Managing Enterprise Projects
using Microsoft Office Project Server 2003

PMPs Earn 21 PDUs

Open-enrollment Classes Available

Syllabus in PDF Format

Customer Testimonials

I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed not only your class but even more so, your approach to teaching the content. Being a former Special Education teacher, I appreciate anyone who recognizes the need to teach to all learning styles as well as being able to incorporate experience & passion into the material for which you do wonderfully. - Sincerely, Aaron Sandock, Teachers Credit Union

Course Overview

Managing Enterprise Projects using Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 takes your Microsoft Project competency to the Enterprise level. The field of Enterprise Project Management (aka EPM) presents many new challenges, even for the experienced user of Microsoft Project. In this course, you learn through hands-on exercises how to use Project Server 2003 in a step by step process to manage enterprise projects effectively. Focusing on how to use Microsoft Project Professional 2003 and Project Web Access for project tracking and team collaboration, you learn everything from the basics of EPM tracking methods to the subtleties of mining information in the system.

Target Audience

Managing Enterprise Projects using Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 is the premier methodology-agnostic course for everyone who serves as a project manager, portfolio manager, or scheduler in an enterprise project management environment using the Microsoft EPM platform. This course is “must have” training for application administrators who support business users and maintain the Project Server application configuration. This course is highly recommended for technical administrators who support EPM platforms to provide for better end-user understanding and communication.

Pre-Requisites

Those serious about developing an expert-level competency for managing enterprise projects with the Microsoft EPM tool set should first complete the Establishing a Project Management Foundation using Microsoft Office Project 2003 course. For students with significant experience using Microsoft Project and substantial scheduling and tracking mastery, the pre-requisite course provides a great skills refresher, but you may treat this as optional.

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Describe the project communication life cycle used with Project Server
• Create and save an enterprise project, and work with offline projects
• Add resources to a project team, assign resources to tasks, and level overallocated resources
• Publish projects and task assignments
• Understand and use the Project Web Access user interface
• Track and update project progress
• Use Outlook to track task progress
• Set up e-mail notifications and reminders from Project Server
• Manage risks, issues, and documents associated with a project
• Create and manage Status Reports
• Access resource information and project portfolio information through Project Web Access
• Perform portfolio analysis using the Portfolio Analyzer and the Portfolio Modeler

Topical Outline

Module 1: Introducing Microsoft Project Server

• What Is Microsoft Project Server?
• Applying Enterprise Project Management Terminology to Microsoft Project Server
• Understanding Project Server’s Language
• Enterprise Project
• Enterprise Resource
• Check In and Check Out
• Using Project Server’s Enterprise Resource Management Tools
• Understanding the Project Communication Life Cycle in Project Server
• Additional Collaboration and Management Tools
• Understanding the Windows SharePoint Services Role with Project Server
• Understanding Publishing in Project Server
• Understanding Analysis Tools
• Portfolio Modeling
• Understanding Enterprise Global Concepts
• Opening the Enterprise Resource Pool
• Understanding Custom Outline Codes and Custom Fields
• Why Enterprise Fields and Outline Codes Are Important to You
• Enterprise Field and Outline Code Types
• Understanding Tracking Method Settings
• Default Method for Reporting Progress
• Lock Down Defaults
• Managed vs. Non-Managed Time Periods
• Define Current Tasks

Module 2: Creating Enterprise Projects

• Creating an Enterprise Project
• Opening and Closing Project Plans
• Working with Offline Projects
• Importing Projects

Module 3: Building Project Teams, Assigning Resources and Leveling Assignments

• Building a Team
• Proposed vs. Committed Booking
• Using Filters in the Build Team Dialog
• Using Grouping
• Selecting Resources for Your Team
• Viewing Resource Information
• Using Local Resources in an Enterprise Project
• Assigning Resources
• Assign Resources Dialog
• Task Entry View
• Using the Resource Substitution Wizard
• Running the Wizard
• Leveling Overallocated Resources
• Overallocation Defined
• Resource Leveling Defined
• Basic Leveling Techniques
• Assigning Leveling Priorities to Tasks

Module 4: Publishing and Republishing Work Assignments

• Understanding Project Server Publishing
• Controlling Default Publishing Behavior
• Publishing Best Practices
• Publishing Assignments and Project Information
• Republishing Assignments
• Understanding the Project Server Spooler
• Requesting Task Progress Outside the Normal Flow
• Determining Timesheet (Published) Fields

Module 5: Project Web Access Overview

• Using the Project Web Access User Interface
• Menu Bar
• Actions Pane
• Customization Tabs
• Action Bar
• Manipulating the Data Grid
• Printing the Data Grid
• Exporting the Data Grid to Excel

Module 6: Tracking Progress through Project Web Access

• Working with Tasks in Project Web Access
• Understanding the Timesheet
• Timesheet indicators
• Understanding the Timesheet Toolbar
• Activities Available from the Actions Pane
• View Options
• Filtering, Grouping and Searching the Timesheet View
• Displaying the Gantt Chart View
• Current Tasks vs. All Tasks
• Reporting Progress in the Timesheet
• Setting Up the Timesheet to Enter Actuals
• Entering and Submitting Progress
• Using Other Task Activities
• Rejecting a Task
• Delegating a Task
• Creating a New Task
• Assigning Yourself to an Existing Task
• Hiding Tasks
• Inserting Task Notes
• Linking Documents to Tasks
• Linking Issues to Tasks
• Linking Risks to Tasks
• Managing Project Tasks in Outlook
• Notifying Managers of Working Day Changes

Module 7: Working with Outlook

• Managing Project Tasks in Outlook
• Automatically Import Project Tasks into Outlook
• Displaying Project Web Access in Outlook

Module 8: Updating Progress through Project Web Access

• Applying Updates in Project Web Access
• Setting View Options
• Setting Filter, Group, Search Options
• Accepting and Rejecting Updates
• Rescheduling Uncompleted Work
• View History of Past Task Changes
• Setting Rules for Accepting Task Updates
• Timesheet Approval
• Viewing Unsubmitted Timesheets
• Axioms for Success with Tracking

Module 9: Using the Home Page

• Using Features from the Home Page
• Changing Your Password
• Setting Alerts and Reminders for Yourself
• Setting Reminders for your Resources
• Taking Project Web Access Offline

Module 10: Working with Risks, Issues, and Documents

• Working with Risks, Issues, and Documents
• Working with Risks
• Viewing Risks
• Creating and Editing Risks
• Attaching Risks to Tasks, Issues, Documents, and Other Risks
• Working with Issues
• Viewing Issues
• Creating and Editing Issues
• Attaching Issues to Other Issues, Tasks, Risks, and Documents
• Working with Document Libraries
• Viewing Document Libraries
• Creating a New Document Library
• Using a Document Library
• Uploading Documents to a Library
• Creating a New Document in a Library
• Creating a New Folder in a Library
• Working with Existing Documents in a Library
• Viewing Document Properties
• Editing Document Properties
• Editing in a Microsoft Office Application
• Deleting a Document
• Checking Out/Checking In a Document
• Working with the Versions History
• Discussing a Document
• Using the Project Workspace
• Discussing a Document

Module 11: Working with Advanced Features of Risks, Issues, and Documents

• Using Actions Pane Features
• Viewing Reports
• Setting Alerts
• Exporting to an Excel spreadsheet
• Modifying Settings and Columns
• Modifying General Settings for Risks and Issues
• Modifying General Settings for Documents
• Modifying Columns Settings
• Modifying Views
• Synchronizing with Project Server

Module 12: Working with Status Reports

• Requesting a Status Report
• Creating a New Status Report Request
• Editing and Deleting Status Reports
• Responding to a Status Report Request
• Submitting an Unrequested Status Report
• Viewing the Status Reports Archive
• Viewing Status Report Responses
• Viewing Unrequested Status Reports

Module 13: Working in the Resource Center

• Using the Resource Center
• Viewing Resource Availability
• Editing Resource Details
• Opening a Resource for Editing
• Viewing Resource Assignments
• Adjusting Actuals for Resources
• Viewing the Timesheet Summary

Module 14: Working in the Project Center

• Working in the Project Center
• Accessing Risks, Issues, and Documents from the Project Center
• Using Project Center Views
• Building a Project Team
• Editing Project Details and Opening Projects
• Checking In Projects
• Working with Detailed Project Views
• Organizing Your Saved Links
• Working with To-Do Lists

Module 15: Working with Project Server Analysis

• The Need for Project Analysis
• Using Portfolio Analyzer Views
• Creating Custom Portfolio Analyzer Views
• Additional Portfolio Analyzer Options
• Tips for Using the Portfolio Analyzer
• Using the Portfolio Modeler
• Creating a New Model
• Opening a Model
• Modifying your Model
• Analyze Your Model
• Comparing Models