to a magnifying glass. Click the Zoom In button in the toolbar to zoom in on details and the Zoom Out button to zoom back out.




Printing Layouts

- You can print layouts and reports by sending them directly to a printer, publishing them as HTML files.

Print a layout - To send a layout directly to your printer, open the layout you want to print,

then choose File, Print. You can also click the Print button from the Print Preview window.




Chapter 13: Defining Resources and Roles




Defining Resources and Roles

Resources include the personnel and equipment that perform work on activities across all projects. Labor and non labor resources, such as engineers and equipment, are always time-based and are usually assigned to other activities and/or projects; material resources, such as supplies and other consumable items, are recorded in terms of cost per unit, rather than hours.

Roles - If you are in the planning stage of your project or want to see how certain resource assignments will affect the schedule, you can assign roles as temporary placeholders for resource assignments. Roles are project personnel job titles or skills. They represent a type of resource with a certain level of proficiency—rather than a specific individual. Roles can also be assigned to specific resources to further identify that resource’s skills.

Primary resources - An activity’s primary resource is typically the resource who is responsible for coordinating an activity’s work. The primary resource updates the activity’s start date, finish date, and expected end date. In addition, if an activity has any material resources, the primary resource may be responsible for reporting the material resource’s hours/units.




Viewing and Adding ResourcesUse the Resources window to view and add the resources required to complete all projects across the organization. Structure the hierarchy of resources according to the work performed.




View resources

Choose Enterprise, Resources, or click Resources on the Home workspace. Click the Display Options bar, then choose one of the following:

- To view detailed information about a specific resource, choose Details, then select the resource whose information you want to view.

- To view resources as a chart, choose Chart View.

- To select the columns to include in the display, choose Columns, Customize, or one of the predefined column displays.

- To select the resources to display, choose Filter By, then choose All Active Resources, All Resources, or Current Project’s Resources.

- To organize the resource hierarchy, choose Group and Sort By, and choose one of the predefined groupings or customize your own.




Add a resource - Choose Enterprise, Resources. Click the Display Options bar, then choose

Group and Sort By, Default, to display the resource hierarchy.

- Select the resource immediately above and at the same level as the resource you want to add, then click Add.

To specify additional information, refer to the following sections later in this chapter:

Codes – Defining and Assigning Resource Codes and Values

Roles – Setting Up Roles and Assigning Roles to Resources




General information

Use the General tab to enter general information about the selected resource, including the resource’s ID, name, title, employee ID, e-mail address, office phone numbers, and status.




Details - Use the Details tab to specify a resource’s labor classification—labor

(personnel), nonlabor (equipment), or material (supplies), indicate whether a resource can log overtime hours, assign a calendar to the selected resource, specify the resource’s default units/time, specify how actual and remaining units are applied for a resource’s assignments, and indicate that any assignments for a resource will have its quantities recalculated whenever any cost changes occur.

Default Units/Time

You can enter the default units/time value as a numeric value followed by a forward slash (/) and the appropriate time duration, depending on your user preference setting for time units, or as a percentage for labor and nonlabor resources.




Units and prices Use the Units & Prices tab to specify available quantities (limits) for the resource. Setting limits helps you quickly identify areas of resource overload in Resource Usage Profiles using different colors to represent limits and overallocated units in histograms. The module automatically adjusts the resource’s costs for its assigned activities to reflect price changes for different timeperiods.

You can set varying limits and prices over time by specifying the effective start date for each change

Note: to level resources, you must set availability limits (max units/time)




Setting Up Roles

Roles are project personnel job titles or skills, for example, project planner, quality assurance tester, and engineer. You can create a standard set of roles that you can assign to labor and nonlabor resources and activities in all projects in the organization.

View roles Choose Enterprise, Roles, then click the Display Options bar.

- To view only those roles that have assignments in the open project, choose Filter By, Current Project’s Roles.

- To view all roles, choose Filter By, All Roles.




View roles for a specific resource - Choose Enterprise, Resources. Select the resource whose roles you want to

view. Display Resource Details by clicking the Display Options bar and choosing Details. Click the Roles tab.




Add a role - Choose Enterprise, Roles. Select the role immediately above and at the same

level as the role you want to add, then click Add. Type the role’s ID and name. To create a hierarchy of roles, click the right arrow key to indent the selected role one level.

- Click the up/down arrows to move a role up or down in the list.

- Click the right/eft arrows to change the role’s hierarchy level.




Add rates to a role - You can add up to five price per unit rates for each role in the roles

dictionary. When you assign a role to an activity during project planning, you can choose which rate you want to use to calculate cost. Defining rates for specific roles yields more accurate project cost planning results.

- To add rates to a role choose Enterprise, Roles. If tabs are not displayed in the Roles dialog box, click the Display Options bar and choose Roles Details. Select the role you want to assign rates to, then click the Prices tab. Enter up to five Price/Unit rates for the selected role.




Assigning Roles to Resources- The set of roles you assign to a resource describes the resource’s skill

capabilities. These role assignments make it easy to assign resources to activities according to role. You can also assign roles to activities directly when you are unsure of the actual resources available to work on those activities. You can later replace the roles with the applicable resources.

- You can assign roles to resources in two ways: from the Resource Details window or from the Roles dialog box.

Assign roles to resources from the Resource Details window - Choose Enterprise, Resources, select the resource to which you want to

assign a role, click the Display Options bar, then choose Details.

- Click the Roles tab, then click Assign.




Assign roles to resources from the Roles dialog box - Choose Enterprise, Roles. Click the Display Options bar, then choose Roles

Details. Select the role you want to assign. Click the Resources tab, then click Assign.

- Double-click the displayed proficiency level, then select the appropriate proficiency level.




Assigning Resources and Roles

- In the Activities window, select the activity to which you want to assign a resource or role. Click the Resources tab in Activity Details.

- Click Add Resource to assign a resource to the selected activity; click Add Role to assign a role to the selected activity.

- Select the resource or role you want to assign. To assign multiple resources or roles, hold down the Ctrl key, then click each resource/role you want to assign. Click the Select button, then click the Close button.




Assign resources to activities by role - At least one role must be assigned to activities to assign resources by role.

Click Assign by Role; the Assign Resources by Role dialog box lists the roles assigned to the selected activity. The resources who can fulfill each role are listed below it. Select the resources you want to assign. Click the Select button, then click the Close button.




Chapter 14: Working with Cost Accounts and Project Expenses




Working with Cost Accounts and Project Expenses

Cost accounts enable you to track activity costs and earned value throughout the project life cycle. Set the default cost account at the project level so that it is automatically assigned to the project’s activities.

Cost accounts are established in a hierarchy available to all projects in the enterprise project structure (EPS).

Expenses are non-resource costs associated with a project and assigned to a project’s activities. They are typically one-time expenditures for non reusable items. Examples of expenses include facilities, travel, consulting, and training.

Setting Up a Cost Account Structure

- Set up a cost account structure and assign codes to activities and/or resources. Use the cost account structure to track the amount of work accomplished against the amount of money spent.




Create a cost account hierarchy - Choose Enterprise, Cost Accounts. Click the Cost Account ID column label to

display the cost accounts hierarchy. An outline symbol in the Cost Account ID column label indicates a hierarchy display.

- Select the cost account immediately above and at the same level as the cost account you want to add, then click Add. Type the cost account’s ID and name.

Adding Expenses and Entering Cost Information

- Use the Project Expenses window to create, view, and edit expenses and related cost information for the open project.




Add expenses

- Choose Project, Expenses. Click Add. Select the activity that incurs the expense, then click the Select button.

- Click the General, Activity, Costs, and Description tabs, and enter the expense’s information.

General information - Use the General tab to define general information for the selected expense

item, such as the item name and category. You can also specify the item’s vendor, cost account, and document number.




Activity information - Use the Activity tab to change the selected expense item’s activity

assignment and specify the expense item’s accrual type. You can also view the item’s activity assignment according to WBS element, activity status, activity start and finish dates, and primary resource.

Select one of the following accrual types:

Start of Activity, to accrue the entire expense on the date the activity begins

End of Activity, to accrue the entire expense on the date the activity ends

Uniform Over Activity, to evenly distribute the expense over the course of the activity’s duration




Costs - Use the Costs tab to specify cost amounts for the selected expense item,

including price/unit, budgeted cost, actual cost, and remaining cost. You can also indicate if you want to calculate an expense item’s actual cost according to activity completion percentage.




Add expenses to activities - In the Activities window, select the activity to which you want to add an

expense. Click the Expenses tab in Activity Details.

- Click Add, then type the expense’s name. Double-click the item’s expense category listing, click the category you want to assign, then click the Select button. then select the expense’s accrual type. Type the number of budgeted units you expect the selected activity to use. Type the cost of each unit. The module calculates and displays the expense’s budgeted cost (budgeted units * price/unit) in the Budgeted Cost field.




Chapter 15: Analyzing Resources and Cost




Analyzing Resources and cost

Resource Analysis Settings

You can determine the level of detail displayed on resource/cost usage profiles/ spread sheets.

-All projects

- All closed projects- Displays resource/cost usage across all projects that have been summarized in the EPS as well as open projects.

- All closed projects with a leveling priority- when electing to show remaining values for open versus closed projects, choose this option to include data for all closed projects with a specific leveling priority.

- Opened projects only- focus on resource/cost usage in the projects currently opened.

-Time – Distributed Data

- Display data based on Remaining Early or Forecast dates.- Select the time interval for storing live resource allocations: Hour, day,

week, or month.




- In the full menu, click Close All, when promoted, click Yes.- In the Edit menu, click User Preferences. Click the Resource Analysis tab.

Select All closed projects (except what-if projects).Selecting All closed projects (except what-if projects) displays resource information for all projects that do not have What-if status, not just the project that is currently open.

- Select the interval for time-distributed resource calculation.




Resource Usage Profile

The Resource Usage profile provides a graphical view of unit/cost distributions over time. It displays the amount of effort needed from each resource/role on the project during each time period.

Use the profile to determine how many hours each resource is scheduled to work; identify over-allocated resources; track expenditures per time period; and display a “banana curve” to compare early and late dates.

- Can display separate bars for one or all of the following:o Budgeted units/costso Actual units/costso Remaining Early units/costso Remaining late units/costs

- The resource usage profile timescale matches the timescale for the Gantt Chart.

- Format columns, group, sort, and filter resources/roles in the profile.- The resource usage profile can be saved as part of a layout.




Displaying the Resource Usage Profile

Open a project, In the Activities window, open a layout, Resource Analysis.In the layout Options bar, click Show on Bottom, Resource Usage Profile.

- Right Pane Display Options bar; Displays a menu of the formatting options available for the resource/role usage profile

- Legend; Displays a legend for the profile’s b bars and or/ lines. This will change depending on the data/formatting options selected.

- Timescale; Displays the date intervals: major increment displayed on the bottom and minor increment displayed on the top.

- Display Activities for Selected; When viewing Open Projects Only, you can mark Time Period or Resource to Filter the activities in the top layout.

-




- Resource/ Role Hierarchy; Lists the names of the resources/roles. Can be filtered to show shorter list e.g., the Current Project’s resources.

- Left Pane Display Options bar; Displays a menu of the formatting options available for the resource/role hierarchy.

Formatting the Profile

The Resource Usage profile can be modified by adjusting Data and Graph settings in the Resource Usage Profile Options dialog box.




Data settings:

- Display – Select to display units or costs.- Show Bars/Curves- Mark to display By Date (periodic) bars and/or

Cumulative curves and format their colors.- Show Remaining Bars As-Select a solid color to display early bars and a

hatched color to display late bars.- Additional Data Options- Mark to display a line indicating resource limits,

resource/role over-allocation in red, a line indicating resource availability, or resource overtime units.

In the right-pane Display Options bar, click Resource Usage Profile Options.Select Data tab




Graph settings :

Vertical Lines- Choose to display major/minor sight lines based on the timescale interval.Horizontal Lines- Choose the line style and color.Additional display options:

- Show Legend- Display the data item each color represents.- 3D Bars- Add a third dimension to the bars.- Background Color- Specify the color displayed in the background of the

Resource Usage profile.- Calculate Average- Specify the values you want to use to divide the

timescale interval totals.- Divide Interval Totals By- To divide the timescale interval totals by an

increment you specify, type it in this period.- Unit of Measure- Specify the unit of measure for the timescale.

In the right-pane Display Options bar, click Resource Usage Profile Options.Select graph tab




Formatting the Timescale

You can specify the timescale you want to display in the Resource Usage profile and the Gantt Chart.

- Timescale Start- Specify the date from which the timescale should start for the profile or Gantt Chart.

- Date Interval- Choose the units of the timescale in years, quarters, months, weeks, days, hours and shifts.

- Date Format- Select the format in which to display date intervals: Calendar, Fiscal, Week of the Year, or Ordinal Dates.

- In the bottom-right pane Display Options bar, select Timescale.- In the Timescale Start field, click to select a date.Choose a Date Interval,

Click OK.




You can also format the timescale by using click and drag in the timescale onscreen.

- Place your mouse on the minor date interval on the timescale. Click and drag to expand or contract the timescale.

Format the resource data settings for the stacked histogram

- Click the Display Options bar and choose Stacked Histogram. Then click the Display Options bar and choose Resource Usage Profile Options. Click the Data tab, then specify the type of data to display in the profile and the way it will be represented.




Data settings

- Display – Select to display At Complition Units or Costs.- Show - Mark to display no Cumulative curves or Cumulative curves for each

resource or total Cumulative curve.- Select pattern/color – use Add to select the resources and their colors and

patterns.




Resource Usage Spreadsheet

Use the Resource Usage Spreadsheet to analyze quantity or cost usage for

resources or roles. For every role and resource in the project, you can review cost

or quantity information for a specific project or for all projects. You can also select

the spreadsheet fields to specify which cost or quantity information you want to

view and set the timescale for displaying data values.

- View resource or role spreads.

- Filter activities.

- Customize column data.

- Select resource / cost data.

- Group and sort activity data.

- Dynamic on-screen loading report.

- Quickly analyze multiple resource spreads.

- View past period actuals from the Timesheet module.

Displays resource data in spreadsheet format.

This spreadsheet can be displayed in the bottom layout only.. use this layout type to view resource allocation over time, according to the timescale specified.

The Resource Usage Spreadsheet has two views: a two-section view and a three-

section view. By default, the three-section view displays.

The two-section view is displayed when the user selects the Display Options bar

menu item Show All Projects. If the menu item, Open Projects Only is selected,




then the three-section view is displayed. Each pane performs a different

organizing function.

Left Pane:

- Select the resources / roles to view within the spreadsheet.

- Group and sort, Filter, Customize columns

Middle Pane:

- You can view the list of activities assigned to the selected resource in the middle pane.

- Customize the data selected in the middle pane.




- Group and sort, Filter, Customize columns

Right Pane:

- Select the fields to view in the spreadsheet and set the timescale. If the data cells are too narrow to reveal the entire value, the width of the data cells may be expanded. Moving the mouse to the right will expand the timescale and the data cells. Moving the mouse to the left will contract the timescale and the data cells.

Editing the Resource Usage Spreadsheet

- In the activity window click View, show on Bottom, Resource Usage Spreadsheet

- Click the right Display Options bar and choose spreadsheet fields.

- Choose customize




- Select the required fields to be displayed.




Chapter 16: Resource leveling




Leveling Resources

- Level resources in your projects to ensure that resource demand does not exceed resource availability. Resource leveling is an automated process that changes the start of certain activities. During leveling, the resource requirements of all scheduled activities are compared to the maximum quantity available at the time of leveling. An activity is delayed if too few resources are available at any time during the activity’s duration.

- You can select the resources to be leveled, and you can add leveling priorities that specify which project or activity is leveled first when a conflict occurs.

- The maximum amount of work that a resource is capable of performing for a given time period is defined by the resource’s Max Units/Time in the Units & Prices tab in the Resources window.

- The following items are ignored during the leveling process:

o Milestones

o Level of effort activities

o Expenses

o Closed What-if-projects

o WBS Summary activities

- An activity’s schedule dates may temporarily change when leveling a

project.

- Reschedule your project to remove the leveled dates.




Leveling Rules

The following rules are used to determine the order for leveling activities.

- Mandatory constraints

o Primavera leaves activities that have a mandatory start/finish date on

their early dates.

o Network logic may be violated.

- Topological order (predecessor / successor relationships)

o Respects network logic

- Leveling priority “tiebreaker”

o If two activities can be leveled at the same time, leveling priorities

are used to break the tie.




Level resources - Open the projects that contain the resources you want to level. Choose

Tools, Level Resources. You can set several resource leveling options to meet your requirements. Click Level after you make your selections.




Below are definitions of fields in the Level Resources dialog box:

- Automatically level resources when scheduling – Mark to level resources

each time you schedule your project.

- Consider assignments in other projects with priority equal / higher than- If

this option set to 5 projects with priority of 1-5 are considered higher

priority than the project being leveled.

- Preserve schedule early and late dates

- If marked, the project’s current early and late dates are retained.

- If unmarked, the current scheduled early and late dates are overwritten

by the leveled dates.

- Total float is calculated based on leveled dates.

- Recalculate assignment costs after leveling

- Leveling may change an activity’s dates. The leveled dates may push the

resource assignment into a different Effective Date, which could change

the price / unit.

- Primavera will recalculate the costs based on the new price / unit, which

is based on the Effective Date of the resource assignment and the new

leveled dates.

- Level all resources

- Mark to level all resources

- Clear and click Select Resources to specify the resources to be leveled.

- Level resources only within activity Total Float

- Mark to delay activities with resource conflicts up to their late finish

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o Type the minimum amount of total float to preserve.

o Specify the maximum amount percentage by which the resource may

be over allocated.

- Leveling priorities – Use to handle scheduling conflicts that can occur during

leveling by specifying which project / activity is leveled first.

- Log to file – Mark to create a log report of the leveling process.

Selecting Resources

- Decide which resources to level within the project.

- Displays the max units per time that were defined in the resource window.




Adding Leveling Priorities

- Default leveling priority is Activity Leveling Priority.

- Leveling priority definitions - The following table defines several of the priority and order options you

can specify for leveling resources.

Priority Ascending (Lower) Descending (Higher) Activity Leveling Priority

Levels higher priority activities first Levels lower priority activities first

Project Leveling Priority

Levels higher priority projects first Levels lower priority projects first

Planned Start Levels activities with earlier planned start dates first

Levels activities with later planned start dates first

Planned Finish Levels activities with earlier planned finish dates first

Levels activities with later planned finish dates first

Original Duration Levels activities with shorter original durations first

Levels activities with longer original durations first

Remaining Duration

Levels activities with shorter remaining durations first

Levels activities with longer remaining durations first

Total Float * Levels activities with less total float or more critical activities first

Levels activities with more total float or less critical activities first

Early Start Levels activities with earlier, early start dates first

Levels activities with later, early start dates first

Early Finish Levels activities with earlier, early finish dates first

Levels activities with later, early finish dates first

Late Start Levels activities with earlier, late start dates first

Levels activities with later, late start dates first

Late Finish Levels activities with earlier, late finish dates first

Levels activities with later, late finish dates first

* Indicates that the priority is available only if you mark the Level Resources Only Within Activity Total Float checkbox in the Level Resources dialog box.




Viewing the Leveling Log

The exception section of the Scheduling / Leveling reports shows the results of

the leveling calculations.

- Activities delayed due to predecessor delay.

- Activities delayed due to resource leveling.

- Activities that cannot be leveled.

- Resource requirements for the activity exceed the maximum limit .

- Schedules the activity on its early start date or the date determined by

the delay of its predecessor.




Chapter 17: Updating the project




Managing Baselines

A baseline is a complete copy of a project plan that you can compare to the current schedule to evaluate progress.

Creating and Maintaining Baselines- Before you update a schedule for the first time, you should create a

baseline plan. The simplest baseline plan is a complete copy or “snapshot” of the original schedule. This snapshot provides a target against which you can track a project’s cost, schedule, and performance.

- You can compare up to three baselines at one time. For example, you might want to create a baseline of the original project schedule, and then create two additional baselines at different stages of the project.

- Designate any existing project, or a copy of the current project, as a baseline. The maximum number of baselines allowed is defined by the administrator in the Admin




Create project baselines

- Open the projects for which you want to create a baseline or view assigned baseline projects. Choose Project, Maintain Baselines. The Maintain Baselines dialog box groups the currently open projects into individual bands, with any existing baseline projects beneath its current project.

- To create a baseline project, select the desired project and click Add.

- If multiple projects are open, you can create a baseline for the selected projects. (To select a project Ctrl-click on its band.) Choose to save a copy of the current project as a new baseline or convert another project to a new baseline.




Assigning Baselines to Projects- Use the Assign Baselines dialog box to designate the current project or an

existing baseline as the project, primary, secondary, or tertiary baseline. The project baseline is always used to summarize a project. The project baseline or primary baseline can be designated as the project to use when calculating earned value (based on a setting in the Settings tab of Project Details). The primary, secondary, and tertiary baselines are user-defined baselines used to compare projects.

- Open the project for which you want to select a project baseline.

- Choose Project, Assign Baselines.

- In the Project field, select the project to which you want to assign a project baseline. In the Project Baseline field, select the desired baseline or the current project. If no baseline is designated as active, the current project is used as the baseline project.




The Update Process

Once a project is underway, it is important to keep the schedule up to date. Actual durations will probably vary from your original estimates, and the sequence of activities may change once the work begins. In addition, you may need to add new activities and delete unnecessary ones. Regularly updating schedules and comparing them with baseline schedules ensures that you are using resources effectively, monitoring project costs against budget, and keeping abreast of actual durations and costs so you can initiate your contingency plan if necessary.

How you will use the module to update projects?

- Identify the types of data to collect The data to collect may depend on whether you are updating activities or individual resource assignments. You can update activities by simply recording actual dates and a remaining duration. For resource assignments, enter the actual hours to date and the hours remaining. The module can also estimate progress automatically.

- Determine how data will be collected Will you automatically collect timesheet entry data for each employee from the Timesheets module?

Or will updates be handwritten on printouts of the schedule distributed to project participants, collected weekly by the project manager or team leader, and entered in the module?

- Determine how often data should be updated Depending on how quickly your projects change, you may want to update monthly, weekly, or even daily

- Analyze and communicate data Recording progress in the module is only the beginning of the update process; after you produce an updated schedule, you need to analyze the results.




Examine updated project schedules using the many display and print options available.

The update process should proceed as outlined below:

- Create a baseline plan, as discussed in the Managing Baselines chapter earlier in this part.

- Record progress on activities automatically or manually in the Project Management module, and/or from Timesheets module data.

- Apply project actuals.

- Calculate the schedule and level resources.

- Compare the current schedule to the baseline plan and identify variances.

- Analyze data through layouts and reports.

- Make adjustments and communicate the schedule updates.




The Data Date

When updating a project, actual are recorded for each activity relative to the data date.

The data date is the date up to which actual performance data is reported and the date from which future work is scheduled




Using Spotlight

- Moves the data date forward one timescale increment.- Highlights the update time period on the bar chart.- Provides a highlighted list of activities that should have progress during

the update period.

- Click to activate the spotlight forward one time period.

- Click 1 a second time to reserve the spotlight period.




Dragging the Data Date

-Highlight the activities to be updated by dragging the data date to the desired date.

-Drag the data date to the required date




Entering Actuals

Once a project is underway, you must enter actual schedule and resource use at regular intervals. You may need to update daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on the timespan of your project and how frequently you want to adjust your forecasts. Actual data is different than planned data- it is the real time/cost associated with an activity.

Enter schedule, resource and cost data in the following order:

For Completed Activities

-Actual start and actual finish dates.-Actual regular units/costs.-Actual expense costs.

For Activities In-Progress

- Actual start date.- Suspend and/or resume dates.- Percent complete and/or remaining duration.- Actual regular units/costs and remaining units/costs.- Actual and remaining expense costs.




Rescheduling the Project

Now that actuals have been entered, it is time to reschedule the project based on the new data. Any activities that were delayed will delay their successor activities.




Viewing the Results of Results of Rescheduling Project

-Analyze the activities on the critical path.-Review the project's performance to date.-Develop strategies for getting the project back on track.-Gain agreement within your project team.-Implement the revised project plan.




Analyzing Schedule Dates

Analyze the schedule to determine if milestone dates and project dates are being achieved.

Compare your project finish date to the baseline finish date to see if you will complete the project on time.

If the project finish date is behind schedule, analyze the critical activities causing the delay.

Adjust the project to meet your project finish date.

Analyzing Resource Allocation

After adjusting, Determine if resources are being used effectively.

Analyzing the Cost Budget

After adjusting, Determine if you are within your budget.

If the calculated finish date is later than the Must Finish by date, you can use several methods to shorten the project:

Use relationships to overlap activities (fast tracking).Add resources to reduce durations (crashing).Break down long activities.Change calendar assignments:Put critical activities on a longer workweek.Add exceptions to non-worktime.



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