Learn Microsoft Project For Software Development

Starting with a rough storyboard, this lesson shows capturing ideas outside Microsoft Project using Word, outlining phases (initiation, planning, execution, closing) and initial tasks like client meetings and defining scope.

Initialize a blank Microsoft Project file, save it with a sensible name, set the start date, and configure project information and advanced properties to prepare for task planning and reporting.

Learn to structure a software development project in microsoft project by creating four phase headings—initiation, planning, execution, and close—and indent subsections to build a collapsible gantt plan.

Add and structure tasks within the initiation and design phases, indent subtasks, and set durations to drive the Gantt chart. Explore task import as a next step.

Import tasks from Word or Excel into a project file, paste and set durations, then indent them into design, development, and test sections to form a structured workflow.

Edit, move, and delete tasks in Microsoft Project for software development, adjust durations and time patterns, manage task information and priority, and use undo for safe changes.

Learn to add notes and attachments to tasks in the task information box, format notes, hover to view text, and link or embed external documents with icons.

Create and position milestones in Microsoft Project by turning tasks into zero-duration markers, generating date-based diamonds on the Gantt chart to track each phase.

Explore creating task dependencies in Microsoft Project with a sample file, linking bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and lounge to finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish relationships.

Apply the four task relationship types to a software development plan, link tasks to milestones in a Gantt chart, and manage dependencies to build a coherent project timeline.

Learn to apply soft and hard constraints, including finish on and start on, and use deadlines as flexible markers to guide a Microsoft Project plan without rigid constraints.

Discover how to add a project summary task and set up monthly recurring review meetings in Microsoft Project, using gantt chart tools, start and finish dates, constraints, and calendar.

Learn to use work breakdown structure codes to reference external documentation in Microsoft Project, creating hierarchical WBS codes with prefixes, levels, and separators that stay unique even as tasks move.

Discover how to add and configure resources in Microsoft Project for software development, choosing between named individuals or teams, and setting work rates, availability, and calendars.

Explore material, work, and cost resources in a software project budget, applying standard rates, per-use costs, and accrual rules to compute total project cost.

Learn to assign material and cost resources in Microsoft Project for software development, using servers, software licenses, and sundry items across single or multiple tasks.

Learn how to allocate material and work resources in Microsoft Project, understand how units, duration, and work drive costs, and perform impact analysis to optimize task schedules.

Learn to review total and breakdown costs in Microsoft Project using task and resource views, identify over allocations in team plans, and resolve them by leveling resources or adjusting assignments.

Explore Microsoft Project default assumptions for days, weeks, and months, including eight-hour days, forty-hour weeks, and twenty working days in a month, and adjust calendars accordingly.

Add public and national holidays to the standard project calendar early, using change working time, to mark New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Boxing Day as non-working days.

Create a new base calendar, such as a part-time calendar, and assign it to resources to adjust working time and holidays, then manage allocations and resolve over allocation.

Learn to use the timeline view in Microsoft Project to hand-pick tasks from a large project, creating a filtered timeline that shows only selected tasks.

Take a snapshot of the current plan as the baseline to measure progress, then compare current progress and costs against it using tracking Gantt and statistics.

Change the current date in project information and customize the today line through grid lines to highlight today on both the Gantt and tracking Gantt.

Master updating task progression and milestones in Microsoft Project by marking 100 percent complete, adjusting actual durations, using task information to set percentages, and keeping the Gantt chart on track.

Learn to update multiple tasks in Microsoft Project by marking groups as complete, splitting work across time, and leveling resources while tracking progress against the baseline and Gantt chart.

Track project progress by comparing baseline and actuals in a gantt chart, monitor start and finish dates, and manage budget with regular cost tracking and contingency planning.

Print and export a Gantt chart from Microsoft Project by adjusting zoom and timescale, configuring page setup with headers, footers, margins, and logos for team sharing.

Explore built-in reports in Microsoft Project for software development, including burn down, dashboard views, and cost overview, to track baseline versus actual work and milestones.

Learn how to save your software development plan as a reusable project template in Microsoft Project, set the default personal templates location, and reuse it via file new, personal templates.