Course Details
Al Mihad Computer Centre Al Nahda
Project Planning – Primavera & MS-Project
art 1 -The Basics of Project Scheduling
Lesson 1 Overview and Context
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Participants' Backgrounds, Needs, and Expectations
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What is a Project?
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Recurring Theme 1 - Simplicity, Transparency, and No Loss of Control
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Recurring Theme 2 - Effort versus Accuracy -- the Asymptotic Curve
Lesson 2 Customizing the Microsoft Windows Environment
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Using Windows Explorer
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File Name View Options
Lesson 3 Opening Microsoft Project and Customizing the User Interface
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Verifying the Version Number and the Application of Service Releases/Service Packs
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Help Facilities -- Too Much? -- How To Turn Off
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A Tour of the Screen - Names & Definitions
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Notice lateral scroll bars at the bottom of both sides of the screen
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Menu Bar, Tool Bars, Icons, and the View Bar. (P2010: Ribbons)
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Turning Off Personalized Menus
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Customizing Tool Bars (P2003-2007) and Ribbons (P2010)
Lesson 4 Starting a New Project
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Selecting a Project Start Date
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Start Date versus End Date Scheduling
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Entering Tasks - Observe What Project Does
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Adding and Hiding Columns, and a Quick Discussion of Project's Data Base
Lesson 5 Durations and the Time Scale
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Duration Defined
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Elapsed Duration
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The Time Scale -- Various Ways to Manage It
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The Third Timescale Level
Lesson 6 Outlining a Project
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Summary Tasks and Detail Tasks ("Parent" and "Child" Tasks)
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Properties of Summary Tasks
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Outline Levels
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The "Line Zero" Project Summary Task
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Viewing Outline Numbers
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WBS Numbers and Outline Numbers -- Differences
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Viewing Outline Levels - Preview of Filters
Lesson 7 Linking Tasks
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Standard Links (FS) using the Link and Unlink Icons
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Selecting Adjoining Tasks with the Shift Key
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Selecting Non-Adjoining Tasks with the Control Key - The Order Matters!
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Linking Graphically - Slightly Dangerous
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Three Other Types of Links (SS, FF, and the bizarre SF)
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Entering Links in the Task Information Box and Other Forms
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Power Linking by Typing Directly into the Predecessors or Successors Columns
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Linking Summary Tasks -- Controversy and Confusion ("Hidden Hands")
Lesson 8 Adding Lags to Links
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Lags: Positive, Negative, and Percentage
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Combining Lags with SS and FF Link Types
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Documenting the Reasons for Lags with Notes
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Small Negative Lags versus Large Negative Lags
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An Alternative to Lags
Lesson 9 Date Constraints
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Constraints Frequently Set in Error - By Typing or Pasting Dates
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Eight Types of Constraints - Most of These Should be Avoided
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When Constraints Conflict with Links - a Switch Determines Who Wins
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When are Date Constraints OK to Use?
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Documenting the Reasons for Constraints with Notes
Lesson 10 Milestones
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The Purpose of Milestones - When Are They Useful?
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Conflicting Definitions with Other Applications like MPM
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The Milestones Filter
Lesson 11 Working with Project Tasks
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The Deadline Feature
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More About Notes - Capacity and the Ability to Insert Objects
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Adding Hyperlinks to Tasks, and How they Compare with Notes
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Recurring Tasks
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Splitting Tasks
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Moving Tasks Around in a Schedule - Methods and the Level Problem
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Moving Columns to New Positions
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To Autolink or Not To Autolink Inserted or Moved Tasks
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Saving Work with Autosave, and Version Control Issues
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The Language of Tasks: When Verbs, When Nouns
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How Logic Flows Through an Unconstrained Schedule
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How Detailed Should Schedules Be?
Lesson 12 The Critical Path
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Understanding The Critical Path
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Different Views that Show the Critical Path
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Adding the Critical Path to the Gantt View with a Wizard
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Microsoft's Critical Path Options in the Tool Box (Tools-Options-Calculation)
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The Impact of Date Constraints on the Critical Path
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The Impact of Task Progress on the Critical Path -- The Different Effects of FS and SS Links
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The Impact of Deadlines on the Critical Path -- A Departure from the Classic Definition of "Critical"
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Elapsed Durations, ALAP Tasks, and their Effect on Critical Path
Lesson 13 Filters
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What Kind of Schedules Really "Need" Filters? -- Large Ones!
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Filters (1) - The "Show" Button is a Kind of Filter - Very Useful for Top-Down Analysis
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Filters (2) - Autofilters are a Second Kind of Filter - Quick and Easy, and They Can Be Combined
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Filters (3) - The Filter Box Lists All Standard and Custom Filters Available
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Creating and Saving Custom Filters - Very Powerful, Very Useful for Special Views
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What is a Highlight Filter?
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Linking a Filter with a View
Lesson 14 Sorting and Grouping
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When Would Sorting be Useful
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Sorting (1) - The Quick Sort -- Several Choices in the Menu
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Problems and Limitations with the Quick Sort
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Sorting (2) - The Full Sort -- Managing the Two Check Boxes
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Restoring Original Line Order with the Sort by ID Option
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The "Grouping" Function
Lesson 15 Customizing Fields
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Changing Field Names - 2 Ways
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The View-Specific Change Technique -- Double Click Column Header
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The Durable Change Technique -- Customizing the Field
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Limiting Entries into Optional Fields with Data Validation
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Adding a Formula to an Optional Field
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Adding "Stoplight" Graphics to an Optional Field
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Separate Customization Choices for Summary Tasks
Lesson 16 Other Views and Display Options
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The Calendar View
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The Network Diagram View (Formerly Called "PERT" View)
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The Relationship Diagram View
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Splitting the Screen, and Managing the Two Split Halves
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The "Arrange All" Function -- For Managing Multiple Open Projects
Lesson 17 Reports
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The Standard Reports
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Editing and Customizing Reports
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Using the Gantt View instead of Microsoft Project's Reports
Lesson 18 Adding Graphics and Multimedia Objects to the Gantt Area
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Adding a Text Box
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Adding Clip Art
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Adding Sound and Video Objects
Lesson 19 Formatting for Printing
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Wrapping Text to Handle Long Task Names
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What Columns Will Appear in Print -- a Big Problem Resolved
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Gantt Bar Appearances - the Bar Styles Dialogue Box
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Adding and Removing Text and Dates from Gantt Bars and Milestones
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Link Appearances -- Suppressing Links in Large Schedules
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The Scaling Option - Get More Space with the Percent Scaling Tool
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Building Headers with Variable Inserts
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Building Footers with Variable Inserts - a Suggested Standard
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Turning the Legend On and Off
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The Final Setup Tab: Showing Notes, Blank Pages, Etc.
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Last Look at Zooming - Where is the Print Date Range Dialogue Hidden?
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Extra Polish: Adding Logos to Headers for Special Presentations
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Formatting Options are Stored in Views
Lesson 20 Exporting Project Images and Data to Other Applications
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Exporting Gantt Views to Word and PowerPoint with the Camera Icon
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Exporting with the PrintScreen Key and ALT-PrintScreen
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Exporting Data to Excel -- the Outline Level Problem
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Exporting Data to Access -- the Choice of Power Users
Lesson 21 The Organizer
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Overview of the Organizer: the 2-Library Concept
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What Project Does When it Looks For a New View or Filter, etc.
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Where Modifications are Saved - the Local Library
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What the Global Library is (GLOBAL.MPT), and Why it is Useful
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Making Custom Filters, Views, etc. Available to Other Schedules on Your Computer
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Sharing Custom Filters, Views, etc. with Friends and Colleagues
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More about Views - What They Contain and What They Don't
Part 2 - Working with Resources
Lesson 22 The Resource Sheet
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Entering and Naming Resources - Two Ways
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Maximum Availability -- What it Means
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Showing Availability as a Percentage or Decimal
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Human Resources, Fixed Cost Items, and Material Resources
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Resource Rates and Costs
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Adding Resource Notes
Lesson 23 Assigning Single Resources to Tasks
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Many Ways to Assign Resources
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Virtues of the Resource Assignment Icon and Box
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Adding a Resource at Less than its Maximum Availability
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Filtering on Resources
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Look at Project Total Cost as Resources are Added: The Statistics Box
Lesson 24 Assigning Multiple Resources to Tasks
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Whiteboard Lecture: The Project Triangle -- Relationships Among Scope, Resources, and Time
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Creating a Schedule for Each Task Type, With and Without "Effort Driven"
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Watch What Happens When the Second Resource is Added - Another Big Problem Clarified
Lesson 25 Special Tools for Resource Assignment and Cost Estimating
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The "Usage" Views: Resource Usage and Task Usage
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Resource Editing and Contours
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The Concept of "Assignment"
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Assignment Information Options
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Five Cost Schedules
Lesson 26 Managing Resource Workloads
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Viewing Resource Workloads and Task Assignments
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The Resource Graph -- Note Peak Units Problem Versus Total Work
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Analyzing Resource Conflicts With Split Screen Views
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Whiteboard Notes: The Manager's Knowledge and Options
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Replacing a Resource
Lesson 27 Resource Leveling
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Definition and Overview of Leveling
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Demonstration of Leveling with a Sample Schedule
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Look at "Leveling Delay" in the Detail Gantt View
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Leveling Options: Level Within Slack, and Other Options
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Task Priority and How it Changes Leveling
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Clearing Leveling - Doesn't Always Remove Splits
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Discussion: When Leveling Makes No Sense, and When it Might
Lesson 28 Working with Calendars
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Using Calendars
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Creating a New Base Calendar
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Setting the Overall Project Calendar in Project-Project Information
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Assigning Resources to Different Base Calendars
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Customizing Resource Calendars
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Problem: A Day for You Isn't a Day for Me: The Options Tab Controls what a Day of Duration Means
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Problem: Assign Work to a Resource when the Resource Isn't Working (First with Fixed Duration, Then with Fixed Units)
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Assigning a Calendar to a Task
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Resource Availability Dates
Part 3 - Tracking Progress
Lesson 29 The Baseline
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Definition and Use of a Baseline
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Saving a Baseline
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Saving Interim Plans
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Multiple Baselines -- Why? When These Are Useful
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Clearing a Baseline -- When and Why
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Comparing the Baseline to Actual Data - Available Views and Reports
Lesson 30 Tracking Progress with the Percent of Completion Method
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Overview of the Percentage Method
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Using the Percentage Icons
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Inserting the % Completion Column
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What is % Work Complete, and How Does it Differ from % Complete
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Physical % Complete, and How it Differs from % Complete and % Work Complete
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Summary Tasks Build Averages as Individual Tasks are Tracked
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Percentages Translate to Costs in the Statistics Box and in Reports
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Moving Up the Accuracy Curve -- Add the Actual Start, Actual Finish, and Actual Work Columns
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Still Greater Accuracy -- Track the Hours by Resource, and Remaining Hours, with the Split Screen
Lesson 31 Tracking Actual Hours with the Usage Views
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Overview of the Actual Hours Method
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Working in the Resource Usage and Task Usage Views
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Why the Plan Changes to Equal the Actuals
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How the Plan Reschedules Undone Work -- Depends on Task Types
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Dangers of the Percentage Icons when Using the Actual Hours Method
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Conclusions about the Actual Hours Method
Lesson 32 Earned Value Concepts
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The Background for Earned Value
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Cost Variance and Schedule Variance
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Performance Indexes
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The Earned Value Data Fields in MS Project
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Companion Tools for Earned Value such as MPM -- What Value Do They Add?
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Does Anyone Use Microsoft Project Alone for Earned Value?
Lesson 33 Progress Lines and Updating Tools
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Adding Progress Lines to a Schedule
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Using the "Update Tasks" Dialogue Box
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Updating an Entire Project to a Status Date
Lesson 34 Issues and Problems Arising With Tracking
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Partially Complete Tasks Preceding Other Partially Complete Tasks
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Tasks Won't Move Once Started
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Task Splitting to Reschedule Unfinished Portions
Part 4 - Working with Multiple Projects
Lesson 35 Resource Pooling
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Overview of Resource Pooling
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Setting Up a Resource Pool as a Separate Project File
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Linking into the Pool with Tools-Resources-Share Resources Dialogue Box
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The Same Dialogue Box as Seen from the Resource Pool File
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Split Screen Views in the Resource Pool -- Add the "Project" Column for Clarity
Lesson 36 Consolidating Projects
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Consolidating the Quick Way with "New Window"
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Observe the Simultaneity of the Consolidation and the Individual Project
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Consolidating by Inserting Projects
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The Outline Level Issue -- Can't Promote to the Top
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What Happens When a File is Moved or Renamed
Lesson 37 Links Among Projects in a Consolidation
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Building Links Across Project Boundaries
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Note the Information in the Predecessor and Successor Fields
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Revisiting the Individual Projects -- the Ghost Tasks and Line Numbers
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Regenerating Broken Links with the Multiple Project Dialogue Box