MICROSOFT PROJECT 2016
Sheji Adhil
Expectations
Objectives
 Understand project management using Microsoft Project 2016.
 Work breakdown structure.
 Define Tasks(modes, types and relationships) and Resources in Project.
 Make Work Package Estimates.
 Create an Initial Schedule, projects from templates, Excel files, Global templates.
 Create formulas and graphical indicators.
 Steps to record macro.
 Format Output and Print Reports.
 Integrate multiple projects.
 Using custom calendar.
 Manage multiple projects.
 Create a master project list with shared resources.
Enter the project management terms you are
familiar with
Module 1
Introduction to Microsoft Project
Module Content
 How project relates to the discipline of Project Management.
 New features of Project 2016.
 Understand different Views, tabs and Ribbon in MS Project 2016.
 Define task and resources and learn how to assign resource to task.
 Relate Project 2016 features to the 5 steps for building a plan.
What is project and project management
 Project:
• A project is a set of tasks that must be completed within a defined
timeline to accomplish a specific set of goals.
 Project management
• Manage all parts of a project so it is delivered on time and within the
budget
5 phases of Project Life cycle
Project management in MS Project 2016
 Initiation
• figure out what the idea is, why it’s needed, and if
it’s feasible.
 Planning
• Who’s involved? What tasks are involved? What
tasks depend on other tasks? How long will the
project take?
 Execution
• A successful execution phase relies on a successful
planning phase.
 Monitoring
• monitor each task to make sure nothing goes off
track.
 Closure
• Create documents and store all the documents
Understand MS Project 2016 Interface
 Start a new project in MS Project 2016
 Understand different Views
 Identify the commands and subcommands in the Ribbon
 Styling using Format tab
 Understand the backstage of MS Project 2016
Module1 LAB1
 LAB Exercises.xlsx
New features of Project 2016
 Resource engagements
• Allows to lock a resource for a project
 The resource manager experience
• To allow the resource manager to collaborate with the project manager, Project Online now has an
area for the resource manager to view and approve or reject all proposed resource contracts.
 Resource Capacity heat maps
• Ensuring that the resources are well utilized and productive
 Timelines
• A timeline is the best way to communicate how a project’s lifecycle lays out.
 Tell Me
• With Tell Me, you can just ask where a certain feature is.
 Read/Write Office add-ins
• Office add-ins are extensions that you can download from the Office store that add
functionality to Project.
Knowledge check
What are the five phases of project
management?
Name any five views of MS Project 2016?
Module 2
Quick and Easy overview of managing
with Project
Module Content
 Create a new project
 Enter project tasks
 Sequence the tasks
 Define resources
 Estimate task duration and assign resources
 Baseline the project
 Track project progress
Steps to create a project in MS Project 2016
1.Project start: Create and set up a schedule
2.Task creation: Create tasks, establish relationships, & build logic (dependencies &
predecessors)
3.Resource management: Request resources and assign work
4.Co-authoring: Work with other project managers, schedulers, and stakeholders to
update tasks, resources, schedules, and more simultaneously
5.Schedule oversight: View the project in multiple views
1. Grid view (all tasks in a list)
2. Gantt chart view (bar chart) all tasks displayed in a timeline
3. Board view ( All tasks as a storyboard)
6.Project calendar: See project status and key deliverables due each day
7.Budgeting: Track project costs, including work, material, and resources
8.Collaboration: Access schedule and work with project teams virtually online anywhere
9.Risk Analysis: Analyse the effects of identified risk and overall impact on the schedule
10.
Reporting: Track and report project progress with automated pre-built reports
Tasks & Resources
 What is a Microsoft project task?
• Tasks identify the individual components and steps of a project it is
the resources that actually get the job done.
 What is a Microsoft project resource?
• Resources are the second main part of a project.
• In Microsoft Project resources can be anything required to perform
tasks – people, equipment, facilities, materials, and even costs.
Module 2 LAB1
 Create a small project to construct a wooden outhouse. Tasks and
resources are given in the practice file.
Tasks of Wooden house project
1. Initiation
• Select Location
• Define Layout
2. Design
• Draft Design
• Revie Design
• Finalize Design
• Design completed
3. Materials Preparation
• Identify materials
• Purchase materials
4. Construction
• Cut wood
• Build platform
• Add walls
• Add roof
5. Finishing
• Paint exterior
• Project completed
Basic Project Information
 From the “Project” menu select “Project Information” and enter the
anticipated project start date.
Task properties
 Task Mode
 Summary Task
 Task Dependencies
 Task Duration
 Milestone Task
 Baseline
Task Mode
 In Project, you control the scheduling of tasks in two different ways:
• Manual Schedule
• Automatic Schedule
 A manually scheduled task as an initial placeholder you can create at
any time without affecting the rest of the plan.
 Manually scheduled tasks quickly capture some details but without
scheduling the tasks.
 Work with automatically scheduled tasks to take full advantage of the
powerful scheduling engine in Project.
Set tasks to Auto schedule mode
To switch the currently open plan
from manual to automatic task
scheduling
1. On the Task tab, in the Tasks
group, click the Mode button, and
then click Auto Schedule.
Or
1. Click the New Tasks status bar
text.
2. Click the scheduling mode you
want
Summary task
 After several tasks have been entered you can group them with a
summary task
 Drag over tasks (row numbers) of a group and under the Tasks tab,
select Insert-> Summary.
 Name summary task,
 click drop-down triangle arrow to show or hide
 Or assign a task as summary task by using “indent”
Assign the main tasks as Summary tasks
In Gantt chart view enable project summary
Task
Create Task Dependencies/ Relationships/
Links
Type Detail
Finish-to-Start (FS) Default. Task 1 must finish before
Task 2 can start.
Start-to-Start (SS) Task 1 must start before Task 2 can
start.
Start-to-Finish (SF) Task 1 must start before Task 2 can
finish.
Finish-to-Finish (FF) Task 1 must finish before Task 2 can
finish.
Add predecessor and link to the project
Task Duration
 It can be
• Estimated duration or
• Actual duration
Change task duration in the project
Milestone task
 Just like inserting a Summary task, you can insert a Milestone from
the same location (Tasks -> Insert -> Milestone). Or set in “Task
information”
 Milestones take zero time, therefore set duration to 0.
 A milestone can be a subtask of a summary
Set Milestone task
Set Milestone tasks in the project
Add tasks to Timeline view
Resources
 There are three types of resources
• Work
• Material
• Cost
Add Resources
 Go to resource sheet
Add Resources to the project as follows
 Go to resource sheet
 Then add the mentioned resources
Assign resource to the task
 Go to Task sheet
 Then assign the resources to corresponding tasks
Manage over allocated resources
 Go to Resource usage view
 Make changes in the task schedule to avoid overallocation
Manage over allocated resources
Baseline Plan
 To judge project performance properly, you will need to compare it
with original plan.
 This original plan is called the Baseline Plan or just a baseline
 A baseline is collection of important values in a project plan such as
the planned start dates, finish dates, and cost of the tasks, resources
and assignments.
 Save baseline before making the actual values.
Set baseline to your project
Track project progress
Track project progress
Track project progress
2 days
1 day
1 day
3 days
2 days
1 day
0 days
5 days
2 days
3 days
7 days
1 day
2 days
2 days
Module 3
Set up projects in different ways
Module Content
 Create a new project from an Excel file
 Create a new project from SharePoint task list
 Establish one or more calendars to constrain resource availability
 Calculate schedule from the start date or finish date
Create a project from an excel workbook
Create a project from a SharePoint Task list
Schedule project from Start Date or from
Finish Date
Schedule project from Start Date or from
Finish Date
Setting constraints to tasks
Create a custom calendar
 Change nonworking days to
Friday and Saturday.
 Reduce working time for a
month
 Set September 23 as a Holiday.
Create a custom calendar
Create a custom calendar
Module 3 LAB1
 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
Knowledge check
What are the task dependencies?
What are the three types of resources in
MS Project?
What is the default calendar type of MS
Project?
What are the two types of task modes?
Module 4
Schedule a project
Module Content
 Understand more about Manual schedule and Auto schedule
 Switch between manual schedule and auto schedule
 Project functions to schedule tasks
Manual mode
 When you enter a task in Manual mode the Duration, Start, and Finish
columns will be blank. Once you populate two of these fields, the third
value will be filled in for you.
 Blanks or text values are acceptable in Duration, Start, or Finish columns
in Manual mode. However, if you add a text value and then switch to
Automatic mode Project will only do its best to translate to a date or
numeric value, which may cause you to re-key certain fields.
 Manual tasks cannot be effort-driven. The duration of a Manual task
will not change as more resources are assigned or removed from it.
 Constraints will be ignored in Manual mode.
 Project and Resource calendars will be ignored in Manual mode.
Auto mode
1.Project and Resource calendars will be ignored in Manual mode. Automatically scheduled tasks are set up
to have Start, Finish, and Duration filled in for you, based on your default settings (per Scheduling tab in
Options above).
2.Tasks will be adjusted in your plan as data changes for a variety of reasons. Things that may cause
movement in your plan are:
1. If a task is linked to another task, moving it or changing its duration may move the task it is linked to…
this could have a domino like effect to other tasks in your plan if they are all linked together.
2. Resourcing – if you are using resources in your plan you may see movement as resource data changes
(units/work/allocation).
3. Constraints – if you’ve accidentally set up certain tasks to have constraints you may end up not seeing
movement in your plan where you expect it to occur, or vice versa.
4. Links, lead time, and lag time – How you’ve set up your links will also impact whether or not things will
be modified (and how), as change occurs to your data.
5. Calendar changes (Base, Project, Resource, Task) – if you happen to change the settings in any of your
calendars then it may impact a schedule you’ve already created.
6. A mix of Manual and Automatic tasks may also leave you puzzled as to why things are moving or not
moving in your plan as a result of updates to certain data
Manual Schedule benefits
 Manual Scheduling allows the user to control start date, finish date, and
therefore, duration.
• Allow you to get started with MS Project from very beginning.
• You retain control over planning, especially at the initial stage of a project when
detailed task-level information is often unavailable
• All the work you used to do on paper/pencil or on a excel spreadsheet before
start scheduling, you can now do in MS Project itself using manually scheduled
tasks
• Start scheduling with the information whatever available at this point of time
• For the information not available, put some comments to remember what to be
filled or just leave the field blank to fill later
• Manually scheduled tasks feature also enables Top-down scheduling.
Manual Schedule issues
 Dependencies are not respected.
 Summary tasks can have different duration than total time taken by its sub tasks.
 May not have duration, start date or end date for all the tasks
 If a task has taken loner time and you update the tasks, project may not adjust
the schedule as dependencies are not respected,
 You may not get complete duration of the project
 You may not be sure when the project will complete
Auto scheduled tasks mode benefits:
 You make use of project management concept inbuilt in MS Project scheduling
engine
 You plan project based on interdependencies among tasks.
 Duration of summary task is decided by their duration of its sub tasks. Therefore
duration of summary tasks and sub tasks can never go out of sync.
 MS Project automatically calculation start and finish date of each tasks based on
your inputs.
 If you changes resource availability, tasks duration are automatically adjusted.
 You can calculate total efforts in the project. As resources are assigned or
unassigned, tasks efforts are adjusted automatically.
 You get complete project duration and effects of various changes can be seen
immediately on the complete project.
 You can identify critical path and focus on critical tasks to complete on time.
 You can track the project to finish on time.
Switch from one mode to another
Project schedule options
Module 4 LAB1
 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
Module 5
Creating Work Breakdown Structure
Module Content
 Build and use summary and subordinate tasks.
 Understand and use milestones.
 Develop WBS Outlines.
 Assign completion criteria.
 Evaluate and use WBS templates.
 Create notes within tasks.
 Hyperlink project artifacts to your project plan.
 Create reoccurring tasks.
WBS – Work breakdown Structure
 Understand
• Levels
• Outline numbers
Create a project with following WBS
 Check the practice file Module 5- LAB1 (try yourself)
Create a project with following WBS
 Add the following notes to “initiation”
task,
“In this phase the project idea is
defined, evaluated and then
authorized”. (In Task information)
 Set the task “Document Handover” as
a milestone task. (In task information)
 In “Control” task create a reoccurring
task “monitor” to repeat every week
on Sunday (In task tab)
 Enable “WBS outline” for all tasks
Create a project with following WBS
 Add hyperlink to an existing file in the
first summary task.
Project completion criteria
Examples of Project Success Criteria
• The project is completed on time.
• The project is completed within the given amount of budget.
• The project fulfill all the scope given beforehand.
• The results of the project are functional.
• The project meets consumer demand.
• The client is satisfied with the outcome of the project.
Assign deadline to a task
Module 5 LAB1
 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
Module 6
Identify task relationships
Module Content
 Recollect the different types of task relationships
 Understand Different methods to create relationships
 Determine and display task sequences
 Understand and use lag, lead and delay.
 Understand the new feature of Task paths.
Types of task relationships
Type Detail
Finish-to-Start (FS) Default. Task 1 must finish before
Task 2 can start.
Start-to-Start (SS) Task 1 must start before Task 2 can
start.
Start-to-Finish (SF) Task 1 must start before Task 2 can
finish.
Finish-to-Finish (FF) Task 1 must finish before Task 2 can
finish.
Types of task relationships
Various methods to create task relationships
1. Add predecessor or successor column in tasks
2. Add link between two tasks by using link command
[Select the two tasksTask tabschedule group link]
Identify the links between tasks by using network diagram
Determine and display task sequences
1. Identify the links between tasks by using network diagram
2. Try to link two tasks in network diagram
3. Practice formatting network diagram
4. Analyze task paths for predecessors and successors
Lags and leads
 Lags and leads also have a significant impact on the length
of the schedule.
 A lag describes a required time between tasks.
 In the FS relationship this means that the second task
cannot commence until a scheduled period of time has
elapsed after the completion of the first task.
 A lead has the opposite effect on the schedule.
 A lead is the amount of time that a task can start before the
completion of the first task.
Lags and leads
 To set lag add duration of lag in lag field of the link
 To set lead add (-ve )duration of lead in lag field of the link
Lag Lead
Critical path
 The longest sequence of activities in a project plan which must be
completed for the entire project to complete.
 This is the minimum amount of time needed for the completion of
the project.
Module 6 LAB1
 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
Knowledge check
What is WBS code?
What is the difference between a lag
time and lead time?
Describe is critical path?
Module 7
Defining Resources within a project
Module Content
 Understand types of resources
 Record cost of using each resource
 Record limit of availability for each type of resource by establishing a
resource calendar.
Resource Types
 Work:
• Work resources are ones that are associated with time.
• People and Equipment can be work resources as they are tracked by time.
• It also allows costing to be tracked.
 Material
• Material resources are assigned by quantity as opposed to time.
• For example, 100 tonnes of gravel for a driveway, 20 litres of paint for the walls, or 200
metres of carpet.
 Cost
• Cost resources are ones that are purely based on costs without any time or quantity variables.
• Costs can be things such as travel costs to attend a meeting, costs associated with building
permits, or end of project party bash costs.
Resource Types
 Material types are measured by quantity (e.g. metre, litre, tonne, etc)
 Cost types are measured by a numeric value.
 Work resources are added as a percentage.
Entering resources in resource sheet
Resource Calendar
 A resource calendar is a tool to make sure that your project
team is available to work when you need them to execute
the task.
 It shows who is available and when.
Resource Calendar vs Project Calendar
 A resource calendar shows the availability
 They are helpful when resources are shared among different
projects and include human and nonhuman resources.
 A project calendar helps you identify the working days and
shifts of your team. Without transparency into your team’s
paid time off (PTO), holidays and work days, it’s impossible to
schedule your project correctly.
 A project schedule can be made up of as many project
calendars as you need, all of which can be updated as needed.
Module 7 LAB1
 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
Module 8
Making Work Package Estimates
Module Content
 Distinguish between task types and describe when each task is
appropriate
 Enter estimates for duration and costs for each task
 Describe the relationship between work, unit and duration
 Describe the way Effort Driven scheduling is affected by work, units,
and duration
 Assign tasks to resources using the Team Planner view
Different types of tasks
 There are three types of tasks in
MS project
1. Fixed Unit
2. Fixed Duration
3. Fixed Work
Work=Duration * Units
Distinguish between tasks
Task Type Define Example
Fixed units This setting assumes the number of
people assigned to the task (units) is
known and you don’t want it to
change
You have one person assigned to write a report for 2
hours. If you decide the two hours needs to be spread
over two days on the calendar, you can change the
duration to two days—without changing the number of
people assigned to write the report.
Fixed work This setting assumes work doesn’t
change, even after changing
durations or adding people.
It takes 300 hours to design a large garden as part of a
housing project. And you want the garden built as soon
as possible, so you start assigning more gardeners to
the job (task). The duration of the garden task will
decrease as you add more people.
Fixed duration This setting assumes duration doesn’t
change, even when more people are
assigned to the task.
A weekly status meeting might take an hour. Set this
task to fixed-duration, otherwise as you assign people
to the task, the duration of the meeting will decrease.
Relationship between types of tasks
In a If you revise
units
If you revise
duration
If you revise
work
Fixed units task Duration is
recalculated.
Work is
recalculated.
Duration is
recalculated.
Fixed work
task
Duration is
recalculated.
Units are
recalculated.
Duration is
recalculated.
Fixed duration
task
Work is
recalculated.
Work is
recalculated.
Units are
recalculated.
Effort- driven tasks
 Project lengthens or shortens the
duration of the task based on the
number of resources that are assigned to
it. However, Project does not change the
total work for the task. This is called
effort-driven scheduling.
 This is the setting Project typically uses
when you assign resources to tasks.
 Fixed work tasks are always effort driven.
Exceptions in Effort- driven tasks
Exception Explanation
First
assignment
Effort-driven calculations apply only after resources are initially assigned to
the task. After the first resources are assigned, the work value doesn't
change as new resources are assigned or removed from the same task.
Fixed work
tasks
You can’t remove effort-driven scheduling from fixed-work tasks. Fixed work
tasks do not have flexible work values, and are therefore always effort-
driven.
Fixed unit tasks If the assigned task type is fixed units, assigning additional resources
shortens the duration of the task.
Fixed duration
tasks
If the assigned task type is fixed duration, assigning additional resources
decreases the individual unit values for resources.
Summary tasks Summary tasks and inserted projects can’t be set to effort-driven.
Inserted
projects
Inserted projects can’t be set to effort-driven.
Module 8 LAB1
 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
Knowledge check
What are the different types of tasks in
MS project?
What are the different types of
Resources in MS project?
What is meant by effort-driven task?
Can you assign effort-driven to a fixed
work task?
Module 9
Creating an Initial Schedule
Module Content
 Calculate float and identify a project’s critical path.
 Understand and identify task constraints.
 Create milestones.
 Use the Task Inspector to troubleshoot the initial schedule.
Understand slack and slippage
 Slack, also called float, is the amount of time a task can
delay without affecting another task.
 It's automatically calculated into your project when you
schedule tasks.
 Project slippage is the act of missing deadlines when
managing a task or series of tasks.
 This can happen during the project planning stages or while
a team is executing tasks, resulting in a delay between the
scheduled times and the actual completion dates.
Understand task constraints
There are three types of constraints:
 Flexible constraints do not have specific dates associated with them. Setting
these constraints allows you to start tasks as early as possible or as late as
possible, with the task ending before the project finish, given other constraints
and task dependencies in the schedule.
 Semi-flexible constraints require an associated date that controls the earliest or
latest start or finish date for a task. These constraints allow a task to finish at any
time, as long as it meets the start or finish deadline.
 Inflexible constraints require an associated date that controls the start or finish
date of the task. These constraints are useful when you need to make your
schedule take into account external factors, such as the availability of equipment
or resources, deadlines, contract milestones, and start and finish dates.
Module 9 LAB1
 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
Module 10
Create a Resource Leveled Schedule
Module Content
 Adjust a project schedule to account for limited people and other
resources.
 View the overall cost and schedule of a project.
 Identify resources that have been overallocated for a project
schedule.
 Use multiple ways to adjust tasks and assignments to remove over
allocation for any resource.
Resource Leveling
 Resource leveling is a tool that involves resolving overallocation or
scheduling conflicts to ensure a project can be completed with the
available resources.
Module 10 LAB1
 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
Module 11
Managing the project
Module Content
 Learn how to set a baseline.
 Lean how to enter and track project performance data.
 Learn how to apply different tracking methods.
 Learn how to perform a variance analysis on a project.
Cost variance
 If the cost variance is negative, the cost for the resource is
currently under the budgeted, or baseline, amount.
 If the cost variance is positive, the cost for the resource is
currently over budget.
 Microsoft Office Project calculates the cost variance as follows:
 Cost Variance = Cost - Baseline Cost
Module 11 LAB1
 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
Module 12
Formatting Output and Printing reports
Module Content
 Print
 Views
 Formats
 Sorting
 Filtering
 Grouping
 Custom Fields
 Reporting
 Other File Formats
Reports
 Identify the commands available
under report tab
 Try to generate the following
reports and customize it
 Cash flow
 Resource Overview
 Critical task
 Milestone Report
 Task cost overview
Visual Reports
 Create an MS Excel Report by using Visual Report command
Printing Reports
 Identify the page breaks
 Learn how to print the reports
Challenge
 Try the practice work given in the practice file(Module 12
LAB1)
Module 13
Managing Multiple Projects
Module Content
 Learn how to use common resources among multiple projects.
 Learn how to link tasks between multiple projects.
 Learn how to create a consolidated view of multiple projects.
Master project
 Master project is a collection of consolidated projects that show
a hierarchy among multiple related projects.
 Projects inserted into a master project are called subprojects.
Resource Pool
 A resource pool makes it easier for you to administer people
or equipment assigned to tasks in more than one project
file.
 The resource pool centralizes resource information, such as
the resource name, calendar used, resource units, and cost
rate tables.
Module 13 LAB1
 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
Module 14
Advanced topics
Module Content
 Learn how to customize the Ribbon and the Quick Access Toolbar.
 Learn how to customize WBS numbering.
 Learn the concepts of Formulas and Graphical indicators.
 Learn the purpose of the Global template and Organizer.
 Learn how to use Task Deadlines.
 Learn how to record a Macro.
Customize Ribbon and Quick access toolbar
Customize Quick access toolbar Customize the Ribbon
Customize WBS code
Creating Formulas and graphical indicators
Create a formula to find the days left for
each task
Create graphical indicator for a field
Global template and organizer
 The project global template, or global.mpt, is an integral
part of every project file.
 Essentially, the project global template is a collection of
default settings for a variety of elements throughout a
project file.
 If you want your custom settings available to any project
opened on your local computer, you can add them to the
project global template using the Organizer
Task Deadlines
 A deadline is a target date indicating when you want a task
to be completed.
 If the deadline date passes and the task is not completed,
Project displays an indicator.
 A deadline is also shown as an arrow in the Gantt Chart
view.
 Deadlines can be set on task information’s advanced tab.
Macro
 If you perform a task repeatedly in Microsoft Office Project, you can
automate the task with a macro.
 A macro is a series of commands and functions that are stored in a
module and can be run whenever you need to perform the task.
 Create a new macro to highlight and group critical tasks
Module 14 LAB1
 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
Module 15
Summary
Module Content
 Learn how to access the Office App Store
References
 https://www.microsoft.com/en-ww/microsoft-365/business-insights-
ideas/resources/how-to-manage-all-five-phases-of-a-projects-life-
cycle
 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office
 https://smartpmtech.com/blog/

2eee22222w811-Microsoft-Project-2016.pptx

  • 1.
  • 2.
  • 3.
    Objectives  Understand projectmanagement using Microsoft Project 2016.  Work breakdown structure.  Define Tasks(modes, types and relationships) and Resources in Project.  Make Work Package Estimates.  Create an Initial Schedule, projects from templates, Excel files, Global templates.  Create formulas and graphical indicators.  Steps to record macro.  Format Output and Print Reports.  Integrate multiple projects.  Using custom calendar.  Manage multiple projects.  Create a master project list with shared resources.
  • 4.
    Enter the projectmanagement terms you are familiar with
  • 5.
    Module 1 Introduction toMicrosoft Project
  • 6.
    Module Content  Howproject relates to the discipline of Project Management.  New features of Project 2016.  Understand different Views, tabs and Ribbon in MS Project 2016.  Define task and resources and learn how to assign resource to task.  Relate Project 2016 features to the 5 steps for building a plan.
  • 7.
    What is projectand project management  Project: • A project is a set of tasks that must be completed within a defined timeline to accomplish a specific set of goals.  Project management • Manage all parts of a project so it is delivered on time and within the budget
  • 8.
    5 phases ofProject Life cycle
  • 9.
    Project management inMS Project 2016  Initiation • figure out what the idea is, why it’s needed, and if it’s feasible.  Planning • Who’s involved? What tasks are involved? What tasks depend on other tasks? How long will the project take?  Execution • A successful execution phase relies on a successful planning phase.  Monitoring • monitor each task to make sure nothing goes off track.  Closure • Create documents and store all the documents
  • 10.
    Understand MS Project2016 Interface  Start a new project in MS Project 2016  Understand different Views  Identify the commands and subcommands in the Ribbon  Styling using Format tab  Understand the backstage of MS Project 2016
  • 11.
    Module1 LAB1  LABExercises.xlsx
  • 13.
    New features ofProject 2016  Resource engagements • Allows to lock a resource for a project  The resource manager experience • To allow the resource manager to collaborate with the project manager, Project Online now has an area for the resource manager to view and approve or reject all proposed resource contracts.  Resource Capacity heat maps • Ensuring that the resources are well utilized and productive  Timelines • A timeline is the best way to communicate how a project’s lifecycle lays out.  Tell Me • With Tell Me, you can just ask where a certain feature is.  Read/Write Office add-ins • Office add-ins are extensions that you can download from the Office store that add functionality to Project.
  • 14.
    Knowledge check What arethe five phases of project management? Name any five views of MS Project 2016?
  • 15.
    Module 2 Quick andEasy overview of managing with Project
  • 16.
    Module Content  Createa new project  Enter project tasks  Sequence the tasks  Define resources  Estimate task duration and assign resources  Baseline the project  Track project progress
  • 17.
    Steps to createa project in MS Project 2016 1.Project start: Create and set up a schedule 2.Task creation: Create tasks, establish relationships, & build logic (dependencies & predecessors) 3.Resource management: Request resources and assign work 4.Co-authoring: Work with other project managers, schedulers, and stakeholders to update tasks, resources, schedules, and more simultaneously 5.Schedule oversight: View the project in multiple views 1. Grid view (all tasks in a list) 2. Gantt chart view (bar chart) all tasks displayed in a timeline 3. Board view ( All tasks as a storyboard) 6.Project calendar: See project status and key deliverables due each day 7.Budgeting: Track project costs, including work, material, and resources 8.Collaboration: Access schedule and work with project teams virtually online anywhere 9.Risk Analysis: Analyse the effects of identified risk and overall impact on the schedule 10. Reporting: Track and report project progress with automated pre-built reports
  • 18.
    Tasks & Resources What is a Microsoft project task? • Tasks identify the individual components and steps of a project it is the resources that actually get the job done.  What is a Microsoft project resource? • Resources are the second main part of a project. • In Microsoft Project resources can be anything required to perform tasks – people, equipment, facilities, materials, and even costs.
  • 19.
    Module 2 LAB1 Create a small project to construct a wooden outhouse. Tasks and resources are given in the practice file.
  • 20.
    Tasks of Woodenhouse project 1. Initiation • Select Location • Define Layout 2. Design • Draft Design • Revie Design • Finalize Design • Design completed 3. Materials Preparation • Identify materials • Purchase materials 4. Construction • Cut wood • Build platform • Add walls • Add roof 5. Finishing • Paint exterior • Project completed
  • 21.
    Basic Project Information From the “Project” menu select “Project Information” and enter the anticipated project start date.
  • 22.
    Task properties  TaskMode  Summary Task  Task Dependencies  Task Duration  Milestone Task  Baseline
  • 23.
    Task Mode  InProject, you control the scheduling of tasks in two different ways: • Manual Schedule • Automatic Schedule  A manually scheduled task as an initial placeholder you can create at any time without affecting the rest of the plan.  Manually scheduled tasks quickly capture some details but without scheduling the tasks.  Work with automatically scheduled tasks to take full advantage of the powerful scheduling engine in Project.
  • 24.
    Set tasks toAuto schedule mode To switch the currently open plan from manual to automatic task scheduling 1. On the Task tab, in the Tasks group, click the Mode button, and then click Auto Schedule. Or 1. Click the New Tasks status bar text. 2. Click the scheduling mode you want
  • 25.
    Summary task  Afterseveral tasks have been entered you can group them with a summary task  Drag over tasks (row numbers) of a group and under the Tasks tab, select Insert-> Summary.  Name summary task,  click drop-down triangle arrow to show or hide  Or assign a task as summary task by using “indent”
  • 26.
    Assign the maintasks as Summary tasks
  • 27.
    In Gantt chartview enable project summary Task
  • 28.
    Create Task Dependencies/Relationships/ Links Type Detail Finish-to-Start (FS) Default. Task 1 must finish before Task 2 can start. Start-to-Start (SS) Task 1 must start before Task 2 can start. Start-to-Finish (SF) Task 1 must start before Task 2 can finish. Finish-to-Finish (FF) Task 1 must finish before Task 2 can finish.
  • 29.
    Add predecessor andlink to the project
  • 30.
    Task Duration  Itcan be • Estimated duration or • Actual duration
  • 31.
    Change task durationin the project
  • 32.
    Milestone task  Justlike inserting a Summary task, you can insert a Milestone from the same location (Tasks -> Insert -> Milestone). Or set in “Task information”  Milestones take zero time, therefore set duration to 0.  A milestone can be a subtask of a summary
  • 33.
  • 34.
    Set Milestone tasksin the project
  • 35.
    Add tasks toTimeline view
  • 36.
    Resources  There arethree types of resources • Work • Material • Cost
  • 37.
    Add Resources  Goto resource sheet
  • 38.
    Add Resources tothe project as follows  Go to resource sheet  Then add the mentioned resources
  • 39.
    Assign resource tothe task  Go to Task sheet  Then assign the resources to corresponding tasks
  • 41.
    Manage over allocatedresources  Go to Resource usage view  Make changes in the task schedule to avoid overallocation
  • 42.
  • 43.
    Baseline Plan  Tojudge project performance properly, you will need to compare it with original plan.  This original plan is called the Baseline Plan or just a baseline  A baseline is collection of important values in a project plan such as the planned start dates, finish dates, and cost of the tasks, resources and assignments.  Save baseline before making the actual values.
  • 44.
    Set baseline toyour project
  • 45.
  • 46.
  • 47.
    Track project progress 2days 1 day 1 day 3 days 2 days 1 day 0 days 5 days 2 days 3 days 7 days 1 day 2 days 2 days
  • 48.
    Module 3 Set upprojects in different ways
  • 49.
    Module Content  Createa new project from an Excel file  Create a new project from SharePoint task list  Establish one or more calendars to constrain resource availability  Calculate schedule from the start date or finish date
  • 50.
    Create a projectfrom an excel workbook
  • 51.
    Create a projectfrom a SharePoint Task list
  • 52.
    Schedule project fromStart Date or from Finish Date
  • 53.
    Schedule project fromStart Date or from Finish Date
  • 54.
  • 55.
    Create a customcalendar  Change nonworking days to Friday and Saturday.  Reduce working time for a month  Set September 23 as a Holiday.
  • 56.
  • 57.
  • 58.
    Module 3 LAB1 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
  • 59.
    Knowledge check What arethe task dependencies? What are the three types of resources in MS Project? What is the default calendar type of MS Project? What are the two types of task modes?
  • 60.
  • 61.
    Module Content  Understandmore about Manual schedule and Auto schedule  Switch between manual schedule and auto schedule  Project functions to schedule tasks
  • 62.
    Manual mode  Whenyou enter a task in Manual mode the Duration, Start, and Finish columns will be blank. Once you populate two of these fields, the third value will be filled in for you.  Blanks or text values are acceptable in Duration, Start, or Finish columns in Manual mode. However, if you add a text value and then switch to Automatic mode Project will only do its best to translate to a date or numeric value, which may cause you to re-key certain fields.  Manual tasks cannot be effort-driven. The duration of a Manual task will not change as more resources are assigned or removed from it.  Constraints will be ignored in Manual mode.  Project and Resource calendars will be ignored in Manual mode.
  • 63.
    Auto mode 1.Project andResource calendars will be ignored in Manual mode. Automatically scheduled tasks are set up to have Start, Finish, and Duration filled in for you, based on your default settings (per Scheduling tab in Options above). 2.Tasks will be adjusted in your plan as data changes for a variety of reasons. Things that may cause movement in your plan are: 1. If a task is linked to another task, moving it or changing its duration may move the task it is linked to… this could have a domino like effect to other tasks in your plan if they are all linked together. 2. Resourcing – if you are using resources in your plan you may see movement as resource data changes (units/work/allocation). 3. Constraints – if you’ve accidentally set up certain tasks to have constraints you may end up not seeing movement in your plan where you expect it to occur, or vice versa. 4. Links, lead time, and lag time – How you’ve set up your links will also impact whether or not things will be modified (and how), as change occurs to your data. 5. Calendar changes (Base, Project, Resource, Task) – if you happen to change the settings in any of your calendars then it may impact a schedule you’ve already created. 6. A mix of Manual and Automatic tasks may also leave you puzzled as to why things are moving or not moving in your plan as a result of updates to certain data
  • 64.
    Manual Schedule benefits Manual Scheduling allows the user to control start date, finish date, and therefore, duration. • Allow you to get started with MS Project from very beginning. • You retain control over planning, especially at the initial stage of a project when detailed task-level information is often unavailable • All the work you used to do on paper/pencil or on a excel spreadsheet before start scheduling, you can now do in MS Project itself using manually scheduled tasks • Start scheduling with the information whatever available at this point of time • For the information not available, put some comments to remember what to be filled or just leave the field blank to fill later • Manually scheduled tasks feature also enables Top-down scheduling.
  • 65.
    Manual Schedule issues Dependencies are not respected.  Summary tasks can have different duration than total time taken by its sub tasks.  May not have duration, start date or end date for all the tasks  If a task has taken loner time and you update the tasks, project may not adjust the schedule as dependencies are not respected,  You may not get complete duration of the project  You may not be sure when the project will complete
  • 66.
    Auto scheduled tasksmode benefits:  You make use of project management concept inbuilt in MS Project scheduling engine  You plan project based on interdependencies among tasks.  Duration of summary task is decided by their duration of its sub tasks. Therefore duration of summary tasks and sub tasks can never go out of sync.  MS Project automatically calculation start and finish date of each tasks based on your inputs.  If you changes resource availability, tasks duration are automatically adjusted.  You can calculate total efforts in the project. As resources are assigned or unassigned, tasks efforts are adjusted automatically.  You get complete project duration and effects of various changes can be seen immediately on the complete project.  You can identify critical path and focus on critical tasks to complete on time.  You can track the project to finish on time.
  • 67.
    Switch from onemode to another
  • 68.
  • 69.
    Module 4 LAB1 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
  • 70.
    Module 5 Creating WorkBreakdown Structure
  • 71.
    Module Content  Buildand use summary and subordinate tasks.  Understand and use milestones.  Develop WBS Outlines.  Assign completion criteria.  Evaluate and use WBS templates.  Create notes within tasks.  Hyperlink project artifacts to your project plan.  Create reoccurring tasks.
  • 72.
    WBS – Workbreakdown Structure  Understand • Levels • Outline numbers
  • 73.
    Create a projectwith following WBS  Check the practice file Module 5- LAB1 (try yourself)
  • 74.
    Create a projectwith following WBS  Add the following notes to “initiation” task, “In this phase the project idea is defined, evaluated and then authorized”. (In Task information)  Set the task “Document Handover” as a milestone task. (In task information)  In “Control” task create a reoccurring task “monitor” to repeat every week on Sunday (In task tab)  Enable “WBS outline” for all tasks
  • 75.
    Create a projectwith following WBS  Add hyperlink to an existing file in the first summary task.
  • 76.
    Project completion criteria Examplesof Project Success Criteria • The project is completed on time. • The project is completed within the given amount of budget. • The project fulfill all the scope given beforehand. • The results of the project are functional. • The project meets consumer demand. • The client is satisfied with the outcome of the project.
  • 77.
  • 78.
    Module 5 LAB1 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
  • 79.
  • 80.
    Module Content  Recollectthe different types of task relationships  Understand Different methods to create relationships  Determine and display task sequences  Understand and use lag, lead and delay.  Understand the new feature of Task paths.
  • 81.
    Types of taskrelationships Type Detail Finish-to-Start (FS) Default. Task 1 must finish before Task 2 can start. Start-to-Start (SS) Task 1 must start before Task 2 can start. Start-to-Finish (SF) Task 1 must start before Task 2 can finish. Finish-to-Finish (FF) Task 1 must finish before Task 2 can finish.
  • 82.
    Types of taskrelationships
  • 83.
    Various methods tocreate task relationships 1. Add predecessor or successor column in tasks 2. Add link between two tasks by using link command [Select the two tasksTask tabschedule group link] Identify the links between tasks by using network diagram
  • 84.
    Determine and displaytask sequences 1. Identify the links between tasks by using network diagram 2. Try to link two tasks in network diagram 3. Practice formatting network diagram 4. Analyze task paths for predecessors and successors
  • 85.
    Lags and leads Lags and leads also have a significant impact on the length of the schedule.  A lag describes a required time between tasks.  In the FS relationship this means that the second task cannot commence until a scheduled period of time has elapsed after the completion of the first task.  A lead has the opposite effect on the schedule.  A lead is the amount of time that a task can start before the completion of the first task.
  • 86.
    Lags and leads To set lag add duration of lag in lag field of the link  To set lead add (-ve )duration of lead in lag field of the link Lag Lead
  • 87.
    Critical path  Thelongest sequence of activities in a project plan which must be completed for the entire project to complete.  This is the minimum amount of time needed for the completion of the project.
  • 89.
    Module 6 LAB1 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
  • 90.
    Knowledge check What isWBS code? What is the difference between a lag time and lead time? Describe is critical path?
  • 91.
  • 92.
    Module Content  Understandtypes of resources  Record cost of using each resource  Record limit of availability for each type of resource by establishing a resource calendar.
  • 93.
    Resource Types  Work: •Work resources are ones that are associated with time. • People and Equipment can be work resources as they are tracked by time. • It also allows costing to be tracked.  Material • Material resources are assigned by quantity as opposed to time. • For example, 100 tonnes of gravel for a driveway, 20 litres of paint for the walls, or 200 metres of carpet.  Cost • Cost resources are ones that are purely based on costs without any time or quantity variables. • Costs can be things such as travel costs to attend a meeting, costs associated with building permits, or end of project party bash costs.
  • 94.
    Resource Types  Materialtypes are measured by quantity (e.g. metre, litre, tonne, etc)  Cost types are measured by a numeric value.  Work resources are added as a percentage.
  • 95.
    Entering resources inresource sheet
  • 96.
    Resource Calendar  Aresource calendar is a tool to make sure that your project team is available to work when you need them to execute the task.  It shows who is available and when.
  • 97.
    Resource Calendar vsProject Calendar  A resource calendar shows the availability  They are helpful when resources are shared among different projects and include human and nonhuman resources.  A project calendar helps you identify the working days and shifts of your team. Without transparency into your team’s paid time off (PTO), holidays and work days, it’s impossible to schedule your project correctly.  A project schedule can be made up of as many project calendars as you need, all of which can be updated as needed.
  • 98.
    Module 7 LAB1 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
  • 99.
    Module 8 Making WorkPackage Estimates
  • 100.
    Module Content  Distinguishbetween task types and describe when each task is appropriate  Enter estimates for duration and costs for each task  Describe the relationship between work, unit and duration  Describe the way Effort Driven scheduling is affected by work, units, and duration  Assign tasks to resources using the Team Planner view
  • 101.
    Different types oftasks  There are three types of tasks in MS project 1. Fixed Unit 2. Fixed Duration 3. Fixed Work Work=Duration * Units
  • 102.
    Distinguish between tasks TaskType Define Example Fixed units This setting assumes the number of people assigned to the task (units) is known and you don’t want it to change You have one person assigned to write a report for 2 hours. If you decide the two hours needs to be spread over two days on the calendar, you can change the duration to two days—without changing the number of people assigned to write the report. Fixed work This setting assumes work doesn’t change, even after changing durations or adding people. It takes 300 hours to design a large garden as part of a housing project. And you want the garden built as soon as possible, so you start assigning more gardeners to the job (task). The duration of the garden task will decrease as you add more people. Fixed duration This setting assumes duration doesn’t change, even when more people are assigned to the task. A weekly status meeting might take an hour. Set this task to fixed-duration, otherwise as you assign people to the task, the duration of the meeting will decrease.
  • 103.
    Relationship between typesof tasks In a If you revise units If you revise duration If you revise work Fixed units task Duration is recalculated. Work is recalculated. Duration is recalculated. Fixed work task Duration is recalculated. Units are recalculated. Duration is recalculated. Fixed duration task Work is recalculated. Work is recalculated. Units are recalculated.
  • 104.
    Effort- driven tasks Project lengthens or shortens the duration of the task based on the number of resources that are assigned to it. However, Project does not change the total work for the task. This is called effort-driven scheduling.  This is the setting Project typically uses when you assign resources to tasks.  Fixed work tasks are always effort driven.
  • 105.
    Exceptions in Effort-driven tasks Exception Explanation First assignment Effort-driven calculations apply only after resources are initially assigned to the task. After the first resources are assigned, the work value doesn't change as new resources are assigned or removed from the same task. Fixed work tasks You can’t remove effort-driven scheduling from fixed-work tasks. Fixed work tasks do not have flexible work values, and are therefore always effort- driven. Fixed unit tasks If the assigned task type is fixed units, assigning additional resources shortens the duration of the task. Fixed duration tasks If the assigned task type is fixed duration, assigning additional resources decreases the individual unit values for resources. Summary tasks Summary tasks and inserted projects can’t be set to effort-driven. Inserted projects Inserted projects can’t be set to effort-driven.
  • 106.
    Module 8 LAB1 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
  • 107.
    Knowledge check What arethe different types of tasks in MS project? What are the different types of Resources in MS project? What is meant by effort-driven task? Can you assign effort-driven to a fixed work task?
  • 108.
    Module 9 Creating anInitial Schedule
  • 109.
    Module Content  Calculatefloat and identify a project’s critical path.  Understand and identify task constraints.  Create milestones.  Use the Task Inspector to troubleshoot the initial schedule.
  • 110.
    Understand slack andslippage  Slack, also called float, is the amount of time a task can delay without affecting another task.  It's automatically calculated into your project when you schedule tasks.  Project slippage is the act of missing deadlines when managing a task or series of tasks.  This can happen during the project planning stages or while a team is executing tasks, resulting in a delay between the scheduled times and the actual completion dates.
  • 111.
    Understand task constraints Thereare three types of constraints:  Flexible constraints do not have specific dates associated with them. Setting these constraints allows you to start tasks as early as possible or as late as possible, with the task ending before the project finish, given other constraints and task dependencies in the schedule.  Semi-flexible constraints require an associated date that controls the earliest or latest start or finish date for a task. These constraints allow a task to finish at any time, as long as it meets the start or finish deadline.  Inflexible constraints require an associated date that controls the start or finish date of the task. These constraints are useful when you need to make your schedule take into account external factors, such as the availability of equipment or resources, deadlines, contract milestones, and start and finish dates.
  • 112.
    Module 9 LAB1 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
  • 113.
    Module 10 Create aResource Leveled Schedule
  • 114.
    Module Content  Adjusta project schedule to account for limited people and other resources.  View the overall cost and schedule of a project.  Identify resources that have been overallocated for a project schedule.  Use multiple ways to adjust tasks and assignments to remove over allocation for any resource.
  • 115.
    Resource Leveling  Resourceleveling is a tool that involves resolving overallocation or scheduling conflicts to ensure a project can be completed with the available resources.
  • 116.
    Module 10 LAB1 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
  • 117.
  • 118.
    Module Content  Learnhow to set a baseline.  Lean how to enter and track project performance data.  Learn how to apply different tracking methods.  Learn how to perform a variance analysis on a project.
  • 119.
    Cost variance  Ifthe cost variance is negative, the cost for the resource is currently under the budgeted, or baseline, amount.  If the cost variance is positive, the cost for the resource is currently over budget.  Microsoft Office Project calculates the cost variance as follows:  Cost Variance = Cost - Baseline Cost
  • 120.
    Module 11 LAB1 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
  • 121.
    Module 12 Formatting Outputand Printing reports
  • 122.
    Module Content  Print Views  Formats  Sorting  Filtering  Grouping  Custom Fields  Reporting  Other File Formats
  • 123.
    Reports  Identify thecommands available under report tab  Try to generate the following reports and customize it  Cash flow  Resource Overview  Critical task  Milestone Report  Task cost overview
  • 124.
    Visual Reports  Createan MS Excel Report by using Visual Report command
  • 125.
    Printing Reports  Identifythe page breaks  Learn how to print the reports
  • 126.
    Challenge  Try thepractice work given in the practice file(Module 12 LAB1)
  • 127.
  • 128.
    Module Content  Learnhow to use common resources among multiple projects.  Learn how to link tasks between multiple projects.  Learn how to create a consolidated view of multiple projects.
  • 129.
    Master project  Masterproject is a collection of consolidated projects that show a hierarchy among multiple related projects.  Projects inserted into a master project are called subprojects.
  • 130.
    Resource Pool  Aresource pool makes it easier for you to administer people or equipment assigned to tasks in more than one project file.  The resource pool centralizes resource information, such as the resource name, calendar used, resource units, and cost rate tables.
  • 131.
    Module 13 LAB1 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
  • 132.
  • 133.
    Module Content  Learnhow to customize the Ribbon and the Quick Access Toolbar.  Learn how to customize WBS numbering.  Learn the concepts of Formulas and Graphical indicators.  Learn the purpose of the Global template and Organizer.  Learn how to use Task Deadlines.  Learn how to record a Macro.
  • 134.
    Customize Ribbon andQuick access toolbar Customize Quick access toolbar Customize the Ribbon
  • 135.
  • 136.
    Creating Formulas andgraphical indicators Create a formula to find the days left for each task Create graphical indicator for a field
  • 137.
    Global template andorganizer  The project global template, or global.mpt, is an integral part of every project file.  Essentially, the project global template is a collection of default settings for a variety of elements throughout a project file.  If you want your custom settings available to any project opened on your local computer, you can add them to the project global template using the Organizer
  • 140.
    Task Deadlines  Adeadline is a target date indicating when you want a task to be completed.  If the deadline date passes and the task is not completed, Project displays an indicator.  A deadline is also shown as an arrow in the Gantt Chart view.  Deadlines can be set on task information’s advanced tab.
  • 141.
    Macro  If youperform a task repeatedly in Microsoft Office Project, you can automate the task with a macro.  A macro is a series of commands and functions that are stored in a module and can be run whenever you need to perform the task.  Create a new macro to highlight and group critical tasks
  • 142.
    Module 14 LAB1 Follow the instructions given in the practice file
  • 143.
  • 144.
    Module Content  Learnhow to access the Office App Store
  • 146.

Editor's Notes

  • #7 Initiation  Before you get started on any project, the first step is to figure out what the idea is, why it’s needed, and if it’s feasible. This stage is critical. If it’s a great idea, but impossible to accomplish with the resources you have, it must be scrapped (or at least modified).  Planning  The next step is to start figuring out how, exactly, you’ll get the project done. Who’s involved? What tasks are involved? What tasks depend on other tasks? How long will the project take?   A great visual tool for this aspect of the process is a Gantt chart.  Execution  A successful execution phase relies on a successful planning phase. To that end, one of the best visual tools for executing complex projects is also great for planning them: a flow chart. Monitoring   At this point, you’re getting things done, but it’s still crucial to monitor each task to make sure nothing goes off track.   Closure  You made it! Once your team has completed all the deliverables, the project is done. But the key to this last phase is to take a moment to assess what just happened.  Create documents and store all the documentation in a central location so that it can stay there as a resource for the next time. 
  • #8 Initiation  Before you get started on any project, the first step is to figure out what the idea is, why it’s needed, and if it’s feasible. This stage is critical. If it’s a great idea, but impossible to accomplish with the resources you have, it must be scrapped (or at least modified).  Planning  The next step is to start figuring out how, exactly, you’ll get the project done. Who’s involved? What tasks are involved? What tasks depend on other tasks? How long will the project take?   A great visual tool for this aspect of the process is a Gantt chart.  Execution  A successful execution phase relies on a successful planning phase. To that end, one of the best visual tools for executing complex projects is also great for planning them: a flow chart. Monitoring   At this point, you’re getting things done, but it’s still crucial to monitor each task to make sure nothing goes off track.   Closure  You made it! Once your team has completed all the deliverables, the project is done. But the key to this last phase is to take a moment to assess what just happened.  Create documents and store all the documentation in a central location so that it can stay there as a resource for the next time.