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1
For Oracle employees and authorized partners only. Do not distribute to third parties.
© 2011 Oracle Corporation – Proprietary and Confidential
INTRODUCTION TO PRIMAVERA
P6 EPPM RELEASE 8
FOR IMPLEMENTATION
CONSULTANTS
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© 2012 Oracle Corporation – Proprietary and Confidential
TABLE OF CONTENTS Lesson 1: Course Overview ...................................................................................... 13
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 13
Course Logistics .......................................................................................................................... 14
Classroom Management ............................................................................................................ 14
What this Course IS – and ISN’T ................................................................................................. 14
Course Learning Objectives ........................................................................................................ 15
Lesson 2: Introduction to Primavera P6 .................................................................... 19
Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 19
Role / Impact Chart .................................................................................................................... 19
Introduction to Oracle-Primavera P6 ......................................................................................... 20
Project-intensive Industries Require Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM) ......... 21
Why Oracle-Primavera? ............................................................................................................. 22
Enterprise Project Portfolio Management ................................................................................. 23
Enterprise Project Portfolio Management: Single Corporate System of Record ..................... 24
Lesson 3: Data and Basic Navigation ........................................................................ 26
Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 27
Role / Impact Chart .................................................................................................................... 27
Enterprise and Project-Specific Data ......................................................................................... 27
Enterprise Data .......................................................................................................................... 28
Project-Specific Data .................................................................................................................. 28
Enterprise/Project-Specific Data ................................................................................................ 29
Logging In ................................................................................................................................... 30
Dashboards Page Basics ............................................................................................................. 31
Dashboards Page Navigation ..................................................................................................... 32
Opening an Existing Project ....................................................................................................... 33
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Activities Page............................................................................................................................ 36
Lesson 4: Views ......................................................................................................... 39
Objectives .................................................................................................................................. 39
Role / Impact Chart.................................................................................................................... 39
Activity Views ............................................................................................................................ 40
Activity View List ........................................................................................................................ 44
Activity Network ........................................................................................................................ 45
Activity Table ............................................................................................................................. 46
Calendar View ............................................................................................................................ 47
LAB: Customizing a view ........................................................................................................... 48
Columns ..................................................................................................................................... 49
Activity Details ........................................................................................................................... 51
Saving Views .............................................................................................................................. 53
LAB: Create a New View ........................................................................................................... 54
LESSON REVIEW ......................................................................................................................... 55
Lesson 5: Enterprise Project Structure ...................................................................... 56
Objectives .................................................................................................................................. 56
Role / Impact Chart.................................................................................................................... 56
Enterprise Project Structure ...................................................................................................... 57
EPS and Security Issues – Changes to User’s Access or Functionality ....................................... 58
Viewing the EPS ......................................................................................................................... 59
Modify the EPS .......................................................................................................................... 60
Benefits of the EPS .................................................................................................................... 60
EPS Implementation Consulting Note ....................................................................................... 60
LESSON REVIEW ......................................................................................................................... 61
Small Group Discussion: ............................................................................................................ 62
Lesson 6: Project Details and Defaults ...................................................................... 65
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Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 65
Role / Impact Chart .................................................................................................................... 65
Project Details and Defaults ....................................................................................................... 66
General Tab ................................................................................................................................ 66
Must Finish By Date ................................................................................................................... 67
Project Planned Start Date ......................................................................................................... 67
Project Codes ............................................................................................................................. 68
Codes Tab ................................................................................................................................... 69
Description Tab .......................................................................................................................... 71
Funding Tab ................................................................................................................................ 72
Issues Tab ................................................................................................................................... 73
Notebook Tab ............................................................................................................................. 74
Fields in the Notebook tab ......................................................................................................... 75
Adding a Notebook Topic ........................................................................................................... 76
Risks Tab ..................................................................................................................................... 77
Instructor Led Training Project Setup View ............................................................................... 78
Saving the Project Setup View ................................................................................................... 81
Project Default Fields ................................................................................................................. 82
Auto-numbering Defaults .......................................................................................................... 83
Activity Type ............................................................................................................................... 84
Duration Type............................................................................................................................. 86
Percent Complete Type .............................................................................................................. 88
Cost Account .............................................................................................................................. 90
Calendar ..................................................................................................................................... 91
Additional Project Level Setting Fields ....................................................................................... 92
LESSON REVIEW ......................................................................................................................... 94
Lesson 7: Creating a Project ..................................................................................... 95
Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 95
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Role / Impact Chart.................................................................................................................... 95
EPS Page .................................................................................................................................... 96
Expanding and Collapsing .......................................................................................................... 97
Creating a Project ...................................................................................................................... 98
LAB: Create a Project ................................................................................................................ 99
Lesson 8: Modifying Project Information ................................................................ 103
Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 103
Role / Impact Chart.................................................................................................................. 103
Overview .................................................................................................................................. 104
Project ID: Project Plans ......................................................................................................... 104
Course Scenario ....................................................................................................................... 104
LAB: Modifying Project IDs ..................................................................................................... 105
Project Name ........................................................................................................................... 105
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 105
Review LAB .............................................................................................................................. 105
Lesson 9: Creating a Work Breakdown Structure..................................................... 107
Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 107
Role / Impact Chart.................................................................................................................. 107
Work Breakdown Structure ..................................................................................................... 108
Viewing WBS Elements ............................................................................................................ 109
Create a WBS ........................................................................................................................... 110
Modifying the WBS .................................................................................................................. 111
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 113
Lesson 10: Adding and Editing Activities ................................................................. 115
Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 115
Role / Impact Chart.................................................................................................................. 115
Activities .................................................................................................................................. 116
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Activity Attributes .................................................................................................................... 116
LAB: Set up a Project Defaults ................................................................................................. 117
Activity Type ............................................................................................................................. 118
Adding Activities ...................................................................................................................... 119
Saving Changes ......................................................................................................................... 121
LAB: General Tab ..................................................................................................................... 122
Adding Steps to an Activity ...................................................................................................... 125
Lab: Steps ................................................................................................................................ 126
Notebook Tab ........................................................................................................................... 128
Activity Codes ........................................................................................................................... 129
Assigning Activity Codes to an Activity .................................................................................... 130
LAB: Assigning Activity Codes .................................................................................................. 131
Calendars.................................................................................................................................. 132
Calendar Types ......................................................................................................................... 132
Calendar Assignments And Activities ....................................................................................... 133
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 134
Lesson 11: Creating Relationships .......................................................................... 137
Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 137
Role / Impact Chart .................................................................................................................. 137
Network Logic Diagram ............................................................................................................ 138
Precedence Diagramming Method .......................................................................................... 138
Relationship Types ................................................................................................................... 139
Relationships with Lag ............................................................................................................. 139
LAB: Creating Relationships in the Activity Details ................................................................. 140
Assigning Lag ............................................................................................................................ 143
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 144
Lesson 12: Scheduling ............................................................................................ 145
Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 145
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Role / Impact Chart.................................................................................................................. 145
Critical Path Method Scheduling ............................................................................................. 146
Critical Path.............................................................................................................................. 146
What is the Data Date ? ........................................................................................................... 147
Viewing the Data Date ............................................................................................................. 148
Forward Pass ........................................................................................................................... 149
Backward Pass ......................................................................................................................... 149
Total Float ................................................................................................................................ 149
Backward Pass with Required Finish ....................................................................................... 150
Circular Relationships (Loops) ................................................................................................. 150
Open Ends ................................................................................................................................ 151
Scheduling a Project ................................................................................................................ 152
Schedule Log ............................................................................................................................ 155
Audit Schedules using Schedule Log........................................................................................ 157
Lab: Review Schedule Log and Correct Errors ......................................................................... 158
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 159
Lesson 13: Assigning Constraints ............................................................................ 161
Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 161
Role / Impact Chart.................................................................................................................. 161
Constraints ............................................................................................................................... 162
COMMONLY USED CONSTRAINTS ........................................................................................... 163
Impact of Must Finish By Constraint ....................................................................................... 165
Activity Constraints .................................................................................................................. 167
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 169
Lesson 14: Formatting Schedule Data ..................................................................... 171
Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 171
Role / Impact Chart.................................................................................................................. 171
Grouping Data ......................................................................................................................... 172
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Customize Grouping Box .......................................................................................................... 173
LAB: Grouping and Sorting ...................................................................................................... 174
Grouping by Date ..................................................................................................................... 175
Sorting Activities ...................................................................................................................... 176
Filtering Activities ..................................................................................................................... 177
Filters Dialog Box ...................................................................................................................... 178
Applying a Standard Filter ........................................................................................................ 180
Using Multiple Filters ............................................................................................................... 181
Clear all Filters .......................................................................................................................... 182
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 183
Lesson 15: Roles and Resources ............................................................................. 185
Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 185
Role / Impact Chart .................................................................................................................. 185
Roles and Resources ................................................................................................................ 186
Roles Dictionary ....................................................................................................................... 187
Roles Dictionary Details ........................................................................................................... 188
Defining Resources ................................................................................................................... 189
The Resources Administration Page ........................................................................................ 190
Resource Details ....................................................................................................................... 191
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 195
Lesson 16: Assigning Roles ..................................................................................... 197
Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 197
Role / Impact Chart .................................................................................................................. 197
Assigning Roles to Activities ..................................................................................................... 198
LAB: Assign a role to an activity ............................................................................................... 199
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 202
Lesson 17: Assigning Resources and Costs .............................................................. 203
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Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 203
Role / Impact Chart.................................................................................................................. 203
Steps for Resource Management ............................................................................................ 204
Lab: Assigning Resources by Role ........................................................................................... 205
Assigning Resources ................................................................................................................ 206
Lab: Modifying a Resource Assignment.................................................................................. 207
Designating a Primary Resource .............................................................................................. 208
Planning Costs ......................................................................................................................... 209
Resource Costs ........................................................................................................................ 209
Expense Costs .......................................................................................................................... 210
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 212
Small Group Discussion ........................................................................................................... 213
Lesson 18: Analyzing Resources .............................................................................. 215
Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 215
Role / Impact Chart.................................................................................................................. 215
Summarize Project Data .......................................................................................................... 217
Team Usage Page .................................................................................................................... 218
Displaying the Team Usage page ............................................................................................. 219
Formatting the Team Usage Page ........................................................................................... 220
Displaying a Resource’s Allocation .......................................................................................... 222
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 223
Lesson 19: Optimizing the Project Plan ................................................................... 225
Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 225
Role / Impact Chart.................................................................................................................. 225
Analyzing the Project ............................................................................................................... 226
Analyzing Schedule Dates ........................................................................................................ 227
Comparing Finish Date to Must Finish By Date ....................................................................... 228
Focusing on Critical Activities .................................................................................................. 229
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LAB: Compressing the Schedule by Focusing on Critical Path Activities ................................. 230
Shortening the Project ............................................................................................................. 233
Refining Duration Estimates .................................................................................................... 234
Modifying Relationships ........................................................................................................... 235
Modifying Constraints .............................................................................................................. 236
Verifying Project Dates............................................................................................................. 237
Analyzing Resource Allocation ................................................................................................. 238
Lab: Use the Team Usage Page to identify over allocated resources. .................................... 239
Identifying Resource Over allocation ....................................................................................... 240
Identifying Activities causing Over allocation .......................................................................... 241
Correcting Over allocation ....................................................................................................... 242
Lab: Resolve Over Allocation ................................................................................................... 245
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 247
Lesson 20: Baselining the Project Plan .................................................................... 249
Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 249
Role / Impact Chart .................................................................................................................. 249
Baselines .................................................................................................................................. 251
Creating a Baseline ................................................................................................................... 253
Assigning a Baseline ................................................................................................................. 255
Viewing Baseline Bars .............................................................................................................. 257
Bars Tab .................................................................................................................................... 258
Displaying Baseline Bars ........................................................................................................... 259
Saving the View ........................................................................................................................ 260
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 261
Small Group Lab ....................................................................................................................... 262
Lesson 21: Project Execution and Control ............................................................... 263
Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 263
Updating a Project ................................................................................................................... 264
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Defining a Statusing Period ..................................................................................................... 266
Lab: Statusing a Project .......................................................................................................... 268
Rescheduling the Project ......................................................................................................... 271
View Schedule Impacts ............................................................................................................ 272
Controlling the Project ............................................................................................................ 273
Compressing the Schedule ...................................................................................................... 274
LESSON REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 276
SMALL GROUP SUMMARY LAB ................................................................................................ 278
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Notes
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LESSON 1: COURSE OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
This training course provides the Implementation Consultant with basic training on
Primavera P6 EPPM v8.2. The course takes a more streamlined approach at
teaching basic functionality, focusing on the fastest way to do things in Primavera P6
EPPM. In addition, each section of the course will provide an organizational impact
assessment of the functionality, including:
� Which Roles at a Customer would care about this functionality?
� Why would they care?
� Are there any Risks associated with this functionality?
In addition, each lesson will include small workshop exercises that require
Participants to take what has been demonstrated/learned and then apply it to a
business scenario.
The course is also structured on an “easy to difficult” skill building path. Therefore,
it will not be possible to skip any course sessions and expect to be able to pick up
missed content. In addition, since content would have been missed, the skills in
successive chapters are built on previous chapters, which would more than likely
leave the Participant confused when he / she could return.
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COURSE LOGISTICS
This course takes three full days to complete. The Instructor will take one break per
hour. The Instructor will set the start and end times for the breaks, and will start
back from break at the agreed upon time.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
The use of cell phones in the class is prohibited. Texting is not allowed. The reason
for these rules is that there is a lot of content being delivered quickly. If a class
participant is constantly coming in and out of the class from an attention
perspective, they will fall behind and will get lost.
Given that this course is a compression of two courses, time is of the essence. The
Instructor will not have time to go back and re-teach content to participants that
have “checked out” by texting, taking meetings, or answering calls.
WHAT THIS COURSE IS – AND ISN’T
This course is a fundamental overview of Primavera P6 EPPM r8.2 functionality. The
expected outcome is fluent understanding of basic functionality. It isn’t an
opportunity to have the instructor provide free consulting expertise during class
time to solve issues that may have arisen during a Customer engagement.
If Participants bring up consulting issues that are not relevant to the scope of this
class, the issues will be tabled on the white board. If there is time, then the
Instructor may discuss these issues during breaks. However, given that there is a lot
of content packed into three days, Participants may find that these discussions are
limited.
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COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Basics of Oracle-Primavera
� Describe Primavera
� Describe P6
Data, Navigating, and Views
� Describe enterprise and project-specific data
� Log in
� Open an existing project
� Navigate in the Home window and Activities window
� Open an existing view
� Customize a view
� Save a view
Enterprise Project Structure
� Describe the components that comprise the Enterprise Project
Structure
� View the EPS
Creating a Project
� Create a project
� Create a project from template
� Navigate in the Projects window
� View and modify information in Project Details
Creating a Work Breakdown Structure
� Create and edit multiple levels of a WBS hierarchy
Adding Activities
� Describe an activity and its components
� Describe activity types
� Add activities
� Add a Notebook topic to an activity
� Add steps to an activity
� Assign activity codes to activities
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Creating Relationships
� View a network logic diagram
� Differentiate between the four relationship types
� Create relationships between Activities
Scheduling
� Perform a forward and backward pass
� Describe float and its impact on a schedule
� Identify loops and open ends
� Calculate a schedule
� Analyze the scheduling log report
Assigning Constraints
� Apply a Must Finish By date to the Project
� Apply a constraint to an individual activity
� Add notebook topics to constrained activities
� Describe the available constraint types
� Identify schedule Risks associated with assigning activity constraints
Formatting Schedule Data
� Group activities according to a specific criteria
� Sort activities
� Apply a filter
� Create a filter
Roles and Resources
� Describe roles
� Views the roles dictionary
� Describe resources
� Identify the differences between labor, non-labor and material
resources
� View the resource dictionary
Assigning Roles
� Assign roles to an activity
� Assign rates to roles
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Assigning Resources and Costs
� Assign resources by role
� Assign labor, non-labor, and material resources to activities
� Adjust Budgeted Units/Time for a resource
� Assign expenses to activities
Analyzing Resources
� Display the Resource Usage Profile
� Format a profile
� Format the timescale
Optimizing the Project Plan
� Analyze schedule dates
� Shorten a project schedule
� Analyze resource availability
� Remove resource over allocation
� Analyze project costs
Baselining the Project Plan
� Create a baseline plan
� Display baseline bars on the Gantt Chart
� Modify the bars on the Gantt Chart
� Adding a progress line
� Identify Risk and Issues associated with the management of baselines
Project Execution and Control
� Describe several methods for updating the project schedule
� Use Progress Spotlight
� Status activities
� Reschedule the project
� Identify potential usage issues associated with statusing a project and
rescheduling
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Reporting Performance
� Describe reporting methods
� Run a schedule report
� Run Configuration reports
� Create a report using the current layout
� Create a report using Report Wizard
Summarizing Project Data & Running Job Services
� View summarizer details
� Manually summarize data
Notes
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LESSON 2: INTRODUCTION TO PRIMAVERA P6
OBJECTIVES
Provide high level overview of Primavera P6 and its role as an Enterprise Project
Portfolio Management tool
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
Present overview information during Project Kick Off
meetings, and during reinforcement meetings with
Executive Sponsors
Executive
Sponsorship
Create and deliver reinforcing communications to
supporting organizations helping to drive adoption
Customer Core
Project Team
Address organizational resistance issues with
information
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INTRODUCTION TO ORACLE-PRIMAVERA P6
Primavera’s mission has always been to “rid the world of project failure”. Primavera
has been achieving this goal – one project and one company at a time. For 25 years
Primavera has been recognized as a global leader in project portfolio management
and consistently ranked as a leader by industry analysts.
Primavera’s primary focus has been on project-intensive industries, as well as the
project-focused groups in all types of businesses. Primavera solutions support
unique industry-specific business processes within these project-intensive
industries. Customer base is especially strong in engineering and construction,
Utilities, oil & gas, the US military, Federal government agencies and Aerospace and
Defense.
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PROJECT-INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES REQUIRE ENTERPRISE
PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT (EPPM)
When Primavera started in 1983, project management was the responsibility of
specialists in companies whose businesses were completely dependent on
delivering projects. Over the years, Project and Portfolio Management has evolved
into an enterprise-wide application that drives business success in many industries.
Primavera customers, especially those who rely on effective project management
for competitive advantage and profitability, have asked for complete solutions that
integrate financials with project portfolio management to meet the challenges that
these companies face.
� They want to better manage projects in spite of competing priorities
and limited resources.
� Their customers and project sponsors expect faster project delivery
without sacrificing any scope or quality.
� They need visibility into issues, risks, changes, budgets – everything
essential to controlling a project – so everyone has the information
they need to make the best decisions.
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� And across the board, projects are becoming increasingly more
complex which demands tighter collaboration among all participants,
regardless of where they are in the enterprise.
WHY ORACLE-PRIMAVERA?
Primavera is a natural fit for Oracle with an impressive list of customers across
industries.
With Oracle and Primavera, an organization can ensure that clear goals are
communicated from the top down, and are then reflected in the project priorities. It
requires implementing governance processes and data across the enterprise to be
able to deliver the right projects and programs aligned with business goals and
objectives.
Primavera functionality helps to establish processes for aligning resources with the
high-value projects. The single view of data will enable project teams to move faster
in a concerted, integrated effort to satisfy customers and clients.
Primavera provides the information needed to complete projects on time and
within budget – helping to rid the world of project failure. The single system view of
data provides visibility into project performance issues, thereby giving advanced
warning to stakeholders of Risk and Issues that would contribute to project failure.
Primavera provides access to real-time information to make informed decisions and
mitigate risk. Having a comprehensive single view of data will provide
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measurements on commitments made throughout project teams. The
commitments with measurements hold projects accountable for these
commitments. Measurements and Key Performance Indicators drive completion
and success.
ENTERPRISE PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
To understand Primavera products and services, one must have an understanding of
Enterprise Project Portfolio Management. Primavera provides bottom up data from
a dispersed field and uses its best in class scheduling engine to provide real time
schedule and forecast information on:
� Date of Delivery
� Cost at Completion
� Resource requirements
� Contingency required
� Earned value
Primavera's Enterprise Project Portfolio Management products, together with
Oracle's project financials, human resources, supply chain management, product
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lifecycle management, business intelligence, and infrastructure software are
expected to provide the first, comprehensive Enterprise Project Portfolio
Management solution. This solution will help companies optimize resources and the
supply chain, reduce costs, manage changes, meet delivery dates, and ultimately
make better decisions, all by using real-time data.
The combined offering of Oracle and Primavera allows true end to end Enterprise
Project Portfolio Management.
ENTERPRISE PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT:
SINGLE CORPORATE SYSTEM OF RECORD
Primavera P6 is a recognized leading choice for mission critical Enterprise Project
Portfolio Management solutions and helps more than 5,000 global customers and
over 2.5 million users propose, prioritize, select, plan, manage, and control complex
projects.
Primavera’s products are complementary to Oracle’s leading applications,
middleware, and database offerings. Together, Oracle and Primavera provide the
first, comprehensive Enterprise Project Portfolio Management solution for project-
intensive industries, all from a single, global vendor.
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Oracle is well positioned and committed to support Enterprise Project Portfolio
Management (EPPM) customers. Effective EPPM integrated with financial, human
capital management, product lifecycle management, supply chain applications, and
infrastructure software removes the silos that separate traditional PPM from other
key enterprises, and is critical to accelerating business innovation, enabling efficient
project execution, driving project profitability, and reducing risk for large complex
and capital-intensive projects.
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Notes
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LESSON 3: DATA AND BASIC NAVIGATION
OBJECTIVES
� Describe enterprise and project-specific data
� Log in
� Open an existing project
� Navigate in the Dashboard page and Activities page
� Open an existing view
� Customize a view
� Save a view
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
An implementation consultant needs to have an
understanding of the basics of navigation, as well as
what data is Enterprise and Project Specific in order to
configure the system to satisfy the Customer’s business
requirements.
In addition, having an understanding of Enterprise
(Global) and Project data will help define Security
Profiles.
Customer Core
Project Team
The Core Team / Project Team must have an
understanding of the basics of Enterprise and Project
Specific data in order to state their business
requirements in terms of functionality.
ENTERPRISE AND PROJECT-SPECIFIC DATA
A project in P6 contains enterprise data and project-specific data.
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ENTERPRISE DATA
Enterprise data provides the global structure needed to manage multiple projects. It
is available to all projects across the organization and provides the infrastructure for
centralized project and resource management. Enterprise data is usually defined
and maintained by a system administrator.
Examples of enterprise data:
� Enterprise Project Structure (EPS)
� Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS)
� Project codes
� Resource codes
� Admin settings and preferences
� Resources
� Cost accounts
Enterprise data is globally configured data that is generally tightly controlled by
Change Controls Boards with a Change Request process in place. Very few people
will have the security to be able to modify Enterprise data to help ensure the
ongoing integrity of the system.
PROJECT-SPECIFIC DATA
Project-specific data is only available to the project in which it is defined. Project
managers will define project-specific data to further control their projects.
Examples of project-specific data:
� Dates
� Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
� Activities
� Activity relationships
� Baselines
� Expenses
� Risks
� Thresholds and issues
� Work products and documents
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� Project Web site
ENTERPRISE/PROJECT-SPECIFIC DATA
The following types of data are enterprise as well as project-specific:
� Calendars
� Reports
� Activity codes
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LOGGING IN
Type a valid Login Name and Password to log in to Primavera P6. If the Login
Name/Password is not known, contact the system administrator.
NOTE: Passwords are case sensitive.
NOTE: Some Customers may have IT Security requirements that have been defined
within the organization. Options exist for both SSO and LDAP support within P6.
Log in to Primavera
1. Launch your internet browser and access the login page.
2. In the Username field, enter <admin>.
3. In the Password field, enter <admin>.
4. Click on the Login button.
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DASHBOARDS PAGE BASICS
The Dashboards page is the starting point for navigation. It provides quick access to
a series of project and enterprise data.
At the top of the Dashboards page is the Navigation bar, which lists the 4 sections
the user will have access within Primavera, which is controlled by a user’s security
settings. Each section provides specific functionality.
It may be helpful to think of the Navigation bar as specific locations of data within
the application. Instead of a file structure, there is a graphical user interface
showing pages with titles.
FUNCTIONALITY NOTE: The data that appears on the dashboards is controlled by
each dashboard’s filter, and is not impacted by the project that is currently open in
the application.
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DASHBOARDS PAGE NAVIGATION
The table below lists key navigation items in the Home window.
Item Description
(1) Navigation Bar The Navigation bar displays the four sections the
user has access; Dashboards, Portfolios, Projects,
and Resources.
(2) Available Dashboards Dashboards can be created by the administrator
and assigned to users. Users can also create user
specific dashboards.
(3) Filter by Box The filter selected in the box controls the data that
is displayed on the dashboard.
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OPENING AN EXISTING PROJECT
In order to edit project data users will need to open a project. Users can open
individual projects or groups of projects. Opening multiple projects is common on
very large projects when each project in P6 represent a smaller subset of the overall
project. Multiple projects can be opened by select individual projects in the Open
Project box, or selecting an EPS node.
FUNCTIONALITY NOTE: if a user does not have access to the node or the project,
they will not be able to open the projects within the node. This is important to
remember, as it often results in calls to Support organizations.
There are very good reasons for understanding how to use the Open Project
dialogue box. The Open Project dialog box lists all the projects you are authorized
to open.
� Open a single project
� Open a single node
� All projects under the node are opened.
� Open multiple projects under different nodes
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Display the Open Project Box
1. On the Navigation bar, click on the Projects drop down arrow.
2. Click on the link Open Projects.
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Open a Project
1. Select all projects in the Selected Projects section and click on the Left pointed
arrow.
2. Expand the All Initiatives and Engineering & Construction nodes.
3. Scroll down and select the project Nesbid Building Expansion.
4. Click on the Right pointed arrow.
5. Click on the Ok button.
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ACTIVITIES PAGE
The Activities page is used to create, view, and edit activities for open projects. The
table below lists key navigation items in the Activities page.
Item Description
(1) Projects Bar Create and manage projects, request or staff
resources, and update project status
(2) Menu Bar All commands executed by toolbar icons can be
accessed with these three commands: Actions,
Edit, and View
(3) Activity Table and
GANTT Chart
List of Activities in the project plan, and the
associated GANTT
(4) Activity Details Tab Details tabs allow entry of information about a
highlighted activity
(5) Tool Bar Use the Activities tool bar to execute features and
functions on the Activities page.
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Navigate to Activities page
1. On the Projects bar, click on Activities.
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Notes
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LESSON 4: VIEWS
OBJECTIVES
� Open an existing view
� Customize a view
� Save a view
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
Views are one of the most powerful features of
Primavera P6 EPPM. The Implementation Consultant
must be fluent in the creation, modification and use of
views.
Customer Core
Project Team
The Core Team / Project Team must have an
understanding of the basics of Views, as this will be
foundation data for reporting and data entry solutions.
Views are a very powerful feature of Primavera P6 EPPM. A view is a customizable
display of information, combining all the visual elements that appear on the screen.
In the Projects section, Views are available in the EPS and Activities pages. Views
can also be used to enter data.
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ACTIVITY VIEWS
The Activities page provides options for viewing data. Data can be displayed using
four different options. These options are available under the View menu, and on
the toolbar.
Show on Top
In any view, users may access different information.
1. Verify that you are in the Projects section and on the Activities page.
2. In the View drop down list, select Gantt Chart by WBS.
3. In the View menu, select and view each of the following:
� Gantt Chart
� Table
� Activity Network
� Calendar View
4. Click on View, Gantt Chart.
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Activity Details
When a user selects an activity in the Activities page, the Activity details section will
appear.
1. Select the activity Design Building Addition.
2. Click on each tab in the Activities Details.
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WBS Details
When a user selects a WBS element in the Activities page, the WBS details section
will appear.
1. Select the WBS element Design and Engineering.
2. Click on each tab in the WBS Details.
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Hiding Details
To hide the details section, click on the Minimize button.
1. Click on the Minimize Details button.
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ACTIVITY VIEW LIST
Views can be saved three ways:
� Global – Available to all users. A security privilege is required to create
and edit a Global View.
� Multiple Users – Available to a select list of users.
� User – Available only to the user currently logged in.
Selecting views from the Activity View List
Select different activity views. If prompted to save changes to view, click on No.
1. In the Activity View list, select the view Activity Count.
2. In the Activity View list, select the view Simple Spreadsheet.
3. In the Activity View list, select the view Resources.
4. In the Activity View list, select the view Gantt Chart by WBS.
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ACTIVITY NETWORK
Use the Activity Network to view the relationships between activities and the logical
flow of the activities in the project. Activity boxes can be grouped by various criteria,
such as WBS.
This display is a great way to quickly see relationships between activities. If there
are activities without relationships, then the project’s logic is broken and should be
repaired before scheduling the project in order to properly calculate the project’s
critical path.
Display the Activity Network
1. Click on View, Activity Network.
2. Click on View, Zoom Out until all five activities in Design and Engineering are
visible on the screen.
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ACTIVITY TABLE
The Activity Table enables the user to display project data in spreadsheet format.
The user can also modify the columns in the Activity Table to meet their needs.
Display the Activity Table on the entire screen to analyze data solely in tabular
format.
Display the Activity Table
1. Click on View, Table.
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CALENDAR VIEW
The Calendar View enables the user to display project data in a Calendar format.
Display the Calendar View
1. Click on View, Calendar View.
2. Scroll to November 2011.
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LAB: CUSTOMIZING A VIEW
Any view can be customized and saved as a new view. Saving views for future use
allows users to quickly retrieve information. The View menu and the Customize
View box are the centralized areas for view customization.
The following is a list of view elements that are customizable:
� Columns
� Activity grouping and sorting
� Filters
� Bars
� Gantt Chart
� Activity Network
BEST PRACTICE: As mentioned previously, any view can be customized and saved as
a new view. There are also a number of predefined views that are available in
Primavera P6. P6 users should explore each of the predefined views for possible use
before starting from scratch to build all new views.
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COLUMNS
The Columns box enables the user to select columns to display in the Activity Table
and specify the order in which they appear.
� Available Columns section — Lists data items by category.
� Selected Columns section — Lists items currently displayed.
� Single arrows — Move highlighted data items to the other section.
� Up/down arrows — Configure the order of the data items.
� Show first column as – The Activity ID or Activity Name must be the first
column in the Activity Table. Whichever field is not selected in this list
must be added to the Selected Columns list.
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Add a column to the Activity Table and reorder
1. Click on View, Gantt Chart.
2. Click on View, Columns.
3. In the Show the first column as list, select Activity ID.
4. Under Available Options, expand the General group, select Activity Name and
click on the Right pointed arrow.
5. Under Available Options, expand the Dates group, select Start and click on the
Right pointed arrow.
6. Under Selected Options, select Activity Status and Primary Resource and click on
the Left pointed arrow.
7. Use the Up and Down buttons to reorder the fields to match the Screenshot.
8. Click OK.
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ACTIVITY DETAILS
The tabs displayed in Activity Details can be hidden.
BEST PRACTICE: It may be beneficial to create views that have only some of the
available tabs visible for specific functionality.
Customize Activities Details
1. Click on View, Customize Detail Windows.
2. Under Area, select Activities.
3. Clear the checkboxes for Expenses, Feedback, Issues, and Risks.
4. In the Customize Detail Windows box, click on the Save button.
5. In the Customize Detail Windows box, click on the Close button.
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SAVING VIEWS
Views can be Global, Multiple User, or User.
� View, Save — Saves changes to the existing view.
� View, Save As — Prompts the user to save the view with a new name.
Customize Activities Details
1. Click on View, Save View As.
2. In the Save View As box enter <Organized by WBS with Details>.
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LAB: CREATE A NEW VIEW
Scenario
Customer has an immature project management organization that has not had a lot
of training in Primavera P6 EPPM. Within this organization, there are six new
project managers that will be responsible for updating schedule status.
Procedure
Using current project as sample data, design and build a simple view using the Gantt
Chart by WBS as a template.
Create the prototype, and determine the best way of proving out the usability of
this view.
Save the view in such a way that the original view is not over written.
Be prepared to present the view to the class.
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
The Dashboard page is a starting point for navigating in Primavera.
� Use the Navigation bar for quick access to Dashboards, Portfolios,
Projects, and Resources sections.
� A project consists of enterprise and project-specific data.
� View activity data in the Activities page and customize the view.
� Use views to easily display data specific to the user’s needs. The user
can customize views by selecting columns.
� Activity Details, arranged in tabs, displays detailed information for the
activity highlighted.
Discussion Questions
1. True or False: A view can be saved so it can be accessed by only one user.
2. How can an entire node of projects be opened simultaneously?
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LESSON 5: ENTERPRISE PROJECT STRUCTURE
OBJECTIVES
� Describe the components that comprise the Enterprise Project
Structure
� View the EPS
� Discuss the importance of the EPS
� Identify different ways of setting up the EPS given varying business
requirements
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
The Enterprise Project Structure will more than likely
be the first set of global data to be defined in a typical
implementation. Therefore, the Implementation
Consultant must be able to understand how to define
the EPS with the Customer.
Customer Core
Project Team
The Core Team / Project Team must have an
understanding of the Enterprise Project Structure, as
they will need to work with the Implementation
Consultant to define it in such as way as to facilitate
the basics of reporting to Management.
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ENTERPRISE PROJECT STRUCTURE
The Enterprise Project Structure (EPS) is a hierarchy used to organize projects.
� The EPS is made of roots and nodes.
� Each root in the EPS can be subdivided into many nodes.
� Nodes represent different levels within the structure.
It may be helpful to think of the EPS as the default group and sort, or the standard
filing system for projects.
For example, nodes can represent divisions within the company, departments,
project groups, or site locations.
� All projects must be included in a node.
� Each node can contain an unlimited number of projects
� Projects always represent the lowest level of the hierarchy
� Placement of a project in the hierarchy determines the summary level
in which it is included
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EPS AND SECURITY ISSUES – CHANGES TO USER ’S ACCESS OR
FUNCTIONALITY
Although the Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS) will not be discussed in this
course, these two notes are very important to remember. They will be recalled
during discussion on OBS and Security Profiles.
NOTE: Depending on which node the project resides, and depending on how users
have been assigned to EPS Nodes and OBS elements will affect if a User will have
access to a project. This is important, as it may result in a call to Support if the user
can’t see a project.
NOTE: Depending on which node the project resides, depending on how users have
been assigned to EPS Nodes and OBS elements, and depending on what Project
Security Profile has been assigned to a User in that EPS Node / OBS element will
determine what a User is able to do in a project. This is important, as it may result
in a call to Support if the user cannot modify data in a specific project plan.
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VIEWING THE EPS
A user can view the Enterprise Project Structure in the Projects section on the EPS
page.
The three fields to enter when adding an EPS node are:
� EPS ID — Identifies the selected EPS node.
� EPS Name — Description of the selected EPS node.
� Responsible Manager — Use this field to select an OBS
(Organizational Breakdown Structure) element to associate with the
selected level of the EPS.
As noted, the OBS will not be discussed in the chapter.
View the EPS
1. On the Navigation bar, click on Projects.
2. Click on the EPS page.
3. Open the view EPS Only View.
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MODIFY THE EPS
This functionality will be taught in the Application Administration course.
BENEFITS OF THE EPS
Each node in the EPS offers the customer the opportunity to roll up data.
Customers can define their EPS by Program, Functional Organization, Location, and
various other types of criteria. There is no one correct way to define the EPS.
The EPS offers many benefits, including the ability to:
� View project priorities, scope, budgets, and resources across the entire
project structure or within a specific node.
� Manage projects separately while retaining the ability to roll up and
summarize data across multiple projects.
� Each node acts as a master project, rolling up all "child" nodes and
projects.
� A node can be opened to view all detailed activity information from
the "child" projects.
� View resource allocation across projects.
� Assign security at any level of the project structure to provide users
with appropriate access to project information. For example, if a user
is assigned to the Construction Node only, then they will only have
access to that node and its children.
EPS IMPLEMENTATION CONSULTING NOTE
Defining the EPS can be a very time consuming process at a customer site. It is
important to communicate to customers that the EPS can be easily modified to
respond to changing business requirements.
In addition, and as this course will show in later chapters, it is possible to group and
sort on any criteria that is defined in the system by using codes. If a Customer
understands that this is possible, and if they understand that customized views can
be created with the grouping and sorting of the data as they desire for specific users
or organizations, the definition of the EPS will no longer seem to be limiting and
finite.
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� The EPS is a hierarchy that represents the management and
organization of projects in the company.
� In the EPS, the root is the top level and can be subdivided into nodes.
Each node represents a level in the project structure that can hold
another node or a project. Projects represent the lowest level of the
hierarchy.
� The EPS enables a user to view project data across the entire project
structure or within a specific node.
Review Questions
1. True or False: Five projects are the limit under each node.
2. True or False: A user can open only one project at a time.
3. True or False: Once the EPS is set in Primavera P6 EPPM, it can never be
changed.
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SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION:
15 minutes for discussion, 30 minutes for presentation
A user will be assigned to a smaller working group, and assigned one of the
following business scenarios. Determine how to best represent the EPS for this
customer using the requirements noted in the assigned business scenario.
Scenario A:
The customer is in the Utilities industry. The customer mentions that in the
planning, design, and building of a new nuclear power plant, that each component
in the end to end program is owned by a distinct organization that owns an
organizational budget. Each organization has budgeted effort for the specific
component within the end to end program. Each organization must also be able to
view roll ups of staffing plans to determine headcount shortfalls and associated
hiring plans.
Scenario B:
The customer is in Information Technology. The customer is an international
customer. Each IT organization is parsed into multiple sub organizations. Each sub
organization is budgeted and managed by location. Resources are also wholly
owned and managed by country. However, global projects require participation by
resources within each country. Global projects must be able to pull data into a
Program view.
Scenario C:
The customer is in the Oil and Gas industry. The customer utilizes master schedules,
with sub schedule components that are owned by sub contractor organizations.
Each sub contractor organization must update their schedules each week in
Primavera, export the project, and send it to the customer for inclusion into the
master schedule. The master schedule is managed as one project; however, the
projects are 10 to 15 years in duration, with global implications.
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Scenario D:
The customer is in Public Sector. The customer is mandated to use government
Earned Value Management processes. The customer’s projects are broken out by
contracted deliverable. Each deliverable must report Earned Value Management
metrics and agreed upon performance metrics. The contracted deliverables are
owned by different departments within the government. The resources for each
project deliverable may be government employees, or may be contractor
organizations.
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Notes
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LESSON 6: PROJECT DETAILS AND DEFAULTS
OBJECTIVES
� Navigate throughout Project Details
� Modify Project Details
� Assign Calendars
� Assign Project Status
� Assign Project Codes
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
Implementation Consultant must be fully versant in
each of the Project Details tabs, and understand the
implications of making different selections in Project
Details.
Core Project
Team
Core Project Team members must be able to coach
Users in affected organization on the use of Project
Details.
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PROJECT DETAILS AND DEFAULTS
Project Details is located in the bottom layout of the EPS page. It can be used to
define the project properties.
Project Defaults can be defined by displaying the appropriate columns and editing
the data in Project Table, or by clicking on Actions, Set Project Preferences.
GENERAL TAB
The General tab enables a user to view or modify general information about the
selected project. Project ID, Project Name, and Responsible Manager can be set
when you create the project, or a user can change them here.
� Project ID — Short, unique identifier for the project.
� Project Name — Name of the project.
� Project Status — Indicates project status. There are 4 project statuses:
Planned, Active, Inactive, and What If.
� Responsible Manager — Individual or organization selected from the
OBS that is responsible for the project. Users associated with this OBS
node will have access to the project, but what level of access is
dependent on the Project Security Profile.
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MUST FINISH BY DATE
The Must Finish By field is not a mandatory field. A user can assign a project Must
Finish By date at any point in the project life cycle in the General tab in Project
Details.
PROJECT PLANNED START DATE
Project Planned Start date is the current scheduled start date of the project. It
should not be confused with Actual Start, which is applied once the project has
started. Planned Start Dates are used to help create staffing and budget plans, as
well as see projects within a portfolio within the web.
View the Project Planned Start Date
1. On the Navigation bar, click on Projects, then click on the EPS page.
2. Under the Engineering & Construction node, select the project Nesbid Building
Expansion.
3. Click on the General tab.
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PROJECT CODES
Project codes allow users to categorize projects. An unlimited number of project
codes can be defined and their values assigned to projects. Since Project Codes are
defined at the enterprise level, a security privilege is required to create and edit
them, but not to use them.
Project codes can be set up in a tabular format in the EPS page for easy entry and
then saved as a view. Codes can be modified from the tables as well as the Codes
tab. The benefit of using a view rather than the Codes tab is that the User can be
certain that all of the codes have in fact been assigned to each project. It is also
very easy to determine if a required project code is missing and must be assigned.
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CODES TAB
The Codes tab enables users to assign project code values to the selected project.
Project codes allow users to group the projects in the EPS to specific categories,
such as location or division. Project codes also are useful organizing large amounts
of information and distinguishing one project from another. Unlimited hierarchical
project codes are supported.
It is extremely important that all required project codes are added to all projects.
Filters, filters applied to views, and grouping and sorting can all be generated using
codes. If the projects are not coded, then the data for the project is not included in
the reports. If the projects are not coded correctly, then any views that use filters
built on codes will not include those projects.
RISK: If customers are using the Codes tab for assigning project codes, it is very
possible that they will miss a required project code. Implementation Consultants
should clearly document all of the requirement project codes for each project type
to mitigate this risk.
BEST PRACTICE: Always create a project set up view for customers showing all
project codes in columns. By doing this, users can clearly see if there are codes that
have not been assigned to projects. In addition, it is easier to assign all codes in this
fashion in the Project Table.
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Assign a Project Code
1. Verify the project Nesbid Building Expansion is selected.
2. Click on the Codes tab.
3. Click on the Assign button.
4. In the Select Project Code box, expand the code Capacity Analysis and select the
value Required.
5. In the Select Project Code box, click on the Assign button, then click on the Close
button.
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DESCRIPTION TAB
The Description tab enables users to enter a project description which is viewable
when opening a project.
View the Description tab
1. Click the Description tab.
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FUNDING TAB
The Funding tab enables users to assigning Funding Sources during Customer
engagement where Project Budgeting, Project Cost Accounting, and possible
integrations with Financial Management Systems are in scope. If programs and
projects have multiple funding sources, creating a Funding Sources Dictionary is
required. Funding Sources are often linked to Cost Accounts by virtue of User
Defined Fields.
View the Funding tab
1. Click the Funding tab.
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ISSUES TAB
The Issues tab enables users to document problems or concerns about the projects.
Priority and responsibility can be associated with issues, allowing for tracking and
reporting.
View the Issues tab
1. Click the Issues tab.
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NOTEBOOK TAB
The Notebook tab enables users to write, view, or edit project notes such as the
project’s purpose, core requirements, or other project-specific details.
Notebook topics are defined as part of the configuration of Primavera. Notebook
topics can be assigned at the EPS level, Project level, WBS level, and Activity level.
The graphic below shows the default notebook topics that are used in the dataset
for this course. The notebook topic name is shown, along with where it can be
assigned.
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FIELDS IN THE NOTEBOOK TAB
� Notebook Topic — List of topics assigned to the selected
node/project.
� Detail — User-defined description of the selected topic. A user can use
HTML editing features, including formatting text, inserting pictures,
copying, pasting, and adding hyperlinks.
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ADDING A NOTEBOOK TOPIC
Add a Notebook Topic
1. Click the Notebooks tab.
2. Click on the Assign button.
3. In the Select Notebook Topic box, select Scope, and click on the Assign button.
4. In the Select Notebook Topic box, click on the Close button.
Double-click in the Description field for Scope, then click on the Browse button.
5. In the Edit Scope box, enter <To build an office building addition>.
6. In the Edit Scope box, click on Ok.
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RISKS TAB
The Risks tab enables users to document potential risks and the probability that the
risk will occur.
View the Risks tab
1. Click the Risk tab.
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INSTRUCTOR LED TRAINING PROJECT SETUP VIEW
We will now set up a new view which we will use for defining project defaults. We
will use the Budgetary Planning view as a template for our new view.
Open the Budgetary Planning View
1. Open the view Budgetary Planning.
2. Click on View, Columns.
3. In the Customize Columns box, remove all of the fields listed under Selected
Columns.
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Next we will select the fields we will display. Project level defaults settings will be
located in the Preferences group.
Display Fields
1. For the option Show first column as, select Project ID.
2. For the option Sort by, select Project Name.
3. Under Available Columns, expand the group General, and add Project Name.
4. Under Available Columns, expand the group Preferences, and add the following
fields:
• Activity ID Prefix
• Activity ID Suffix
• Activity Type
• Increment
• Calendar
• Duration Type
• Percent Complete Type
• Cost Account
5. Click on Ok.
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SAVING THE PROJECT SETUP VIEW
We will make some final adjustments and then save the new view.
Saving the Project Setup View
1. Use click and drag to adjust the column widths until all fields are visible.
2. Click on View, Save View As.
3. In the Save View As box, enter <Project Setup>.
4. Click on Ok.
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PROJECT DEFAULT FIELDS
Prior to creating activities in a schedule, the project default settings should be
reviewed and adjusted to ensure they are in accordance with the overall project
plan. These settings can be changed during the life of the project, but will not
impact activities which already exist. These settings will only impact new activities.
You can also access these settings by clicking on Actions, Set Project Preferences.
Navigate to Defaults Tab
1. Select the project Nesbid Building Expansion.
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AUTO-NUMBERING DEFAULTS
Three fields determine how new activities will be numbered in a project.
� Activity ID Prefix – Controls the alpha-numerical characters which
appear prior to the Activity ID Suffix.
� Activity ID Suffix – A sequence of numbers which, in combination with
the Activity ID Prefix, will be unique for each activity in a project.
� Increment – Controls the difference between each Activity ID Suffix
when a new activity is created.
USAGE HINT: For the activities in a project that may have the same names as other
projects, it may be useful to add some type of prefix that identifies the project
within the activity. If multiple projects are opened, it will help schedulers
differentiate between activities of multiple projects. For example, if the project is
an Office Building Addition project, Users could set the prefix to BA, and verify the
suffix as 1000 and the increment as 10. When adding activities, the first activity ID
will be numbered BA1000, the second activity ID will be BA1010, etc. For increment,
users must set this setting to either 5 or 10, to allow for spacing between the
Activity ID Suffix to insert new activities later in the process.
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ACTIVITY TYPE
The Activity Type controls how an activity is scheduled in accordance with
relationships, calendar assignments, and resource assignments.
Task Dependent
� The activity's resources are scheduled according to the activity
calendar. In other words, the schedule dates override the individual
resource’s calendar.
Resource Dependent
� The activity's resources are scheduled according to his/her own
calendar. This activity type selection will have a huge impact if the
Customer decides to implement resource leveling. In other words,
the schedule dates are less important than the individual resource’s
calendar.
Level of Effort
� The activity's duration is dependent on its predecessor and successor
activities. Administrative overhead activities are most often assigned
as Level of Effort activities. As predecessor and successor activity
dates shift, so will the dates of the Level of Effort activity. Constraints
cannot be applied to Level of Effort activities.
Start Milestone
� The activity marks the beginning of a major stage in the project. Start
Milestones do not have time-based costs, resource assignments, or
durations.
Finish Milestone
� The activity marks the end of a major stage in the project. Finish
Milestones do not have time-based costs, resource assignments, or
durations.
WBS Summary
� The activity's duration is dependent on the activities assigned to the
same WBS level, select WBS Summary. This activity functions the
same way that a WBS element does. The total duration for the activity
spans the total duration of all other activities. This activity type is used
very often by organizations for the assignment of resources.
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� The user cannot assign resources that drive activity dates to WBS
summary activities.
� Constraints cannot be applied to WBS Summary activities.
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DURATION TYPE
The Duration Type controls how the resource equation Duration * Units/Time =
Units is recalculated when one of the three fields is changed by the user.
Fixed Units/Time
Choose Fixed Units/Time if the user wants the resource units per time to remain
constant when the activity duration or units change. This type is used when an
activity has fixed resources with fixed productivity output per time period. The user
most often chooses this duration type when the user is using resource dependent
activities.
USAGE HINT: Selecting Fixed Units/Time limits the % allocation for a resource. Note
that this will affect resource dependent activities. If the resource’s % allocation
exceeds the specified limit, then the duration will be increased.
Fixed Duration & Units/Time
Choose Fixed Duration & Units/Time if the user wants the activity duration to
remain constant and the remaining units to change. This type is used when the
activity is to be completed within a fixed time period regardless of the resources
assigned. The user most often chooses this duration type when they are using task
dependent activities.
USAGE HINT: If Duration and Unit/Time are fixed, then the Units must change if the
work is to get done on time. If the user edits the Units, then the Units/Time will be
recalculated.
Scenario:
The user is working on a government contract that specifies that if a specific mission
critical activity does not complete by the agreed upon, contracted date, then a
penalty will be paid by the company. Since this is not a fixed bid contract (fixed
Units), it doesn’t matter to the company who does the work, or how many
resources are assigned to that activity to get that work completed by the contracted
date.
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Fixed Units
Choose Fixed Units if the user wants the activity units (work effort) to remain
constant when the duration or resource units per time change. This type is used
when the total amount of work is fixed, and increasing the resources can decrease
the activity duration. The user most often chooses this duration type when they are
using resource dependent activities.
USAGE HINT: If the user is working on a fixed bid contract and must report actual
against plan, then selecting Fixed Units is the best choice. For example: A
Contractor has 2 weeks to finish plumbing in a house. The total budgeted hours for
that activity are 80 hours. The project’s dates slip due to other contractor work
slips. The contract is renegotiated with the Customer. The plumbing activity now
has 3 weeks to complete. However, the budgeted hours are still only 80 hours.
Selecting Fixed Units means that those 80 hours will be spread over a three week
period instead of a two week period.
Fixed Duration & Units
Choose Fixed Duration & Units if the user wants the activity duration to remain
constant and the units/time to change. This type is used when the activity is to be
completed within a fixed time period and the total amount of work is fixed. The user
most often chooses this duration type when they are using task dependent
activities.
NOTE: The Duration Type field is disabled if the Activity Type is Start Milestone or
Finish Milestone.
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PERCENT COMPLETE TYPE
The Percent Complete Type selected reports project performance data. While all
three types are tracked, this setting controls which of the three will be used as the
Activity Percent Complete.
Physical % Complete
To indicate that the activity's percent complete will be entered by the user for this
activity, select Physical. In this case, Activity % Complete = Physical % Complete.
USAGE NOTE: This percent complete type is generally used by less mature project
management organizations. It is a subjective assessment of how much work has
been completed. The Risk of all activities being 90% complete is significant. This
risk can be mitigated by using Steps, and linking Physical % complete to Steps %
complete. Note that generally speaking, the activities are not fixed bid (units) or
fixed duration.
Duration % Complete
To specify that the activity's percent complete be calculated from the
original/planned and remaining durations, select Duration. In this case, Activity %
Complete = Duration % Complete = (Original or Planned Duration – Remaining
Duration)/Original or Planned Duration.
USAGE NOTE: This percent complete is calculated purely on the amount of time
that has elapsed vs. the amount of time that has been committed for an activity.
This is generally used in activities that have contracted dates with penalties. Or, it is
used by operations driven projects with budgets that must be spread over fixed date
ranges. The Risk with using this percent complete type is that although it clearly
shows how much time has been used, it does not give clear visibility into how much
work has actually been completed.
Units % Complete
To specify that the activity's percent complete be calculated from the actual and
remaining units, select Units. In this case, Activity % Complete = Units % Complete =
(Actual Labor Units + Actual Nonlabor Units)/(Actual Labor Units + Actual Nonlabor
Units +Remaining Labor Units + Remaining Nonlabor Units).
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USAGE NOTE: This percent complete type is calculated on the number of hours that
have been used vs. the total number of budgeted/contracted hours. This is
generally used on fixed bid contracts with fixed budgeted amounts. The Risk with
using the Percent Complete type is that although it clearly shows how much time
has been used, it does not give clear visibility into the amount of work that has been
completed.
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COST ACCOUNT
In many implementations, customers may wish to set up a Cost Account Breakdown
Structure. The Cost accounts are created and maintained under the Enterprise Data
page. A user can specify a project's default cost account. This cost account will be
used for resource assignments to activities and project expenses in the open
project.
The default cost account is only used for new resource assignments to activities and
new project expenses. Changing this setting does not affect existing resource
assignments to activities or existing project expenses.
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CALENDAR
Calendars can be created and assigned to each resource and each activity. These
calendars define the available work hours in each calendar day. A user can also
specify holidays, project-specific work/ non-workdays, and resource vacation days.
Calendar assignments are used for activity scheduling, tracking, and resource
leveling. Whether an activity uses its assigned calendar or the calendar of an
assigned resource depends on the activity type the user specifies.
Three calendar pools are defined:
� Global
The global calendar pool contains calendars that apply to all projects and
resources.
� Resource
The resource calendar pool can be a separate pool of calendars for each
resource.
� Project
The project calendar pool is a separate pool of calendars for each activity in a
project.
A user can assign either resource or global calendars to resources, and they can
assign either global or project calendars to activities.
A user can link resource and project calendars to global calendars. If a user defines a
holiday in a global calendar, that holiday will be applied to all resource and project
calendars that are linked to the modified global calendar.
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ADDITIONAL PROJECT LEVEL SETTING FIELDS
There are additional fields which can be displayed and modified based on how the
project will be managed. It is recommended that the impact of modifying these
settings be considered since they will have an impact on how project performance is
calculated.
Use the Calculations tab to specify how to calculate cost and resource use when a
user updates activities. This tab is significant, because it will affect Project
Performance reporting. If the Customer is implementing Earned Value, the settings
in this field will affect Earned Value Metrics. The table below describes the Setting
Names.
Setting Name Description
Activity % Complete
from Steps
For physical % complete activities, if this option is
enabled, then the activity % complete will be a
compiled calculation of Steps % complete.
Allow Duplicate
Resource
Assignments
Allows for the same resource to be assigned to an
activity more than once. This option should be
enabled if a resource assignment may change during
the life of the activity.
Allow Negative
Actual Units
Allows for negative actual hours to be entered.
Baseline Option Determines of the Project Baseline or the Primary
Baseline is used for Earned Value analysis.
Drive Activity Dates
by Default
When enabled, this option allows the resource
assignments to control the early finish of the activity.
Fiscal Year Sets the start of the fiscal year.
Link Actual and
Period Actual Units
and Cost
Enable this option to recalculate actual or period
actual units and costs when one of these values is
updated.
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Link Planned and At
Completion
The units and costs for the Planned and At Completion
fields will be linked for activities that have not started.
Price/Unit The price/unit will be used on activities that do not
have a resource assignment.
Primary Can
Complete Activity
The Primary Resource can mark an activity as
completed in Progress Reporter.
Rate Type The default rate type assigned to all resource
assignments.
Recalculate Units
from Costs
When enabled, this will recalculate the units on the
resource assignments when the user edits the costs.
Resources Can
Assign Themselves
Allows a resource to assign themselves to an activity in
Progress Reporter.
Resource Can
Complete
Assignments
Resource can mark an activity as completed.
Resources Can View
Inactive Projects
Resources can view their assignments in projects with
a status of Inactive.
Resource Status
Activities Using
Establishes that either Remaining Duration or Percent
Complete is used by the resource when statusing an
activity.
WBS Code Separator Which non-alpha-numerical character is used to
separate the different levels in the WBS.
When Activity
Progress is Removed
When actual are removed from an activity, determines
if remaining duration and units should be reset to
planned, or if planned duration and units should be
reset to remaining. This option should ALWAYS be set
to Reset Remaining Duration and Units to Planned.
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When Updating
Units or Costs
Determines if the actual units should be subtracted
from the at completion units to return a value for
remaining units, or if the actual units should be added
to the remaining units to return a value for the at
completion units.
LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� Use columns on the EPS page to define default settings and properties
for the selected project.
Review Questions
1. Click the _________ tab in the EPS page to change the project’s Planned Start
date.
a. General
b. Defaults
c. Dates
d. Settings
2. True or False: A user must specify a date by which the project must finish.
Notes
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Lesson 7: CREATING A PROJECT
OBJECTIVES
� Create a project
� Navigate in the Projects window
� View and modify information in Project Details
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
Implementation Consultants must be able to coach
and mentor Project Teams and Customer’s
Application Administrators on how to create projects.
Customer Core
Project Team
The Core Team / Project Team must have an
understanding of how to create projects because
they will need to develop processes around
controlling who can create projects, under what
conditions, and what those project plans must have
in common in order to create meaningful
management reports.
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EPS PAGE
To view high-level information about the project, navigate to the EPS page, which
displays the projects within the EPS that a user can access.
A user can also:
� Open, create, and save project views
� Group projects by the Enterprise Project Structure, project codes, or
other project-related items
� Filter projects
� Modify column data.
Navigate to EPS Page
1. On the Navigation bar, click Projects.
2. Click on the EPS page button.
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EXPANDING AND COLLAPSING
Expanding and collapsing allows a user to hide detailed data. The benefit is this
enables the user to hide information they do not currently need so they can search
for information.
Expand and Collapse EPS
1. Click on the collapse button on the left of the grouping band Engineering &
Construction.
2. Click on the expand button on the left of the grouping band Engineering &
Construction.
3. Click on View, Collapse All.
4. Click on the expand button on the left of the grouping band All Initiatives.
5. Click on the expand button on the left of the grouping band Engineering &
Construction.
6. Click on View, Expand All.
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CREATING A PROJECT
Projects can be created in the EPS page. A project can be created using one of the
following methods:
Method Description
Action menu, Add,
Add Project
This method allows the user to create a project
defining the required fields Project ID, Project Name,
Description, EPS, Responsible Manager, Project
Planned Start date, and Must Finish By date. The
user may also define which existing project or project
template to use as a template for the new project. If
creating a project from an existing project or project
template, the user can select which data to include
from the template.
Copy and Paste This method allows the user to select a project and
use copy and paste to create a new project. During
the paste function, the user can select which data to
include from the original project. Once the new
project has been created, the Project Name,
Description, EPS, Responsible Manager, Project
Planned Start date, and Must Finish By date will be
identical to the original project. The user will need to
edits these fields after the new project has been
created.
Import a file This method allows the user to import a project
saved in the XML format. The XML format is
supported by previous versions of Oracle Primavera
and Microsoft Project.
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LAB: CREATE A PROJECT
Create a Project
1. Confirm the user is on the EPS page.
2. Select the node Engineering & Construction.
3. Click on Actions, Add, Add Project.
4. In the Add Project box, enter MTP in the Project ID field.
5. Enter My Training Project in the Project Name field.
6. Enter February 4, 2013, in the Project Planned Start field.
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Since the user select the EPS node Engineering & Construction prior to creating the
project, the EPS field was set to that node. The Responsible Manager field was also
set, using the responsible manager as defined on the EPS node.
All of the required fields have been defined. However, if the user would like to use
an existing project as a template for the new project, they can define it at this time.
During this process the user can specific which data in the existing project to include
in the new project.
Since this will be a new project, certain data such as Issues, Funding Sources, and
Summary Data will not be included. The baseline from the original project will also
not be included.
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Select a Template
1. In the Add Project box, click on the Browse button for the option Copy from
existing project or template.
2. Expand the All Initiatives and Engineering & Construction nodes.
3. Select the project Nesbid Building Expansion, then click on Ok.
4. In the Add Project box, click on the Advanced tab.
5. Verify that the checkmarks for Issues, Funding Sources, Summary Data, and the
baselines are not marked, then click on Create.
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Notes
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LESSON 8: MODIFYING PROJECT INFORMATION
OBJECTIVES
� Create and Modify Project IDs
� Understand how Project IDs can be codified to represent project types
and programs
� Create and Modify Project Names
� Understand how Project Names can be standardized to show the
relationship to an overarching program
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
Implementation Consultants need to have an
understanding of how to optimize the use of
Project IDs and Project Names. This will help
the Customer to create standards and
guidelines that will facilitate understanding of
the data to specific user audiences.
Customer Core
Project Team
The Core Team / Project Team must have an
understanding of the best use of Project IDs and
Project Names. This will help communicate to
affected User audiences the meaning of the
data as it is created and maintained over time.
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OVERVIEW
Modifying the project information can be done in the EPS page in the table or in the
Project Details tabs. For simplicity, this class will utilize Project Setup Views created
earlier to enter data in the Project Table.
PROJECT ID: PROJECT PLANS
Project ID — this is a unique ID in Primavera. Primavera will not allow a duplicate
Project ID. If a user types in a previously used Project ID, a message will pop up
indicating that it is already in use.
COURSE SCENARIO
This course has been written to facilitate understanding of a program view of data.
The EPS has been set up by industry.
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LAB: MODIFYING PROJECT IDS
You will use the business case scenarios from earlier chapters.
Requirements
1. Rename Project ID
In the project table, double click in each Project ID field and rename it to
something else. That something else should include some reference to the
business case that you have been assigned.
2. Be prepared to show your responses and explain your Project IDs.
PROJECT NAME
The Project Name field does not require a unique name.
In the design of the solution for a customer, the Implementation Consultant should
recommend a set of naming conventions for each project that will make the names
recognizable.
LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� The user can create a project by importing a file, copying an existing
file, or by creating a project from an existing template.
� Once the project is created, use the Projects window to view high-
level information for projects the user can access.
REVIEW LAB
1. Create a new project in the training node for the assigned User/Login.
2. Rename the project: UserName Training Project.
3. Rename the Project ID: UserInitials_TP.
4. Enter a Planned Start date of March 4, 2013.
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Notes
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LESSON 9: CREATING A WORK BREAKDOWN
STRUCTURE
OBJECTIVES
� Define a Work Breakdown Structure
� Create multiple levels of a WBS hierarchy
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
An Implementation Consultant must be an expert at
creating and modifying Work Breakdown Structures to
respond to the myriad of project scenarios that will be
discovered at Customer sites.
Core Project
Team
The Core Team will need to be able to create Work
Breakdown Structures to be able to respond to the
requirements of the organizations affected by a
Primavera implementation.
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WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical arrangement of the products
and services produced during, and by, a project. It enables a user to divide a project
into meaningful and logical pieces for the purpose of planning and control.
� Each project has a unique WBS hierarchy.
� The root level of the WBS is equal to the Project ID and Project Name.
� Elements within the WBS have a “child/parent” relationship, which
means that they can be rolled up and summarized from the lower
level information.
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VIEWING WBS ELEMENTS
When a project is created, a root level WBS element is added with the same ID and
name as the project. The WBS can be viewed and defined in the Activities page of
the Projects section.
View the WBS in the Activities Page
1. On the Navigation bar, click on the Projects drop down arrow.
2. Click on the Open Projects link.
3. In the Open Projects box, verify that the project My Training Project is the only
project listed under Selected Projects. If other projects are listed, select each
one and click on the left pointed arrow button.
4. Click on Ok.
5. Click on the View, Collapse All.
6. Click on the Expand button the on the My Training Project grouping band.
7. Click on the Expand button the on the Mechanical/Electrical Systems grouping
band.
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CREATE A WBS
New WBS elements can be added as a child (lower level) or as a sibling (same level)
as the selected WBS element. WBS elements can be added using the Add WBS
buttons or the Action menu. The name of the WBS elements can be entered right in
the Activity table.
Add a WBS element.
1. Select the WBS element Design and Engineering.
2. Click on Action, Add, Add Child WBS.
3. Enter <30% Design> for the new WBS name.
4. Click on Action, Add, Add Child WBS.
5. Enter <65% Design> for the new WBS name.
6. Click on the Save button.
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MODIFYING THE WBS
The structure of the WBS can be modified. Elements can be outdented to a higher
level, or indented to a lower level. If the user adds a WBS element to the wrong
level or in the wrong order, they can use the indentation keys located in the Edit
menu to adjust the structure of the WBS hierarchy.
Modify a WBS element
1. Select the WBS element 65% Design.
2. Click on Edit, Outdent.
3. Click on the Save button.
Security can be controlled within Primavera down to the WBS level. A Responsible
Manager can be designated within the WBS.
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Add a Responsible Manager
1. Select the WBS element Design and Engineering.
2. Click on the General tab.
3. Double-click in the Responsible Manager field, then click on the Browse button.
4. In the Select Responsible Manager box, expand Enterprise.
5. Select Energy, then click on Ok.
6. When prompted if you would like to assign the Responsible Manager to the
children WBS elements, click on Yes.
7. Click on the Save button.
8. Select the WBS element 30% Design and view the Responsible Manager field.
9. Use steps 1 to 7 and changed the Responsible Manager back to E&C.
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� The Work Breakdown Structure is a hierarchical arrangement of the
products and services produced during and by a project.
� The highest level of the WBS is the project, and the lowest level
consists of the individual activities required for the deliverables.
� Create the WBS in the Activities page. Use the indentation keys to
form various levels in the WBS.
Review Questions
1. True or False: When a new project is created, the root level of the WBS is
created with the same name as the project.
2. True or False: When a new WBS element is added it can only be added as a child
of the highlighted WBS element.
3. True or False: Indentation keys can be used to adjust the structure of the WBS
hierarchy.
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Notes
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LESSON 10: ADDING AND EDITING ACTIVITIES
OBJECTIVES
� Describe an activity and its components
� Describe activity types
� Add activities
� Add a Notebook topic to an activity
� Add steps to an activity
� Assign activity codes to activities
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
An Implementation Consultant must be an expert at
creating and modifying Work Breakdown Structures to
respond to the myriad of project scenarios that will be
discovered at Customer sites.
Core Project
Team
The Core Team will need to be able to create Work
Breakdown Structures to be able to respond to the
requirements of the organizations affected by a
Primavera implementation.
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ACTIVITIES
Activities are the fundamental work elements of a project. They are the lowest level
of a WBS and the smallest subdivision of work that directly concerns the project
manager.
� Most detailed work unit tracked in a project schedule.
� Contains all information about the work to be performed.
� Also known as a task, item, event, or work package.
ACTIVITY ATTRIBUTES
Use the Activities page to create, view, and modify activities for the selected
project. To add an activity to a project, perform one of the following actions:
� On the Toolbar, click on the Add button.
� In the Action menu, click Add, Add Activity.
� Press Insert on the keyboard.
� Right-click and click Add Activity.
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LAB: SET UP A PROJECT DEFAULTS
Establish Project Default Settings
1. On the Navigation bar, click on the Projects.
2. Click on the EPS page button.
3. Select the project My Training Project.
4. Verify the Project view Project Setup is selected.
5. Verify the following settings and change if necessary.
a. Set the default Activity Type to Task Dependent.
b. Set the Duration Type to Fixed Duration and Units / Time.
c. Set Percent Complete Type to Duration.
d. Set Calendar to Office Building Addition Calendar 1.
6. Click on Save.
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ACTIVITY TYPE
Start Milestone
This type is typically used to mark the beginning of a phase or to communicate
project deliverables.
� Zero-duration activity.
� Only has a Start date.
� A user can assign constraints, steps, expenses, work products, and
documents.
� A user cannot assign roles.
� A user cannot assign resources except for the primary resource.
Finish Milestone
This type is typically used to mark the end of a phase or to communicate project
deliverables.
� Zero-duration activity.
� Only has a Finish date.
� A user can assign constraints, steps, expenses, work products, and
documents.
� A user cannot assign roles.
� A user cannot assign resources except for the primary resource.
Task Dependent
This type is typically used when the work needs to be accomplished in a given
timeframe, regardless of the assigned resources’ availability.
� The activity’s resources are scheduled to work according to the activity
calendar.
� Duration is determined by the assigned calendar’s workweek.
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Resource Dependent
This type is typically used when multiple resources assigned to the same activity can
work independently.
� The activity’s resources are scheduled according to the individual
resource’s calendar.
� Duration is determined by the availability of the resources assigned to
work on the activity.
Level of Effort
This type is typically used for ongoing tasks dependent on other activities.
� Duration is determined by its predecessor and successor activities, and
its assigned calendar.
� Examples include clerical work, security guard services, and meetings.
� A user cannot assign constraints.
WBS Summary
This type is used to summarize a WBS level.
� The WBS summary activity comprises a group of activities that share a
common WBS level.
� Dates calculated on a WBS summary activity are based on earliest
start date of the activities in the group and latest finish date of these
activities.
� The WBS summary activity duration is calculated based on its assigned
calendar.
� A user cannot assign constraints to WBS summary activities.
ADDING ACTIVITIES
A user can use the Activity Details tabs to add an activity, and then enter additional
information about the activity. When adding an activity, first select either the WBS
band in which the activity will reside, or select an existing activity in the WBS band.
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Add activities to the Project Plan
1. Click on the Activities page button.
2. Select a WBS element, 30% Design.
3. Click on Action, Add, Add Activity.
4. On the keyboard, hit the Insert key.
5. On the toolbar, click on the Add Activity button.
6. There should now be 3 activities under the WBS element 30% Design.
7. Use Click+Shift+Click to select all three activities.
8. Click on Edit, Copy.
9. Select the WBS element 65% Design.
10. Click on Edit, Paste.
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SAVING CHANGES
The Activity ID’s for the new activities will not be defined immediately after they are
created. The user can manually enter Activity ID’s or the user can save their
changes and allow P6 to automatically determine the Activity ID’s based on the
Activity ID project default settings.
Saving the New Activities
1. Click on the Save button.
2. View the Activity ID’s for the new activities.
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LAB: GENERAL TAB
Use the General tab or the Activity table columns to modify basic information about
the activity.
Modify Activity Details
1. Click on the General tab.
2. Select activity EC1870 and enter <Civil Design 30%> in the Activity Name field.
3. Select activity EC1880 and enter <Structural Design 30%> in the Activity Name
field.
4. Select activity EC1890 and enter <Specifications Development 30%> in the
Activity Name field.
5. Select activity EC1900 and enter <Civil Design 65%> in the Activity Name field.
6. Select activity EC1910 and enter <Structural Design 65%> in the Activity Name
field.
7. Select activity EC1920 and enter <Specifications Development 65%> in the
Activity Name field.
8. Click on Action, Add, Add Activity.
9. Select the new activity and enter <Architectural Designs 65%> in the Activity
Name field.
10. Click on the Save button.
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Modify Activity Details
1. Click on the General tab.
2. Select activity EC1870 and enter 20 in the Planned Duration field.
3. Select activity EC1880 and enter 20 in the Planned Duration field.
4. Click on the Save button.
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ADDING STEPS TO AN ACTIVITY
Activity steps allow users to create a checklist for the activity, and then track the
completion of each step. Steps often provide a list of procedures required to
complete the activity and provide extra guidance to resources assigned to the
activity.
� Assign an unlimited number of steps per activity.
� Steps can be marked completed in P6 and by the primary resource in
timesheets.
� Steps do not have duration estimates or dates.
� Each step can have an additional explanation in the text area on the
right side of the Steps tab.
� User Defined Fields may be created to provide additional information
for Steps.
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LAB: STEPS
Add Steps to Activities
1. In Activity Details, click the Steps tab.
2. Select activity EC1930.
3. In the Steps tab, click on the Add button.
4. In the Step Name field, enter <Complete>.
5. On the Activities page toolbar, click on Save.
Delete Steps from Activities
1. Select activity EC1930.
2. In the Steps tab, click on the Delete button.
3. On the Activities page toolbar, click on Save.
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Activity step templates enable the definition of common steps for assignment to
multiple activities. If a commonly used step or set of steps have already been
defined for an activity, they can be converted to the steps in a template.
Add Steps from Steps Template
1. In Activity Details, click the Steps tab.
2. Select activity EC1930.
3. Click on the Add from Template button.
4. In the Select Activity Step Template box, select System Design Checklist and click
on Assign.
5. In the Select Activity Step Template box click on the Close button.
6. On the Activities page toolbar, click on Cancel.
7. When prompted to save changes, click on No.
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NOTEBOOK TAB
Just as in the EPS page, there is a Notebook tab in the Activities page. The Notebook
tab enables users to assign notes to an activity. Notebook topics are typically
instructions or descriptions that further describe the activity according to specific
categories of information. They are added the same way that they were added to
the EPS page. In addition, text and hyperlinks can be inserted into the Description
for each Notebook topic.
BEST PRACTICE: Notebook topics are used to help document status, document use
of constraints, document when a project plan is not executing a pre-defined
methodology exactly.
Add a Notebooks topic and description
1. Select activity EC1930.
2. Click the Notebooks tab.
3. In the Notebooks tab click on the Assign button.
4. In the Select Notebook Topic box, select Recent Accomplishments, then click on
the Assign button.
5. In the Select Notebook Topic box click on the Close button.
6. In the Notebooks tab double-click in the Description box.
7. In the Edit Recent Accomplishments box enter <This is a test of Descriptions in
Notebook Topics/Activities>.
8. In the Edit Recent Accomplishments box click on Ok.
9. On the Activities page toolbar, click on Save.
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ACTIVITY CODES
Just as codes were added at the Project level in the EPS page, Activity codes can be
defined at the Activity level as well. Activity codes enable users to classify and
categorize activities according to organizational and project needs.
Codes of any type can be used in filters, to group and sort data, to view and roll up
activities in the Activity Table, customize views, build reports, and select and
summarize activities.
USAGE HINT: Many customers have governance organizations that require certain
activities in each project plan. The use of Activity Codes would help users to quickly
identify those required activities for audit processes.
Activity codes can be defined in three levels:
Global-level — Available to all activities in the database
� Create an unlimited number of global-level activity codes.
� Organize activities within a project or across the project structure.
EPS-level — Available to all activities within the EPS node and its children
� Create an unlimited number of EPS-level activity codes.
� Organize activities within a project or across a portion of the EPS.
Project-level — Available to activities only in the project in which the code is
created
� Create up to 500 project-level activity codes per project.
� Filter and organize activities based on unique, project-specific
requirements.
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ASSIGNING ACTIVITY CODES TO AN ACTIVITY
Activity codes may be assigned in the Codes tab, or in an appropriate set up view in
tables.
� Add a column for the activity code in the Activity table.
� Use the Codes tab in Activity Details.
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LAB: ASSIGNING ACTIVITY CODES
Assign an Activity Code in Codes Tab
1. Select activity EC9130.
2. In Activity Details, click the Codes tab.
3. Click on Assign.
4. In the Select Code Value box, expand Responsibility.
5. Select Andy Mason and click on the Assign button.
6. In the Select Code Value box click on the Close button.
7. On the Activities page toolbar, click on Save.
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CALENDARS
Calendars can be created and assigned to each activity and resource. Calendar
assignments are used to schedule activities and level resources.
� An unlimited number of calendars can be created.
� The Activity Type determines whether the activity calendar or
resource calendar is used during scheduling.
CALENDAR TYPES
There are three calendar types:
Type Description
Global calendar � Contains calendars that can be used by all
projects in the database.
� Available for all resources and activities in the
database.
Resource calendar � Contains a separate pool of calendars for
resources.
Project calendar � Contains a separate pool of calendars for each
project.
� Available for the current project only.
Use the Calendar field in EPS page to change the default calendar assignment for a
project.
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CALENDAR ASSIGNMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Each activity may have a different calendar. This may be extremely important for
international implementations, where some activities are wholly owned by
resources in a specific country. Remember, each country has a different set of
holidays, different work weeks, etc.
Calendars are assigned at the activity level the same way they are assigned at the
Projects level; by modifying the Calendar column. Since this activity was executed
at the Project level, it will not be repeated for this class.
USAGE NOTE: Calendars assigned to activities will definitely affect dates as projects
are updated, statused, and scheduled. Project Managers and Application
Administrators need to be aware of what could be perceived as peculiar date results
using multiple calendars within the same project. It is not the tool that is at fault. It
is doing exactly what it was told to do. At the project level, project managers and
management will need to determine if the risk of using multiple calendars within
the same project plan is worth what could be resulting confusion during status
reporting.
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� There are many ways to add an activity to a project:
� On the toolbar, click on the Add Activity button
� In the Edit menu, click Add Activity
� Press Insert on the keyboard
� Right-click and click Add Activity
� Copy / paste an Activity
� Activity Type controls how an activity’s dates are calculated.
� Use steps to create an activity checklist, and to track step completion.
� Use activity codes to group activities by a common attribute.
� Global-level codes can be assigned to all activities in the database.
� EPS activity codes can be assigned to all activities within the assigned
node
� Project-level activity codes can be assigned to activities in the projects
in which they are created.
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Review Questions
1. When the activity’s dates are determined by the availability of the
resources assigned to the activity, then the activity type is:
a. Task dependent
b. Resource dependent
c. Milestone
d. Level of effort
2. True or False: The duration of a milestone is dependent on its
predecessor/successor activities.
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Notes
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LESSON 11: CREATING RELATIONSHIPS
OBJECTIVES
� View a network logic diagram
� Differentiate between the four relationship types
� Create relationships in the Activity Network
� Create relationships in Activity Details
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
As part of scheduling and possibly compressing a
schedule, an Implementation Consultant needs to be
fully versant in the concept of relationships between
Activities, as well as the result in the schedule of
modifying relationships. Customers rarely have an
understanding of project planning, apart from the
more complicated issue of relationships and
scheduling logic. They will have a lot of questions
regarding relationships and their impacts to project
schedules.
Core Project Team As leaders within their companies, Core Team
members will also need to be fluent with their
knowledge of scheduling and relationships. During
the adoption period, novice project managers will
surface a lot of resistance around constraining dates
rather than allowing scheduling logic and
relationships to forecast dates. Core Team members
will need to be experts in these concepts to be able
to coach and mentor their organizations.
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NETWORK LOGIC DIAGRAM
A network logic diagram is a logical representation of all the activities in a project
showing their dependency relationships.
PRECEDENCE DIAGRAMMING METHOD
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) is a technique for creating network logic
diagrams.
� A box or rectangle represents an activity.
� Lines with arrows connect the boxes and represent the logical
relationships between the activities.
Predecessor — Controls the start or finish of another activity.
Successor — Depends on the start or finish of another activity.
� In general, most users will start with either the first activity in the
network and enter each successor, or start with the last activity in the
network and enter each predecessor.
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RELATIONSHIP TYPES
There are four relationship types. In the following diagrams, activity A represents
the predecessor and activity B represents the successor.
� Finish-to-Start (FS) — When A finishes, B can start.
� Start-to-Start (SS) — When A starts, B can start.
� Finish-to-Finish (FF) — When A finishes, B can finish.
� Start-to-Finish (SF) — When A starts, B can finish.
RELATIONSHIPS WITH LAG
Lag specifies a user defined offset or delay between an activity and its successor. It
can be added to any type of relationship and have a positive or a negative value,
though the use of negative lag is prohibited on many projects.
Lag is scheduled based on the calendar selected in the General tab in Schedule
Options dialog box.
There are four calendar options for scheduling lag:
� Predecessor activity calendar
� Successor activity calendar
� 24-hour calendar
� Project default calendar
Below are two examples of relationships with lag:
Finish-to-Start with Lag — The Construct Building Foundation activity must be
finished for seven days before the Construct Building Exterior and Structure activity
can start. (FS7 indicates there is a Finish-to-Start relationship with 7 days of lag.)
Start-to-Start with Lag — The Install Interior Belt Conveyors activity can start five
days after the Construct Building Exterior and Structure activity starts. (SS5 indicates
there is a Start-to-Start relationship with 5 days of lag.)
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LAB: CREATING RELATIONSHIPS IN THE ACTIVITY DETAILS
Creating Relationships in Activity Details
1. On the Navigation bar, click on the Projects.
2. Click on the Activities page button.
3. Select activity EC1870 and click on the Successors tab.
4. In the Successors tab, click on the Assign button.
5. In the Select Successor Activity box, expand My Training Project, Engineering &
Construction, and 30% Design.
6. In the Select Successor Activity box select activity EC1880 and click on the Assign
button.
When creating relationships using the Predecessor and Successor tabs in Activity
Details, the assignment boxes can remain open while the user navigate to the next
activity.
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Create a Relationship
1. In the Activity table, select activity EC1880.
2. In the Select Successor Activity box select activity EC1890 and click on the Assign
button.
3. On the Activities page toolbar, click on Save.
Note: Relationships can also be added in the GANTT Chart.
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The user can use the Relationship Type field to change the relationship.
Change the Relationship Type
1. Close the Select Successor Activity box.
2. In the Successor tab double-click in the Relationship Type field and select Start
to Start.
3. On the Activities page toolbar, click on Cancel.
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ASSIGNING LAG
In the Predecessor and Successor tabs, lag can be assigned in the Lag field. Lag can
be entered using any period of time, (8 hours or 1 day), but upon hitting the Enter
key, if will be displayed in accordance with the preferences for duration.
Assign lag to a Relationship
1. In the Successor tab click in the Lag field
2. Enter 1 and press Enter.
3. On the Activities page toolbar, click on Cancel.
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� Use the Predecessor and Successor tabs in Activity details to view,
create, and modify relationships.
� There are four relationship types: Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start, Finish-
to-Finish, and Start-to-Finish. The default relationship type is Finish-to-
Start.
� Use lag to specify a delay between an activity and its successor.
Review Questions
1. True or False: Four different types of relationships are supported.
2. True or False: Lag is the user-defined offset or delay between an activity and its
successor.
Notes
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LESSON 12: SCHEDULING
OBJECTIVES
� Perform a forward and backward pass
� Describe float and its impact on a schedule
� Identify loops and open ends
� Calculate a schedule
� Analyze the scheduling log report
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
As noted previously, the Implementation Consultant
needs to be able to go beyond knowledge of the
functionality of scheduling. They need to be able to
use the functionality to identify scheduling issues,
and provide suggestions as to fixes for schedules.
This would include advanced topics included in this
chapter.
Core Project Team
Member
The Core Project Team will need to know as much as
the Implementation Consultant to provide coaching
and mentoring of Users in affected organizations to
drive adoption.
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CRITICAL PATH METHOD SCHEDULING
The Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling technique is utilized to calculate project
schedules. CPM uses activity durations and relationships between activities to
calculate schedule dates. This calculation is done in two passes (forward and
backward) through the activities in a project.
CRITICAL PATH
� The critical path is the series of activities that determines a project's
completion date.
� The duration of the activities on the critical path controls the duration
of the entire project. A delay to any of these activities will delay the
Finish date of the entire project.
� Critical activities are defined by either the total float or the longest
path in the project network.
USAGE NOTE: Critical Path Activities in the GANTT are shown in Red. This can be
confusing to novice project managers as they perceive Red to be BAD. Be prepared
to address this with Customers.
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WHAT IS THE DATA DATE ?
The Data Date , indicated by the blue line in GANTT chart, is the project start date
during the project planning process. After the project data update process has
initiated, the Data Date is moved to correspond with the deadlines set in that
process. The Data Date is always the starting point for scheduling calculations.
Open the Project Nesbid Building Expansion
1. On the Navigation bar, click on the Projects drop down arrow.
2. Click on the Open Projects link.
3. Under Available Projects, expand the All Initiatives and Engineering &
Construction nodes.
4. Scroll down and select the project Nesbid Building Expansion.
5. Click on the Right pointed arrow.
6. Under Selected Projects, select My Training Projects.
7. Click on the Left pointed arrow.
8. Click on the Ok button.
9. Click on the Activities page.
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VIEWING THE DATA DATE
� The Data Date is the date that is utilized as the starting point for
schedule calculations. It is the date used to schedule all remaining
work.
� During the Planning phase the Data Date should match the Project
Start date.
Adjust the Display to view the Data Date
1. Right-click on the timescale and select Year/Month.
2. Click and drag on the vertical split between the Activity Table and Bar Chart until
only the Activity ID and Activity Name fields are visible on the left.
3. In the Bar Chart scroll until the Data Date line is visible on the left.
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FORWARD PASS
The forward pass calculates an activity’s early dates. Early dates are the earliest
times an activity can start and finish once its predecessors have been completed.
The calculation begins with the activities without predecessors.
� Early Start (ES) + Duration — 1 = Early Finish (EF)
BACKWARD PASS
The backward pass calculates an activity’s late dates. Late dates are the latest
times an activity can start and finish without delaying the end date of the project.
The calculation begins with the activities without successors.
For projects without a Must Finish By date, activities without successors are
assigned a Late Finish equal to the latest calculated Early Finish date (25 in the
graphic below).
� Late Finish (LF) — Duration + 1 = Late Start (LS)
TOTAL FLOAT
An activity's Total Float is automatically calculated each time a user schedules the
project. A user cannot edit an activity's float values directly.
The critical path is the series of activities that determines a project's completion
date.
� The amount of time an activity can slip from its Early Dates without
delaying the project.
� The difference between an activity’s late dates and early dates
� Activities with zero Total Float are critical
� Late date — Early date = Total Float (TF)
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BACKWARD PASS WITH REQUIRED FINISH
One of the most common project scenarios is a required finish date for the project.
� Used only during the backward pass
� Required finish date specifies when the project must finish regardless
of the network’s duration and logic
� Late Finish — Duration + 1 = Late Start
CIRCULAR RELATIONSHIPS (LOOPS)
Loops indicate circular logic in an activity path. The schedule will not be calculated
until the loop is eliminated. To eliminate a loop:
� Determine proper logic
� Re-run the schedule
� A dialog box is displayed listing the activities in the loop
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OPEN ENDS
� Open ends are activities without either a predecessor or successor.
No predecessor — Activity uses Data Date as its Early Start.
No successor — Activity uses project finish as its Late Finish.
� Open-ended activities can portray an unrealistic amount of positive
total float.
It is recommended that each project have only two open ends: the first activity and
the last activity.
Given that schedule calculations begin with activities without predecessors in a
Forward Pass, if more than one activity does not have a predecessor then the
schedule dates will be flawed.
Given that backward pass schedule calculations begin with activities without
successors, if more than one activity does not have a successor, then the schedule
dates will be flawed.
Schedules that have more than one activity without a predecessor and more than
one activity without a successor are said to have broken logic.
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SCHEDULING A PROJECT
When a user schedules a project, activity dates are calculated according to durations
and logic.
Mark the Display scheduling log upon completion checkbox to display scheduling
results.
After a user schedules the project, note the change in the position of activities on
the Gantt chart. Activities are displayed according to their calculated start and finish
dates. Critical activities are displayed in red.
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Prior to scheduling the project, we will display the columns that will be impacted.
Display Date Columns
1. Click on View, Columns.
2. Under Selected Columns, remove all the fields except Activity Name.
3. Verify that the option Show first column as is set to Activity ID.
4. Under Available Columns, expand the Dates group.
5. Add the Early Start, Early Finish, Late Start, and Late Finish columns to the
Selected Columns list.
6. Under Available Columns, expand the Durations group.
7. Add the Total Float Column to the Selected Columns list.
8. Click on Ok.
9. Click on View, Save View As.
10. In the Save View As box, enter <Early and Late Dates>, then click on Ok.
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The user can schedule a project by using one of three ways:
� Press the F9 key on the keyboard
� Click on Action, Run, Scheduler
� Click on the Schedule button on the toolbar.
The project is currently scheduled to begin on February 24, 2012. When we
schedule, we need to verify the data date is correct.
Schedule the Project
1. Click on Action, Run, Scheduler.
2. Change the Data Date to February 24, 2012.
3. Mark the checkbox for the option Display schedule log upon completion.
4. Click on the Schedule button.
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SCHEDULE LOG
The Schedule Log displays scheduling results, including:
� Scheduling settings
� Statistics
� Errors
� Warnings
� Scheduling Results
� Exceptions
The schedule log will automatically be displayed after scheduling the project, but
once the log is closed, the user must schedule the project again in order to view it.
The user can save the schedule log before exiting the window. The log can be saved
as a webpage or a text file.
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Saving the Schedule Log
1. If you are using Internet Explorer, in the Schedule Log window click on File, Save
As.
2. In the Save Webpage box, browse to the My Documents folder.
3. In the File name field, enter <Nesbid Schedule Log - <TODAY’S DATE>>.
4. In the Save type as field, select Text File (*.txt).
5. Click on Save.
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AUDIT SCHEDULES USING SCHEDULE LOG
Project Managers should look for activities without Predecessors and activities
without Successors. There should only be one activity without a Predecessor – the
first activity in the project plan. There should only be one successor – the last
activity in the project plan.
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LAB: REVIEW SCHEDULE LOG AND CORRECT ERRORS
Reschedule the project and display the schedule log. Review the Warning sections.
As stated in this lesson, there should only be two open ends, but four activities are
listed that do not have a successor.
� EC1380 Foundation Phase Complete
� EC1410 Begin Structural Phase
� EC1590 Close-In Phase Begins
� EC1860 Building Addition Complete
Only one activity, EC1860 Building Addition Complete, should not have successor.
Correct this issue by creating the relationships listed below. Use the Finish to Start
relationship type for all relationships.
Predecessor Successor
EC1380 - Foundation Phase
Complete
EC1390 - Erect Structural Frame
EC1410 Begin Structural Phase EC1420 - Floor Decking
EC1590 Close-In Phase Begins EC1600 - Insulation and Built-up
Roofing
We will take this time to correct two additional errors with the schedule. The
durations of two activities need to be corrected. Locate the two activities listed
below and correct their durations.
Activity Correct
Duration
EC1290 - Fabricate and Deliver Heat Pump and Controls 20 days
EC1310 Fabricate and Deliver Flooring 30 days
There is an incorrect relationship tie with another project. Select activity EC1700
and delete the predecessor relationship with activity EC1840.
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� After relationship logic has been defined, schedule the project to
determine when the activities will take place.
� When scheduling using the Critical Path Method, activity Early Start
and Finish dates are calculated during the forward pass, and the Late
Start and Finish dates are calculated during the backward pass.
� The Data Date is used as a starting point when scheduling all
remaining work for the project.
� After scheduling, activities will have a total float that represents the
amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the
project.
� After scheduling, results are display in the Schedule Log.
Review Questions
1. True or False: A schedule’s late dates are calculated during the backward pass.
2. True or False: A schedule can be calculated containing loops.
3. True or False: The critical path is the path of activities through the project that
determines the project end date.
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Notes
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LESSON 13: ASSIGNING CONSTRAINTS
OBJECTIVES
� Apply an overall deadline to a project
� Apply a constraint to an individual activity
� Add notebook topics to constrained activities
� Describe the available constraint types
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Customer
Management
Management must understand the risks associated
with adding Constraints to the schedule so that they
can determine if the data that they are seeing in
reports is “real” or “fabricated by constraint.”
Project Scheduler
Project Managers
If a Schedule is constrained, and if that constraint is
not clearly called out, then a Project Scheduler and
Project Manager may assume that their projects are
progressing as planned until the Constrained Date is
not met. If / when that occurs and the project is
rescheduled, then the accurate picture of critical
path will be revealed.
Implementation
Consultants
Consultants should clearly warn Customers about
the use of constraints. If a Consultant has been
asked to review a customer’s configurations to
determine why schedules are not progressing
properly, a good place to begin would be to see if
schedules are constrained. If so, check the number
of constraints that are contained in those schedules.
Application Users may call for support for schedule dates that
are “broken.” As noted in the previous chapter, the
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Administrators logic may be broken, or the schedule may be
constrained which in effect, breaks the logic.
CONSTRAINTS
Constraints are imposed restrictions used to reflect project requirements that
cannot be built into the logic.
Constraints allow users to build schedule that accurately reflects the real-world
aspects of the project. Constraints provide added control to the project and impose
restrictions on the entire project or an individual activity
� Constraints are user-imposed.
� A maximum of two constraints can be assigned to an activity.
� After applying a constraint, the project must be rescheduled to calculate the
new dates.
BEST PRACTICE: It is strongly recommended that a Notebooks Topic is assigned to
any activity that is constrained. In addition, a Constraint is an Assumption.
Following Risk Management principles, Assumptions are in fact Risks. It is
recommended that any constrained activity has an associated Risk assigned to it.
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COMMONLY USED CONSTRAINTS
MUST FINISH BY (Project Level)
� Used when an overall project deadline must be met.
� Forces all activities in the project to finish by the date (and time) specified.
� Affects the Total Float of the entire project.
� Can be applied in the General tab in Project Details or in the Must Finish By
column in the Project Table.
Note the current scheduled / calculated Finish date for the project.
This project is currently scheduled to be completed on March 05, 2014. This is the
project’s Early Finish, and represents the earliest date that the project can be
completed based on the relationships, calendars, and durations in the schedule.
The project has a deadline of October 4, 2013. Due to the way the schedule is
currently built, the project will not be scheduled to finish on time.
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Apply a Must Finish By Constraint
1. Click on the EPS page button.
2. Select the project Nesbid Building Expansion.
3. Click on the General tab.
4. Set the Project Planned Start date to 27-Feb-12 08:00 AM.
5. Set the Must Finish By date to 04-Oct-13 05:00 PM.
6. On the EPS toolbar, click on Save.
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IMPACT OF MUST FINISH BY CONSTRAINT
The next step is to reschedule the project to see the effect of the imposed deadline
on the late dates and the Total Float in the project plan.
As noted previously, the Must Finish By date selected is five months earlier than the
scheduled Finish Date. Therefore, many of the activities contain negative Total
Float.
Identify Negative Float
1. Click on the Activities page button.
2. Click and drag the vertical split bar so all dates column and the Total Float
column are visible.
3. Press F9.
4. In the Schedule Project box, clear the check box for the option Display
scheduling log upon completion.
5. Click on Schedule.
6. Review the dates and Total Float columns in the Activity Table.
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The user can view the impact of the Must Finish by constraint by looking at the
Project grouping at the top of the page. The project has an Early Finish of October
18, 2013 and a Late Finish of October 4, 2013. The different between the two dates
is the negative Total Float, which is 9.4 days
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ACTIVITY CONSTRAINTS
Start On or After
Use the Start On or After constraint to set the earliest date an activity can begin.
This constraint will delay the Early Start of the assigned activity and all of driving
successors.
� Forces the activity to start no earlier than the constraint date
� Pushes the early start date to the constraint date
� Affects the early dates of its driving successors.
Finish On or After
Use the Finish On or After constraint to set the earliest date an activity can finish.
This constraint will delay the Early Finish of the assigned activity and all of driving
successors.
� Forces the activity to finish no earlier than the constraint date
� Pushes the early finish date to the constraint date
� Affects the early dates of its driving successors
Finish On or Before
Use the Finish On or Before constraint to set a deadline on the finish date of an
activity.
� Forces the activity to finish no later than the constraint date.
� Pulls the Late Finish date to the constraint date.
� Affects the late dates of its driving predecessors.
Start On or Before
Use the Start On or Before constraint to set a deadline on the start date of an
activity.
� Forces the activity to start no later than the constraint date
� Shifts the Late Start to the constraint date
� Affects the late dates of its predecessors
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� Used to place a deadline on the start of the activity
As Late As Possible
� Delays an activity as late as possible without delaying its successors.
� Shifts early dates as late as possible; also called zero free float constraint.
Start On
� Acts as both an Start On or After and a Start On or Before constraint.
� Will delay the start of an activity if logic schedules the activity to start prior to the
constraint date.
� Will impose a deadline on the start of the activity if logic schedules the start of
the activity after the constraint date, generating negative float.
Finish On
� Acts as both an Finish On or After and a Finish On or Before constraint.
� Will delay the finish of an activity if logic schedules the activity to finish prior to
the constraint date.
� Will impose a deadline on the finish of the activity if logic schedules the finish of
the activity after the constraint date, generating negative float.
Mandatory Start and Finish
� Forces early and late dates to be equal to the constraint date.
� Affects late dates of predecessors and early dates of successors.
� The only constraints that violate network logic.
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� Assign constraints to activities and projects to reflect real-world restrictions.
� A maximum of two constraints can be assigned to an activity.
� The Must Finish By constraint is used when an overall project deadline must be
met.
� Use the Start On or After constraint to set the earliest date an activity can begin.
Review Questions for Discussion
Identify some justifiable scenarios for constraints. Be prepared to present to the
class.
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Notes
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LESSON 14: FORMATTING SCHEDULE DATA
OBJECTIVES
� Group activities according to a specific criteria
� Sort activities
� Apply a filter
� Create a filter
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
Very often Customer implementations have large
schedules and multiple user groups that need to
review data in updated schedules. It is critical to be
able to manipulate schedule data to show only that
data that is relevant at any point in time during the
project management life cycle. Grouping and
Sorting, creating filters, and creating views that have
a combination of all will be common place.
Project Schedulers
Project Managers
In large schedules, Project Schedulers and Project
Managers need to immediately see just the high Risk
data / activities. Grouping and Sorting and using
Filters will help manage the data, and manage the
work.
Managers Managers need to understand how Grouping and
Sorting, Filters and Codes work together to be able
to conceptualize data outputs from the system.
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GROUPING DATA
Grouping is a flexible way to organize data into categories that share a common
attribute.
A user can group data to create customized views. A user can also use grouping to
quickly view subtotal data in the group title bands, view summary bars in the Gantt
Chart, and summarize data for reporting purposes.
� Grouping is available in certain pages.
� Activities can be grouped by hierarchical fields such as WBS, activity codes, and
project codes.
� Activities can be grouped by data fields such as dates, costs, Total Float, and
other numeric data.
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CUSTOMIZE GROUPING BOX
The Customize Grouping box is used to set up the organization of activities on the
screen.
� Select fields to group by — Lists data items used to group the current display.
� To Level —When grouping by a hierarchical data item, this indicates
the number of levels to display. When grouping by a date field, this
indicates the interval by which a user wants to group the selected data
item.
� Band Color – Displays the background color for each group title band
� Text Color — Displays the text color for each group title band.
� Show field title — Mark this to display the name of the field that the layout is
grouped by. The value is also displayed.
� Show field rollups — Choose to display or hide the total values for grouping
bands.
� Hide if empty — Mark to hide the group title bands that do not contain
activities.
� Sort Order — Select the method the grouping data will be sorted.
� ID/Code — Mark the checkbox to display the ID or code value on the grouping
band.
� Name/Description — Mark the checkbox to display the name or description on
the grouping band.
� ID/Code and Name/Description – Mark the checkbox to display both the
ID/Code and the Name/Description.
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LAB: GROUPING AND SORTING
View the Customize Groupings box
1. Verify that you are on the Activities page.
2. Click on View, Group.
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GROUPING BY DATE
Grouping a layout by date allows a user to identify activities that are scheduled to
occur within a particular time period.
Group data by Start and save as a new view
1. In the Select fields to group by section, under the Dates category, select Start.
2. In the To Level box, select Month.
3. Click on OK.
4. Click on View, Save View As.
5. In the Save View As box enter <Monthly Schedule>.
6. Click on Ok.
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SORTING ACTIVITIES
Sorting determines the sequence in which activities are listed within each grouping
band. Based on the data item a user chooses, they can sort alphabetically,
numerically, or chronologically.
To sort by single criteria, click the data item’s column title.
Click column title to sort data by Early Start
1. In the Activity Table, click on the column title for Early Start.
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FILTERING ACTIVITIES
A filter is a set of instructions that determines which activities are displayed in a
view. Filters enable users to create customized views by limiting the number of
activities displayed, such as helping to focus on critical activities.
A set of pre-defined Standard filters is provided, as is the ability to create user-
defined filters. Filters are divided into the following groupings:
� Standard
� Available to all users
� 7 pre-defined filters
� Cannot be deleted or modified
� Global
� Available to all users
� A Security Privilege is required to edit or save
� Multiple User
� Available to only the users specified when created
� Can only be deleted by the user who created the filter
� User
� Available to current user for all projects to which he/she has access.
One or more filters may be applied to a view at a time. Multiple criteria for
selection may be used within a single filter. Filter specifications can be saved and
re-applied. Filters can be saved as part of a view.
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FILTERS DIALOG BOX
� Filters Toolbar – Location for tools to create, edit, delete, cut, copy, and paste
filters. The functions on the Filters Toolbar are disabled when a Standard filter is
selected.
� Clear — Click to clear all filters and to show all activities in the current view.
� Show matches for — When more than one filter is marked, a user must select
one of the following options:
All applied filters — Mark to include the activities that meet the
criteria of each selected filter
Any applied filter — Mark to include the activities that meet the
criteria of at least one of the selected filters
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View the Filters dialog box
1. Click on View, Filters, Filters.
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APPLYING A STANDARD FILTER
We will use a filter to display only milestones for a quick high level report.
Use a Filter
1. In the Apply to View column, mark the checkbox next to the filter Milestones
only.
2. Click on Ok.
3. If necessary click and drag the vertical split bar to the left so the bar chart is
visible.
4. Click on View, Save View As.
5. In the Save View As box enter <Milestone Report>
6. Click on Ok.
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USING MULTIPLE FILTERS
If a user cannot achieve the goal with a single filter, they can run two filters
simultaneously. We will also need to adjust other view options.
Execute two filters
1. In the View drop down list, select Organized by WBS with Details.
2. Click on View, Filters, Filters.
3. In the Apply to View column, mark the checkbox next to the filters Milestones
only and Critical.
4. In the Show matches for box, select all applied filters.
5. Click on Ok.
6. Click on View, Group.
7. In the Customize Groupings box, mark the checkbox for Hide if empty, then click
on Ok.
8. Click on View, Save View As.
9. In the Save View As box enter <Critical Milestones>
10. Click on Ok.
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CLEAR ALL FILTERS
To clear all filters and show all activities, click on the Clear button in the Customize
Filters box.
Clear All Filters
1. Click on View, Filters, Filters.
2. Click on the Clear button.
3. Click on Ok.
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� Use grouping and sorting to organize activities in a view.
� The Group and Sort dialog box provides options to show grand totals and
summaries, and to modify the font and color for each grouping selected. You can
also sort the groups alphabetically, numerically, or chronologically.
� Use filters to customize the layout or to show only activities that satisfy the filter
criteria. Multiple filters can be applied to a layout.
Review Questions
Which of the following is not a true statement about default filters?
a. They are available to all users.
b. They can be deleted.
c. They cannot be modified.
d. There are 7 predefined filters.
True or False: One or more filters may be applied to a view at a time.
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Notes
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LESSON 15: ROLES AND RESOURCES
OBJECTIVES
� Describe roles
� Views the roles dictionary
� Describe resources
� Identify the differences between labor, non-labor and material resources
� View the resource dictionary
� Modify the resource dictionary
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
Many Customers have a challenge with Resource
Management and Capacity Planning. Planning using
Roles is often a solution that can help Customers
develop appropriate short and long term hiring
plans for mission critical projects, as the demands
for Roles can be forecast over time.
In addition, the use of Rates for Roles and / or
Resources can be very beneficial from a Planning
and Budgeting perspective using either top down or
bottom up estimation processes.
Project Managers Project Managers need to understand the
importance of assigning either Roles or named
Resources to activities in their project plans. Even if
the project plans look good, have great logic and
realistic dates, if the staffing isn’t available for the
project, then the dates are going to slip. The
project’s planned dates and available staffing must
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be balanced in order for a project to stand a chance
at coming in on time and on budget.
ROLES AND RESOURCES
Before a user begins to manage resources in Primavera, they must understand the
difference between a role and a resource:
� Role — A role is a job title or skill — for example, Software Engineer, Project
Manager, Trainer, and Database Administrator.
� Resource — A resource is an individual (or equipment or material) used to
complete an activity.
The Role dictionary and Resource dictionary are enterprise data; available for use
across all projects. After roles and resources are defined, roles can be associated to
resources, identifying the skill sets of each resource. Each resource also can be
assigned a primary role, which defines the core skill or responsibility in the
organization.
Some organizations use roles as placeholders in activity assignments until specific
resources are assigned to do the work.
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ROLES DICTIONARY
The Roles dictionary contains five tabs:
� Description tab — A text area for entering a general description about the role.
� Resources tab — Lists the resources that are capable of performing the
responsibilities associated with the role as well as their proficiency.
� Prices tab — There are five available price per unit values. The title of these
values can be defined in the Rates tab in Admin Preferences.
� Limits tab — specify allocation limit(s) for a role. Multiple limits can be
established based on effective date.
� Role Teams – Identified the role teams the role has been assigned to.
View the Roles dialog box
1. On the Navigation bar, click on Resources.
2. Click on the Administration page.
3. Click on the Roles tab.
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ROLES DICTIONARY DETAILS
Description Tab
The Description tab allows the administrator to enter data in a text box. A user can
also enter pictures and html links.
Resource Tab
Click this tab to see any Resources that have been assigned to this Role. In the case
of a new Role, a user would need to assign a Resource to the Role. Functionally, a
user can either assign Roles to Resources, or assign Resource to Roles. In either
case, the link between the Resource and the Role would show up on this tab.
Prices
A user can add up to five price-per- unit rates for each role in the roles dictionary.
When a user assigns a role to an activity during project planning, they can choose
which rate they want to use to calculate cost. Defining rates for specific roles yields
more accurate project cost planning results.
Limits Tab
Use the Limits tab to specify available quantities (limits) for a role. Setting limits
helps a user quickly identify areas of role overload in Resource/Role Usage Profiles.
A user can define an unlimited number of role limits for each role; however, the
effective date must be unique.
By default, role limits are calculated based on the limit defined for each role’s
primary resource. A user can choose to display role limits based on the custom role
limits or based on the calculated primary resources’ limit in their preferences.
Role Teams
A user can group roles in teams which are commonly used together. This enhances
role analysis, as the user can focus solely on the role team in one view.
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DEFINING RESOURCES
A resource is anything used to complete an activity. The Resources Administration
page contains information about all resources within the organization, enabling
centralized resource management. Resources are divided into three categories:
� Labor (people) — Measured in units of time
Recorded in terms of price/unit — for example, $50.00/hour
� Nonlabor (equipment) — Measured in units of time
Recorded in terms of price/unit — for example, $465.00/hour
� Material — Measured in units other than time — for example, $4.50/sf
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THE RESOURCES ADMINISTRATION PAGE
Resources can be organized using a hierarchal structure, but each level of the
Resource structure is itself a resource that can be assigned to an activity.
Display resource data in the Administration page
1. On the Administration page, click on the Resources tab.
2. Expand the resources E&C Resources and Engineering.
3. Select the resource Paul Kim.
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RESOURCE DETAILS
Use Resource Details to add, view, and edit detailed information about the selected
resource.
General Tab
The General tab enables a user to enter general information about the selected
resource including the resource’s ID, name, employee ID, title, e-mail address, office
phone number, unit of measurement, and status.
Resource teams Tab
The Resource Teams tab displays the resource teams a resource has been assigned
to. Resource teams allow the user to group resources which are commonly used
together. This enhances resource analysis, as the user can focus solely on the
resource team in one view.
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Roles Tab
The Roles tab is the location a user can view and assign resources to roles.
Functionally, a user can either assign Roles to Resources, or assign Resource to
Roles. In either case, the link between the Resource and the Role would show up on
this tab.
Codes Tab
The Codes tab enables a user to assign resource code values to further categorize
the selected resource for grouping and organizing.
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Units and Prices Tab
The Units and Prices tab enables a user to set prices and availability according to
time.
� Effective Date — The effective start date for price and availability.
� Max Units/Time — A numeric value or percentage the resource can perform in
a single work period, according to effective date, e.g., 8 h/d (100%) = full-time or
4 h/d (50%) = part-time. Setting this limit allows a user to quickly identify areas
of resource over allocation in resource profiles/spreadsheets.
� Price/Unit — Set the resource’s price for a single work unit, according to the
effective date. Up to five rates can be defined for each resource.
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Settings Tab
The Settings tab enables a user to enter the selected resource’s labor classification,
currency and overtime settings, and profile.
� Calendar — Calendar used to identify resource availability.
� Default Units/Time — Indicates the units/time that will be applied when the
resource is assigned to an activity.
� Overtime Allowed — Mark to indicate the resource can enter overtime hours in
Timesheets, or in the Resources tab in Activity Details.
� Overtime Factor — Indicates the value by which the resource’s standard price
should be multiplied to determine the overtime price.
� Auto Compute Actuals — Mark to automatically calculate the resource’s actual
quantity of work according to the project plan.
� Currency — Indicates the currency associated with the resource’s costs.
� Calculate costs from units — Mark to calculate the cost of an activity based on
the assigned units.
� Timesheet User Login – The username of the resource for Progress Reporter.
� Uses Timesheets – Enables Progress Reporter for the Resource.
� Timesheet Approval Manager – The user who approves the resources
timesheets in Progress Reporter.
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Notes Tab
The Notes is a text area that generic information regarding the resource can be
entered and viewed.
LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� A role is a job title or skill, for example, Trainer or Manager.
� A resource is someone — or something — used to complete an activity.
� Roles can be assigned to resources to aid in resource management. Multiple
roles and a single primary role can be assigned to each resource.
� Resources are divided into three categories: Labor (people); Nonlabor
(equipment); Material (measured in units other than time, e.g., $4.50/ square
foot).
� Roles are defined in the Roles dictionary.
� Resources are defined in the Resources window, where a user can use Resource
Details to view and edit information about resources.
Review Questions
True or False: Up to ten rates can be defined for each role and resource.
True or False: When resources are defined, they are assigned to a specific project
and cannot be shared with other projects.
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Notes
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LESSON 16: ASSIGNING ROLES
OBJECTIVES
� Assign roles to an activity
� Assign rates on roles
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
Many Customers choose not to implement named
Resources in their companies. Working with
Human Resources, they have interfaces that link
back to HR Systems that update the total capacity
for all Job Roles. The planning for these Roles may
either be top down or bottom up. Using Roles
rather than named resources makes it easier to
manage hundreds of resources that may be
working on large programs / projects. Knowing the
total capacity for that Role at any point in time will
quickly surface the need to supplement work force
– short term or long term, identify staffing Risks,
and create contingency plans to meet the demand
for Roles and Skills over time.
Project Managers On very large projects, it is doubtful that project
managers will have time to manage individual
resources down to the activity level. The use of
Roles for planning purposes will significantly
expedite the staffing management process.
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ASSIGNING ROLES TO ACTIVITIES
If a user knows which skill sets are required for each activity, but not the exact
people who will perform the work, they can assign roles to the activities. Role
assignments will act as placeholders, which can be used later to assign the
applicable resource.
To assign a role to an activity, click Add Role in the Resources tab in Activity Details.
Usage: In the Construction industry resources are frequently defined generically,
and roles are not used. For example, many construction companies will define a
resource called Carpenter instead of identifying each individual in the company as a
resource and assign the carpenters to a Carpenter role. In the IT industry resources
are frequently defined for each individual person, and roles are used.
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LAB: ASSIGN A ROLE TO AN ACTIVITY
We will assign a role to an activity in the Assignments tab. We will edit some of the
columns that appear in the Assignments tab.
1. On the Navigation bar, click on Projects.
2. Click on the Activities page.
3. In the view drop down list, select Resources.
4. Use the Customize Columns button in the Assignments tab to display the
columns listed below and to hide all other columns:
� Resource Names
� Role Name
� Planned Duration
� Planned Units/Time
� Planned Units
� Rate Type
� Price/Unit
� Planned Cost
5. Use Click and Drag to sort the columns in the Assignments tab in the order listed
above.
6. Click on View, Save View As.
7. In the Save View As box enter Assigning Resources.
8. Click on Ok.
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We will assign the role Design Engineer to the activity Review and Approve Designs
to assist Paul Kim.
1. In the Activity table under the WBS element Design and Engineering, select the
activity Review and Approve Designs
2. Click on the Assign Role and Save button
3. In the Select Role box, expand the E&C Roles and Engineer
4. Select the role Design Engineer and click on Assign
5. In the Select Role box, click on Close
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Rate types are assigned to roles in the Assignments tab in Activity Details. The rate
type determines the price/unit used to calculate costs for the assignment. The
names for each rate type are defined by the system administrator. When a user
selects a rate type, the monetary value is updated automatically in the Price/Unit
column.
Assign Rates on Roles
1. Verify the activity Review and Approve Designs is selected.
2. In the Rate Type column on the Assignments tab, double click the field for the
Design Engineer role.
3. In the Rate Type drop down list, select Internal Rate.
4. In the Assignments tab, click on the Save button.
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� Role assignments can act as placeholders, which a user can later use to assign
specific resources.
� A user can also assign rates to roles. The rate type determines the price/unit
used to calculate costs for the assignment.
Review Questions
1. Roles can be assigned to which of the following:
a. Resources
b. Activities
c. WBS elements
d. Projects
e. a and b only
2. True or False: A user is limited to five rate types per role.
Notes
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LESSON 17: ASSIGNING RESOURCES AND COSTS
OBJECTIVES
� Assign resources by role
� Assign labor, nonlabor, and material resources to activities
� Adjust Budgeted Units/Time for a resource
� Assign expenses to activities
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
Assigning Costs to Roles, Resources and Expenses is
generally more advanced functionality. Until Project
Inventories are stable, and staffing plans within
Projects are stable, assigning Costs generally causes
a great deal of confusion. It is strongly
recommended that Project Cost Accounting /
Budgeting / Cost Management be put in a roadmap
of projects over time, where incremental
improvement in these processes is planned.
Project Managers Many Project Managers want to get to Earned Value
Metrics as soon as possible. However, unless this is
a very mature project manager that understands the
impacts of scheduling, relationships, duration and
effort, budgeted units over time limits, and
balancing the project plan with staffing plans,
implementing Cost Variance metrics and EVM will
fail quickly.
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STEPS FOR RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Following are the basic steps for resource management:
1. Define resources in the Resources Administration page
� Define resource availability.
� Set up the resource name, description, cost, roles, and attributes that control
the resource’s effect on the schedule.
2. Assign resources in the Activities page:
� Enter the resource name and amount of work planned.
� The cost is calculated based on the resource quantity and price/unit as defined
in the Resources window.
3. Analyze resources and costs in the Team Usage page:
� Use the Resource Usage profile to view resource quantity/cost information
graphically. The profile helps a user analyze when, and to what extent, a
resource is allocated.
� Use the Resource Usage spreadsheet to view resource quantity/cost information
in a tabular format. Like the Resource Usage Profile, the spreadsheet helps a
user analyze resource allocation.
� Use columns to view total costs.
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LAB: ASSIGNING RESOURCES BY ROLE
Resource assignments can be made by replacing a role assignment with a specific
resource. At least one role must be assigned to an activity in order to assign
resources by role.
Or, Resources may be assigned to an activity without assigning a Role. In this
instance, a Role would show up in the Resources tab. It would be the primary role
of the assigned resource.
Assign a resource by role
1. Verify that you are on the Activities page and that activity Review and Approve
Designs is selected.
2. On the Assignments tab, double-click in the blank Resource Name field for the
role Design Engineer.
3. In the Select Resource box, expand E&C Resources and Engineering Department.
4. Select the resource Wendy Resner and click on OK.
5. When prompted to use the Unit/Time and Overtime factor values for the new
resource, click on Ok.
6. When prompted to use the Price/Unit for the new resource, click on Ok.
When assigning resources by role, two confirmation boxes are displayed. These
settings include Price/Time, Units/Time, and Overtime Factor values.
� Click No — Retains the role’s Price/Unit, Units/Time and Overtime Factor values.
� Click Yes — Apply the resource’s Price/Unit, Units/Time and Overtime Factor
values.
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ASSIGNING RESOURCES
When a user assigns a resource to an activity, the following calculation is
performed:
Duration x Units/Time = Units
This formula must remain true. Depending on numerous factors, including the type
of activity or type of resource, a user may need to adjust Duration, Units or
Units/Time when assigning a resource. When a user does modify one of these three
fields, P6 will recalculate the formula based on the Duration Type of the activity.
� Duration – The amount of time the activity will take to be completed.
� Units — The number of units (hours) that a resource is assigned to work on the
activity.
� Units/Time — The number of units (hours) that a resource is scheduled to work
in a specific time period, for example, 8 hours/day.
Typically, a resource is not assigned to work on a level of effort activity full time.
Therefore, the Units/Time is usually adjusted after making a Level of Effort resource
assignment.
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LAB: MODIFYING A RESOURCE ASSIGNMENT
The activity Concrete Foundation Walls requires two laborers to complete the work.
Currently there is only one laborer assigned to the activity. Since 100% represents
one laborer, 200% represents two laborers.
1. In the Activity table under the WBS element Foundation, select the activity
Concrete Foundation Walls.
2. In the Planned Units/Time field in the Assignments tab, enter 200%.
3. Click on the Save button in the Assignments tab.
Since the Duration Type of the activity is Fixed Duration & Units/Time, when the
user changed the Units/Time, P6 recalculated the Units.
18 days * 200% (16 hours/day) = 36d (288 hours)
Currently the value for Units is expressed in days and Units/Time is expressed as a
percentage. These values can be presented differently, in hours for example, by
changing the settings in the user’s preferences.
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DESIGNATING A PRIMARY RESOURCE
The primary resource is the resource that can update the activity’s progress, dates,
remaining duration, percent complete, and steps in the Progress Report application.
Typically, it is the person responsible for coordinating an activity's work. An activity
can have one or no primary resource.
� Only the primary resource can send feedback via Progress Reporter to the
project manager, informing the project manager of the status of an activity.
� A primary resource can be assigned to a milestone activity to allow the
milestone to be updated through Progress Reporter. This assignment is made in
the Assignments tab in Activity Details.
� Only a Labor type resource can be designated as a primary resource
Usage: If an organization is not using the Progress Report application, there is no
functional need to designate a Primary Resource and the field can be ignored.
However, the field can still be used to identify the lead resource on an activity.
Assign a primary resource to the activity
1. Use the Customize Columns button in the Assignments tab to display the
Primary Resource column.
2. Click and Drag the Primary Resource column so appears as the second column
after Resource Name.
3. Mark the checkbox for the Rough Carpenter resource.
4. Click on the Save button in the Assignments tab.
After you save your changes, the checkbox for the Ironworker resource will be
cleared.
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PLANNING COSTS
Costs are planned and managed at the activity level. There are two types of costs:
� Resource — Calculated based on resource assignments
� Expense — Lump sum costs that are manually entered
RESOURCE COSTS
The cost of a resource can be calculated based on the Price/Unit defined in the
Resource dictionary and the Budgeted Units assigned to the activity.
� Planned Cost = Planned Units * Price/Unit
View Budgeted Cost for mgirzdius in activity A1020
1. Use the Customize Columns button in the Assignments tab to remove the
Primary Resource column and Role columns.
2. Adjust the columns widths so that all columns are visible in the Assignments tab.
The ironworker is assigned to work 18 days, or 144 hours. The ironworker’s
price/unit is $55 per hour. The total planned cost for the ironworker is:
144 hours * $55 = $7,920
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EXPENSE COSTS
Expenses are non-resource costs associated with a project. They are typically one-
time expenditures for non-reusable items. Examples of expenses include facilities,
travel, overhead, and training.
Expenses are manually assigned at the activity level. A user can enter a single lump
sum expense or they can enter the number of units and the Price/Unit.
� Expense categories can be assigned to classify the expense.
� Expenses can be accrued at the start, end, or uniformly over the duration of an
activity.
� A unit of measure can be used to label the quantity, for example, each, pounds,
or square feet.
Display and Modify the Expense tab
Before assigning an expense, we will display and modify the Expense tab.
1. Click on View, Customize Details Windows
2. Under Detail Window, mark the checkbox for Expenses
3. Click on Save
4. Click and Drag on the title bar for the Expenses detail window and drop on top
of the Assignments window
5. Use the Customize Columns button in the Expenses tab to display the columns
listed below and to hide all other columns:
a. Expense Item
b. Expense Category
c. Planned Units
d. Rate Type
e. Planned Cost
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We will track the costs for the concrete for the foundation walls as an expense.
Assign an Expense
1. Verify the activity Concrete Foundation Walls is selected.
2. In the Expenses tab, click on the Add button.
3. In the Expense Item column, enter <Concrete>.
4. Double-click in the Expense Category column and select Materials.
5. In the Planned Units field, enter 1.
6. In the Price/Unit field, enter 50,000.00.
7. Click on the Save button on the Activities page toolbar.
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� Three steps in resource management are defining resources, assigning
resources, and analyzing resources.
� If a role is not designated as a placeholder in an activity, assign a resource
directly from the Resource dictionary.
� When a user assigns a resource to an activity, this calculation is performed:
Duration * Units/Time = Units.
� When a user assigns a resource, they can adjust the Duration, Units/Time or
Units. They can also designate a primary resource.
Review Questions
1. True or False: A maximum of 10 resources can be assigned to an activity.
What type of resource is not measured in units per time?
a. Labor
b. Nonlabor
c. Material
d. None of the above
True or False: Expenses are non-resource costs associated with a project and
assigned to a project’s activities.
True or False: Attributes such as price/unit and expense item can be entered on
the Expenses tab in Activity Details.
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SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION
Your Customer has been evaluated by CMMi auditors and has been awarded a Level
4 maturity designation. This organization has been using Primavera for 5 years. You
start your implementation by doing an audience assessment. You look into project
plans within each EPS node and find quickly that project data is bad. Dates don’t
make sense. All activities in plans are constrained. Roles / Resources have not been
assigned. There are no baselines for the projects.
Your Customer Executive Sponsor is pushing hard to take their Project Plans to the
next level by implementing Earned Value Management metrics.
In small groups, discuss how you might discuss your findings with the Executive
Sponsor. What approaches might you take that would allow the Executive Sponsor
to show Earned Value Management success, but not overwhelm those project
managers that are obviously not ready for this level of maturity and discipline?
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Notes
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LESSON 18: ANALYZING RESOURCES
OBJECTIVES
� Display the Team Usage page
� Format a profile
� Format the timescale
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
As noted previously, Project Plans must be balanced to
show realistic dates linked to staffing plans in which
assigned resources are not critically over allocated.
This chapter focused on balancing resources manually
without the use of Resource Leveling. Resource
Leveling is very advanced functionality. It assumes
that organizations have thought through the Project
Risk and Prioritization processes so that Leveling
allocates resources to the most critical projects.
Executing the process manually with Customers will
minimize the confusion that will result if Leveling is
used. Remember - activities in project plans that are
resource dependent will have dates that move out
depending on the individual projects’ defined risk and
priority level. If Customers are still grappling with
schedules, scheduling, schedule management and
adoption of standard data update processes, adding
Resource Leveling into that mix will more than likely
lead an implementation into failure.
Project Managers As noted previously, project dates and staffing plans
must be balanced. Dates must be realistic. Part of
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determining whether or not dates are realistic is
looking at staffing plans, identifying over allocations,
and then resolving those over allocations – preferably
in the planning process before baselining.
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SUMMARIZE PROJECT DATA
Prior to view resource allocation, project data should be summarized.
Summarize the Project
1. Verify that you are on the Activities page.
2. Click on Actions, Run, Summarize Projects.
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TEAM USAGE PAGE
The Team Usage page provides a graphical or tabular view of unit/cost distributions
over time. It displays the amount of effort needed from each resource/role on the
project during each time period.
Use the profile to determine how many hours each resource is scheduled to work;
identify over allocated resources; track expenditures per time period; and display a
banana curve to compare early and late dates.
� View unit/cost distributions from a specific project or all projects to which a user
has access.
� View resource or role allocations.
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DISPLAYING THE TEAM USAGE PAGE
Use the Team Usage page information to determine which resources/roles are over
allocated and which resources/roles are underutilized.
Analyze a resource’s allocation using the Team Usage page
1. Click on the Team Usage page button.
2. In the left pane, expand the resource group under the project name.
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FORMATTING THE TEAM USAGE PAGE
The Team Usage page can be customized to display data graphical in a histogram or
tabular in a spreadsheet.
� Display — Select to display units or costs.
� Timescale – Set the timescale interval.
� Show Current Project only – Only resource allocation from the current project
will be displayed.
� Show All projects – Resource allocation from the across the entire database will
be displayed.
� Limit – Displays a bar that is based on the Max Units/Time field in the resource
dictionary and the calendar assigned to the resource.
� Allocation Limit – Displays a bar that shows the resource available based on
activities the resource is currently assigned.
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�
Procedure: Set the Timescale to Month/Week
1. In the Timescale drop down list, select Month/Week.
2. Click on the Save link.
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DISPLAYING A RESOURCE’S ALLOCATION
Select a resource in the left pane to display the resource’s allocation.
Set the Timescale to Month/Week
1. In the left pane, select the resource Paul Kim.
2. In the histogram, scroll to February of 2012.
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� The Team Usage page provides a graphical and tabular view of unit/cost
distributions over time. It displays the amount of effort needed from each
resource/role on the project during each time period.
� Use the profile to determine how many hours each resource is scheduled to
work; identify over-allocated or under-allocated resources; track expenditures
per time period; and display a banana curve to compare early and late dates.
� A user can further customize the Team Usage page by using the Customize box.
Review Questions
1. True or False: The Team Usage page allows a user to focus on resource
allocation.
2. True or False: Data in the Team Usage page can be displayed in graphical or
tabular format.
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Notes
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LESSON 19: OPTIMIZING THE PROJECT PLAN
OBJECTIVES
� Analyze schedule dates
� Shorten a project schedule
� Analyze resource availability
� Remove resource over allocation
� Analyze project costs
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
This chapter addressed what is commonly referred
to as “crunching” or compressing a schedule. While
it is important to understand how to do this in
Primavera, crunching a schedule is high Risk. It
should always be done within the context of
available staffing.
Project Schedulers,
Project Managers
It is always tempting to use schedule compression
techniques to “make the dates look good.” As
noted, this is high Risk behavior. While the math
may show that the dates are better and are meeting
management requirements, reality of project
execution will quickly show that dates will be
missed, slips will occur, and the projects will not
perform as expected.
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ANALYZING THE PROJECT
Once a user has created the project plan, verify that it meets the project
stakeholders’ date, resource, and cost requirements. If an inconsistency exists
between the information in the project plan and the project requirements, they will
be able to identify the source of the problem and define a solution:
� Analyze schedule dates — Evaluate the schedule to ensure that milestone dates
and project dates are achieved.
� Analyze resource allocation — Evaluate the resources to ensure that the
resources are not over allocated.
� Analyze cost budget — Evaluate project costs.
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ANALYZING SCHEDULE DATES
The most important date in the schedule is the calculated project Finish date. If the
calculated Finish date of the project is beyond the Must Finish By date, the project
must be shortened. In addition, each deliverable in the project should be scheduled
to finish by the dates imposed by the project stakeholders.
Steps for analysis:
� Compare the calculated Finish to the Must Finish By date.
� Back up the project plan.
� Focus on critical activities.
� Shorten the project.
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COMPARING FINISH DATE TO MUST FINISH BY DATE
A user can quickly determine whether the project will finish on time by viewing the
General tab on the EPS page.
The calculated Finish date is later than the Must Finish By date, indicating that the
project will not finish on time.
1. Click on the EPS page button.
2. Select the project Nesbid Building Expansion.
3. In Project Details, click the General tab and compare the Must Finish By date to
the Scheduled Finish date.
Will the project as now scheduled finish on time?
Usage Note: The comparison of the Scheduled Finish date and the Must Finish By
date is very important to the success of the project. Reviewing these dates with
Management can help to manage expectations as to when this work is realistically
able to complete.
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FOCUSING ON CRITICAL ACTIVITIES
To shorten the project, focus on critical activities. These represent the longest
continuous path of activities through a project that determines the project Finish
date. If a user adjusts a critical activity, the project’s Scheduled Finish date is likely to
be affected.
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LAB: COMPRESSING THE SCHEDULE BY FOCUSING ON
CRITICAL PATH ACTIVITIES
1. Click on the Activities page button.
2. Click on Actions, Run, Scheduler.
3. In the Schedule Project box, click on Options.
4. In the Schedule Options box, for the option Define critical activities as, select
Longest Path.
5. Click on the Save link.
6. Click on Schedule.
Discussion:
What conditions may be present that would suggest that selecting Longest Path may
be preferable to Total Float less than or equal to “x” days?
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Modify the View and Run the Critical default filter
1. Open the view Basic Gantt Chart.
2. Click on the column header for the Start column.
3. Click and Drag on the vertical split bar so the bar chart is visible.
4. Click on View, Filters, Filters.
5. In the Customize Filters box, mark the checkbox for the Critical Activities filter.
6. Click on Ok.
7. Click on View, Columns.
8. Add the columns listed below to the Select Columns section and remove any
columns from Select Columns not listed below. Note: Some columns may
already be listed under Select Columns.
� Activity ID
� Planned Duration
� Start
� Finish
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� Total Float
9. Click on View, Save View As.
10. In the Save View As box enter <Longest Path>.
11. Click on Ok.
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SHORTENING THE PROJECT
If schedule analysis leads a user to conclude that the Must Finish By date cannot be
met, concentrate efforts on shortening the schedule. Several methods can help a
user accomplish this goal:
� Refine duration estimates:
� Break down long activities.
� Assign additional resources to reduce duration
� Use relationships to overlap activities
� Apply/modify constraints
� Change calendar assignments
� Put critical activities on a longer workweek
� Add exceptions to non-work time in a Project Specific Calendar
Best Practices: Exceptions should never be added to a global calendar, as that would
impact every activity in every project in the database. It would be far easier to
simply change calendar assignments.
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REFINING DURATION ESTIMATES
Begin the analysis by reviewing the activities with the longest duration. In general,
these activities offer the greatest flexibility in altering durations.
It should be noted that this is a best practice for any project plan prior to assigning
Resources / Roles and estimating effort (hours / units) for the activity.
Reduce the duration of an activity
1. Select an activity, EC1100 – Site Preparation.
2. In the Planned Duration column, enter 30.
3. Click on the Save button.
4. Click on Action, Run, Scheduler.
5. Verify the Data Date is February 27, 2012.
6. Clear the checkbox for the option Display schedule log upon completion.
7. Click on the Schedule button.
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MODIFYING RELATIONSHIPS
If a user needs to further compress the schedule, review relationships between
activities on the critical path.
Modify a Relationship
1. Verify activity, EC1100 – Site Preparation, is selected.
2. Click on the Successors tab.
3. Double-click in the Relationship Type column.
4. Select Finish to Finish.
5. In the Lag column, enter 10.
6. Click on the Save button.
7. Click on Action, Run, Scheduler.
8. Verify the Data Date is February 27, 2012.
9. Click on the Schedule button.
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MODIFYING CONSTRAINTS
Constraints assigned earlier in the project life cycle may need to be modified based
on the latest information from the project team. If a user modifies a constraint, be
sure to also modify the Notebook topic that was created to document the
constraint.
One should be very judicious in the use of constraints. Constraints disrupt the
scheduling engine. As noted previously, this may make the schedule look green
from a date perspective. However, as constrained activities slip, the impacts on
successor activities are not felt during the scheduling process. A backlog of work
commonly piles up either before or during the constrained activity. When the
constrained activity finally slips, then the downstream impact of that slip shows up
immediately.
This is a very common scenario in Phase / Gate methodologies that have
constrained activities. It is a difficult conversation to have with Steering Committees
who have been seeing a green schedule for weeks, and then are updated in a status
meeting that the project has slipped 3 months over the course of one week.
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VERIFYING PROJECT DATES
To see if the project will now finish on time, verify that no negative Total Float exists
on any of the activities in the project.
The Total Float for the project equals 2 days and the calculated Scheduled Finish
date is 02-Oct-13. Therefore, the project is scheduled to finish before the Must
Finish By date of 04-Oct-13.
Verifying Project Dates
1. Click on the EPS page button.
2. Select the project Nesbid Building Expansion.
3. In Project Details, click the General tab and compare the Must Finish By date to
the Scheduled Finish date.
Will the project as now scheduled finish on time?
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ANALYZING RESOURCE ALLOCATION
The project plan is now scheduled to be completed by the deadline. Before
proceeding, verify that resources are appropriately allocated.
A user can use the Team Usage page to determine which resources are over
allocated or underutilized. A user can then re-assign resources to help even the
workload.
Since we have changed the dates of the activities, we will need to summarize the
project before analyzing resource usage. We will also focus on the current project.
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LAB: USE THE TEAM USAGE PAGE TO IDENTIFY OVER
ALLOCATED RESOURCES.
1. Click on the Activities page.
2. Click on Actions, Run, Summarize Projects.
3. Click on the Team Usage page button.
4. In the left pane, expand the resource group under the project name.
5. Click on the Customize link.
6. In the Customize box, select Current Project only.
7. Click on the Save link.
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IDENTIFYING RESOURCE OVER ALLOCATION
The Team Usage page allows a user select a resource to identify allocation. Select
each resource and view their profile. Remember the project occurs between
February 2012 and October 2013.
Identify Over-Allocated Resources
1. Select each resource and view their profile.
The resource Paul Kim is over-allocated. The next step is to identify the activities
causing the over-allocation.
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IDENTIFYING ACTIVITIES CAUSING OVER ALLOCATION
The spreadsheet in the Team Usage page allows a user identify activities that a
resource is assigned to. Paul is over-allocated between the weeks of May 13 and
June 10.
Identifying Activities Causing Over-Allocation
1. Select Spreadsheet.
2. Click on the link for the project Nesbid Building Expansion.
In the Resource Project Activities box, six activities are listed for Paul. Three
activities; EC1050, EC1070 and EC1080, occur over the same period of time, causing
the over-allocation.
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CORRECTING OVER ALLOCATION
There are several methods to remove the over allocation from a resource:
� Replace the over allocated resource with an available resource.
� Increase the resource’s workweek.
� Increase the hours/day that the resource works.
� Assign additional resources to the activity.
To view allocation from resources not assigned to the project, we will access the
Resource Usage page under the Resources section. There are two people who could
be used in place of Paul, Jeff Young and Wayne Prescott. We will search on their
names.
Identify an alternate resource to work on activities
1. On the Navigation bar, click on Resources.
2. Click on the Analysis page.
3. Click on the Resource Usage tab.
4. In the left pane, click on the Search button.
5. In the search box, enter <Jeff Young>.
6. In the left pane, select Jeff Young.
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Jeff is not assigned on any activities after December 2011, so he would be available
to replace Paul on one activity.
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Procedure: Identify an alternate resource to work on activities
1. In the search box, enter <Wayne Prescott>.
2. In the left pane, select Wayne Prescott.
Wayne is also not assigned on any activities, so he would be available to replace
Paul on one activity as well.
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LAB: RESOLVE OVER ALLOCATION
After discussing our options with Paul, Jeff, and Wayne, you have decided that. Paul
will remain assigned to activity EC1050, Jeff will be assigned on EC1070, and Wayne
will be assigned on EC1080.
Replace the Over-Allocated Resource
1. Click on Activity EC1070.
2. In the Assignments tab, double-click in the Resource Name column.
3. In the Search box in the Select Resource box, enter Jeff Young.
4. Select Jeff Young and click on Assign.
5. Click on Ok to close Message box
6. Click on Activity EC1080.
7. In the Assignments tab double-click in the Resource Name column.
8. In the Search box in the Select Resource box, enter Wayne Prescott.
9. Select Wayne Prescott and click on Assign.
10. Click on Ok to close Message box.
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11. Use the Team Usage page to check the allocation for Paul Kim, Jeff Young, and
Wayne Prescott.
Review updated allocation
1. Click on Actions, Run, Summarize Projects.
2. Click on the Team Usage page button.
3. In the left pane, expand the resource group under the project name.
4. Select Paul Kim, Jeff Young, and Wayne Prescott and focus on allocation in May
and June of 2012.
All three resources are showing they are not over-allocated.
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� Optimizing the project plan is the last step in planning the project. Ensure that
the project plan meets its date, resource, and cost requirements.
� If the calculated Scheduled Finish date of the project is beyond the Must Finish
By date, the project must be shortened. Compare the dates in the General tab in
Project Details.
� A user can use various methods to shorten the project, such as refining
durations, modifying relationships, applying constraints, and focusing on critical
activities.
� Use the Team Usage Histogram or Spreadsheet to review resource allocation.
Review Questions
1. True or False: A user can quickly determine whether the project will finish on
time by reviewing the Status tab in the EPS page.
4. Which of the following is a method for removing resource over allocation?
a. Decrease the resource’s workweek
b. Assign the resource to more activities in that time frame
c. Re-assign work to a different resource
d. All of the above
2. True or False: To be successful at shortening a project, a user must focus on
critical activities.
3. Which of the following are alternatives for compressing the duration of a
project?
a. Use relationships to overlap activities
b. Add resources to reduce durations
c. Review long activities to determine if duration can be refined
d. Change calendar assignments
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e. All of the above
Notes
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LESSON 20: BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
OBJECTIVES
� Create a baseline plan
� Display baseline bars on the Gantt Chart
� Modify the bars on the Gantt Chart
ROLE / IMPACT CHART
Role Functionality / Issue
Implementation
Consultant
The concept of Baselining, while simple
functionality, is generally difficult to understand.
Project Baselines are snapshots in time of the
agreed upon work – dates, duration, efforts,
resources, and costs.
As project plans are updated throughout the life of
the project, it is expected that there will be
variances. Baselining is a tool to indicate project
performance. It shows project managers where
projects may be headed for trouble, or are in
trouble. The Actual data as compared to the project
plan is that which allows project performance to be
measured.
Baselining should not be attempted until the best
practices of setting up the project plan, reviewing
activities, reviewing durations, reviewing
relationships, assignment of resources, and
estimation of effort / units for those resources over
time is completed.
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Project Schedulers,
Project Managers,
Managers
Anyone involved in Project Management as well as
Management and Sponsors need to understand that
variances are expected and normal. If all projects
show Plan and Actual to be 100% in alliance, it is
very likely that data is being manipulated to
consistently show project performance as “green.”
While this is tempting to do, it defeats the purpose
of using the tool. Primavera predicts failure.
Predicting failure allows for proactive responses to
address predicted failure and increase the
probability that projects will come in on time and on
budget.
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BASELINES
A baseline is a copy of a project that a user can compare to the current project in
order to evaluate progress.
BEST PRACTICE: Create a baseline plan before updating a schedule for the first
time.
A baseline provides a target against which a user can track a project’s cost,
schedule, and resource performance.
Baseline functionality in Primavera P6 enables a user to:
� Save an unlimited number of copies of a project for comparisons.
� Designate one copy of a project as the project baseline and one as user baselines for
comparison to the current project.
� Assign a baseline type to categorize the copies of the project. Examples include initial
planning, what-if, or mid-project baselines. Baseline types can help a user
benchmark performance across multiple projects.
Baseline, indicated by black bar, is used to compare schedule performance against
current project, indicated by shaded bars.
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Because baselines and baseline management are the starting point for all project
performance measurements, one could make an argument that only a governance
organization (PMO) should have the security to create and maintain baselines.
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CREATING A BASELINE
A user can create a baseline either by:
� Copying the currently opened project.
� Converting another project into a baseline.
When a user creates a baseline, they must select the project to which it is
associated. Baselines can be assigned only to opened projects. All opened projects
are displayed in the Maintain Baselines dialog box.
A baseline had been previously created prior to optimizing the schedule. Since that
baseline is no longer valid, we need to create a new one.
Usage: It should be consider either retaining or deleting the previous baseline.
Some organizations would retain it to keep a record of changes in the schedule.
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Create a baseline
1. On the Navigation bar, click on Projects.
2. Click on the Activities page.
3. Click on Actions, Define Baselines.
4. Expand the group Nesbid Building Expansion.
5. Click the Add Baseline button.
6. In the Baseline Name column, replace the B2 at the end of the baseline name
and replace it with <Original Baseline>
7. In the Baseline Type column select Initial Baseline Plan.
8. Click on the Save button in the Baseline box.
Usage: It is recommended that the baseline name be unique and information.
Include the purpose of the baseline, (Original, Update) and the date of creation or
the data date. It is also recommended that baselines are never deleted. Old
baselines should be archived.
Verbiage: Many experienced project managers and schedulers, especially in the
construction industry, will only refer to the original baseline as a Baseline.
Subsequent copies of the schedules are referred to as Updates. In the construction
industry there is only one baseline.
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ASSIGNING A BASELINE
Now that a baseline has been created, it must be assigned as the official baseline to
be used for project performance measurements.
Use the Project Baseline and the User’s Primary Baseline fields in the Baseline box to
assign the baseline for comparison. If no baseline is designated as active, the current
project plan is used as the baseline.
� Project baseline
� Baseline selected by the project manager for the project
� Used for schedule, resource, and cost comparison
� Controlled by the security privilege, Maintain Project Baselines
� User’s Primary Baseline
� User-specific; each user can choose a different copy of the project as
their primary baseline for comparison to the current project
� Used for schedule, resource, and cost comparison
Select the newly created baseline as the project baseline and the primary user
baseline.
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Select the newly created baseline as the project baseline and primary
user baseline
1. In the Project Baseline select Nesbid Building Expansion – Original Baseline.
2. In the User’s Primary Baseline select Nesbid Building Expansion – Original
Baseline.
3. In the Baseline box, click on the Save button.
4. Click Close.
Usage: It is not necessary to select the same baseline as both the Project Baseline
and the User’s Primary Baseline.
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VIEWING BASELINE BARS
The Gantt Chart Options box allows a user to modify the type, size, color, and shape
of the bars displayed in the Gantt chart.
� Timescale — Bar is drawn based on the timescale selected, for example, Actual Bar
drawn from Actual Start date to Actual Finish date.
� Filter — Bar is drawn for all activities that match the criteria listed in the filter
displayed.
Open the Gantt Chart Options Box
1. Click on View, Gantt Chart Options.
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BARS TAB
Up to three bars can be displayed in the Gantt Chart at one time. The user can show
any combination of the following bars:
� Current Bar — Displays a bar based on the Early Dates of the activities.
� Late Bar - Displays a bar based on the Late Dates of the activities.
� Project Baseline Bar – Displays a bar based on the dates of the Project Baseline.
� User’s Primary Baseline Bar – Displays a bar based on the dates of the User’ Primary
Baseline.
� Float Bar - Displays a bar representing the amount of time an activity can be delayed
without impacting the end of the project based on the activity’s Total Float.
� Free Float Bar - . Displays a bar representing the amount of time an activity can be
delayed without impacting the activity’s successors based on the activity’s Free Float.
Current Bar Options
� Show progress — Displays progressed activities with the color Blue
� Show critical – Displays critical activities with the color Red
� Label – Sets the activity data used for the bar label
� Label position – Sets the location of the bar label
� Label font – Sets the font of the bar label
Necking
� Use calendar non-work time — The bar is necked, or reduced in height during
periods when the activity is not scheduled to occur due to calendar non-work time.
(Weekends, Winter shut downs).
� Use activity non-work time — The bar is necked, or reduced in height during periods
when the activity is not scheduled to occur due to suspending the activity.
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DISPLAYING BASELINE BARS
By displaying baseline bars in the Gantt chart, a user can visually compare the
baseline plan’s schedule dates to the current project plan’s schedule dates.
Open the Gantt Chart Options Box
1. In the Second Bar drop down list, select Project Baseline.
2. Click on Ok.
3. Click and Drag the vertical split bar to the right to clearly see the bar chart.
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SAVING THE VIEW
With the Baseline Bars displayed, we will save a new view.
Save the New View
1. Click on View, Save View As.
2. In the Save View As box enter <Current vs. Baseline>
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� A baseline is a copy of a project that can be compared to the current project to
evaluate progress. Create a baseline plan before updating a schedule for the first
time.
� A user can create a baseline by copying the currently opened project or converting
another project into a baseline.
� Assign a baseline type to categorize the baseline based on how a user intends to use
it.
� A project baseline is the baseline selected by the project manager for the project and
is controlled by a security privilege. A user’s primary-baseline can be designated by
each user and is used for schedule comparison only.
� The Bars box allows a user to modify the type, size, color, and shape of the baseline
bars displayed in the Gantt Chart.
Review Questions
1. True or False: Only one baseline can be compared to a current schedule at any
given time.
2. A user can use a project baseline to compare:
a. Schedule data
b. Resource data
c. Cost data
d. All of the above
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SMALL GROUP LAB
1. The Customer wants a customized view. Requirements are:
� Show Primary Baseline- yellow bar
� Show Planned Work –green bar
� Show Actual Work –blue bar
� Show Baseline Finish Date as label in Primary Baseline Bar
2. Be prepared to demonstrate your steps to the class.
Notes
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LESSON 21: PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL
OBJECTIVES
� Describe several methods for updating the project schedule
� Use Progress Spotlight
� Status activities
� Reschedule the project
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UPDATING A PROJECT
Once a project has started, a user needs to update actual schedule information and
resource usage at regular intervals. The company will establish a standard update
procedure, including how data is collected and how often it is updated.
How Often?
A user may need to update daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on the length of
the project and how frequently a user wants to adjust their forecasts.
How Data is Collected
1. Project managers manually enter the actual date, resource, and cost
information
� Record actual dates and progress, actual resource usage and cost, and expense
costs.
2. Approve and apply timesheets
� Team members use timesheets to update activities.
� Project managers review and approve timesheets.
� Project managers apply timesheets to the project.
3. Auto compute actuals
� Progress of activities is automatically calculated according to the project plan.
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General Items to Consider in Creating a Schedule Update
Process
� Create a baseline plan
� Identify the new Data Date
� Enter activity progress
� Report resource use and costs to date
� Use Suspend and Resume dates as necessary
� Calculate the schedule – Be sure to verify the new Data Date
� Monitor project progress with reports
� Determine whether project objectives are being met:
� Will the project finish on time?
� Is it within budget?
� Are project resources being used effectively?
Tips for Updating Status
� Use Activity Details tabs or the Activity Table.
� Use Progress Spotlight to identify activities to be updated.
� Use filters and grouping to create a statusing view.
� Use rolling dates for a time period look-ahead.
� Organize in a useful sequence via activity codes, resources, and dates.
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DEFINING A STATUSING PERIOD
Define the statusing period before beginning to update activities. In general, the
statusing period begins at the current Data Date and ends at the new Data Date. The
length of the statusing period depends on the frequency of the updates. A user
could, for example, create a statusing period that extends one week from the
current Data Date. The end of the statusing period will become the new Data Date
— the date up to which actual performance is measured.
Progress Spotlight
Progress Spotlight creates a visible statusing period between the current Data Date
and the next new Data Date. It also provides a highlighted list of activities that
should have progress during the update period.
Activate the Progress Spotlight
1. Click View, Progress Spotlight.
Progress Spotlight establishes a statusing period of one week from the current
Data Date, based on date interval of the Gantt Chart timescale, which is set to
Week/Month. Click and drag the right edge of the Spotlight to
increase/decrease the statusing period.
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Entering Actuals
Once a project is underway, a user must enter actual schedule data, resource usage,
and expense costs at regular intervals. A user may need to update daily, weekly, or
monthly, depending on the length of the project and how frequently they want to
adjust their forecasts.
Actual data is different than planned data — actual data is the real time and cost
associated with an activity.
Enter schedule, resource, and cost data in the following order:
Completed Activities
� Actual Start and Actual Finish dates
� Actual Regular Units/Costs
� Actual Cost for expenses
Activities in Progress
� Actual Start date
� Percent Complete and/or Remaining Duration
� Actual Regular Units/Costs and Remaining Units/Costs
� Actual and Remaining Costs for expenses if the activity work is temporarily halted,
use Suspend/Resume dates
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LAB: STATUSING A PROJECT
To update a start milestone, mark the Started checkbox and enter the Actual Start
date. A user does not need to enter data in the Finish field because the activity type
is a Start Milestone, which has zero duration.
Status a Start Milestone activity
1. Select activity, EC1010 – Start Office Building Addition Project.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Mark the Started checkbox.
4. Verify the Actual Start date, 27-Feb-12.
5. Note also that for milestones the Finish checkbox is automatically checked.
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For a Task type activity that has started, the user would specify either a remaining
duration or percent complete if the activity is still in progress, or an actual finish if
the activity is completed.
Status the LOE, which started and finished on time
1 Select an activity, EC1000 - Design Building Addition.
2. In the General tab, mark the Started checkbox and
3. Verify the Actual Start date, 27-Feb-12.
4. In the Percent Complete field, enter 50%.
5. Click on the Save button.
Since the Percent Complete is set to Duration, the remaining duration will
automatically recalculate when the user saves changes.
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Next a user will check the Actual Regular Units for the activity. Note that in this
example, data in the Actual Regular Units field is not automatically recalculated
because in the option Link Percent Complete with Actuals in Project Preferences is
not checked. We will need to update the actual units manually.
Status Actual Regular Units
1. Click the Assignments tab.
2. In the Actual Units column for Paul Kim enter 20.
3. Click on the Save button.
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RESCHEDULING THE PROJECT
Now that actuals have been entered, it is time to reschedule the project based on
the new Data Date. Any activities that did not finish on time will delay their
successor activities.
1. Click on Actions, Run, Scheduler.
2. Set the Data Date to 23-Mar-2012.
3. Click Schedule.
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VIEW SCHEDULE IMPACTS
After the project has been rescheduled, the user will review the schedule for
possible delays. The user will also turn off Progress Spotlight since it is no longer
needed.
� Analyze the activities on the critical path.
� Review the project’s performance to date.
� Develop strategies for getting the project back on track.
� Gain agreement within the project team.
� Implement the revised project plan.
1. Click on View, Progress Spotlight.
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CONTROLLING THE PROJECT
After rescheduling a project, analyze schedule dates, resource allocation, and the
cost budget.
Analyzing schedule dates
� Analyze the schedule to determine if milestone dates and project dates are being
met.
� Compare the calculated Finish date to the Must Finish By date to see if the project
will be completed on time.
� If the project is behind schedule, analyze critical activities.
� Adjust the project to meet the project Finish date.
Analyzing resource allocation
� After adjusting the project, determine if resources are being used effectively.
Analyzing the cost budget
� After adjusting the project, view At Completion Total Cost to determine if the project
is within budget.
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COMPRESSING THE SCHEDULE
If the calculated Scheduled Finish date is later than the Must Finish By date, a user
can use several methods to shorten the project:
� Use relationships to overlap activities.
� Add resources to reduce durations.
� Break down long activities.
� Change calendar assignments.
� Put critical activities on a longer workweek.
� Add exceptions to non-worktime.
A user can use the following set of questions to help you determine the most
appropriate way to adjust the schedule.
Can the Finish date of the project sl ip?
� The project may need to be delayed if no other options are available.
� If the delay is approved, adjust the affected milestones.
� If the delay is not approved, find another way to meet the project milestones and
Finish date of the project.
Can the scope of the activity/project decrease?
� In some cases, in order to meet the project milestones and finish date, a user can
decrease the total amount of work that will be accomplished, i.e., decrease the
scope of the project.
� If the scope change is approved, decrease the scope by reducing the total hours
worked on activities. This will change the duration of the activities.
� If the scope change is not approved, explore other ways to meet the project
milestones and Finish date of the project.
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Were the budgeted hours over or under-estimated?
� A user may have overestimated the number of hours needed to complete activities;
perhaps the scope of work can be accomplished in fewer hours.
� You can decrease the total hours worked on activities, which decreases the duration
of the activities.
Can additional resources be assigned?
� A user can assign another resource to the activity to finish it on time.
� This may be possible if another resource with the necessary skills is available.
� If a resource is available, a user can assign it to make up the hours.
Can the resource work overtime?
� The resource may need to work overtime to complete an activity on time.
� If this is possible, a user can decrease the duration of the activity, then enter the
original remaining hours.
� The hours the resource works each day will increase.
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LESSON REVIEW
Key Concepts
� Once a project has started, use one of the three options below to update actual
schedule information and resource usage at regular intervals:
� Manually enter actual dates and resource and cost information
� Approve and apply timesheets
� Auto compute actuals
� When updating a project, actuals are recorded for each activity relative to the Data
Date. The Data Date is the date up to which actual performance data is reported, and
the date from which future work is scheduled.
� To status completed activities, update Actual Start and Actual Finish dates, Actual
Regular Units/Costs, and Actual Costs for expenses.
� To status activities in progress, update Actual Start date, Percent Complete and/or
Remaining Duration, Actual Regular Units/Costs and Remaining Units/Costs, and
Actual and Remaining Costs for expenses.
� After actuals are entered, reschedule the project based on the new Data Date.
Activities that did not finish on time will delay successor activities.
� After scheduling, analyze schedule dates, resource allocation, and the cost budget. If
the calculated Finish date is later than the Must Finish By date, try to shorten the
project.
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Review Questions
1. Arrange the following in the order for updating an activity in progress.
a. Actual Regular Units and Remaining Units
b. Actual Start date
c. Percent Complete/Remaining Duration
d. Actual/Remaining Costs for expenses
Step 1: _________
Step 2: _________
Step 3: _________
Step 4 __________
2 True or False: The Data Date is scheduled at the end of the day.
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SMALL GROUP SUMMARY LAB
1. Select a project.
2. Copy the project into the E&C Node.
3. Assign a Planned Start date.
4. Open the project
5. Schedule the project
6. Review activities in the project.
7. Validate / modify durations
8. Check logic.
9. Modify relationships as appropriate.
10. Reschedule the project.
11. Add Resources to each Activity.
12. Estimate effort for each Resource on each Activity.
13. Reschedule the project.
14. Add activities to the project plan.
15. Repair the logic.
16. Validate / modify duration.
17. Reschedule the project.
18. Add Resources to new Activities.
19. Estimate effort for each Resource on each Activity.
20. Reschedule the project.
21. Review the Scheduled Finish Date.
22. Add a Must Finish By date to the project schedule.
23. Reschedule the project.
24. Review the Activities – identify those activities that are on the critical path.
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25. View the Schedule Log to determine how many activities on are the critical path.
26. Discussion: will this project finish on time.
Considerations:
� How long is the project?
� How many activities are on the critical path?
� Are my resources over allocated?
� Can I swap out resources to remove over allocations?
27. Be prepared to present your project to the class.