Scheduling MS Project Programme

Scheduling with MS Project

Introduction

The Scheduling MS Project of USB Executive Development (USB-ED) was developed over the last ten years in response to the need in the business and industry environment for training in the application of project scheduling and monitoring software. To date more than 300 participants have successfully completed the programme.

The MS Project Programme can be presented in-house for organisations that are able to provide the necessary hardware and software with the required licensing arrangements in place.

What sets this intervention apart

This programme aims to guide the user through all the principles, processes and techniques applied by Microsoft Project in the scheduling and monitoring of a project. No particular project management methodology is presented or promoted. It is, however, considered necessary for participants to have completed a course in the principles and techniques of project management so as to understand and appreciate how the software is actually assisting the user, before attempting to ‘computerise' those procedures.

Follow-up courses

Past participants’ comments

"Insightful course that gives you the confidence to manage any size project with ease on MS Project. This is a must for every Project Assistant and Project Manager." - Marsunet Scholtz, E-learning coordinator, USB
"A must for all people involved with projects of all sizes." - LH van den Berg, Financial Manager, Sanlam
"Exceptional facilitation. I will definitely be able to go back and apply what I have learnt." - Rashiela Pietersen, Project Administrator, SITA

Who should attend

The MS Project Programme is aimed at anyone wishing to use MS Project 2010 to enhance their management of programmes and projects, project leaders and the team members assisting them, as well as functional managers and entrepreneurs who need to coordinate inputs into projects.

Previous participants of the MS Project Programme represented organisations from a wide variety of industries, including financial services and banking, construction, engineering, software development, transport and harbour administration, telecommunications, education, NPOs, local government and various small entrepreneurs.

Admission requirements

No tertiary qualification is required. Attendance of a course in Project Management at NQF level 5 or higher is imperative, proof of which must be submitted with the application. Candidates must be familiar with operational systems in the Microsoft environment, including the use of menus, icons and the mouse. Experience with a spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel would be an advantage.

Faculty profile

Mr. Jurie van der Watt

Contact person (Enquiries)

Claire Sissing (USB, Bellville)
Tel: +27 (0)21 918 4222
Fax: +27 (0)21 918 4478
claire.sissing@usb-ed.com

How you will benefit

The MS Project Programme aims to equip participants with the skills to develop a software-generated project plan using various scheduling constraints and task types, including creating and assigning resources, entering fixed and resource costs, tracking progress on a project, and organising project information for use by various role-players.

Certification

On successful completion of the programme, participants will receive a certificate from the University of Stellenbosch.

Content overview

The MS Project Programme is presented in 9 sessions of 2hr 20min each over 3 days from 8h00 to 16h45. The content is structured into the following sections:

ORIENTATION TO MS PROJECT SOFTWARE

Overview of MS Project software
Scheduling software such as MS Project, Primavera and others
Differences between MS Project versions (2007 to 2010, Standard versus Professional)
Add-ons and integration with software from Microsoft and other vendors (e.g. IBM Rational)

PLANNING A SIMPLE PROJECT

Without MS Project
With MS Project

- creating tasks
- linking tasks
- creating the Work Breakdown Structure using summary tasks
- scheduling tasks (working in network diagram view, creating dependencies between tasks, creating deadlines and constraints)

ASSIGNING RESOURCES TO TASKS

Creating resources
Adding resource costs
Task types
Effort-driven scheduling
Fixed costs
Viewing the project budget
Troubleshooting resource assignments
Levelling resources manually and automatically

WORKING WITH CALENDARS

Creating base calendars
Setting and displaying the Project Calendar
Working with resource calendars
Assigning task calendars

ORGANISING AND FORMATTING PROJECT DETAILS

Customising WBS codes
Basic formatting
Customising views and tables
Filtering, grouping and sorting tasks and resources
Using the Organiser

SHARING PROJECT INFORMATION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS

Exporting project data to the web
Working with hyperlinks
Importing into and exporting from MS Project

MANAGING MULTIPLE PROJECTS

Consolidating projects
Sharing resources across projects

TRACKING PROGRESS

Recording actuals
Viewing the project status

NQF complexity level

The MS Project Programme is presented on the complexity level of NQF 5.

Assessment Criteria
There are two classroom-based assessment activities and a homework assignment for the MS Project Programme. Students must achieve at least 50% for both of the classroom-based activities in order to be allowed to hand in a homework assignment. The homework is assessed according to criteria which would indicate that a candidate is competent to use Microsoft Project in the workplace. The final result is either highly competent, competent or not yet competent. A copy of the assessment criteria is available on request.