Microsoft Project Course Complete, 2016, 2019, 2021 6 PDUs

A project is a temporary endeavor that produces a unique product, service, or result, with a defined start and end. In Microsoft Project, set start and end dates.

Compare cloud based and on premises Microsoft Project, focusing on Project Standard and Project Professional, with notes on resource management, timesheets, payroll, and project server integration.

Discover how Microsoft Project goes beyond a simple task list by linking tasks, assigning resources, and auto-scheduling to manage budgets, start and end dates, and baselines.

Open Microsoft Project and identify the version as Project Professional. Navigate the home and new sections, templates, and recent files, and view the Gantt chart, timeline, and task list.

Set up a blank project, set August 2 as the start date, apply the standard calendar (mon–fri, 8–5 with lunch), and choose scheduling from start or finish date.

Learn to edit the Microsoft Project calendar by adding holidays and nonworking days as exceptions. Adjust daily work times and see how changes shift task schedules and end dates.

Learn how to build a Microsoft project plan by adding tasks, entering durations, and editing or deleting items to upgrade a network.

Learn how to link tasks with a finish-to-start relationship and compare auto versus manual scheduling in Microsoft Project, including how changes propagate and when to mix both modes.

Create and manage summary tasks in microsoft project to outline projects, organize subtasks with indentation, and collapse phases for a clear, cohesive plan.

Link tasks to form relationships in Microsoft Project, using finish-to-start by default and exploring start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish with predecessors and successors to compress schedules.

Learn how to add a lag between tasks in Microsoft Project, creating a delay after one task finishes before the next starts, with practical examples and steps.

Learn how to add a lead between two tasks to overlap work, using a negative lag to start a successor before the predecessor finishes, reducing the project schedule.

Explore constraints in Microsoft Project to lock task dates with hard constraints. Learn start no earlier than, start no later than, finish no later than, and must start on.

Add notes to a task in Microsoft Project to convey detailed information by double-clicking the task, typing, and optionally inserting files or images.

Set a deadline on a task to trigger an alert when exceeded, without affecting the scheduling engine, and learn to edit and view deadlines and constraints for flexible planning.

Add outline numbers to your project plan to create a work breakdown structure and improve navigation, then enable numbering from the task and format tabs to label tasks like 1.2.

Create a custom calendar in Microsoft Project to assign 24-hour or night-shift work to tasks, including around-the-clock schedules. Apply calendars to multiple tasks and ensure accurate durations and costs.

Insert hyperlinks to tasks to link documents and websites, ensuring a shared network path for access, and explore linking to emails to streamline task resources.

Insert milestones in your project plan by turning tasks into zero duration sign-offs, marking finish points, and linking them to earlier tasks so you can track section completion.

activate project summary tasks via the format tab to display task zero, showing the project start and end dates and the overall duration as tasks expand.

Format tasks in Microsoft Project using fonts, colors, and background highlights, and master copy-paste and hyperlink techniques to manage task details and dependencies.

Create a reoccurring task in Microsoft Project, schedule weekly or daily tasks, learn to move and link them, and consider using Outlook for recurring meetings to avoid complexity.

Move the entire project start date with the move project option to shift the schedule and deadlines without updating each task.

Set a task inactive in Microsoft Project to keep it in the plan without impacting the schedule or budget. Activate or reactivate it later when needed, e.g., for troubleshooting.

Set and search project properties to document ownership and context. Update title, subject, author, company, category, keywords, and comments in advanced project information, then track creation and modification data.

Master the zoom features in Microsoft Project to view the entire project at a glance, navigate quickly to specific tasks, and adjust timescales for daily, monthly, or yearly views.

Colorize and customize a Gantt chart in Microsoft Project to enhance visual appeal and highlight critical tasks with colors, patterns, and shapes.

Display the critical path and slack in Microsoft Project, identify zero-slack activities, and learn how adjusting dependencies and durations creates or removes slack.

Use the copy picture feature to capture a high-quality image of your project plan, including the Gantt chart, and paste it into Word or email for recipients without Microsoft Project.

Learn to enhance a Gantt chart by adding custom graphics, such as ovals, arrows, and text boxes, using the format tab to highlight tasks and callouts.

Learn how to define resources in Microsoft Project—people, equipment, machinery, supplies, and expenses—and assign them to tasks to generate accurate project budgets.

Learn to add work resources in Microsoft Project, such as system administrator and network admin, set rates and timeframes, and apply prorated, start, or end cost settings for budgets.

Add equipment resources to your project plan as work resources, setting daily, weekly, or monthly rental costs and upfront payments for items like network toolsets.

Learn how to add material resources in Microsoft Project, treating consumables like wires, nails, and sheetrock as precise, unit-based and prorated costs to create a more accurate project budget.

Add a cost resource to your Microsoft Project plan to track travel expenses. Create the cost resource in the resource sheet, then assign it to tasks for variable costs.

Add a custom note to each resource to capture tax options and other details, visible on resource sheets with a notes icon and usable for costs, materials, and travel.

Learn to change resource availability for work resources in a project plan, setting time-based percentages (e.g., August 100%, September 50%), and preventing assignments when unavailable.

Change a resource's working times in Microsoft Project to reflect days off and vacations, use exceptions for partial days, and ensure accurate task hours and budgets.

Modify resource rates over time by setting effective dates and percentage changes, so budgets reflect salary or equipment cost variations from one period to the next.

Assign resources to tasks in Microsoft Project using the resource sheet and detail view. Calculate work hours and budget with duration times units, allocate cost resources, and monitor project statistics.

Explore how effort driven scheduling keeps a task's work constant while increasing resources, shortening duration, and learn when to apply it using practical examples from the lecture.

Explore how changing task types in Microsoft Project affects work, duration, and budget by adjusting fixed units, fixed duration, and fixed work as resources are assigned.

Learn to create and use a resource pool to share resources across multiple Microsoft Project files, detect conflicts and overallocation, and establish a central pool.

Explore resource and task cost reports in Microsoft Project, including resource overview and cost analysis, to track hours, equipment costs, and project progress on a network upgrade.

Explore resource usage views in Microsoft Project, including resource usage, resource graph, and resource form, to see which resources are assigned to which tasks and their costs.

Learn how to split a task in Microsoft Project to model non-continuous work, using the split button on the Gantt chart to create non-working days.

Explore the network diagram view in Microsoft Project to see how tasks link up, with timelines and resources represented.

Explore how to use the Microsoft Project calendar to view tasks by day, print calendars, and visualize overlapping tasks for better planning.

Learn how to identify and fix over allocated resources in microsoft project using manual adjustments or automatic resource leveling, with start-to-start relationships and resource leveling options.

View task usage displays start and end dates, the work and hours per task, and resources assigned, helping you track workload and cost across the project.

Explore the team planner view to map work resources and assignments, see who is doing what on specific dates, and quickly review task progress in a project.

Set a baseline to capture a snapshot of the original, approved project plan in Microsoft Project, enabling you to track progress against the initial start and end dates.

Learn to track project progress in Microsoft Project by marking tasks as 0 to 100 percent complete, using update project status, baselines, and quick mark techniques.

Discover how to input exact percent complete values for tasks by double-clicking or using details, and add a custom percent complete column to track project progress.

Use the tracking table to record actual start and end dates, update percent complete, and monitor variances against the baseline to manage project execution.

Learn how the tracking Gantt compares the original baseline to actual work, by using the tracking table to enter actual end dates and reveal variances.

Learn how to clear and update baselines in Microsoft Project, create new baselines, and manage multiple baselines to track variance against evolving plans.

Set an interim plan to snapshot start and finish dates by copying them to start one and finish one. View it in a customized table to compare progress with baselines.

Learn to reschedule all uncompleted project work in Microsoft Project by updating the project, setting a new start date, and managing task dependencies to restart on a new date.

Open multiple windows of the same project file in Microsoft Project to view charts, tables, and resource sheets side by side, boosting onscreen productivity.

Learn to use the group by function in Microsoft Project to quickly separate completed versus incomplete tasks and group by duration, milestones, or resources.

Power up Microsoft Project with the highlight feature to surface completed and active tasks, milestones, and date ranges. Create and apply filters, including custom ones, to visualize critical information quickly.

Create a custom table in Microsoft Project to display baseline duration and start and finish dates, lock the first column, and tailor fields for faster tracking.

Create custom reports in Microsoft Project by building charts and tables from project data, tailoring titles, fields, and chart types to compare work versus actual work and costs.

Learn to customize the ribbon in Microsoft Project by creating a new tab and groups, adding commands, and tailoring the interface to boost efficiency.

Learn to record and replay macros in Microsoft Project to automate repetitive tasks, customize formatting with a macro, assign keystrokes, and edit macros using Visual Basic for Applications.

Discover how to use the organizer to transfer custom objects including views, reports, modules, tables, filters, and calendars between project files for seamless sharing of customized plans.

Learn how to export Microsoft Project data to Excel and Word, copy and paste into other files, and reimport using mapping and the import wizard.