Project Task Management

Build Practical Project Planning Skills for Clearer Scheduling and Tracking

This practical one-and-a-half-day training course gives you the skills needed to plan and manage projects in Microsoft Project Desktop. You will learn how to set up a project, build a schedule, assign resources, monitor costs, set a baseline and track progress.

Whether you have recently started using Microsoft Project or want to confirm that you are using it effectively, this course builds practical foundations for planning, tracking and reporting on workplace projects.

Project Task Management is ideal for people who:

• Want more confidence using Microsoft Project
• Have recently started using Microsoft Project
• Already use the product and want to strengthen their approach
• Plan or coordinate workplace projects
• Need to schedule, track and report on project work

To attend Project Task Management, you should:

• Have good general PC skills
• Understand basic Windows operations, including opening, saving and closing files
• Be able to cut, copy and paste
• Have working knowledge of at least one other Windows product, such as Excel or Word

After completing Project Task Management, you will be able to:

• Navigate Microsoft Project Desktop and understand its data structure
• Set up projects, calendars, tasks and dependencies
• Format Gantt charts and review the project plan
• Assign resources and monitor costs
• Set baselines, track progress and produce reports

Module 1: Introduction to Microsoft Project

• Overview of Microsoft Project Desktop
• Navigating the Microsoft Project Window
• How Project Holds and Displays Your Data
  (Views, tables, filters, and data structure)

Module 2: Interface Essentials

• Keyboard and Mouse Essentials
  (Shortcuts, selection techniques, drag-and-drop features)
  

Module 3: Project Setup

• Creating a new project
• Setting up project information and default options
• Using Project Calendars
  (Base calendars, working time, exceptions)

Module 4: Task Management

• Entering tasks and durations
• Splitting tasks and managing interruptions
• Summarising tasks using summary and milestone tasks
• Linking tasks and applying deadlines
  (Dependencies, constraints, and deadlines)

Module 5: Visualising the Schedule

• Formatting a Gantt Chart
  (Bar styles, layout, gridlines, timescale)

Module 6: Resource Management

• Assigning resources to each task
  (Work, material, cost resources; resource calendars)

Module 7: Reviewing the Project Plan

• Task paths, critical path, slack
• Resource usage and overallocations
  

Module 8: Cost and Progress Tracking

• Monitoring task costs
  (Rates, cost tables, cost reports)
• Setting the baseline
  (Saving and comparing baselines)
• Tracking progress
  (% complete, actuals, updating tasks)

Module 9: Reporting and Communication

• Producing reports
  (Visual reports, custom reports, exporting to Excel/PDF)

Module 10: Advanced Features

• Using Hyperlinks
  (Linking to documents, websites, and notes)
• Using Organiser
  (Managing views, tables, and styles across files)
• Consolidating Multiple Projects
  (Master projects, subprojects, shared resources)