Quick Trick: Align Tasks and Gantt Bars with Grid Lines

Sometimes it can be difficult to visually align task rows in Microsoft Project with their corresponding shapes in the Gantt Chart: We can fix that in about 30 seconds by simply adding horizontal grid lines to the Gantt Chart to help align the left task rows with the Gantt shapes. Click the ‘Format’ tab in Read more about Quick Trick: Align Tasks and Gantt Bars with Grid Lines[…]

Quick Trick: Add Contrast to Make Gantt Chart Progress Bars Easier to See

Although most of the functionality is similar to older versions, Microsoft Project 2013 has a cleaner, updated look… but you may find that progress bars in a Gantt Chart are a bit more difficult to see because of the lighter colors used: We can fix that in about 30 seconds by simply changing the color Read more about Quick Trick: Add Contrast to Make Gantt Chart Progress Bars Easier to See[…]

Show Start and Finish Dates with Planned and Actual Indicators

If you regularly show ‘Actual Start‘ and ‘Actual Finish‘ dates alongside ‘Start‘ and ‘Finish‘ dates in order to show what has actually happened, here is a display technique that can save you some real estate in a view or report: placing a “P” next to the date to indicate that it is still planned or Read more about Show Start and Finish Dates with Planned and Actual Indicators[…]

Inactive Tasks in Microsoft Project 2010 vs. Project 2013

I was sitting in one of Tom Henry’s training classes earlier this week when a new feature of Microsoft Project 2013 was noticed. When making a task inactive in Project 2010 the task was automatically shot back to the project start date. You would then have to add an additional predecessor to the next task Read more about Inactive Tasks in Microsoft Project 2010 vs. Project 2013[…]

Updating Project Progress

I have worked with Project Managers from various backgrounds that have used all kinds of technologies to create project schedules no matter what their background or technology expertise is they always have the same questions: “What level of detail do I need to go into?” “How do I update project progress once my project has Read more about Updating Project Progress[…]

Start and End date do not align with task duration?

Few days ago one of our client called me and said “There seems to be a bug in Microsoft Project, it is unable to calculate the correct finish date for one of my tasks.” He further added saying “I do not have any constrains or resources assigned to this task yet, but, if I manually Read more about Start and End date do not align with task duration?[…]

Team Planner fixed in Project 2013

The Team Planner view was introduced in Microsoft Project Professional 2010, (it’s not available in Project Standard). This view allows a user to visualize assignments within a project schedule and is particularly useful for visualizing overallocations within your project team. Last week while teaching our ‘EPMA 100’ – Managing Projects with Microsoft Project 2013 course, Read more about Team Planner fixed in Project 2013[…]

Leading Practices used when creating a Project Schedule – 2

This is the second blog to a series of blogs I intend to post covering some of the most important aspects of scheduling. These are some leading practices that are applied by many seasoned Project Managers, but are often missed by someone new to the world of Project Management. These are just some of the Read more about Leading Practices used when creating a Project Schedule – 2[…]