Sometimes your project task requires special accompanying instructions. The best way to include these details is using the task notes in Microsoft Project. Projects are not planned in isolation. Usually several departments will review a schedule and provide their input or special guidance during the planning and approval stages of a project. The safety department […]
Primavera P6 Project Layout Files (PLFs) Explained
Save your Primavera layouts using P6 Project Layout Files (PLFs). In Primavera P6, it can take some effort to achieve an agreeable look and feel for the presentation and/or layout of your schedule activity table and Gantt chart. Did you know these layouts could be saved and used for reporting on other projects as well? […]
10 Ways To Promote Your PMO
Once your new Project Management Office is set up, you need to find ways to tell people that it exists and what it can do. Promote your PMO. This can feel a bit uncomfortable, especially if you have come from a project delivery organization or an established PMO where this wasn’t needed. But think about […]
Primavera P6 and the Bars Label Mystery
There is a mystery to the Primavera P6 bars dialog feature. How is it that bar definitions with no labels, never-the-less, have labels? Let’s explore this riddle. Since its invention by Henry Gantt circa 1910, the Gantt chart has become the standard for almost every commercial scheduling software tool developed in recent years. Primavera P6 […]
Top Competencies for PMO Leaders
It’s not like a project manager, where you have a number of people in the project management role, delivering projects and (hopefully) learning from each other. The PMO leader position can be quite lonely. There’s no in-built support network. There might be other leaders at the same level on the corporate hierarchy but none will […]
Primavera P6 Schedule Progression and Duration Type
It is important to note your duration type when progressing the schedule because Primavera P6 updates the remaining cost and At Complete cost differently depending on your selection. When you are adding resources to your schedule, it is typically best to set the duration type to fixed duration and units/time. This option fixed the activity […]
Microsoft Project and Super Critical Bars
Microsoft Project displays a critical bar for activities that have zero or less total slack. You may, however, want to specifically highlight activities that have less than zero total slack. These are referred to as super critical activities. The critical path is the shortest path through the schedule. And activities along the critical path cannot […]
5 Benefits of Starting Projects Right
From the moment an idea arrives in the project pipeline, you can take project initiation steps to ensure that it’s dealt with in a certain way. This gives it every chance of turning into a successful project, delivering all the expected benefits, later down the line. An important part of any PMO activity is selecting […]
Using Primavera P6’s Work Products and Documents
Project schedules usually include additional work products and documents. Do you know how to associate Primavera P6 work products and documents with your schedule? Projects and associated schedules typically come with many work products and documents. Typical work product examples might be Surveyor drawings, AutoCAD .DWG files or other project imagery. Documents may include a statement […]
Deltek Acumen Fuse and the Baseline Execution Index
Deltek Acumen Fuse is becoming increasingly popular because of its numerous tools for analyzing schedule quality. Among its many schedule quality inspection features is the Baseline Execution Index (BEI). Here we take a look at the Deltek Acumen Fuse Baseline Execution Index feature. It’s good project management practice to closely monitor schedule progress. And schedulers […]