Are you a user looking for Primavera P6 help? You’re in the right place! Below we have listed 7 sources of help for Primavera P6 so that you can get the most out of the software that you use.
What is P6?
P6 is a short way of saying Primavera P6 Professional. It’s a robust, fully-featured enterprise project, program and portfolio management system from Oracle. It’s a powerful piece of software, and that can make it daunting for first-time users. Even those with experience might need a bit of help now and then, with a new feature, for example.
The good news is that there is a strong community of P6 users and great support within the tool itself as well. However experienced you are, and whatever your question, you will find the answers out there somewhere.
But where should you start looking if you have a Primavera P6 question? Here are 7 ways to get Primavera P6 help.
1. Use Hint Help
Hint help is a P6 feature that shows you information about columns and fields within P6. Once it is switched on (Alt + F1) you’ll be able to place your cursor over a column or field and a yellow pop up will explain what you are looking at.
Read more about Hint Help here.
2. Use Local Help
Local help (i.e. not online – built into the system) is available through the Help menu (or Ctrl + F1).
When you initiate the help, you’ll get topic results that relate to what’s currently open in your window. This contextual help brings you immediately to what the system thinks you need to know about relating the features you are using. Normally it’s right! But if you are looking for alternative information, it’s easy to search the help tool to navigate to an article or instructions about what to do next.
The benefit of local help is that you don’t need to be online to access it. Unlike many tools that only have online help, you can still get P6 tips when you are out of internet service range.
3. Use Online Help
You can access the online help for Primavera P6 through the Help menu (or Ctrl + Alt + F1).
This will open up a web page on the Oracle website that shows you contextual help based on what feature you were looking at in your own Primavera window at the time. It’s similar to local help.
4. Use Dialogue Help
You won’t be able to use the ‘normal’ contextual help when a dialogue box (a pop up) is open. If you need to find out more about the dialogue box, you can access help from the Help icon or button within the dialogue box itself. This works for both local and online help options.
You can configure your preferences in the Admin Preferences dialogue box.
5. Read the P6 Documentation
We get it – reading the manual seems like a lot of hard work! But there is a lot of detailed documentation from Oracle about Primavera P6 Professional which will help you use the system more effectively.
It won’t be your most fascinating afternoon, but we often see people who have a well-thumbed set of printouts or a manual covered in sticky notes. Once you know your way around the support documentation, it can be as fast, if not faster, to find what you are looking for than searching the online help.
Plus, if you prefer to learn through reading, you’ll be able to absorb a ton of tips that your colleagues will have no idea about!
You can access the P6 Professional libraries of documentation on the Oracle website.
6. Take an Online Course
When you need more support than online help or reading the manual, a course might be your best choice.
Online Primavera training gives you the chance to learn at your own pace at a location and time that suits you. Courses are available at every level, from fundamentals to professional and advanced topics. You can also dive into specialist areas like scheduling best practice.
During an online course you’ll walk through different elements of Primavera functionality and see the software being used in a way that you can’t from a manual. Online training can be more engaging than reading or relying on self-teaching from the help functions. It’s also incredibly cost-effective.
This short video gives you a snapshot of what to expect from an online P6 training course.
7. Take an Instructor-Led Course
Instructor-led courses for Primavera P6 take place regularly throughout the year at a variety of locations. If there are enough of your team members who also want to learn, you could look at having in-house training.
Whether you go to a course or have an instructor come to you, in-person training is a great way to get help on the system. You’ll come away knowing a lot more about the product and how to use it. Plus, you have plenty of time to ask the questions you want. You’ll be able to use your training to your advantage, and good trainers will ensure that you leave the classroom with a full understanding of how to use the system in your particular environment.
There are various ways to improve your Primavera P6 skills, as we have seen above. The right source of help for you will very much depend on what you are trying to do and the question you have. At some point in our careers, we’ve relied on all of the above sources, so don’t limit yourself!
You can be a better project manager and scheduler if you understand how to use your tools to your advantage, so ask questions, get help and do some training. You’ll be much more confident and skilled, and that will show in your project results.