Getting a Project Back on Track

Core Training for Microsoft Office Project 2003

Troubleshooting Schedule Problems

1	To get a top-level view of the degree of schedule variance, click the Project menu and then click Project Information.
2	Notice the finish date of the project is 1/6/2006, which needs to be pulled in before the end of 2005. To view the duration values for the project, in the Project Information dialog box, click Statistics.
3	Notice the project plan has 13 days of variance. To close the Project Statistics box, click Close.
4	To examine the missed deadline for a specific task, point to the missed deadline indicator in the Indicators column for the Production summary task.
5	To begin adjusting the remaining production tasks, in the Task Name column, click Scene 5 setup.
6	To assign additional resources to this task, click the Tools menu, and then click Assign Resources.
7	In the Assign Resources dialog box, click below the scroll box on the scroll bar until Frank Lee displays, click Frank Lee, and then click Assign.
8	To further reduce this task’s duration, in the Assign Resources dialog box, click below the scroll box on the scroll bar until Keith Harris displays, click Keith Harris, and then click Assign.
9	To reduce the durations of multiple tasks, first click below the scroll box on the scroll bar of the Gantt Chart view window.
10	In the Task Name column, click Scene 6 setup, press CTRL, and then click Scene 6 teardown.
11	In the Assign Resources dialog box, note that Keith Harris is selected, press CTRL, click above the scroll box on the scroll bar until Frank Lee displays, click Frank Lee, release CTRL, and then click Assign.
12	To check if the deadline has been resolved, click above the scroll box on the scroll bar of the Gantt Chart view, and then point to the missed deadline indicator in the Indicators column for the Production summary task.
13	Notice that the finish date has been brought in, but is still one day later than the deadline. To view other tasks in the Gantt Chart view, click below the scroll box on the scroll bar in the Gantt Chart view.
14	To assign more resources to the Scene 8 setup task, in the Task Name column, click Scene 8 setup, press CTRL, and then click Scene 8 teardown.
15	In the Assign Resources dialog box, note that Keith Harris is selected, press CTRL, click above the scroll box on the scroll bar until Frank Lee displays, click Frank Lee, release CTRL, and then click Assign.
16	To close the Assign Resources dialog box, click Close.
17	To check if the deadline has been resolved, click above the scroll box on the scroll bar in the Gantt Chart view.
18	Notice that the missed deadline indicator in the Indicators column of the Production task is gone. To view the end of the Production phase and confirm that it ends before its deadline, click the Edit menu, and then click Go To.
19	To enter the Production deadline date in the Go To dialog box, click in the Date box, and, for the purposes of this exercise, press SPACEBAR, wait as the text is typed for you, and then click OK.

Troubleshooting Cost and Resource Problems

1	Note the current total cost of resource 13, Electrician, is $7,370. To switch to a different view, click the View menu, and then click Resource Usage.
2	To view all of the electricians’ assignments, in the Resource Name column, click the plus sign (+) next to Electrician.
3	To view all of the electricians’ assignments, click and hold the Down scroll arrow in the Resource Usage view until Electrician is at the top of the view.
4	To reduce the electricians’ work on tasks, click in the Work column for Scene 2 setup, and click and hold the Down arrow until 4 hrs displays, and then press ENTER.
5	To verify the reduction in the electricians’ costs, click the View menu, and then click Resource Sheet.
6	Note the updated total cost of resource 13, Electrician. To switch to another view and further reduce costs by replacing a resource, click the View menu, and then click Gantt Chart.
7	To filter all the unfinished tasks, click the Project menu, point to Filtered for: All Tasks, and click Incomplete Tasks.
8	To view the resources for the first unfinished task, click Scene 2 setup, and then click the indicated Assign Resources button.
9	In the Assign Resources dialog box, in the Resource Name column, click Cesar Garcia, and then click Replace.
10	In the Replace Resource dialog box, click below the scroll box on the scroll bar until Megan Sherman displays, click Megan Sherman, and then click OK.
11	To close the Assign Resources dialog box, click Close.
12	To confirm the leveling option, in the Indicators column to the left of Scene 2 setup, click the exclamation symbol, and in the option list, click Reduce duration so the task ends sooner, but requires the same amount of work (person-hours).

Troubleshooting Scope-of-Work Problems

1	To view the project’s finish date, click the Project menu, and then click Project Information.
2	In the Project Information dialog box, note the Finish date, December 29, 2005. To close the Project Information dialog box, click Cancel.
3	To view critical tasks, click the View menu, and then click More Views.
4	In the More Views dialog box, click twice above the scroll bar, click Detail Gantt, and then click Apply.
5	To display only the critical tasks, click the Project menu, point to Filtered for: All Tasks, and then click Critical.
6	To allow overtime for a task, in the Task Name column, click Log footage, and then click the indicated Go To Selected Task button.
7	To view the resource work details, click the Window menu, click Split, and then click in the indicated bottom right area of the Task Form view below the Detail Gantt view.
8	To continue, click the Format menu, point to Details and then click Resource Work.
9	To view Log footage and other Post-Production tasks, click and hold the Down scroll arrow in the Detail Gantt view until Post-Production displays at the top of the Task Name column.
10	To proceed with allowing overtime work, in the Task Form, click in the Ovt. Work column for Editing Lab, click and hold the Up arrow until 20h displays, and then press ENTER.
11	To continue, in the Ovt. Work column for Florian Voss, click and hold the Up arrow until 20h displays, and then press ENTER.
12	To allow overtime for another task, in the Task Name column of the Detail Gantt view, click Record rough narration two times to select it.
13	To continue, click in the Ovt. Work column for François Ajenstat, click and hold the Up arrow until 30h displays, and then press ENTER.
14	To continue, in the Ovt. Work column for Mandar Naik, click and hold the Up arrow until 30h displays, and then press ENTER.
15	To select another task, in the Task Name column in the Detail Gantt view, click Paper edit footage two times to select it.
16	To allow overtime for this task, click in the Ovt. Work column for Clair Hector, click and hold the Up arrow until 25h displays, and then press ENTER.
17	To finish assigning overtime for tasks, in the Task Form, click OK.
18	To remove the split in the project view, click the Window menu, and then click Remove Split.
19	To view the new finish dates, click the Project menu, and then click Project Information.
20	Notice that Project has pulled in the Finish date to December 16, 2005. To close the Project Information dialog box, click Cancel.
21	To reschedule the start date for a task in order to pull in the finish date even further, in the Task Name column, click Add head and tail titles, and then click the indicated Task Information button.
22	In the Task Information dialog box, click the Predecessors tab, and then click in the Type field for Record final narration.
23	To change the task’s dependency, click the Type arrow, click Start-to-Start (SS), and in the Task Information dialog box, click OK.
24	To view the effect on the rescheduled tasks, on the Standard toolbar, click the Go To Selected Task button.
25	Notice that tasks 82 and 81 will now start before task 80 is completed. To view the impact on the project’s finish date, click the Project menu, and then click Project Information.
26	Notice that the project's Finish date has pulled in to November 25, 2005. To close the Project Information dialog box, click OK.