Course details

This is a highly practical workshop that will help participants develop a sound working knowledge of Microsoft Project (MSP) – the primary planning tool for most project managers. MSP is able to meet the planning and control needs of all projects from the most simple, consisting of a few people and a few dozen activities to much more complex projects.

Participants will be taken through a structured learning path from the introduction of the MSP environment to the development of work breakdown structures, assignment of resources, estimation of durations, costing, to baselining and the development of Gantt charts. The course tutor is an experienced project manager and he will bring his many years of practical project management knowledge and expertise to enrich the formal learning of the class. Each student will have their own computer.

Who is this Course For?

This course is suitable for anyone managing or working on a project that needs to keep track of project personnel, work activities, deliverables, time, cost and reporting to stakeholders and senior managers. It is also suitable for those who wish to track work activities in a non-project environment. No previous experience is required although knowledge of the Microsoft product environment is useful.

Please note: To facilitate tutor / participant interaction the numbers on this course are limited to eight (8).

While it is not a pre-requisite, participants will find that this course complements the IPA Introduction to Project Management.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the course participants will be able to:

  • Comfortably navigate the MSP working environment.
  • To be able to create and manage MSP files.
  • Relate common project management framework and approaches to MSP.
  • Create, update and report project plans.
  • Ensure the effective allocation and management of personnel and finance.
  • Optimise plans.

Course Outline

SESSION 1 – GETTING STARTED WITH MS PROJECT 2010

  • The MSP environment; ribbons; use of tabs; task basics.

SESSION 2 – GET STARTED ON A PROJECT

  • Phases; task definition; sub-tasks; linking and sequencing tasks.

SESSION 3 – BUILDING OUT YOUR PLAN

  • Effort and duration; adding resources; manual and automatic scheduling; defining activity dates; re-sequencing.

SESSION 4 – CREATING A PROJECT BASELINE & REPORTING

  • Creating milestones; creating a baseline; the time bar; adding additional tasks; setting a baseline; comparing multiple baselines.

SESSION 5 – MANAGING PROGRESS AND FINE-TUNING THE PLAN

  • Optimising resources; establishing cost bases; creating budgets; identifying progress and delays; earned value and other techniques; the use of templates.
Updated on 08 November, 2015

About Institute of Public Administration - IPA

The Institute of Public Administration is Ireland’s only public service development agency focused exclusively on public sector development. It delivers its service through:

  • education and training, building people’s capability to meet challenges
  • direct consultancy, solving problems and helping plan and shape the future
  • research and publishing - understanding what needs to be done and making these findings readily available.

they tailor their services to the particular needs of the public service. their blend of skill and experience means that they can develop and offer a service which meets public service needs precisely and effectively. Whilst their services are delivered mainly to clients in the Irish Public Service, they have a strong reputation and demand for their services internationally also.

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