Update:

The features described in this article are now an industry-specific add-on to MS Project for construction companies.

We adhere to the point of view that it is not necessary to implement MS Project Server in order to manage projects in construction companies-general contractors. But along with this bold statement, an alternative must also be presented. We consider the MS Project desktop, which runs the scheduler, a very useful tool for construction companies, and instead of a server, we suggest using a Project-based super-desktop containing industry-specific add-ons. Now we have to answer the questions: how to make Project more effective for work in the construction industry? How should it be expanded?

The powerful desktop application for construction project management - Spider Project - has been on the market for a long time, and you need to take into account its main drawbacks when creating a competing solution. First of all, this is the complexity and inconvenience of the interface, the overload of the program with features that are rarely used in practice. The application is not intuitive for novice managers. It is also worth noting the poor communication capabilities of Spider.

If you finish building MS Project with Spider functions, it is not at all necessary to implement all the "bells and whistles". It is better to use the popular "20/80" rule of thumb, according to which 20% of the program's functions will give us 80% of the effect of its use. In addition, an attempt to immediately implement all the advanced project management methodologies can lead to the failure of the entire implementation. Control over management processes is acquired gradually.

What will we add to MS Project for construction project management

Let's briefly describe the composition of our solution for general construction contractors based on MS Project.

Interaction with contractors

To exchange design information with contractors and subcontractors, we suggest using MS Excel files. They can be exported from the project and imported into the project either using the built-in export and import wizards in MS Project, or using our PlanBridge communication add-on.

Exchange Excel documents can be sent via e-mail, but it is even more convenient to use the SkyDrive cloud document storage, to which contractors can provide access. It allows not only storing data exchange documents, but also linking other documentation related to the project to them.

Resource calculation module

The most requested addition to Project's resource capabilities by builders is scheduling and accounting for physical volumes. It should be possible to assign physical volume per task as a normal resource, after which it is detailed according to certain standards, and due to this, the scheduler receives calendar plan A that contains resources that depend on the physical. volumes. Physical standards. volumes are stored in directories, from where they can be used repeatedly.

In part, this is a repetition of the functions of budget programs, but they have much more meager scheduling capabilities. However, it needs to be able to through the popular ARPS format. Since the Soviet cost norms material resources and work force(SNiP 5.01.01 - SNiP 5.01.17) have long lost their relevance, estimates are the main source of data for the initial formation of reference books of standards.

Work block templates

In addition to physical volumes, when planning construction projects it is convenient to reuse whole blocks of work, for example, such as stages technological process. Work block templates are MS Project project files, previously developed in the company and collected in a library.

A project built from blocks references a library and associates blocks from it with tasks upper levels. The system should have the ability to scale the duration of the block of work used in the project, while maintaining its labor costs, costs, and physical. volumes. Due to this, compliance with the deadline is achieved, and thus top-down planning is realized.

Construction projects are very diverse, and therefore there is no guarantee that the described MS Project add-ons will find application in all construction companies. First of all, they should be implemented in industries where rationing is common, and projects are often typical and the amount of work on them is large. For example, this is road construction and the construction of infrastructure facilities. But even if an organization finds use for only one of the components of our solution, it will benefit its projects.

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C creation of a new project in MS Project

For example, consider a project to design and develop a business card site for a store using cms.

The first steps in creating a project schedule are: starting a new project plan, defining a project start or end date, and entering general information about the project.

1. Launch MS Project.
2. Click the Create button on the toolbar Standard or run the command File/Create .
3. On the Project menu select a teamProject details. Enter or select the start date of the project - October 17, 2008. And click the button OK.

When starting a new project in Microsoft Project, you can enter either the start date or the end date for the project, but not both. It is recommended to enter only start date project, and the end date will be calculated in Microsoft Project after entering and scheduling tasks. If the project is to be completed by a specific date, enter only the end date of the project. Initial planning should be done from the end date to determine when the project needs to start.

1. Click the Save button.
2. In the File name field enter project nameWebsite development 1, and then click the button Save .

Enter key information about the project

Each project contains a unique set of components: the purpose of the project, certain tasks, and the people who perform them. To remember all the important information and their relationship, you should enter project data and refer to it when necessary.

1. On the File menu select a team Properties and open tab Document.
2. Enter any details about the project, such as who will manage it and maintain the project file, describe the project's purpose, known limitations, and enter other general remarks about the project.
3. Press the OK button.

Set up a project calendar

Project calendarcan be modified to reflect the working days and hours for each project member.Standard calendar: working days from Monday to Friday, from 9:00 to 18:00, with an hour lunch break. You can define and not work time, such as weekends or nights, and special weekends, such as holidays.

1. On the View menu select a team Gantt chart.

This view is used to display the default settings for a new project. The project view window has an additional vertical title bar that displays the name of the view.

1. In the Service menu select a teamChange working hours.
2. Select a date on the calendar, such as January 1, 2008.
3. Choose an option non-working time for weekends from 1 to 9 January, 23 February and 8 March.
4. Choose an optionnon-standard working hoursto change hours of operation on Friday, in the field With enter 9:00 to 13:00 and end time in the field From 14:00 to 17:00.
5. Press the OK button.

Entering and organizing a task list

At the end of this tutorial, you will have created a list of tasks organized by summary and detailed tasks.

Entering tasks and their durations

A typical project is a set of related tasks . The task is determined by the scope of work and specific results ; it should be short enough so that progress can be tracked regularly. The duration of the tasks should usually lie in the range from one day to two weeks.

1. In the project window (represented as Gantt charts in ) in the Task Name field enter the name of the first task (see Figure 1). In column Duration Microsoft Project enters an estimated task duration of one day with a question mark.

You can add notes for each task. In field Task name select a task and click the button Task Notes . Enter information in the fieldNotes and click OK button.

1. In the Duration field enter the time required to complete the task (see Figure 1). The execution time is entered: in months, weeks, days, hours or minutes, excluding non-working days. You can use the following abbreviations.

months = month weeks = n days = d hours = h minutes = min

Note. To specify an approximate duration, type a question mark after it.

1. Press the ENTER key.
2. On the following lines, enter additional tasks that are required to complete the project. How to organize and modify them will be discussed later.

Note. You should not enter dates in the Start and End fields for each task. Microsoft Project calculates start and end dates based on relationships between tasks, which will be discussed in the next lesson.

Pre-project survey

Definition of a project day

Planning

Schedule of work days

Day budget planning

Day risk planning

Design

Determination of topics and organization of the content of the day

Day content analysis

Day content structuring

Create a content delivery plan

Day Design Design

Designing SCRIPT's

Designing a hosting site

Day content design

Design completed 0 days

Day analysis and management

Implementation

Development of templates (design) days

Development of graphic content (buttons, logos) days

CMS ) days

Filling the resource (content) days

Hosting days

Documentation (instructions) days

Analysis of patterns in terms of usability, customer and control solution (risk decisions) day

Testing

Internal testing

Usability test days

Functional test days

Content test (in terms of grammar and logic) days

External testing days

Refinement days

Implementation

Transfer of the site to the customer

Conducting a master class on the use of days

Promotion

Search engine optimization days

Registration in search engines days

Filling each element with information days

Implementation completed 0 days

Parsing and archiving of documentation

Conclusion of a contract for day support

Waiver days

Rice. 1. Project plan

Creating a milestone

Milestone is a task used to indicate significant schedule events, such as the completion of a major milestone. When you enter zero duration for a task in Microsoft Project, the Gantt chart displays a milestone symbol at the start of the corresponding day.

1. In the Duration field click the duration of the task you want to make a milestone, and then enter a value 0d . Press key ENTER.

Note. A task with zero duration is automatically marked as a milestone, but any task can be made a milestone. To mark a task as a milestone, select the task in the field Task name. Click the button Task detailson the standard toolbar (or run the commandProject/Task Details). Select tab Additionally and then check the boxMark a task as a milestone.

Organization of tasks in a logical structure

Structuringhelps organize tasks into more manageable components. By creating a hierarchy, you can combine related tasks into a more general task. Shared tasks are called summary tasks (or phases); tasks grouped under a summary task are called subtasks . The start and end date of a summary task is determined by the start and end dates of its first and last subtasks. In our example, the total (phases) are tasks -Pre-project survey, Design, Implementation, Testing, Implementation.

To organize the outline, use the outline buttons.

Indent	ledge
Show subtasks	Hide subtasks

1. In the Task name field Select the tasks that you want to make subtasks.
2. Click the Indent button to indent tasks.
3. Do the same with the rest of the subtasks.

Changing the task list

If you've created a task list, you might want to change the location of the tasks, copy a set of tasks, or delete tasks that you no longer need.

1. In the "Identifier" field » (leftmost box) select the task you want to copy, move, or delete. To highlight a row, click the task ID number. To select multiple adjacent lines by holding down a key SHIFT , click the first and last row numbers in the desired range. To select multiple random lines, press the key CTRL and while holding it, click one by one the task ID numbers.
2. Copy, move or delete a task. To copy a task, click the button Copy . To move a task, click the button Cut out . To delete a task, press the key DEL.
3. To move a cut block or paste a copied block, select the rows where you want to paste it. Make sure the required rows are selected. Click the button Insert . If the rows being pasted contain information, new rows will be inserted above those rows.
4. Save the project file periodically.

Advice. To add a new task between the existing ones, select the task ID number and press the key INS . After inserting a new task, all tasks are renumbered automatically.

Creating Relationships Between Tasks

One of the most reliable ways to schedule tasks is to establish relationships between them, i.e.task dependencies. Task dependencies reflect the conditionality of subsequent tasks, or followers , earlier tasks, orpredecessors. For example, if the "Paint the Wall" task must be completed before the "Hang the Clock" task, you can link the two tasks so that the "Paint the Wall" task becomes the predecessor and the "Hang the Clock" task the successor.

Issue link types

There are four types of links between tasks in MS Project. A Finish-to-start relationship, or FS (OH) for short, is the most common type of dependency between tasks, in which task B cannot start until task A is completed:

A Start-to-start relationship, or SS (HH) for short, denotes a dependency in which task B cannot start until task A has started. For example, Technical Editing cannot start before Content Editing, but in order to start Technical Editing, it is not necessary to wait for Content Editing to finish. With the help of such a connection, tasks that should be performed almost simultaneously are usually combined.

A Finish-to-Finish relationship, or FF(00) for short, denotes a dependency in which task B cannot finish until task A has finished. simultaneously, but one cannot end until the other is completed. For example, the handover of a program goes hand in hand with the correction of errors (found during the handover process), and until the correction of errors is completed, the handover cannot be completed either.

A Start-to-Finish relationship, or SF for short, denotes a dependency in which task B cannot finish until task A has begun. Typically, such a relationship is used when A is a task with a fixed start date that cannot be changed. In this case, the start date of the subsequent task does not change when the duration of the previous one increases.

Once tasks are linked, changing predecessor dates affects successor dates. Microsoft Project creates a Finish-Start task dependency by default. However, since the End-to-Start dependency is not suitable for every case, for real project modeling task link can be changed to Start-Start, End-End, or Start-End.

Using delays and advances

Often in life, dependencies between tasks are a bit more complex than Finish-to-start. For example, between the task "Painting the walls" and "Hanging pictures", a day must pass for the paint to dry. In order to describe such a dependency between tasks, MS Project uses the Lag parameter. For example, in the case of painting walls, the delay between tasks should be 1 day.

Lag is a property of the link and can be specified in the link properties dialog box (for example, 1 day) or as a percentage of the duration of the predecessor task. For example, if the antecedent is 4 days long, then a 25% lag would be 1 day.

Sometimes you don't have to wait for the previous task to complete before starting the next task. For example, you can start wallpapering when the plaster is laid on at least some of the walls in the house. In this case, Lead should be used. The lead is entered in the same way as the lag, but with a negative sign, for example, a lead of 1 day is indicated as -Id (-1d), and a lead of 50% (that is, the next task starts when the previous one is half completed) as -50% .

Ways to Create Relationships

Mouse

A link is created by dragging the mouse from one bar of the Gantt chart to another, with the link type defined as FS by default. The predecessor task is the one where the dragging started, and the successor task is the one where the dragging ended (the arrow at the end of the link indicates the successor task). To delete a link or change its type, double-click on the diagram and perform the appropriate operations in the dialog box that opens.

Using the menu

To link two or more tasks to each other, select them in the field Task name , and in the same order in which they should be connected. To select multiple tasks in a row, press the key SHIFT and while holding it, click the first and last tasks. To randomly select multiple tasks, press the key CTRL and while holding it, click on the required tasks one by one.

Click the Link Tasks button ( or run the commandEdit/Link tasks).

To edit a task link, double-click the link line between tasks that you want to edit. The Task Dependency dialog box will open. If the Line Styles dialog box opens, you didn't click a link line; you must close this dialog and double-click the task link again.

Combo box Type select desired type links between tasks and click OK.

To break the link between tasks, select these tasks in the Task name field and click the buttonUnlink tasks. All links are removed and all tasks are rescheduled based on restrictions , such as As Soon As Possible or Actual Finish.

Editing links in a table

To quickly specify a task's predecessor during task entry, use the Predecessors column, which is included by default in the Entry table.

In cases where the connection differs from the standard one, the number of the previous task and the abbreviation corresponding to the type of connection must be indicated in the field. If the connection has a delay or lead, then it must be indicated next to the type of connection, using the + or - signs. If the delay or lead is used with the standard FS (OH) connection, then its abbreviation must also be indicated. And if the task has several predecessors, then the links with them must be specified through a semicolon.

Edit links in a form

If you use various types of links in a project, it will be more convenient to use special dialog boxes for working with them. The most convenient is the Task Form dialog box. This form is displayed if, while in the Gantt chart, select the menu command Window / Split (Window / Split).

Establish links between tasks in the project (see Table 1).

Table 1

	Task name	Predecessor
	Pre-project survey
	Project Definition
	Planning
	Work Schedule
	Budget planning
	Risk planning
	Design
	Site structure design
	Determination of topics and organization of content
	Content analysis
	Content structuring	10НН+2d
	Create a content delivery plan
	Design engineering	12НН+1d
	Designing SCRIPTs	12НН+2d
	Hosting site design
	Content design	12НН+2d
	Design completed
	Analysis and management
	Implementation
	Development of templates (design)
	Development of graphic content (buttons, logos)	20НН+2d
	Development of additional scenarios ( CMS)	21НН+1d
	Filling the resource (content)
	Hosting
	Documentation (instructions)	24НН+1d
	Analysis of patterns in terms of usability, customer and control solution (risk decisions)
	Testing
	Internal testing
	Usability test	26ON+7d
	Functional test	26ON+8d
	Content test (in terms of grammar and logic)	26ON+6d
	External testing
	Refinement
	Implementation
	Transfer of the site to the customer
	Conducting a master class on the use
	Promotion
	Search engine optimization	33ON+5d
	Registration in search engines
	Filling each element with information
	Implementation completed
	Broadcast project documentation
	Parsing and archiving documentation
	Conclusion of an agreement for support
	Waiver of Claims

Project start date

Let our project begin on Monday 10/20/2008.

1. Open the project definition dialog with the menu command Project/Project Information (Project/Project details) and change the value of the parameter Start date ( Start date) as of 20.10.2008 . After that, the project plan will automatically rebuild.
2. Website development 1.

Restrictions and deadlines

Binding a task to a specific date in MS Project is carried out using the Constraint element ( Limitation ). Using constraints, you can, for example, specify that a task must start on a certain day or finish no later than a certain date.

By defining task durations and relationships between them, you give the program the flexibility to recalculate the project plan if the schedule changes. The introduction of restrictions reduces this flexibility, and MS Project distinguishes several types of restrictions (Table 2) depending on how much they affect the flexibility of calculations.

In projects scheduled from the start date, by default, all tasks have the constraint As Soon As Possible (As soon as possible), and for projects scheduled from the finish date, As Late As Possible ( as late as possible).

table 2

Restriction type	Schedule impact	Description
As Soon As Possible (ASAP)	flexible	With this limit, MS Project places the task on the schedule as early as possible, taking into account other schedule parameters. There are no additional restrictions on the task. This default limit applies to all tasks if the project is scheduled from the start date
As Late As Possible (ALAP), As late as possible (KMP)	flexible	With this limit, MS Project places the task on the schedule as late as possible, taking into account other plan parameters. There are no additional restrictions on the task. This default limit applies to all tasks if the project is scheduled from the finish date
Finish No Later Than (FNLT), Finish No Later Than ( SNP)	The average	This constraint indicates the latest date on which a task must be completed. In this case, the task can be completed both on this day and before it. The predecessor task will not be able to "push" a task with an FNLT constraint (FNLT) beyond the constraint date. For projects scheduled from a finish date, this limit applies when you enter a task finish date
Start No Later Than (SNLT), Start No Later Than (NNL)	The average	This limit indicates the latest date a task can start. The task can start earlier or on this day, but not later. Predecessors will not be able to "push" a task with an SNLT (SNLT) constraint beyond the constraint date. For projects scheduled from a finish date, this limit applies when you enter a start date for the task
Finish No Earlier Than (FNET), Finish no earlier than (ONR)	The average	This constraint indicates the earliest date a task can be completed. A task cannot be placed on the schedule to finish earlier than the designated date. For projects that are scheduled from a start date, this limitation applies when you enter a task end date
Start No Earlier Than (SNET)	The average	This limit indicates the earliest date a task can start. The task cannot be placed on the schedule earlier than the specified date. For projects that are scheduled from a start date, this limitation applies when you enter a start date for a task
Must Start On (MSO), Fixed Start ( FN )	Inflexible	This limitation means the exact date The on which the task's start date should be placed in the schedule. Other factors (connections between tasks, delays or leads, etc.) cannot affect the position of the task in the schedule
Must Finish On (MFO), Fixed Finish ( FO )	Inflexible	This constraint specifies the exact date on which the task finish date must be placed in the schedule. No other factors can affect this

You can change the default restrictions by entering a start or end date for a task in the Start and Finish columns in the Entry table or any other table that contains these columns. After entering the date, MS Project will set the limit in accordance with Table. 2.

Deadline ) is the date indicating the deadline for completing the task. The difference between using a deadline and using a constraint is that the existence of a deadline does not affect the calculation of the project schedule. If a task has a deadline, the Gantt chart displays a corresponding mark, and if the task does not meet this deadline, then a special icon appears in the Indicators column.

Constraints must be in the plan before you move from planning the scope of work to planning the resources involved in the project. This is due to the fact that the deadline for the execution of work usually depends on the number of allocated performers, and the presence of deadlines will tell you when you need to assign more people to the task to meet the deadlines, and when less, if the deadlines are not running out.

The main restrictions on the timing of the execution of the main phases can be introduced after the drafting of the skeleton plan of the project. After all the works are added to the plan, it is necessary to limit the most important of them, and only then proceed to the definition of connections and durations. Usually at this stage, you can find out if the work is on time and adjust the duration of some tasks.

Example of using limits and deadlines

Since in our example we did not define the limits and deadlines in the skeletal work plan phase, we will begin to define the deadlines and limits in the current work plan. In projectDesign and development of a business card site for a store using cmswe will use both types of MS Project restrictions: and actually restrictions and deadlines so you can compare the ease of use.

Let's assume that the site is developed on average 4 months. This means that starting the development of the site at the end of October, we must complete it in mid-February, for example, no later than the 20th. Since this date is usually specified in the contract with the customer to whom the site is transferred, this restriction is very strict. Accordingly, for the final task Waiver of Claims, you need to set the Finish No Later Than constraint to the date 20.02.09.

1. Why do you need to double-click on the task to open a dialog boxTask detailsand go to the tab Additionally.
2. On the Advanced tab in the Constraint type dropdown ( Restriction type ) select End no later than.
3. In the Constraint date field ( Restriction date) specify the date by which the end of the task is limited- 20.02.09.

Sometimes, to remove the constraint, you need to delete the entered date in the Constraint date field. But MS Project does not allow you to leave this field empty, and therefore, to remove the date from the field, you need to replace it with the text NA (NA).

1. Press the OK button.

When setting a constraint, MS Project checks if the task has any links, and if so, analyzes whether the constraint being set can lead to conflicts. If, according to the program, this is possible, then a hint is displayed with which you can cancel the restriction setting (the first switch), continue using another (optimal, from the point of view of MS Project) restriction (the second switch), or continue using the selected restriction (third switch).

In our case, the task, which is subject to the Finish No Later Than constraint (End no later than) has a predecessor, and if it ends later than the constraint date, it will cause a conflict. MS Project considers it optimal in our situation to use the Finish No Earlier Than constraint (End no sooner), but it does not suit us at all.

Note. You can get information about the type of restriction created by hovering the mouse over the corresponding icon in the Indicators field ( indicators).

1. Then suppose that, according to an agreement with a freelance developer providing template development services,Template development(this task has no predecessors) should start 20.11.08 and pass within 5 days. Accordingly, we fix this date with the Must Start On constraint (Fixed start) and duration in 5 days.
2. Let's include an important task number 18 in the planDesign completed. According to the contract, the design must be completed 5 days before the stage Implementations , that is , until 20.11.08 .
3. Set a deadline for a taskHosting on 26.12.08.
4. You can place a site on a hosting only when the development of templates, graphic design, CMS is at least half done and the content of the resource is filled. So we'll tie the taskHosting placementsdependence FS (OH) with the taskFilling the resource (content)and set the delay (Lag) -50%.
5. Hostingis, in fact, final, because after its completion one of the results of the project is achieved, which is transferred by the project team “outside”. In this case, the duration of the finishing tasks is not zero. To mark a task with a non-zero duration as finishing, you need to use the Advanced tab ( Additionally ) in the task details dialog box. On the tab, check the Mark task as milestone checkbox (Mark a task as a milestone).

Recurring tasks

Often in a project, some tasks take place regularly, such as preparing reports for the project customer or meeting the project team. Recurring tasks are designed to describe such tasks in the project plan. You can add them to the project using the menu command Insert/Recurring task (Insert/Recurring task) that opens the recurring task details dialog box.

In our project, we will create a recurring taskProject team meetingwhich will be sold on Fridays.

1. Execute the commandInsert/Recurring task.
2. In the recurring task details dialog box that opens indicate the name - Project team meeting and duration -2 hours.
3. Determine the task repetition interval- Weekly, on Fridays.

Under Calendar for scheduling this task (Calendar for scheduling this task) determines on the basis of which calendar the task will be placed in the calendar plan. By default, when the Calendar drop-down list is set to None, the task is placed based on the settings of the project calendar and the calendar of resources involved. If you want to use a specific calendar for task scheduling, you can select it from the drop-down list. In this case, the Scheduling ignores resource calendars checkbox becomes available (Do not take resource calendars into account when scheduling)(We will look at the effect of this flag in detail in the section"Task Calendar" later).

1. After all the settings are made, you need to press the button OK , and the program will create a recurring task in the project.

In this case, unforeseen problems may arise if, for example, the repetition of the task falls on the weekend. MS Project will detect this and display a message with possible options To resolve the problem: move the task repetition to the next working day by clicking the Yes button, do not create repetitions on non-working days by clicking the No button, or refuse to create a recurring task by clicking Cancel.

After placing a recurring task in a project, the task itself appears as a phase in the plan, and its repetitions as its nested tasks. In this case, the task and repetitions are marked with special icons in the Indicators field.

The overall task of the project

When the scope of work is defined, our plan is four phases that combine all the tasks of the project. For each of them, the duration is known, but we do not have general information about the duration of the entire project. It cannot be obtained by adding the durations of the phases, since they are partially executed simultaneously, which means that the total duration of the project does not equal the duration of its phases. To assemble the phases into a single whole, you can create another phaseDesign and development of a business card website based on cmsand include all existing phases in it. But it's more correctdisplay Project Summary Task(Project summary task) - a special task specifically designed to combine all project activities. It is displayed on the Gantt chart in a special color, and MS Project works with it in a special way.

1. To display the project summary task, in the menu Options on the View tab ) check the box Show project summary task (Show project summary task). The summary task will be displayed with the title taken from the Title field in the file properties, which can be edited in the dialog box opened by the File/Properties menu command ( File/Properties).

If the Comments field is filled in this dialog box ( Notes ), then its value will become a comment to the summary task. When you change the name of a summary task or a comment (Notes) to it, the values ​​of the corresponding field in the file properties will automatically change.

1. Save the project file with a nameWebsite development 2.

A Gantt chart is a line chart that sets the start and finish dates for related activities, along with the resources used to complete them.

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Posted on http://www.allbest.ru/

• Introduction
• 1. Organization of the project
• 1.3 Creating a work schedule
• Conclusion

Introduction

Rapid development computer technology, creating a friendly for the unskilled user software led to the widespread use of information technology in all areas human activity, served as an impetus for the development of a society built on the use of various information.

Behind short term information systems have evolved from computing systems used in scientific research and ACS large enterprises to complex automated information systems, allowing to implement the whole range of not only the processing, accumulation of information, but also the management of companies, organizations at all levels.

The creation of personal computers, an adapted graphical interface has expanded the market for information products and services to the level of "home consumption". Information systems have turned from a technological component of business, management into a factor of production, a factor competition. However, along with the obvious advantages of using information systems, the problem of managing information systems has arisen.

The practice of creating and operating information systems has revealed problems and contradictions that could only be resolved by introducing a comprehensive specialized information management. The costs of designing and implementing information systems usually significantly exceeded the planned amounts. The quality of development turned out to be unsatisfactory: contradictions between hardware and software during operation, increased costs for maintaining systems in operation, etc.

Today, the activity of any company and organization is highly dependent on the unit that provides the company's information environment, and this dependence is increasing over time. As a result, maintenance of information systems ceases to be only a technical task and increasingly becomes an integral part of the business, integrated into the company's business processes.

The level of development of the information system of the organization, the importance of information technology for the activities of the organization makes the IT departments of companies an integral part of the business. The complexity of tasks in the management of information systems and personnel leads to the need to develop strategies in the field of information technology for specialized management - information management.

The use of computer technology, application software, network technologies is a matter of prestige for the company, the "advancement" of the management. No one requires any return from the information system, and even less economic efficiency.

Information technologies, information systems are used at the level of operational management of an enterprise, organization - accumulation, storage, classification, primary processing of information. Information systems are used to solve business problems of an enterprise, organization.

An important factor in the training of highly qualified specialists in the field of economic information systems is a comprehensive training that takes into account a wide range of areas of knowledge, specialized disciplines.

A feature of the discipline "Information Management" is that this branch of knowledge was born relatively recently and is developing. In essence, information management does not yet have either an established terminology or methods and solutions that have become classical. As a result, specialists often use not only different concepts and terms, but also interpret the tasks of information management and the methodology for their solution in different ways. Research materials, practical advice, analysis of the development and implementation of IS, are the result of a discussion of specialists in the field of information technology and IT management.

1. Organization of the project

1.1 Creating a project in Microsoft Project

By default, Microsoft Project 2016 automatically opens the New command on startup, where you can choose how to create a new project. A project in Microsoft Project 2016 is an mpp file. In order to forcefully create a new project in Microsoft Project 2016, you need to use the "File" button to open the "New" command.

Figure 1 - Creating a new project

Now you can choose how to create a new project:

* select " New project" and click the "Create" command: the project will be created based on the Global.mpt template;

ѕ create a new project from an existing document - a project, an Excel workbook or a SharePoint task list;

* create from a template. You can select a template from your computer or from Office.com (if you have an internet connection).

After creating the project file, it is recommended to save it immediately. To do this, click the "File" button, select the "Save" command, select a location to save the file, and give the project file a "Name" (by default, the project file is named "Project1.mpp").

Figure 2 - Saving the project file

Microsoft Project 2016 supports PDF and XPS export.

The Portable Document Format (PDF) is a permanently markup electronic format that preserves document formatting and allows file sharing. The PDF format ensures that when the file is viewed online and when it is printed, the original format is preserved and the file data cannot be easily modified. The PDF format is also useful when printing documents in a print shop.

XML Paper Specification (XPS). XPS is an electronic file format that preserves document formatting and provides joint work with file. The XPS format ensures that when the file is viewed online and when it is printed, the original format is preserved and the file data cannot be easily modified.

1.2 Creating a project calendar in Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project uses calendars to describe working and non-working times.

Microsoft Project uses three types of calendars:

1. the project calendar defines the default working time for the entire project (for all resources and tasks of the project);

2. resource calendars are used for individual resources or for groups of resources that have individual work schedules;

3. Task calendars are used for tasks that can be completed on time other than the standard project calendar, for example, part of the project's work can only be completed in the first half of the working day.

The project calendar defines the work schedule for all resources and tasks that do not use a custom calendar. Changes made to a project calendar are automatically reflected in resource calendars generated from the same project calendar.

Base calendars are used as project and task calendars, and as the basis for resource calendars. Microsoft Project has three basic calendars:

1. Standard: Working hours are Monday to Friday (9:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:00). This calendar is used by default when creating a new project;

2. 24 hours: no non-working time;

3. Night shift: night shift from Monday night to Saturday morning (from 23:00 to 8:00 with an hour break).

Microsoft Project supports the creation of its own base calendars if the existing calendars do not meet the requirements of the project.

Figure 3 - Creating a calendar

You can assign the created calendar to a project through the Project Details dialog box.

Figure 4 - Purpose of the created base calendar

1.3 Creating a work schedule

A software development project is designed to achieve a certain result in certain deadlines and for some money. The project plan is designed to determine what activities will achieve the project outcome, what people and equipment will be needed to complete those activities, and at what time those people and equipment will be involved in the project. Therefore, the project plan contains three main elements: tasks, resources, and assignments.

Drawing up a project plan in general view is to describe the tasks of the project, available resources and determine the interdependencies between them using assignments.

Work order:

1) Editing the initial parameters of the project.

To edit the initial parameters of the project, you need to go to the "Project" tab and click the "Project Details" button, and in the window that opens, specify the start date for work (Tue 05.04.16).

Figure 5 - Work start date

2) Create a list of project tasks and their duration

Determining the goals of software development - 2 days.

Development planning - 4 days.

Assigning a theme code - 3 days.

Choosing software development principles - 24 days.

Finding out the basic requirements for software - 20 days.

Formation of the project TK - 7 days.

Coordination of the draft TOR with the software customer - 5 days.

Formation of a structural model - 7 days.

Formation of an object-oriented model - 30 days.

Determining the principles of building a screen interface - 35 days.

Development of the main modules - 50 days.

Database development - 48 days.

Integration of all modules - 35 days.

Debugging - 5 days.

Release of the beta version - 2 days.

Collection of information about the results of testing - 5 days.

Refinement of modules and database - 7 days.

Release of the final version - 5 days.

Formation of documentation necessary for certification - 5 days.

Internal audit of the software creation process - 2 days.

Conclusion of an agreement for certification - 2 days.

Conducting software certification - 2 days.

3) Create a list of resources

- 1 person

Programmer - 5 people

Economist - 1 person

Software auditor - 1 person

4) Create assignments (links)

The dependence of tasks and resources is given in the table.

Table 1 - Dependency of tasks

Task name	Duration		The ending	predecessors	Resource names
Software development
Organization of work
Definition of software development goals					Head of software development department
Development planning					Head of software development department
Assigning a theme code					Economist
Choice of software development principles					Head of software development department
TK development
Finding out the basic requirements for software					Head of software development department; Programmer 1
Formation of the project TK					Programmer 2
Coordination of the draft TOR with the software customer					Head of software development department; Programmer 2
Software development
Formation of a structural model					Programmer 3; Programmer 4
Formation of an object-oriented model					Programmer 1 ; Programmer 4; Programmer 5
Determining the principles of building a screen interface					Head of software development department; Programmer 4
Development of core modules					Programmer 1 ; Programmer 2; Programmer 3; Programmer 4; Programmer 5
Database development					Programmer 1
Integration of all modules					Programmer 2; Programmer 3; Programmer 4
Debugging and testing
Debugging					Programmer 3; Programmer 4; Programmer 5
Beta release					Programmer 1
Gathering information about test results					Programmer 2; Programmer 3
Modification of modules and database					Programmer 2; Programmer 4; Programmer 5
Release of the final version					Programmer 1
Certification
Formation of documentation necessary for certification					Programmer 4; Programmer 5; Programmer 1
Internal audit of the software development process					Software Auditor
Conclusion of an agreement for certification					Head of software development department
Software certification					Head of software development department

Using the types of links (assignments), we will create a Gantt chart in accordance with Table 1.

Figure 6 - Gantt Chart

1.2 Formation of the structure of the work schedule

When developing large projects consisting of a large number of works, Microsoft Project allows you to group related works into groups. Creating a hierarchical project structure allows you to decompose the project work into smaller, visible and manageable parts, more accurately determine both the composition and characteristics of the work to be performed.

One of the basic principles of building a hierarchical structure of the project is the principle of completeness. All activities and deliverables of the project, including intermediate and managerial ones, must be present in the hierarchical structure of the project.

The reverse is also true - work outside the project (that is, necessary for the successful completion of another project/process) should not be included.

Let's group the works by stages and enter the names of these stages.

* To create a group (stage), right-click on the first line of the table and select "Insert task" from the context menu;

ѕ We call it "Organization of work";

ѕ Let's select the works: "Determining the goals of software development", "Planning the development", "Assigning the theme code" and "Selecting the principles of software development" and group them by clicking on the "Decrease the task level" button.

In a similar way, you need to group all subsequent tasks to create the following stages: "Development of technical specifications", "Software development", "Debugging and testing", "Certification".

The final step will be the creation of the "Software Development" group, which will group all the steps created above.

Figure 7 - Hierarchical structure of the project

This problem can also be solved using the top-down method.

In a top-down project planning method, major milestones are first identified, which are then broken down into individual tasks.

2. Project Resource Assignments

An assignment is a relationship between a task and the resource needed to complete that task. An arbitrary number of resources, both worker and material, can be assigned to one task (in other words, several assignments can be associated with one task).

To assign resources directly when describing a task, you must:

* To open the "Task Details" window, double-click on the task name or select the task and click the "Details" button on the "Task" tab;

* In the "Task details" window that opens, go to the "Resources" tab;

* In the input window, enter the name of the resource, if this name matches the name of an existing resource, it will automatically be assigned to the task, if the name does not match, it will be created new resource labor type. To avoid duplication, select an empty line, and click on the down arrow on the right side of the line, then select the name of the resource from the drop-down list;

* The "Owner" field displays the username of the owner of the resource to whom the usage agreement will be sent. this resource. For all local and universal resources, this field is empty;

* In the "Units" field, enter the amount of the required resource. If the resource is labor, you must specify the percentage of the resource's time that it will spend on the implementation of this task. If a material resource, enter its quantity in the dimension specified in the "Resource Sheet" view. If a costly resource does not enter anything;

* The cost of using this resource will be displayed in the "Costs" field. For labor and material resources, this value will be calculated automatically when you click the "OK" button. For costly resources, you must specify the amount that you plan to spend on the implementation of this task by this resource.

Figure 8 - Assignment of resources when describing the task

Assigning a resource to a task:

* Switch to the Gantt chart view and go to the "Resources" page;

* Select the task to which you want to create a resource assignment;

* Click on the "Assign resources" button. The corresponding dialog box will appear;

ѕ In the "Resource name" field, select the resource that you want to assign to the task. If you need to create a new resource, move to a free cell in the table of the dialog box and enter the name of the resource. Double-clicking on the name of the resource will bring up the "Resource Details" window, with which you can enter information about the resource;

* In the Units field, specify the allocated number of resource units in this assignment. For a work resource, the value is specified as a percentage (amount of working time).

The result of the execution is shown in Figure 8.

3. Track project progress

For acceptance management decisions up-to-date and reliable information about the progress of the project is required.

When managing a project, you need to track the elements of the project "triangle": time, budget, and scope. Adjusting one element affects the other two. Events such as unexpected delays, cost overruns, and resource substitutions can lead to scheduling issues.

If the project data is constantly updated, it is always possible to view the latest state of the project. You can track the actual progress of tasks, the actual labor costs of resources, compare actual costs with the planned budget and level the load of resources. All this will allow you to identify potential problems in time in order to find and apply the right solution.

After you create a project and start work, you can track the actual start and finish dates, percentage of tasks completed, or actual work. Actual data shows the impact of changes on other tasks and, ultimately, on the end date of the project.

Define one or two progress indicators to use in the project. For example, resources can quickly report the percentage of work completed on tasks, allowing you to get general idea about the progress of tasks. Or vice versa, resources can report hours of work on each task by week. This will take longer, but will give a detailed picture of the progress of the work. The choice of indicators depends on your preferences and priorities.

To track the progress of work, you need to create a mark on the passage of the stage "Defining the goals of software development". To do this, on the Gantt chart, let's move the mouse pointer to the left side of the chart (the pointer will change its appearance to a percent sign with an arrow to the right). After that, you need to press the left mouse button and, without releasing it, drag the mouse pointer to the right.

Figure 9 - Mark on the passage of the stage "Defining the goals of software development"

Marking the completion of the Development Planning phase can be done in a different way. To do this, select the "Development planning" stage and double-click on it with the left mouse button. In the "Task Details" dialog box that appears, on the "General" tab, you need to set 100% in the "Percent Complete" field and click the "OK" button.

Figure 10 - Mark on the passage of the stage "Planning development"

A stage completion mark will appear on the left of the Gantt chart table, and a dark blue bar will appear on the chart itself, which shows the percentage of completion of the stage of work. If the work is 100% completed, then the strip will be from the beginning to the end of the block of work.

Figure 11 - An example of 70% completion of work

Figure 11 shows an example of incomplete work, which shows that on the Gantt chart, the dark blue bar is not until the end of the block of work (lower right corner). Everything that has been done so far would be useless if Microsoft Project did not have the ability to generate reports. "Project Overview" - a report showing the percentage completion of the project. To generate it, you need to go to the "Report" tab, click on the "Dashboards" button and select "Project Overview".

Figure 12 - Project Overview

"Cost Overview" is a more complete report showing both percentage completion and cash costs (both spent and remaining costs).

Figure 13 - Overview of costs

"Critical tasks" - a report that provides the user with the opportunity to see the remaining critical tasks. Critical tasks are tasks on which the entire project depends.

Figure 14 - Critical Tasks

Conclusion

Microsoft Project is the most popular project management tool provided by Microsoft. The app is designed to help project managers develop plans, assign resources to tasks, manage budgets, and analyze workload.

Microsoft Project can help you create a plan based on the critical path. Graphs can also be applied to evenly distribute requests for a resource. The critical path is presented as a Gantt chart.

Resource definitions (people, equipment, and materials) can be shared across projects using a common pool of resources. Each resource can have its own calendar, which determines the days and shifts that are available to it. Resource metrics are used to calculate the cost of completing tasks, which are calculated and added up to a total resource level.

Each resource may be assigned multiple tasks in multiple plans, and each task may be assigned multiple resources. Microsoft Project schedules the work defined in the respective calendars based on resource availability. All resources can be defined in common base corporate resources.

Microsoft Project creates budgets based on resource metrics and assigned work. Since resources are assigned to jobs and this work is estimated, Microsoft Project calculates costs that equal work times the metrics. This is all added up to the total task level, then to the total task costs, and finally to the total project calculations.

project program managerial decision

List of sources used

Hosted on Allbest.ru

1. Belyaeva S.A. The role of planning in the management of innovative projects // Organizer of production. - 2010

2. Betanova I. The role of HR in project management // Handbook of personnel management. - 2011.

3. Betanova I. The role of HR in project management // Handbook of personnel management. - 2011.

4. Ganchin V.V. The role of project management in innovative development power industry in Russian Federation// Economics and management: ros. scientific magazine - 2011.

5. Goncharenko S. Project Management // Quality Management. - 2011.

6. Emelyanov Yu. Management of innovative projects in the company // Problems of theory and practice of management. - 2011.

7. Ivasenko A.G. Project management: tutorial for students. - Rostov n / a.: Phoenix, 2009.

8. PMSOFT conferences on project management // Problems of theory and practice of management. - 2011.

9. Kuznetsov A.A. Process project management at the enterprise // Management today. - 2011.

10. Kupershtein V. Microsoft Project 2010 in project management. - St. Petersburg: BHV-Petersburg, 2011.

11. Lapygin Yu.N. Evaluation of the effectiveness of project management // Economic analysis: theory and practice. - 2011.

12. Mazur I.I. Management of investment and construction projects: an international approach. - M.: Omega-L, 2011.

13. Matveeva L.G. Project management: textbook. - Rostov n / a.: Phoenix, 2009.

14. Mylnikov L.A. Microeconomic problems of innovation project management // Problems of management. - 2011.

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Planning tools in digital are an eternal topic of debate. Not all software is equally useful, and the right one can be difficult. MS Project is just that.

Meet Microsoft Project, sophisticated project management software. Helps the manager in current tasks: plan, allocate resources, analyze the complexity of the project. Automatically makes reports and calculates estimates. If you understand it, it can become indispensable.

The program is similar to MS Excel, but contains more features. Visually it looks like this: on the left side there is a table with data: tasks, time and labor costs. On the right - graphs, for example, a Gantt chart.

How to make plans in MS Project

Create a new project

The program has different templates, such as Simple Project Plan, New Product Launch, or Agile Project Management. Select the appropriate structure or open a New Project.

New project before entering data

Define tasks

They depend on the type of project. First, write down the general steps, and then divide them into specific ones. For example, let's create a simple online store. The stages can be as follows: analytics, home page, product catalog, integration with payment and delivery services, personal account.

On the top panel, select the Task block and find the Summary task button. Use it to create all the common stages. Add details later.

General project milestones

Specify tasks

Think about what will be included in each stage. Add them to the table using the + Task button. Or double-click on an empty column where you want to insert a task. A window like this will open.

Task details

In this window, edit the details of the task. For example, the name or duration, if it is already known. When there is no exact data, put a tick in the column Preliminary assessment. The estimated duration of the task will be displayed in the table with a question mark.

Task Details Requirements Aggregation

Add tasks to the table. Our online store will have the following.

For analytics:

1. aggregation of requirements;
2. prototyping;
3. technical task;
4. database design.

For the main page and product catalog:

1. design;
2. layout;
3. development.

For payment and delivery:

1. connecting PayPal;
2. sdek connection.

For personal account:

1. authorization;
2. registration;
3. password recovery;
4. bonus system;
5. pending orders;
6. personalization;
7. integration with Axapta.

Task decomposition

Determine the duration of tasks

To do this, to the left of each of them there is a column in which you can select the type of planning. With automatic, the program determines the duration of the task, with manual you change the dates yourself. Choose the right one.

Task duration

Set dependencies between tasks

While you are entering the initial data about the project in the table on the left, a Gantt chart is automatically built on the right. To make it display correctly, set dependencies between tasks. For example, to make a prototype of an online store, you first need to collect the requirements. That is, the third task of the list depends on the second. The program numbers all tasks automatically as they appear.

Put the dependencies in the graph predecessors. It will turn out like this.

Task dependencies

Allocate Resources

Now distribute the tasks to the team and reflect this in the table. There are five different tabs in the bottom right corner. Gantt Chart ( most time you will spend in it), Task Usage, Visual Resource Optimizer, Resource Sheet, and Report.

Select Resource Sheet. In it, enter all the employees who work on the project, their rates per hour of work and schedule. Indicate positions or last names if several employees in the team occupy the same position. This way you can avoid confusion.

Let's say that the team has one employee for each position. Here's what happens.

Resource sheet.

Return to the Gantt Chart tab. Find the Resources column and put the positions of the performers in front of each task.

In a project to create an online store, an analyst is responsible for all analytics tasks, a designer for design, a layout designer for news, a programmer for development.

Tasks with affixed resources

If some resource is overloaded, the program will show it: red men will appear to the left of the task.

Overloaded resources

Fix the overload problem

To do this, go to the Visual Resource Optimizer. He looks like this.