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Chapter 3 - Getting StartedIntroduction Set Clear Project Goals, Scope, and Assumptions Goals Scope Assumptions Start a New Project File Enter or Change a Project Start or Finish Dat

Chapter 3 - Getting Started

Introduction

Set Clear Project Goals, Scope, and Assumptions

Goals

Scope

Assumptions

Start a New Project File

Enter or Change a Project Start or Finish Date

Enter Project Goals, Scope, and Assumptions

Save Your Project

For some, starting a new project plan means typing up task lists in a spreadsheet file, keeping a manila folder full of the names and qualifications of team members, and tacking up calendars on an office wall to track

progress and workers’ schedules Information about a project is often spread over the entire office

With Microsoft Project, starting a new project plan couldn’t be easier You simply open a new project file, as easily

as opening a new file in a word-processing or spreadsheet program The big difference is that a single project file

in Microsoft Project can hold your task list, resource names, group and individual work calendars, and much more You can put all the information you need for creating, managing, and tracking your project in one file

Before you start a new project plan, you first need to define your project (which neither Microsoft Project nor any other project management program can do for you) That requires you to define three key project elements:

goals, scope, and assumptions You can then use Microsoft Project to help you stay focused on your goals,

reviewing and revising your assumptions and the scope of the project

Set Clear Project Goals, Scope, and Assumptions

Even before you open a new project file, you’ll need to consider carefully your project’s goals, scope, and

assumptions These three elements hold the key to your project’s success

The specific results you want your project to accomplish are your project’s goals They define your project’s purpose

Your project’s results can be only as good as its stated goals Vaguely stated goals often lead to vague results For example, the goal "Set up a clockwork exhibit" doesn’t include a deadline, which makes it difficult to

determine how many people would be needed or what the project scope might be Also, it doesn’t tell the project team what kinds of clocks to exhibit But "Set up an exhibit of 75 antique clocks in the main hall by October 15" can help determine specific project requirements

By stating your project goals in clear and specific terms:

• You and your team know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish and why, so you stay focused during the course of the project

• You can estimate your project scope and required resources accurately

• Your goals become measurable in terms of time, cost, quality, and quantity

• You can judge whether the goals are realistic and achievable

• You can determine when the project should be finished

Scope

The combination of all project goals plus the work required to accomplish those goals represents the scope of your project It is the sum of all the individual, concrete tasks that your team must do

In the clockwork exhibit project, for example, scope could include tasks such as painting the galleries in which the clocks will be displayed, hanging 75 clocks, and writing brochures to advertise the exhibit Under severe deadline pressure, the clockwork project manager might cut the scope by hanging fewer clocks — and painting fewer galleries — than had originally been planned

When you define scope, it’s as important to state what is not part of the project as it is to define what is part of the project For example, the clockwork project manager might decide that an outside contractor should paint the museum galleries where the clocks will hang The project scope would then be limited to designing the exhibit and hanging the clocks If it later were to become feasible to have the museum crew paint the galleries, then the scope would increase and affect the budget and schedule

Assumptions

Your best guesses as to how various relevant factors are likely to affect the duration and cost of specific tasks, and of the project as a whole, are your project assumptions Some, perhaps most, of the factors you must take into account will be outside of your direct control

For example, the clockwork project manager might assume that all the exhibit designers will be available for the month scheduled to complete the exhibit design But if half the team were to come down with the flu for a week

or be assigned to another project, that assumption would be false and either the project scope or schedule would have to be adjusted

It’s best if you state your assumptions clearly, right at the beginning of the project, and have others involved in the project review them Together, you can discuss alternative scenarios and develop contingency plans For instance, "If the supplier can’t deliver the materials required to do Task A at its scheduled time, then let’s do Task

B before we do Task A."

Before you can fill a museum’s galleries with clocks, you have to build the

exhibit space And before you can create a project plan in Microsoft Project,

you have to start a new project file Like a museum consisting of galleries and

side rooms ready to be filled with paintings, sculptures, and clockwork

exhibits, a new project file consists of fields and views ready to be filled with

information about your project’s tasks, resources, and assignments

To start a new project file

1 Click New

2 Enter a start or finish date

o To enter a start date, type the date on which you want to start your project in the Start date

box

o To enter a finish date, click Project Finish Date in the Schedule from box, and then type a finish date from which to schedule your project in the Finish date box

An empty project file appears By default, the Gantt Chart view is displayed

Enter or Change a Project Start or Finish Date

When you open a new project file in Microsoft Project, you can enter your project’s start or finish date, but not both It’s most common, and recommended, that you enter only your project’s start date and let Microsoft Project calculate the finish date after you have entered and scheduled tasks (see Chapter 10, "Evaluating Your Schedule and Analyzing Tradeoffs") If your project must absolutely be finished by a certain date, then enter only the project’s finish date

To change a project start or finish date

1 On the Project menu, click Project Information

2 Enter a start or finish date

o To enter a start date, type the date on which you want to start your project in the Start date

box

o To enter a finish date, click Project Finish Date in the Schedule from box, and then type a finish date from which to schedule your project in the Finish date box

Enter Project Goals, Scope, and Assumptions

When you start Microsoft Project, the Welcome dialog box

appears You can either click an option or close the dialog box and work on the project file

Before you enter project goals, scope, and assumptions into your project file, you and your team need to think about, discuss, and agree on these important project elements Together, these elements define your project and help to determine its success

While no project management program can determine goals, scope, and assumptions for you, Microsoft Project makes it easy to incorporate them into a new project plan

To enter project goals, scope, and assumptions

1 On the File menu, click Properties

2 Click the Summary tab

3 In the Comments box, type your project goals, scope, and assumptions

Save Your Project

After you make important additions or changes to your project plan, it’s a good idea to save the plan

To save your project

1 Click Save

2 If this is the first time you’ve saved the project, type the project name in the File name box

The first time you save your project, the PlanningWizard dialog box appears The Planning Wizard continuously monitors your actions as you work It helps you complete tasks and makes suggestions on any shortcuts you want to use The question in the dialog box asks if you want to save a baseline plan, which is a copy of your original plan data against which you can compare actual data For more information about baseline plans, see Chapter 17, "Setting the Baseline."

By default the PlanningWizard is turned on You can turn it off, or if you’re not sure whether it’s on, you can check its status

To turn the PlanningWizard on or of

1 On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab

2 To turn on the PlanningWizard, select the Advice from PlanningWizard check box

To turn off the PlanningWizard, clear the Advice from PlanningWizard check box