Chapter 2 Creating a Task List

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Chapter 2Creating a Task List

• What will we do in this chapter?
• Create tasks
• Create milestones
• Create summary tasks
• Link tasks
• Attach notes and hyperlinks to tasks
• Check a plans overall duration

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Tasks

• The most basic building blocks of any project
• Describe project work in terms of sequence,
  duration and resource requirements.
• For this lesson, create tasks in the Gantt Chart
  View

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Creating Tasks on Gantt chart
Enter task name Enter task duration
Enter durations as m for minutes h for
hours d for days w for weeks mo for
months Preceed these with an e for elapsed
duration (ed for elapsed days)
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Values used for durations Minutes and hours are
standard (1 min 60 sec, 60min 1 hr) Durations
for Days, Weeks and Months can be defined Tools
-gt Options -gt Calendar tab
Days Weeks Months
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Task Durations

• How do you make a good estimate for task
  duration?
• historical info, ask those who will do the work
  or those who have managed similar projects,
  standards
• What level of detail do you want in your
  projects tasks? (use 8/80 rule)

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Milestones

• Significant events that are either reached within
  the project or imposed upon the project.
• Generally represented as tasks with zero
  duration.
• To create a milestone, set task duration to zero,
  or go into Task Info dialog box -gt Advanced tab,
  check Mark Task as Milestone.

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Create a milestone Set task duration to 0
Milestone indicator
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Create a Milestone Double click on task to get
Task Information dialog box Or select task and
click on Task Information icon Set indicator
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Organizing Tasks into Phases (Summary Tasks)

• Approaches project planning
• Top-down planning
• Bottom-up planning
• A combination of both can be used.
• Both will result in creating accurate tasks and
  phases

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Create Summary Task Select tasks to be included
in Summary Task Click on Indent icon
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Linking Tasks

• Tasks have to be done in a specific order, they
  have a relationship. There are two aspects to a
  relationship
• Sequence second task must occur after first
• Dependency second task can only occur after
  first task is completed

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Task Relationships

• 4 types of task relationships
• Finish to Start
• Start to Start
• Finish to Finish
• Start to Finish

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Create Task Relationships

• Several ways to link tasks
• Directly on Gantt Chart (right side), point to
  predecessor task bar until pointer changes to 4
  point star, click and drag pointer to successor.
• Select tasks to link and click on
• Link icon
• Task Information dialog box, Predecessor tab.

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Documenting Tasks

• Add a note to a task in two ways
• Task Information dialog box -gt Notes tab
• Select task and click on Task Notes icon
• Once note has been added, a Note icon will appear
  in the Indicators column for the task.

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Add a Hyperlink to a Task

• Select task to add hyperlink to.
• Click on Hyperlink icon
• Insert Hyperlink dialog box appears
• Enter hyperlink info and click on OK
• Hyperlink icon will appear in the
  Indicators column for the task.

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Check Plans Duration
Project -gt Project Information -gt
Statistics Or View -gt Zoom -gt Entire Project