An Introduction to Microsoft Project 2010 and 2013

Introduction
Welcome to this module, which is the first in the course "An Introduction to Microsoft Project 2010 and 2013". This module's title is "What is Microsoft Project and Why Use It? " and my name is Ben Howard. Throughout this course, we're going to utilize Microsoft Project in order to build and complete and then finally print off a full project schedule. We won't be able to run through the whole project life cycle, so we won't actually get around to updating our plan, but it will give you, as a project manager, a good heads up on the basic use of Microsoft Project and why you should use Project instead of another tool, such as Excel, or even PowerPoint for managing your project plan.

Basic Project Management Concepts and Terminology
Welcome to this module, which is part of the course "An Introduction to Microsoft Project 2010 and 2013". This module's title is "Basic Project Management Concepts and Terminology" and my name is Ben Howard. In this module, the first thing we'll do is clear up some of that confusing terminology that you'll expect to see as a project manager. We'll have a look at the overall planning process and the project constraints and we'll talk in depth about the work breakdown structure and exactly what a work breakdown structure is. Once we've done that, we'll look at dependencies and durations and, following that, we can then build a dependency network and review the critical path. Finally, we'll talk about the three different types of project resources that are available to be used in Microsoft Project.

Microsoft Project Internals
Welcome to this module, which is part of the course "An Introduction to Microsoft Project 2010 and 2013. " This module's title is "Microsoft Project Internals" and my name is Ben Howard. In this course, we decompose a Microsoft Project file so that we can understand how the individual data components relate to each other. So, we'll have a look at the project header information, the project task information, project resource information, and, finally, project assignment information.

Navigating the Project Interface
Welcome to this module, which is part of the course, An Introduction to Microsoft Project 2010 and 2013. This module's title is Navigating the Project Interface and my name is Ben Howard. In this module, we have a look at the project interface and we break it down into its constituent and component parts. One of the goals of this whole course is for you to become familiar with Microsoft Project. Now the Project Interface initially can look quite daunting, hence the reason for breaking it down so that you understand what we're talking about and you can easily then navigate around the interface.

Saving Your First Plan
Welcome to this module, which is part of the course, An Introduction to Microsoft Project 2010 and 2013. This module's title is Saving your 1st plan and my name is Ben Howard. Many people, when they open up Project, start by typing in task dates and task information straightway. I want us to take a step back from that and think about the other important information that we should really type in and think about before we start entering the all important task information.

Creating the Task List
Welcome to this module, which is part of the course, An Introduction to Microsoft Project 2010 and 2013. This module's title is Creating the Task List and my name is Ben Howard. In this module, we'll review the work breakdown structure and have a look at how that's represented by different outline levels in Microsoft project. We'll also review our options for creating tasks, everything from using an existing template to manually entering our tasks, to cutting and pasting, or importing them from Excel, or an existing SharePoint task list. We will also review the two scheduling modes that exist within Microsoft Project 2010 and 2013 that is Manually Scheduled task and Auto Scheduled tasks.

Entering Task Durations
Welcome to this module, which is part of the course, An Introduction to Microsoft Project 2010 and 2013. This module's title is called, Entering Task Durations and my name is Ben Howard. When we enter a Duration, we have to understand the task scheduling mode and remember that we have two, Manually Scheduled tasks and Auto Scheduled tasks. A Manually Scheduled task may not have any Start date, Finish date, or Duration at this stage. When we enter a Duration, the only thing we are impacting is that Duration value. However, an Auto Scheduled task will already have a Start date, and the Finish date, and the Duration. The Finish date is equal to the Start date plus the Duration. So, when we enter a Duration value for an Auto Scheduled task, we will impact and change the Finish date. Normally, we would only enter Duration values against our lowest level activities. However, we do have the opportunity to enter a Duration against Manually Scheduled summary tasks. This Duration acts as a budget for that summary task.

Task Sequencing
Welcome to this module, which is part of the course, An Introduction to Microsoft Project 2010 and 2013. This module's title is called, Task Sequencing and my name is Ben Howard. In this module, we will discuss the basics of linking tasks together, so that we can define the order in which tasks should be completed. This allows Microsoft Project to calculate when specific tasks should occur. The impact of linking two tasks together, would depend on both the task mode of the successor task and the type of link we create. The ultimate aim of linking the tasks together is to allow the project manager to visualize the sequence of tasks in the work breakdown structure.

The Timeline
Welcome to this module, which is part of the course, An Introduction to Microsoft Project 2010 and 2013. This module's title is called, Using the Timeline and my name is Ben Howard. The Timeline is great, though I feel an underutilized feature. We use the Timeline as an alternative way to communicate the key stages and milestones to Project stakeholders and other people who aren't familiar with traditional views such as the GANTT CHART.

Printing
Welcome to this module, which is part of the course, An Introduction to Microsoft Project 2010 and 2013. This module's title is called, Printing the Gantt Chart and Timeline Views, and my name is Ben Howard. It would be true to say that printing is one of the most frustrating things we do in Microsoft Project. And like most things in Project, it's important to get the view right before we decide what we want to print. Secondly, the other important thing is to have some idea of the timescale of what we're going to print. There's no point in printing a day-by-day view of a project schedule if it lasts 365 days. We're going to have a lot of columns and a lot of wasted paper. So we really need to be cognizant of what we're going to try and print, before we print it. So, one of things that we'll do in this session is review some of printing options. Finally, a great feature of Project 2010 and 2013 is the Timeline, so we'll review how we can print that Timeline off to enable that good communication and collaboration with our project stakeholders.