Author: Nenad Trajkovski

Nenad Trajkovski, born in Zagreb in 1963, is an accomplished professional with a background in Electrical Engineering. With expertise in enterprise systems (ERP) development and implementation, he has served diverse sectors including banking, casinos, automotive, wholesale, and oil industries. Nenad excels in business process management, IT, and financial accounting. Currently, Nenad is a seasoned consultant and Project Manager, specializing in business systems implementation. He is also a respected trainer for Project Management and Risk Management at the Microsoft Innovation Center in Varaždin. Nenad's speaking engagements have earned him recognition, including being named the best speaker at WinDays08 and ranking among the top speakers at various Microsoft conferences. Nenad holds multiple certifications including Certified Accountant, PMP, PMI – RMP, MCP, MCTS – Microsoft Project 2010, and MCT.

How to Manage Projects using Microsoft Lists.

  Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This Webinar is eligible for 0.75 PMI® PDU in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle.   Event Description: Microsoft Lists is a brand new app. It is based on good old SharePoint lists. But, this time it can be configured much easier with a lot of new functionalities. And, Projects can be managed with it, as well. In this webinar, I will describe how to do that in a proper way.   Presenter Info: Nenad Trajkovski – MVP – Project Nenad was born in Zagreb in 1963. year. After completion of Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Nenad has started on the development and implementation of enterprise systems (ERP) in companies of various areas (banks, card houses, production companies, auto industry, wholesale businesses, oil companies, and others). He has extensive experience in working with business processes, people and knowledge in information technology and financial accounting activities. Currently, Nenad works as a consultant for the implementation of business systems, and as Project Manager. He is trainer for Project Management and Risk Management in Microsoft Innovation Center in Varaždin. At WinDays08 conference he has been declared as the best speaker, and his session as the best one. He was among TOP 10 speakers in the Microsoft Sinergija 2009 and at the Microsoft Vzija 2009. Shared first place as the best lecturer at KulenDays 2009 and the PMI Forum 2009 in Zagreb. Regular speaker at the Microsoft Community. On WinDays10 conference Nenad was among the top three speakers; at the conference Microsoft Vision 9 in Skopje between the top 5 speakers as well as on Microsoft Synergy 11 which was held in Belgrade. Certified Accountant, PMP (Project Manager Professional), PMI – RMP (Risk Manager Professional), MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional), MCTS – Microsoft Project 2010 (Microsoft Certified Technical Professional). and MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer).   Have you watched this webinar recording? Tell MPUG viewers what you think! [WPCR_INSERT]

Project for the Web and Calendars – How to Define Them Using PowerApps.

  Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This Webinar is eligible for 0.75 PMI® PDUs in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle.   Event Description: Project Calendars and Resource Calendars are important for every Project. In Microsoft Project for the Web, it can be defined, but not like in the Project Desktop / Online versions. Calendars are available using Dynamics 365 / PowerApps. In this session, you will find out how it can be done and what precautions should be taken.   Presenter Info: Nenad Trajkovski was born in Zagreb in 1963. year. After completion of Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Nenad has started on the development and implementation of enterprise systems (ERP) in companies of various areas (banks, card houses, production companies, auto industry, wholesale businesses, oil companies, and others). He has extensive experience in working with business processes, people and knowledge in information technology and financial accounting activities. Currently, Nenad works as a consultant for the implementation of business systems, and as Project Manager. He is trainer for Project Management and Risk Management in Microsoft Innovation Center in Varaždin. At WinDays08 conference he has been declared as the best speaker, and his session as the best one. He was among TOP 10 speakers in the Microsoft Sinergija 2009 and at the Microsoft Vzija 2009. Shared first place as the best lecturer at KulenDays 2009 and the PMI Forum 2009 in Zagreb. Regular speaker at the Microsoft Community. On WinDays10 conference Nenad was among the top three speakers; at the conference Microsoft Vision 9 in Skopje between the top 5 speakers as well as on Microsoft Synergy 11 which was held in Belgrade. Certified Accountant, PMP (Project Manager Professional), PMI – RMP (Risk Manager Professional), MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional), MCTS – Microsoft Project 2010 (Microsoft Certified Technical Professional). and MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer).   Have you watched this webinar recording? Tell MPUG viewers what you think! [WPCR_INSERT]  

Project for the Web and Calendars: How to Define Them Using PowerApps.

Have you ever set up a new project and gotten stuck with default calendars you didn’t really want? In the following short article and my upcoming webinar, I will show you how to fix unexpected calendar issues and what precautions should be taken. Let’s consider a default setup for Working hours per day in Microsoft Project for the Web. Here is my Project: What’s next? Well, let me create one task with an eight-day duration. See the figure below: As you can see, our task will start on Monday, 4/5/2020, and finish on Monday, 4/12/2020. Notice that it will be performed during the weekend, as well. Now I will create three Tasks: Task 7 hours, Task 8 Hours, and Task 9 hours, with durations as show in the figure below: As you can see, one day is eight hours. In Task 9 hours, the Finish date is 4/6/2020, and the Start date is 4/5/2020, In Task 8 hours, the Finish date is 4/5/2020, and the Start date is 4/5/2020. How is it so, and what if I want that my days to cover nine hours, but only from Monday to Friday? The default value is that our task is starting from 09:00 AM and finishing at 05:00 PM. To see that, I’ve used Dynamics 365: and:   and finally: Now I will show you default working time. To do that, navigate to settings: And then to Calendar Templates: The result is shown below: Project for the Web uses this default template if I do not define another, but I can create a new template with working hours from 09:00 AM to 06:00 PM, during working days. To accomplish that, first I have to create a resource with those working hours. I will call this Generic Resource. To do this, first, go to the Resource page in Dynamics 365: And then: Finally, I will create the new Resource: Now, set up working time as outlined below. Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: Step 4: Step 5: Since those working hours are valid only until 3/28/2020, I will repeat my steps as shown: And: Finally: OK, now we must go back to the Settings: And: And, then: I will call my template: Weekdays Calendar from 09:00 AM to 06:00 PM: OK. I am done here! Now I will create a brand new Project for the Web: Task has an eight-day duration, and Task 7 hours, Task 8 hours, Task 9 hours, and Task 10 hours as shown: As you can see, Task (with the eight day duration) is now showing as going to be finished on 4/15/2020, which is a Wednesday (Saturday and Sunday are no longer counted as working hours). You can also see that duration of one day is nine hours, not eight anymore! Complicated? Maybe. Powerful? Oh, yes! As I started out by sharing, Project calendars and resource Calendars are important for every Project. In Microsoft Project for the Web, they can be defined, but not like in the Project Desktop or Online versions. When using Project for the Web, calendars are available using Dynamics 365 / PowerApps. To learn more than this article outlines, check out my on-demand webinar.  

How to Run Scrum Projects with Project for the Web.

  Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This Webinar is eligible for 0.75 PMI® PDUs in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle.   Event Description: Scrum is the most famous Agile Methodology. However, it is impossible to run with the Microsoft Project Pro version. But we can do it with the new Project For the Web. What are the advantages and limitations when you use it? How can you get most of it and avoid typical mistakes? You will find all of these answers and more in this workshop.   Presenter Info: Nenad Trajkovski was born in Zagreb in 1963. year. After completion of Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Nenad has started on the development and implementation of enterprise systems (ERP) in companies of various areas (banks, card houses, production companies, auto industry, wholesale businesses, oil companies, and others). He has extensive experience in working with business processes, people and knowledge in information technology and financial accounting activities. Currently, Nenad works as a consultant for the implementation of business systems, and as Project Manager. He is trainer for Project Management and Risk Management in Microsoft Innovation Center in Varaždin. At WinDays08 conference he has been declared as the best speaker, and his session as the best one. He was among TOP 10 speakers in the Microsoft Sinergija 2009 and at the Microsoft Vzija 2009. Shared first place as the best lecturer at KulenDays 2009 and the PMI Forum 2009 in Zagreb. Regular speaker at the Microsoft Community. On WinDays10 conference Nenad was among the top three speakers; at the conference Microsoft Vision 9 in Skopje between the top 5 speakers as well as on Microsoft Synergy 11 which was held in Belgrade. Certified Accountant, PMP (Project Manager Professional), PMI – RMP (Risk Manager Professional), MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional), MCTS – Microsoft Project 2010 (Microsoft Certified Technical Professional). and MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer).   Have you watched this webinar recording? Tell MPUG viewers what you think! [WPCR_INSERT]  

How to Scrum with Project for the Web.

Project for The Web has a couple different areas: Grid, Board, and Timeline. A question I hear often is, “Can we manage Agile projects in Project for the Web?” To be more specific, “Can we manage Scrum based projects?” The answer is yes, of course—in a limited way, but still well enough! I will walk you through the steps. Let’s say that we have a Project called Scrum.   To assign Resources to the project, I have to create a Group. In this case, we’ll also call it “Scrum.” There are two Backlogs: Product Backlog and Sprint Backlog. I will begin by creating features.   As you can see, this is my Product Backlog. Now I will create Sprint Backlog boards:   As you can see I have four Buckets: Backlog, Sprint 1, Sprint 2, and Sprint 3. Features will never have Resources assigned to them., Tasks, on the other hand, always will! Let’s say that I have Sprint Planning. Let’s break Feature 1 and Feature 2 into Tasks. Those tasks will become a part of Sprint 1. I will insert Task 1 as shown below.     Repeating the above steps, I should end up with multiple tasks.   Now I have two possibilities. If I switch to the Board view, I’ll see what follows:   I can move Feature 1 (along with Tasks 1, 2, and 3 as they belong to this Feature) to Sprint 1. I can do the same for Feature 2 with associated Tasks 4, 5, 6, and 7 as shown:   You don’t see Tasks 6 and 7 because they didn’t fit my screen. Another option is to make Features as placeholders for your Summary Tasks as shown here:   The result will be:   When I jump to the Board view I will show the following:   As you can see, Feature 1 is gone! This is because Summary Tasks are never showed on any board—only Subtasks. Now let’s look at Kanban Board (or in this case, Group by Progress):   Let’s say that John takes Task 1. I will assign him to that task, and I will move it to the In progress bucket as shown:   As you can see, when I assigned John to the task, I also marked Task 1 as 25% complete. The total work to be done is estimated at 16 hours. Since Task 1 is 25% completed, Project will put 4 hours in the Completed [Effort] field, and 12 hours in Remaining, as shown:   We all know that in Scrum theory there should be no dependencies between tasks, but, in real life, they exist. Let’s say that Task 1 is something like Install operating system to the Laptop, and Task 2 is Install MS PROJECT 2019 to the Laptop. These two tasks are dependent on each other. I will put dependency between them as shown below:   The result will be:   Once Task 1 is finished, it will shown as such.   I can see it in Sprint 1’s bucket, also.   By default, all completed Tasks are hidden, but I can see them if I choose to. To conclude, you CAN manage Scrum with Project for the Web in very efficient ways. What you cannot do is calculate Capacity and/or Velocity. If you need those two, I suggest you move to the Azure DevOps, TFS, or something similar. Learn more by attending my on-demand webinar on the topic. In the meantime, have you used Project for the Web for an Agile or Scrum based project? How has it worked for you? Leave your comment below.  

Task Types – Demystification.

  Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This Webinar is eligible for 1 PMI® PDUs in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle.   Event Description: When to use them, how to use them, and why to use them. How they behave with different types of calendars (Standard, and Resource), and what we should pay attention to.   Presenter Info: MVP – Project Nenad Trajkovski was born in Zagreb in 1963. year. After completion of Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Nenad has started on the development and implementation of enterprise systems (ERP) in companies of various areas (banks, card houses, production companies, auto industry, wholesale businesses, oil companies, and others). He has extensive experience in working with business processes, people and knowledge in information technology and financial accounting activities. Currently, Nenad works as a consultant for the implementation of business systems, and as Project Manager. He is trainer for Project Management and Risk Management in Microsoft Innovation Center in Varaždin. At WinDays08 conference he has been declared as the best speaker, and his session as the best one. He was among TOP 10 speakers in the Microsoft Sinergija 2009 and at the Microsoft Vzija 2009. Shared first place as the best lecturer at KulenDays 2009 and the PMI Forum 2009 in Zagreb. Regular speaker at the Microsoft Community. On WinDays10 conference Nenad was among the top three speakers; at the conference Microsoft Vision 9 in Skopje between the top 5 speakers as well as on Microsoft Synergy 11 which was held in Belgrade. Certified Accountant, PMP (Project Manager Professional), PMI – RMP (Risk Manager Professional), MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional), MCTS – Microsoft Project 2010 (Microsoft Certified Technical Professional). and MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer).   Have you watched this webinar recording? Tell MPUG viewers what you think! [WPCR_INSERT]

Task Types Demystified.

There are a lot of people who stop using MS Project before they even get very far into a project. The main reasons for quitting Project are: When they make a project plan and then change it, they get strange results. When they assign resources with their own calendars, they do not get tasks scheduled as they want to see them. When working with a dancing Gantt, it looks like Project changes the date by itself, which caused confusion. Before anyone starts with MS Project, he/she should be aware of what they want to accomplish, and how it can be done with this powerful tool. I believe that the heart of MS Project is a “magic” formula. That is, Work = Duration * Units. According to that formula, when you change one value, the other is changed, as well. On the other hand, different tasks in MS Project need different Task Types. Something has to be fixed! It can be Work (e.g. you know exactly how much effort should be done before Task is finished), Duration (e.g. you know that no matter how much effort you will make, duration is fixed and should not be extended), or Units (e.g. no matter how much effort or duration you want, you have limited resource capacity). As you can see, that could become complicated. On the other hand, no matter if you have fixed Duration or Units, you can decide if your task is effort or non-effort driven. Effort driven translates as more hands, light work. There are lot of situations, though, when you cannot decrease Duration or Units no matter how you assign additional resources. Consider the following when you are deciding which Task Type to use: Fixed Units – effort driven Fixed Units – non effort driven Fixed Duration – effort driven Fixed Duration – non effort driven Fixed Work – always effort driven Whether you are a beginner or more advance user of MS Project, this topic is one that any PM should dive into more fully. You’ll have the opportunity to get answers to these questions on Task Types, as well as many other tips, by viewing my on-demand webinar. Note: it is eligible for 1 PMI® PDUs in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle.  

Different ways to track project progress with Microsoft Project.

Event Description:This is a – from zero to hero session (1 hour) which will clarify how project progress can be tracked from a very simple to a very complicated way, with an explanation of when to use which one. Please note: This session applies only to Microsoft Project Desktop client.   Presenter Info:MVP – Project Nenad Trajkovski was born in Zagreb in 1963. year. After completion of Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Nenad has started on the development and implementation of enterprise systems (ERP) in companies of various areas (banks, card houses, production companies, auto industry, wholesale businesses, oil companies, and others). He has extensive experience in working with business processes, people and knowledge in information technology and financial accounting activities. Currently, Nenad works as a consultant for the implementation of business systems, and as Project Manager. He is trainer for Project Management and Risk Management in Microsoft Innovation Center in Varaždin. At WinDays08 conference he has been declared as the best speaker, and his session as the best one. He was among TOP 10 speakers in the Microsoft Sinergija 2009 and at the Microsoft Vzija 2009. Shared first place as the best lecturer at KulenDays 2009 and the PMI Forum 2009 in Zagreb. Regular speaker at the Microsoft Community. On WinDays10 conference Nenad was among the top three speakers; at the conference Microsoft Vision 9 in Skopje between the top 5 speakers as well as on Microsoft Synergy 11 which was held in Belgrade. Certified Accountant, PMP (Project Manager Professional), PMI – RMP (Risk Manager Professional), MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional), MCTS – Microsoft Project 2010 (Microsoft Certified Technical Professional). and MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer).   Have you watched this webinar recording? Tell MPUG viewers what you think! [WPCR_INSERT]