Planning and re-planning: keeing MS Project files updated

Re-planning is just as important as planning. MS Project files need to be updated regularly to reflect the current status of the project and to streamline the upcoming tasks. We have seen a lot of issues where project managers have not updated the project file. They run into project status issues. MS Project file can reflect the schedule, cost and effort changes as the project moves along. This information is only available if the project manager updates the project file. If this information is not updated, then the status of the project is not known.

We can recognize this from questions such as "many project tasks have been delayed how can we change the project end date?" The answer to this question is not to technically find a solution to just change the end date. But the right way is to re-plan. This is done by entering the information about the delayed tasks using the feature of actual start date and actual end date in MS Project. By using these parameters, actual proceedings of the task can be entered. MS Project will take these dates (and delays) into account and would adjust the project timeline accordingly.

MS Project also includes the feature to view status of any particular date. More importantly, we can view how much progress would have been made up to a certain date based on the information entered in the actual start and completion dates of completed and ongoing tasks. This is a valuable tool and project managers must use it in the project management process.

When the actuals of completed and ongoing tasks are entered, MS Project returns the correct status. This information is also used in the Status reports. This gives the project managers valuable information and they can use the slack in the project tasks, fast track or keep the management well informed about the missed target dates, budget and cost. Re-planning can only be done if actual task status is updated in MS Project. And it is MS Project that adjusts the timeline, budget and cost. Project managers can then make timely decisions.

Reprinted the article from experts-exchange

My boss's critical task is not a 'Critical task' in MS Project

Q: I have a very important task that my boss thinks is critical to the project outcome, and it is not showing up as red. How can I make it critical?

The fact that your boss believes the task is critical does not mean that it is a Critical task in the schedule, based on Total Slack (TS). A "Program-Critical" task is different from a "CPM-Critical" task. If your workflow logic is correct, then that program-critical task may have slack, and therefore not found on the critical path.

If the boss believes the task to be a program-critical task, find out what the risks are that may cause it to be Program-Critical. Assess a duration relative to that level of risk and add a "Risk Contingency" task, within that logic-flow, that may prove to be greater than or equal to the difference between the task TS and Critical Path (CP) TS. In other words, if the program-critical task has a TS of 5d and the CP TS is 0d then add a risk-contingency task of five or more days. This will cause that logic-path to become red.

Refer following URL for continuation of this article: http://www.mpug.com/News/Pages/MailAnotherPerspectiveonDefiningCritical.aspx

My boss's critical task is not a 'Critical task' in MS Project

: I have a very important task that my boss thinks is critical to the project outcome, and it is not showing up as red. How can I make it critical?

A: A bit of history reveals that project management of a sort has been around since humans began thinking. I'm sure the pyramids had a project manager to mastermind the completion of the critical tasks. (Whether they were produced within cost is debatable, though they seem to have been finished on time!) The discipline of what is generally known as Network Analysis began in the early 1950s in Europe, with the development of Critical Path Method and project network techniques, as well as others. In the United States, with the development of the Polaris missile system evolved the technique called Program Evaluation and Review Technique or PERT.

These tools allowed a project manager to define a series of tasks that were essential for achieving the product, link the tasks in a logical pattern to form a network, and analyze individual task timings to calculate the critical path to achieve an end date. Thus, Network Analysis is the core technique of all modern project management practices, and working with Microsoft Project is no exception.

Refer the following article for continuation of this article: Defining Critical

Eliminate Overallocations

Struggling with over-allocations in your schedule? Here is a quick way of resolving them by dragging an assignment from one resource to another resource that is available. This approach works in all version of Microsoft Project.
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