You can check for constraints by looking for this symbol in the indicator column. When a start or finish date is set by the Project Manager a constraint will be set. I mentioned constraints earlier - constraints fix a task’s start or finish to a particular date. The Project Manager should avoid entering start and finish dates manually as they will interfere with the calculation of the project end date.

These are automatically calculated by MS Project using the task duration, working times, resource allocation and task dependencies. The Start and Finish date columns follow the Duration column. Warning sign Look out for ‘1 day?’ this is the default duration so you will want to check if it is correct. For example if a task has notes associated with it or contains a hyperlink. Next to it is the Indicator field, which is used to show information about a particular task. The grey column at the far left is the unique identifier for each task, similar to the row numbers in Excel. This view shows the project tasks as bars mapped to a calendar.

On the right hand side is the Gantt Chart view, named after Henry Gantt.

There may be additional columns, but these are the key areas. Running from left to right you should see columns for tasks, duration, start and finish dates and resources.

On the left hand side is a table view.

Underneath the toolbars the plan itself will be split into two areas: If you are reading this guide then you are likely to be involved in a project and will be impacted by it's success or failure, it is in your interest to analyze the plan, look out for key warning signs and feedback to the Project Manager.Īs part of the MS Office suite Microsoft Project uses a similar navigation as Word, Excel etc. Project Managers are are not infallible, they make mistakes, they get influenced to cut corners and they can easily miss activities and dependencies. To use MS Project successfully Project Managers need a strong foundation in Project Scheduling concepts and techniques. Not engaging with the project plan can have devastating consequences for the project. Why you need to understand MS Project plansĪll of the people in the list above need to understand the project plan, but often don’t have a background in project management or aren’t familiar with Microsoft Project.

Ms project plan