MS Project’s import/export function is not as clear cut as it seems, but if you follow some of the tips below the procedure should work more smoothly for you. The design of the data, the wording of the Excel tabs, column headings, and options all need to be considered to have import/export working in a…

One of my favorite PM stories from the classroom was that someone wrote on a class evaluation that I taught a “supper” class. I happened to see it and chuckled. He looked at me questioningly, and I pointed to the word. He then fixed it to say that I had taught a “souper” class. Another…

Oftentimes people want to plan a project from the finish date and manage it from the start date. The benefit of doing so is that the project manager can flag the tasks with critical goal dates using deadlines and will be able to manage the project to achieve the goal dates. Here’s how. To plan…

  At one organization where I worked, the CIO had seen something on the value of earned value. They brought me in to teach a two-day Microsoft Project class to their engineers without mentioning that this was now part of their goals. Every engineer on that team within a few months of the class was…

If you have connected a project with an external resource pool and you wish to disconnect the project from the pool there are two steps you will need to take. While the connection is a single-step process, disconnection is a two-step process. The disconnection should be performed in this order particularly if the tasks have…

1. Use the autofilter (the small down arrow to the right of the column name) on the Start and Finish columns to see tasks by timeframe. Then filter for specific resources. Apply outline level 1 to collapse the detail. 2. Here’s a useful option: File > Options > Display. The lowest option is “Entry Bar.”…

1. Move your Quick Access bar to below the ribbon bars. That way it will hold a lot more buttons than if it is kept above the ribbon bars. 2. To add buttons to the Quick Access bar, right-click on an existing button and select add to Quick Access bar. To remove a button from…

Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This webinar is eligible for 1 Category A PMI® PDUs in the Technical Project Management talent triangle category. If you are claiming this session, you must submit it to your MPUG Webinar History after it has been completed in its entirety. Event Description:  Have you ever wondered…

Fran from Houston, TX asks: I’m working with Microsoft Project Server 2010, and at times I’d like to download a project from the server and work with it offline, make changes, and bring it back online at a future time. Can I do this? Ellen answers: In Project Server 2010 this is possible, but you…

Angelo of Rochester, NY: When managing project schedules I need to produce a count of various tasks. For example, how many late tasks are in a schedule, how many critical tasks, how many milestones, etc. Typically, I have copied or exported data to Excel and used Excel to calculate the counts for me. Is there…