Showing posts with label MS Project 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MS Project 2010. Show all posts

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Working with Multiple Baselines in MS Project 2016



A saying goes as:
“Planning is indispensable, but plans are useless.”

 In real world projects (as also in daily life), it rarely happens that you exactly follow the planned course of action. You have to make changes to your plan. But planning is needed and it can not be avoided. Because planning sets the direction, gives a possible end date and lets you and your team members know what is expected to be executed at what point of time.

 Planning, of course has to be monitored. To monitor the plan, we baseline the project. Any variations - with respect to scope, time, cost etc. – are tracked. It is against the baseline, where the variances are monitored, tracked and reported.

 But when plans change we need to adjust our course. When many changes have  happened, then we have to rebaseline - because the previous baseline is no longer relevant. Your sponsor will approve this baseline after due considerations.  Microsoft® Project software gives the option to have multiple baselines. It provides 11 baselines for a project. When you re-baseline the project, your tracking will happen to the latest baseline, which is approved by the sponsor. When the project is complete, you measure the changes, with respect to the final baseline. This is what also PMI® and other standard bodies on project/program/portfolio management say. 

 Why View Multiple Baselines?
Say, you are in Baseline 2. And you want to see what has happened since the beginning, i.e., you want to see the information for Baseline (0), Baseline 1 as well. How will you check on these changes? This is a question that I get many times in my “Practical PMP® with MS Project” or standalone  “MS Project” classes. Hence, this post.

 Putting this need into a diagram, the need looks like this.

Measurement happens with respect to the status date. In any project-portfolio management software, one should be able to look back at any baseline and find out what are the differences with respect to the key objectives for the project. In MS Project you can do that by checking on the Tracking Gantt Chart (or making some formatting changes to Gantt Chart). 

 This is how it comes a for project created in the Tracking Gantt.


This shows information only with respect to the baseline that you have selected – but NOT all the baselines. 


Multiple Baselines Gantt:

How about seeing all the baseline information in a single graph?
It means, I want to see information for Baseline 0, Baseline 1, and also Baseline 2 as on the status date. That also can be done in MS Project. How? Just switch to Multiple Baselines Gantt view. If you are in Task tab, go to View group -- More Views … and then select Multiple Baselines Gantt. 

In this special Gantt view, all the baselines information will be showed. The formatting is not what you might expect to have properly. Here only lines will be visible and it may not give you information that you need. It comes as follows, for the above project created.


As you can see, from here you really can not make out what is happening. So we have to make some changes.

Formatting Multiple Baselines Gantt:
To format the Multiple Baselines Gantt, go to Format tab -- Bar styles -- Format -- Bar Styles…


Or you can simply also right on the graphical side of the Gantt Chart and click on Bar Styles. This will also open the Bar Style box.
Now we will do formatting for the 3 baselines. I’ve done the following formatting:

Baseline (0) -- Black Bars 
Baseline 1 --  Orange Bars
Baseline 2 -- Green Bars

In addition, I have also added the % completion in each bar – with each bar being visually more prominent by increasing the width. For the final baseline information, I have added the name of the tasks to the right. All these formatting are done in Bar Styles box.


After formatting is applied, the Multiple Baselines Gantt looks as below. Note that the corresponding milestones are also formatted for respective baselines.

By looking at the Multiple Baselines Gantt Chart, I can say what has happened to each task over a period of time, what is the latest percent complete for each task, and who are the team members working on these tasks. 


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Sunday, April 26, 2015

Webinar - Practical PMP with Micrsoft Project 2013/2010



I had a webinar on "Practical PMP with Micrsoft Project 2013/2010" on 16th April, 2015. The session was of 1 hour duration.

Key Takeaways:
  • What is “Practical PMP”?
  • Advantages of “Practical PMP” over “Traditional PMP’ Program
  • Process Groups, Knowledge Areas, Processes covered in PMBOK and MS Project
  • How to be a Practical PMP, i.e., both Certified PMP and Certified MSP
  • How Microsoft Project 2013/2010 helps a Project Management Professional (PMP)?
  • PMBOK and MS Project - An overview of Time Management

The focus on the session in understanding Practical PMP and how knowing both PMBOK and MS Project helps you in your professional career. It is not only theory (PMBOK) that is important, but also knowing how to apply theoretical principles with a practical tool like MS Project and whereever needed MS Excel and MS PowerPoint. 

Here is a small video on it (2m:03s) :



For a longer format, you can see the below video which has detailed discussion on it followed by Questions/Answers. (~60 minutes - 1h:01m:44s):



Time Management Knowledge Area from PMBOK has been used a reference to explain how Practical PMP helps a current or aspiring Project Management Professional. 

Time Management - PMBOK Guide Vs MS Project 2013/2010

During the Question and Answer session, to explain for some of the concepts, MS Project 2013 has been used for demonstration, e.g., for Baseline, Resource Rate etc. 

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Saturday, February 07, 2015

To Complete Performance Index (TCPI) and Cost Performance Index (CPI) - Part 2




To Complete Performance Index (TCPI) and Cost Performance Index (CPI), as noted in the earlier post, are a set of two powerful indices in Earned Value Measurement (EVM). In this post, I'll take a project-portfolio management software - MS Project 2013/2010 - to show how they work.  

Previous Example:
You have 2 tasks each taking 2 days and executed by two resources - R1 and R2.  For each day, you are paying $100 to the resources. After 1 day, you are checking the status. This is what you found:
Status For Task - 1:
-  R1 needs 2 more days to complete. So the total duration now becomes 3 days.
Status For Task - 2:
- R2 needs 0.75 day more. So, the total duration becomes 1.75 days. 

 We will follow a series of steps, which you would do while performing Earned Value Measurement.
  • Step - 1: Plan for it (Initial Case)
  • Step - 2: Switch to an EVM Table to check on the date
  • Step - 3: Baseline the Project and check the EVM data
  • Step - 4: Execution Start/Progress; Status Date Setting
  • Step - 5: Data Interpretation
These actually you would be doing very quickly - in a matter of minutes - with the MS Project tool. However, I have segregated them into 5 easy steps for easy understanding.

 Step - 1: Initial Case (Planning):

Let us put our example in MS Project 2013. It will look as shown below.
Figure - 1: Two Resources working on 2 Tasks of 2 days
As shown above, we have 2 tasks executed by 2 resources (R1 and R2) with a rate of $100/day. 

 Step - 2: Switch to an EVM Table:

Let us switch to one of the Earned Value tables  - the "Earned Value Cost Indicators" - to check on the EVM related data/metrics. 

Figure - 2: Before Baseline - TCPI and CPI values
As you can see in the above figure, there is no baseline yet. Hence both "To-Complete Performance Index" (TCPI) and "Cost Performance Index (CPI)" are set to "0". Also Budget At Completion (CPI) is also "0", as no baseline yet. But the Estimate At Completion (EAC) is $200 as 2 resources, R1 and R2, will take $200 each at the end of completions of Task 1 and Task 2, respectively.

 Step - 3: Perform Baseline:

 Now, let me baseline the project and set the status date to end of day 1 - here end of Monday. Remember you are still in planning mode.
Figure - 3: TCPI and CPI values after baseline and status date setting
This is where some interesting things happened. In the above figure, after baseline, the CPI is 0, but TCPI is 1. Why? Because your Earned Value is zero, hence CPI is zero. Now BAC field has been populated post baseline and it is matching that of EAC, i.e., $200.  Actual Cost is also 0, as no cost has been incurred yet - the resources have not yet started working. But you have a value for BAC. Hence TCPI is 1 as TCPI = (BAC - EV)/(BAC-AC) = (200 - 0)/(200-0) = 1.

 Step - 4: Execution/Progress; Setting the Status Date:

 So, we have initially entered the tasks and then baselined it and saw the result. Next, the execution on the tasks, Task -1 and Task - 2, are started by the resources, R1 and R2, respectively.

Now, at the end of 1st day, I set the status date and this is what happened. To measure, you have to set the status date.
  

Figure - 4: TCPI and CPI post status update
As seen above, the Planned Value (PV) now has been populated and showing $100 for both the tasks. Because on status date, 1 day worth of work should have been done. This data is irrespective of baseline, as you can the same data in Figure - 3. Also, as seen in Figure - 3, both Actual Cost (AC) and Earned Value (EV) fields are set to $0.00 as I have not entered the actual completion percentage of work done by the resources. 

 Now, on the status date, after checking with the resources, I entered the %  complete of work for the two tasks. 

As noted in the beginning, Task - 1 will now take 2 days more, where as Task - 2 will take 0.75 day more. When I entered these data, it will look as seen in Figure - 4. Here, both TCPI and CPI, have respective calculated values by MS Project.

 Step 5 - Data Interpretation:

 Let us interpret the data as shown above:
For Task - 1:
  • CPI is set to 0.67 - matches our calculation as in the last post 
  • TCPI is set to 1.33. It matches the 1st one as we calculated in the last, but does not match our calculation as calculated in the last post.  Why? Because MS Project takes BAC as the baseline. Remember when you first baselined - BAC came to be $200.00.  So, TCPI is above is 1.33. It uses the first formula on TCPI, i.e., [(BAC - EV) / (BAC - AC)] 
But, how to to get 0.67 as seen in the last post?  You have to set your new baseline to EAC, which now is $300. 

 Tool wont do it automatically for you. You have to set it after discussing with your governance board or project management office. Once approved, in the tool, the new baseline can be set and while calculating the new baseline has also to be set for EVM calculation. This is done in the Backstage View of MS Project.  As EAC is not the approved one right now, hence TCPI is showing as 1.33 - based on BAC. When the EAC becomes the new approved one, then the formula for EAC will be taken up, i.e., [(BAC - EV) / (EAC - AC)], will be used.

For Task - 2:
Am I saying that two different baselines needed for two different tasks? No. In real life, you actually take the cumulative CPI, which I briefly talked in the previous post. Cumulative CPI is the rolled up CPI for the entire project. 

Note: Also, For MS Project, while calculating the EVM, you have to check what you are measuring - "% Complete or "Physical % Complete". Like baseline setting, this also can be in the Backstage View. In this case, I am using the default % Complete as our example is like that.

 The example that we used is  a very simple one. But it covers the fundamentals. In real projects, you will be working on 100s or 1000s of activities. However, these same concepts apply.

How does it happen for MS Project 2010?
It is very similar to what we just saw for Project 2013. All the fields - BAC, EV, PV, AC, CPI, TCPI, EAC - are available in MS Project 2010. The screens almost remain same. You can set the Baseline and "% calculation or work complete" calculation from the Backstage view in similar fashion. To know more on it: Practical PMP with MS Project. In this program, a case study driven project is taken and worked upon.

How does it happen in Oracle Primavera P6?
Fundamental concepts remains same. Primavera P6 also calculates the TCPI in similar way - the way discussed in these two posts. To know more on it: Practical PMP with Primavera P6. In it, a case study driven project is taken and worked upon.

Now I hope, you got a sound understanding on TCPI and CPI. So, in summary you have to understand and remember the followings (including your PMP exam).

Summary:
  • CPI < 1 means Over Budget
    CPI > 1 means Under Budget
    CPI = 1 means On Budget 
  • TCPI < 1 means Easier to Complete
    TCPI > 1 means Harder to  Complete
    TCPI = 0 means Same to Complete
  • CPI is about past performance and TCPI is about future performance
  • Formula for CPI = "Work Done"/"Funds Spent" = (EV/AC)
  • Formula for TCPI = "Work Remaining"/"Funds Remaining" = [( BAC- EV) / (BAC - AC)]
  • When CPI (or cumulative CPI) falls below the baseline, then the formula for TCPI changes, i.e.,
    TCPI = [ ( BAC- EV) / (EAC - AC)], here EAC becomes the new financial goal once approved
  • Both TCPI and CPI can be 0 or 1 as we saw 

 An Interesting Scenario:
Is it possible to have TCPI to have an weird value? Say some infinite number? Yes! Here is a case. Imagine if BAC and AC are same and you have been still asked to complete the project.

TCPI = "Work Remaining"/"Funds Remaining" = (Certain Value) / 0 = An Infinite Value

So, what would you do for TCPI if it throws such a value?More importantly - how would you complete the project? Think about it!


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Thursday, January 15, 2015

Practical PMP (PMBOK) with MSP (MS Project) - Updates Post Mumbai, India and Mexico City, Mexico Sessions





Practical PMP with MS Project is quite different than the 'usual' PMP Prep program. Of course, it prepares you for PMP Program and by doing it, the PMP aspirants are eligible to get 35 PDUs from PMI, which meets the criteria number -1.  The key part however is the Practicals, which prepares you with Microsoft Project 2010 or 2013 (MSP 2010/2013) reflecting on the theories of various knowledge areas, processes of PMBOK Guide. If you are keen, you can also go for the MS Project certification from Microsoft as that this program prepares you for that, too. 

 There has been many sessions conducted on "Practical PMP with MSP". However, few of them are available as blog posts here, which might give you certain understanding on it: 
In classroom sessions, it is not only Time Management from PMBOK Guide which is covered with MS Project 2013 (or MS Project 2010), but also other knowledge areas - Scope Management, Cost Management, Human  Resource Management, Communication Management, Quality Management et al - are covered as well. Also, there will be a number of practicals, which are built on from the very beginning. 

 As Year 2015 begins, the course material has been updated, for both "Practical PMP with MSP 2010" and "Practical PMP with MSP 2013". The earlier edition of "Practical PMP with MS Project" has been used in many places in India and abroad, but decided to write this post on what exactly the updates have been in 2015 - for the New Edition.
Practical PMP (PMBOK Guide 5th Ed) with MSP (Project 2013) in Mumbai, India

 In the last quarter of 2014, Practical PMP with MSP session was conducted at BlueDart Express, Mumbai, India.
At Mumbai, the team ranged from fresh management trainees to highly experienced management professionals. As Practical PMP program takes a strong collaborative discussion with practicals and white board sessions, the most heartening part was to see very senior management professionals not only took a strong hands-on approach to the program, but also came forward to all the white board discussions.  

 The questions were numerous from the team and in the end the team succeeded in building the main process flow for the entire PMBOK Guide and learned how to apply MS Project 2013 in many knowledge areas of PMBOK guide.

 To have an introductory understanding on how to use PMBOK with MS Projet, from Time Management Perspective, you can refer:
Post session, based on feedback and also to have a best of content, I decided to have certain updates, which are (primarily with respect to MS Project):
  • Scope Management:
    • WBS related advanced techniques are added, which are quite a few in MS Project
  • Time Management, Human Resource Management:
    • Calendars updated including addition for Task Calendars in Project
    • Calendar concept is available in PMBOK, however in a real world practical life of a manager, more are needed. 
  • Cost Management:
    • EVM related practical examples with MS Project
    • More TCPI related calculations are added
  • Communication Management:
    • BurnUp Reports, BurnDown Reports and other Important Reports (includes customized) in MSP
  • Stakeholder Management:
    • How to add/modify/update stakeholder register in MS Project
  • Professional and Social Responsibility:
    • Added inline with the latest one
Note: As per latest Exam Content Outline (ECO), the "Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct" has not been explicitly noted in percent based segmentation. Hence was not available earlier. However, it has been added in this new edition, for a complete professional experience.
Practical PMP (PMBOK Guide 5th) with MSP (Project 2010) in Mexico City, Mexico:

 Practical PMP with MSP program was conducted in Mexico City, Mexico in the 2nd week of December, 2014.  

 To have an initial understanding on how to use PMBOK with MS Project, from Time Management Perspective:
In December 2014, Practical PMP with MSP was conducted in Mexico City, Mexico.In North America, the traction for MS Project 2010 is still quite high, though the latest release of Project is 2013. Considering it, the material for Practical PMP with MS Project 2010 has been updated. The updates are primarily with respect to MS Project sections:
  • Time Management, Cost Management, Scope Management:
    • How to manage multiple baselines in MSP
    • Single baseline related information was already available.  
  • Human Resource Management:
    • Multiple Resource Graphs in MSP for resource related analysis 
    • Team Planner View in MSP further elaborated
    • Utility of Team Planner View with Activity Resource Requirements phase in Time Management
  • Professional and Social Responsibility:
    • Added inline with the latest one
Other than the new graphical reporting features of MS Project 2013, which are part of Communication Management, all updates of "Practical PMP with MS Project 2013" are also available in "Practical PMP with MS Project 2010" and vice-versa.
Updated Course Content: Practical PMP with MS Project 2013:

For the updated details, you can check at - Practical PMP with MSP. It has Course Objective/Overview, Frequently Asked Questions, Certification Process and the Complete Course Details for both PMP on PMBOK Guide 5th Edition and MS Project 2013 built step by step for each module. 

 Updated Course Content: Practical PMP with MS Project 2010:

 For the updated details, you can check at - Practical PMP with MSP. It has Course Objective/Overview, Frequently Asked Questions, Certification Process and the Complete Course Details for both PMP on PMBOK Guide 5th Edition and MS Project 2010 built step by step for each module.
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Saturday, November 15, 2014

9 Ways to Check Critical Tasks (Critical Paths) in MS Project



One of the participants in a class for MS Project 2010/2013 was having trouble in viewing Critical Tasks in his customized view of the Project Management Plan and few weeks after the session, asked me ways to check them. Now, critical tasks are important from scheduling perspective and a seasoned project manager frequently checks on them. 

 MS Project gives a number of options to check on critical tasks. In fact, there are so many options that it wont be possible to outline them all in this post! It is immaterial which view you are in or which table you have applied - you can easily check your critical tasks.

 The easiest and quickest way is outlined below in # 1. 

 Way # 1: Option Under Format Tab

Let us take a simple example. I have 5 tasks and 2 milestones with duration as shown below. To see the critical tasks, go to Format Tab -- Bar Styles group. Under that, select the checkbox for "Critical Tasks". The critical tasks will be highlighted in red in the Gantt view.

Critical Tasks - Enabling Option from Format Tab

Above - Task 3 and Task 5 are Critical Tasks, whereas Task 1, Task 2 and Task 4 are Non-Critical Tasks.

Still, you might be in different views or different tables, but still you can check on the Critical Tasks. However, as noted earlier, you have enough options to check on critical tasks wherever you are in MS Project. In rest of the ways, we will reuse the above simple example. 

Way # 2: Switch to Tracking Gantt View

Another important view which you will use frequently is the Tracking Gantt View. Here, the critical tasks are also shown and are highlighted in red. You need not select any checkbox, rather it will be done by MS Project for you. To switch to Tracking View: use View tab -- Task Views group -- Other View -- More Views and select Tracking Gantt View from the opened up dialog box.

Critical Tasks in Tracking Gantt View
Tip: The checkbox noted earlier in Way # 1 is automatically selected when you switch to the Tracking Gantt View!

Way #3: Use Filter for Critical Tasks

Go to View tab -- Data group. Under that, select Filter: Critical from the drop down menu as shown. Critical Filter is one of the built filters in MS Project.  After selection, only the critical tasks will be shown, irrespective of your view. In the below image, critical tasks are filtered and shown for the Gantt Chart View. The non-critical tasks will be filtered out. 

Critical Tasks - Applying Critical Filter
As you can see, the Critical Tasks - Task 3 and Task 5 - are only shown in the filtered view.

Tip: To disable Filter, select Filter:[No Filter]

Way # 4: Highlight Critical Tasks

Critical Tasks in the complete plan can be highlighted in a different color. To do that, go to View tab -- Data group -- Highlight: Critical, which is to be selected from the drop down menu. 

Highlighting Critical Tasks
As you can see, the critical tasks are highlighted in yellow. 

Tip: To disable highlighting, select Highlight:[No Highlight]

Way # 5: Group Critical Tasks

There is not only a built-in filter for Critical Task, but a built Critical Task group. To group the critical tasks, go to View tab -- Data group -- Group by: Critical. 

Grouping Critical Tasks
Both the critical and non-critical tasks are grouped and shown to you with Critical:Yes and Critical:No headings. 

Tip: To disable grouping, select Group:[No Group]

Way # 6: Switch to Detail Gantt Chart

Detail Gantt View is another view which you will use to check on the delayed introduced due to leveling and used when you perform resource leveling. Here critical tasks are shown by default and are highlighted in red. To switch to Detail Gantt View, use View tab -- Task Views group -- Other View -- More Views and select Detail Gantt View from the opened up dialog box.

Critical Tasks in Detail Gantt View

 Way # 7: Switch to Network Diagram View

Network Diagram View is another important view used by professional users of MS Project. This gives a clean and easy way to check on the activities/tasks in a Nework Diagram. Here critical tasks are shown by default and are highlighted in red. To switch to Network Diagram View, use View tab -- Task Views group -- Network Diagram View. 

Critical Tasks in Network Diagram View
Nework Diagram view used the Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) as noted in PMBOK and shows task details along with dependencies. 

Way # 8: Add Critical Field to the Table

Critical Tasks can be seen in various task tables - it does not matter which table you are in - by adding a new column/field called "Critical", which is built into MS Project. 

To do that, simply right click on the table side of the view and select "Insert Column" and then type in "Critical" to be have the field added as one of the columns in your table. The critical and non-critical tasks will be populated with "Yes" and "No" values, respectively. 

Column "Critical" in the Entry Table showing Critical Tasks

Way # 9:  Use Critical Task Report

MS Project 2013 has a new Tab introduced - Report tab. Here, you can generate a report for Critical Tasks. Go to Report tab -- View Reports group -- In Progress and select "Critical Tasks" Report from the drop down menu. 

In Built Critical Task Report
Here, the status of the Critical Task - Complete, In Progress, Future etc. - all will be shown. As our simple project has a planned start date on Nov 17, 2014, all critical tasks are shown as Future Tasks. If you are in MS Project 2010, go to Project tab -- Reports group -- Overview -- Critical Tasks.

Still, there are few more ways to check on critical tasks. Like you can create your own custom filter or custom group and apply different color code or switch to yet another view called "Descriptive Network Diagram View" to check on critical tasks. However, I hope the above 9 ways would suffice to check on critical tasks in your project and will meet your need.

 Update (February 2, 2018):

 To know the various ways to check Critical Tasks, a video has been made available for you!
This is from MS Project 2016 Live Lessons - Guaranteed Learning or Your Money Back.

 The video is from Lesson 9: Analyzing Project.



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