Microsoft Project in Construction - A to Z

Assign and manage task relationships by defining predecessors and successors using finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish links, with lag and lead, in MS Project's predecessor controls, details, and views.

Learn to create and customize WBS codes in Microsoft Project for construction, using ITC prefixes, three levels, dash, dot, and plus separators, and renumbering.

Learn to create and customize a project calendar in MS Project by modifying the standard calendar, defining Monday–Saturday work weeks, adding election and holiday exceptions, and assigning calendars to activities.

Explore task constraints, such as finish no earlier than, finish no later than, must finish on, and must start on, and see how they affect tasks and dates.

Explore how to define and manage labor and staff resources in Microsoft Project, including work, material, and cost resource types, initials, grouping, availability, and cost considerations for project staffing.

Create and configure material resources in Microsoft Project for construction, like PCC, plaster, and sanitary fixtures, by setting units, rates, cost per use, and booking type.

Identify cost resources as fixed, indirect costs tied to activities, such as travel, permits, insurance, overheads, or bank guarantees. Assign these costs at the activity level when resources are used.

Add plant and machinery as work resources in Microsoft Project, set maximum utilization, rates, and prorated cost per use for excavator, concrete pump, and dumper, then assign them to activities.

Explore Microsoft Project task types—fixed duration, fixed units, and fixed work—and see how resource assignments affect duration, work, and productivity using practical examples.

Learn how fixed units tasks behave in Microsoft Project. The lecture demonstrates how adding resources changes units and duration, with Microsoft Project prioritizing duration adjustments and affecting work accordingly.

Learn how accrual types start, pro-rated, and end influence resource costs and cash flow, including cost per use for equipment, in Microsoft Project for construction.

Explore assigning resources in Microsoft Project for construction while keeping fixed duration, avoiding effort driven tasks, and using three methods: resource name column, detailed view, and assign resources.

Modify a resource's calendar and availability in Microsoft Project using the project tab or the resource sheet; learn how changing hours affects duration, cost, actual work, and availability.

Explain how resource overallocation occurs and how to identify overallocated resources, then explore mitigation via resource leveling or replacement, using examples and the resource usage view.

Level resources in Microsoft Project to resolve over allocations. Observe effects on activity relationships, durations, and costs, and learn why some resources cannot be increased or fully leveled.

Explore resource leveling options in Microsoft Project, including automatic or manual calculations, leveling scope, available slack, splits, and handling overallocations and proposed resources.

Learn how to set, update, and clear baselines in Microsoft Project, including project, task, and summary task levels, and create interim schedules to compare plan with actual progress.

Explore earned value management in Microsoft Project by building the earned value table, adding columns for PV, EV, AC, SPI, CPI, and EAC, and comparing baseline and actual costs.

Distinguish percentage complete from physical percentage complete in earned value calculations within Microsoft Project and see how the method affects earned value and CPI.

Learn to filter tasks and resources in Microsoft Project using built-in and custom filters, including completed tasks and resource filtering, for focused views.

Group tasks and resources in Microsoft Project to compare completion percentages and critical versus non-critical work, using custom groupings saved as project or resource groups.

Master Microsoft Project by using the calendar view to navigate monthly and weekly schedules, view holidays, and create customizable date ranges.

Explore the resource sheet view in Microsoft Project, detailing resources by type such as work, material, and cost, with rates, accruals, units, initials, groups, and base calendar code.

Explore Microsoft Project views: task sheet, team planner, timeline, and tracking Gantt, highlighting over-allocated resources in red, with completion, baseline, and customizable formatting options.

Learn to create and print Microsoft Project reports for construction management, including resource and cost reports, overallocated resources, Gantt charts, and dashboards, using print settings and date ranges.

Learn how to import an Excel workbook into Microsoft Project, map fields like task name and duration, and create a new project from the data for efficient scheduling.

Watch a hands-on walkthrough of solving a Microsoft Project assignment for a house construction project, detailing task setup, predecessors, resources, baselines, progress updates, earned value management, and reporting.