Microsoft Project Fundamentals

Microsoft® Project is the most popular project management software and is used in almost every organization. In order to use it effectively you need to know more than how to work with the user interface. You need to know which project management processes and techniques are really supported by the software and how they are applied as Best Practices throughout your project. This course provides you with this knowledge and helps you to build the skills necessary to use it. 

• Learn Best Practices of scheduling processes for time and cost management 
• Understand the key concepts of MS® Project, such as task types, the context in which MS® Project is used, and its terminology 
• Learn to set up a new project and be able to navigate the MS® Project user interface 
• Learn to enter the Work Breakdown Structure (work packages, activities, and tasks), and to define and assign resources 
• Learn to optimize the schedule via the critical path 
• Learn to build optimal schedules, ready for future tracking and control

Your organization uses project management tools to run projects effectively and to support your project management processes. This course explains how project management processes can be supported with Microsoft® Project by guiding you through all applicable PMI project management process groups, and by teaching you how to use the MS® Project software to make your scheduling work easier.

Course Outline

• What is MS® Project?
• MS® Project and the PMBOK® Guide
• Critical Factors for Successful Application
• Setting up a Project
• Create a New Project, Options, and Project Calendar
• The Work Breakdown Structure
• Activity sequencing & Duration Estimation
• What are Estimates?
• How to use Resources and Resource Pools
• Documenting Planning Assumptions
• Developing a Schedule
• Searching for the Critical Path
• Optimization of the Schedule for Time or Cost
• Resolve Resource Over-allocation
• Cost Budgeting
• Completing all Cost Elements
• Freezing Views of the Schedule via Baselining
• Schedule Control - Cost Control
• Updating the Project Information & Tracking Progress
• Reporting
• Performance Management
• Reporting with Earned Value
• Exporting / Importing Data between MS® Project and Excel
• Wrap-up