Perform Project Planning Functions (MS Project 2013 – 16 hrs) (ICDL Certification Module: Project Planning)

Course Content

1. Project Management Tools

Key Concepts

• Understand the term project.
• Recognise the main elements of managing a project like: planning the project, managing the schedule, communicating project information.
• Understand the advantages of using a project management application like: efficient project design, ease of project plan maintenance, effective activity representation, ease of monitoring and reporting.
• Understand the tools and features of a project management application like: Gantt chart, network diagram, work breakdown structure.
• Recognise that managing projects involves balancing work, time, resource, and cost.

2. Project Creation

Working With Projects

• Open, close a project management application. Open, close projects.
• Save a project to a location on a drive. Save a project under another name to a location on a drive.
• Save a project as another file type like: template, web page, spreadsheet, CSV, XML, text file, pdf.
• Change between project view modes like: Gantt chart, network diagram.
• Use magnification/zoom tools.

Starting A New Project

• Create a new project based on default template, other available template.
• Understand how choosing to schedule from a start date, finish date will impact on the project schedule.
• Enter basic project information such as start date or finish date, scheduling options and project properties like: project title, project manager.
• Set up calendar options like: base calendar, working time, nonworking time.

3. Tasks

Creating Tasks

• Create, modify tasks.
• Copy, move, delete tasks.
• Create, modify, view subtasks and summary tasks.
• Understand task duration options: elapsed, duration, effort, estimated.
• Set, modify task duration.
• Split tasks.
• Understand the term milestone.
• Create project milestones.
• Create, modify recurring tasks

Scheduling And Relationships

• Understand logical relationships between tasks: finish to start, start to start.
• Create, modify, delete relationships between tasks: finish to start, start to start.
• Understand the terms lead time, lag time.
• Add, edit task lag time, lead time.

Constraints And Deadlines

• Understand task constraint options like: as late as possible, as soon as possible, must finish on, must start on.
• Add, modify, delete constraints to tasks.
• Understand the term deadline.
• Create a deadline.

Notes, Hyperlinks

• Add, edit, remove a note for a task.
• Insert, edit, remove a hyperlink for a task.

4. Resources And Costs

Resources

• Identify resource types like: people, materials, equipment.
• Understand the relationship between duration, work and resource. Understand that if one element changes there is an impact on another element.
• Create, delete resources. Modify resource details like: name, type, units, rates.
• Add, remove, replace resource assignments and associated units.

Costs

• Understand the terms fixed cost, variable cost.
• Assign, modify fixed costs.
• Assign, modify variable costs.

5. Project Monitoring

Critical Path

• Understand the terms critical task, critical path.
• Identify critical tasks and show the critical path.

Monitoring Progress And Rescheduling

• Create, save, clear a baseline.
• Show, hide progress line.
• Show, hide columns like: % complete, fixed cost, deadline.
• Sort, filter tasks.
• Update task progress.
• Reschedule incomplete work.
• Display current project schedule and baseline.

6. Prepare Outputs

Setup

• Change page orientation: portrait, landscape. Change paper size.
• Change page margins: top, bottom, left, right.
• Prepare a Gantt chart, network diagram for print using options like: columns to print, notes.

Print

• Preview a Gantt chart, network diagram, report.
• Print a Gantt chart, network diagram, report from an installed printer using output options like: entire document, specific pages, number of copies.