Learn how to develop a systematic approach with your Excel spreadsheets and turn them into interactive real-time graphical plans. It’s easy to modify your Excel spreadsheets into a template that can be imported into NetPoint. Once in NetPoint you have a graphical plan or schedule to continue development. NetPoint's features make it an ideal tool for interactive planning with teams and groups for improved stakeholder buy-in. Even better is that you can export back to Excel for linked report with your list of activities and additional schedule data to be used for reporting and analysis.

1. February 5-8, 2015
54th Annual
Western
Winter
Workshop
Presented by AACE Intl. San Francisco & Southern California Sections
Hyatt Regency, Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Leveraging NetPoint & Excel for
Template-Based Project Planning
By: Renee Woolley and Timothy Mather

2. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Author, Biography
Timothy D. Mather, is the CTO of PMA Consultants LLC, a
diversified, US-based global project management firm. PMA
employs 200+ professionals in 16 offices and ranks in the top third
of Construction Manager for fee firm in the US, according to
Engineering News-Record.
Mr. Mather also currently leads PMA Technologies LLC and its
flagship product NetPoint®, a visual, gestural, collaborative,
project planning software tool based on the revolutionary
Graphical Planning Method (GPM®). Mr. Mather holds a bachelor
degree from Michigan State University, a Graduate Certificate in
Project Management Strategy from The University of Chicago, and
is certified as a Project Management Professional by the Project
Management Institute. Mr. Mather is also a Certified Change
Management Practitioner through PROSCI.
He has also published on the subjects of Project Management,
Project Controls, Project Planning, Scheduling and Technology.

3. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Author, Biography
Renee Woolley is the Marketing Director-Software Solutions at
PMA Consultants LLC, an international construction consulting
firm. PMA is a recognized leader in program, project and
construction management, employs 200+ professionals in 12
offices and ranks in the top third of Construction Manager for fee
firm in the US, according to Engineering News-Record. Ms.
Woolley also serves as the Marketing Director of PMA
Technologies LLC.
Ms. Woolley holds a bachelor degree from University of Michigan
and has worked for PMA Consultants LLC and PMA Technologies
LLC for seven years. She is responsible for spearheading the
introduction of PMA’s flagship product NetPoint® to new clients
through technical guidance, resource development, and tutorials.
With a technical background, Ms. Woolley has also been involved
in several aspects of NetPoint’s® development from scope
tracking and Q/A testing, to writing the first user guide.

4. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
How Do You Plan Now?
Dilemma: finding an effective and
manual option for planning

5. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Get it on Paper
• Even the back of a napkin can be effective
• “I see what you mean” = We need to visualize!

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Sticky Notes Plan
• Sticky note sessions get participants involved
• Require difficult translation into scheduling software
• Sticky notes session woes are legendary!!

7. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Planning in Excel
• Easy option to place tasks on a timescale
• Easy to get data into Excel for a starting point

8. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Issues & Challenges
with a Manual Process
• Issues
– High margin of error
– Does not calculate
calendars, resources and
floats
– Without calculations, these
deliverables are not
SCHEDULES
– If a handed over to
scheduler, common result
is “That’s not my schedule”
• Challenges
– Need a change? The
manual product is laborious
to modify
– High margin of error with
manual process
– Not always clear what the
Excel graph is conveying
– Does not calculate
calendars, resources, and
float values
Solution: use a scheduling program

9. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Is Excel a Scheduling Option?
Excel – easy to create a time-scaled graphic and build simple bar charts
showing planned timing of activities without logic or calculations. Schedules
should have logic ties and duration calculations.

10. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Scheduling Software Option
Microsoft Project – MSP can be used to create quality schedules, but that
may not be the case because the software allows logic to be omitted.
This often results in a bar chart no more valuable than one built in Excel.

11. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Scheduling Software Option
Primavera P6 – the industry standard for detailed construction schedules,
but networks can become too large to be useful for all stakeholders,
particularly higher level project management

12. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Challenges to Software Options
• Lack of engagement, especially for non-schedulers
• Process and end product unclear to many stakeholders
• Scheduling tools difficult to use

13. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Software Solution
NetPoint – creates plans and schedules in real-time that in a logically-tied and
calculated network that is easier to see and understand, even by non-schedulers.
Critical Path
shows in red
edit
Logic is clear
and easy to edit
Plan directly on
the timescale
Changes can be
observed in network
and resources

14. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Engage the Entire Team
• Advantage to get participation
of team with graphic plans
• Conversation clarifies key
handoffs between areas
• Stakeholders immediately see
effect of input to the network
• Clear process maximizes
stakeholder buy-in
• End product of the IAP is a
calculated schedule

15. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Technology Breakthrough
NetPoint uses Graphic Planning Method
(GPM), instead of CPM, to instantly and
constantly calculate the schedule
Instant calculation = No F9 black box
Instant feedback greatly improves team
interaction and decision making
Superior productivity results from
responsive and intuitive plans
Alternate forward and pull planning
Import existing Excel data to build logic-
based, calculated NetPoint schedules

16. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
© 2013-2014 PMA
Common Ground with
NetPoint & Excel
Where would you start?
Use a systematic approach with your Excel spreadsheets to build templates and
modify for each project in an IAP. Coordinate the graphics of NetPoint and import
Excel data into plans

17. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Start With Generic Spreadsheets

18. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
• Dates not required
• Import into live plans
• Develop work streams then add handoffs collaboratively
Import Into NetPoint
Import Practice Recommendations

19. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Import from Excel
MS Excel 2010 &
later
Activities
Milestones
Benchmarks Descriptions
Activity IDS
Calendars
Start Date
Finish Date
Predecessors
Successors
FS, SS & FF Logic
Duration
Color
Imports listed fields
from any Excel (.xls)
spreadsheet by
mapping columns
NetPoint
Imports into
existing
NetPoint plans
at bottom of
schedule

20. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Layout Manager Organizes the Plan
1. Run a layout to organize plan after
import from another tool
2. Create views from codes organized into
swimlanes
3. Select order of the lanes
4. Place summary activities and
milestones at top of the plan
5. Run multiple views for one plan

21. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Supported Fields & Required Format
21
Object Type
For activity, enter as "activity," "task," "task dependent,“ "fixed units," "fixed duration," or "fixed work". For milestone, enter
as "milestone," "start milestone," "sm," "finish milestone," or "fm". For benchmark, enter as "benchmark," "start
benchmark," "sb," "finish benchmark," and "fb". For delay, enter as "delay“. If missing or invalid, it imports as an activity.
ID Any combination of letters & numbers (case sensitive). Characters such as "-" are supported but others like "#" are dropped.
Description Can be any combination of letters, numbers, and characters.
Calendar
Must be defined in the file you are importing into. For example "United States" or "Calendar Days". Case sensitive. If
missing or invalid, it will be set to the default calendar for the schedule you're importing into.
Duration
Must be greater than 0 for activities and equal to 0 for milestones and benchmarks. If missing or invalid, it will be set as 1
for activities and 0 for milestones, benchmarks, and delays.
Start Date
Can be entered in any date format recognized by Excel, including but not limited to: 3/14/2012; 3/14/12; 03/14/12; 14-Mar-
12; 14-Mar-2012; March 14, 2012; Wednesday, March 14, 2012. If a date is entered that is not in that object's calendar's
work days, the object goes to the next work day for that calendar. If missing or invalid, it may be set to its early date.
Finish Date
Can be entered in any date format that is recognized by Excel, including but not limited to: 3/14/2012; 3/14/12; 03/14/12; 14-
Mar-12; 14-Mar-2012; March 14, 2012; Wednesday, March 14, 2012. If a date is entered that is not in that object's calendar's
work days, the object goes to the next work day for that calendar. If missing or invalid, it may be set to its early date.
Predecessor
Enter as EITHER [Row #][Relationship][Lag] OR if ID's are being defined, [ID][Relationship][Lag], e.g. "12FS1" or "ABFS1". In
either case "[Lag]" is optional, e.g. "12FS" or "ABFS". If ID's are being defined, row numbers can NOT be used. Possible
relationships include SS, FS, FF, or SF. If the relationship or row #/ID is not recognized, the link will not be imported.
Successor
Enter as EITHER [Row #][Relationship][Lag] OR if ID's are being defined, [ID][Relationship][Lag], e.g. "12FS1" or "ABFS1". In
either case "[Lag]" is optional, e.g. "12FS" or "ABFS". If ID's are being defined, row numbers can NOT be used. Possible
relationships include SS, FS, FF, or SF. If the relationship or row #/ID is not recognized, the link will not be imported.
Color
Enter as EITHER R,G,B (for example, 255, 50, 50) OR by name. A list of supported is available at
http://www.rapidtables.com/web/color/RGB_Color.htm. If invalid or not recognized, it is set as the default color for that object.

22. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Export Customizable Excel Reports

23. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Update Select Fields from Excel Reports
NetPoint
Descriptions
Abbreviated descriptions
Object IDS
Code definition
Resource definition
Code assignment
Resource assignment
Estimated % Complete
Imports listed fields
from any Excel (.xls)
spreadsheet by
mapping columns
Imports into existing
NetPoint plans at
bottom of schedule

24. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Import from Excel Reports & Update
Linked Report Fields
Descriptions
Abbreviated descriptions
Activity IDS
Estimated % complete
Define codes
Define resources
Assign codes
Assign resources by day/duration
Customizable Report Fields
Object list
Start & finish dates
Float &buffer values
Constraint dates
Estimated & calculated % complete
Resource cost & use lists/graphs
Code & resource definitions
Code & resource assignments
Predecessor & successor logic
Update from linked
Excel report
Excel to NetPoint
Generic Spreadsheet
Activities
Milestones
Benchmarks
Duration
Start date
Finish date
Calendar
Descriptions
Predecessors Successors
FF, SS, FF logic
Abbreviated descriptions
Activity IDS
Color
NetPoint to Excel
NetPoint
Excel Data Excel Data

25. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Run Automated Layout to Organize Your Plan
1. Run a layout to organize
plan after import from
another tool
2. Create views from codes
organized into swim lanes
3. Select order of the lanes
4. Name the layouts

26. AACEInternational’s54stAnnualWesternWinterWorkshop
Q & A ?
Thank You!
Renee Woolley & Tim Mather
rwoolley@pmaconsultants.com
(734) 418-7898
Learn more or download a free trail version at:
www.pmatechnologies.com