Indivisible, discrete days - calendar & resource

[rewb2]

We recently got Project 2007 at my work, in order to generate GANTT
charts. At the moment we are very unsophisticated users, and all we
are intending to do is to represent graphically a timeline of a
project, showing what is occurring on which days over a two month
period.

We have not attempted to include any resource details, and hence have
not assigned the tasks in any way. All the 'project' thinking is done
outside of the software (i.e. we effectively know exactly what tasks
we want to do when). Where we use dependencies, this is simply to
represent that a certain task cannot start until another one has
finished, but if our 'plan' is for the second task to start on a
certain date, that is the date that we will have the second task start
(even if this is two weeks after the end of the first task). We
understand that we are not using any of the Project functionality, and
are effectively 'hard-coding' / forcing Project to do what we want.

I've seen comments suggesting that Project is not the tool for
somebody who wants to do the above (e.g. why not just use Excel?), but
having a standard-format GANTT-style chart as an output is something
that we want. Would be interesting in hearing people's thoughts on
this. Most of the work we're doing in Project now is wrestling with
various calendar issues etc (as far as we're concerned, a day is a
discrete 24-hour amount of time, which is either active for a certain
task, or is not - we don't want 8 hour working days, weekends as non-
working time, or anything like that).

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi ?,

Welcome to this Microsoft Project newsgroup

Hmmmmm If you want to use Project in that way, then sobeit! However, I
don't see the problem with calendars as you've typed in the dates. You
could try Project/Project Information... and for the project calendar,
select the 24 hours calendar. As an alternative, type in the Start date of
each task and enter a Duration in elapsed time: eg 14 edays, but you will
have to calculate the Duration for each task to meet the Finish date you
want.

FAQs, companion products and other useful Project information can be seen at
this web address: http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm

Hope this helps - please let us know how you get on

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP
See http://tinyurl.com/2xbhc for my free Project Tutorials

 

[Steve House]

If all you want to do is draw Gantt charts for a schedule that you have
predetermined, why are you bothering to use Project at all? Seriously, as
you describe it you're not using ANY of the software's functionality or
actually even doing critical path project management at all, for that
matter. The things you seem to want Project to do are the very things it
has been explicitly designed NOT to do, in large part. For your needs, a
drawing tool like Microsoft Visio, designed to create general business
graphics, including project related illustrations such as Gantt charts, PERT
charts, and Timelines, seems much more appropriate. No disrespect
intended - not everyone needs Project's capabilities for their projects -
but as it is you've spent hundreds or thousands of dollars to achieve what
could just as well have been done as effectively with a $15 wall planner
calendar and a box of magic markers. Why not use the tool as it's designed
in order to improve your chances of actually being able to bring your
projects to completion on-time and within budget? As I see it, if you plug
in your tasks, their durations, and their process dependency relationships
including lag times and Project insists on calculating a schedule that is
substantially different from the one you've already determined, that is
providing a valuable "reality check" for you, telling you that your
presently conceived schedule is unworkable in reality and trying to work it
anyway will be doomed to failure in that you will very likely either go past
your desired completion target date, go over your budget, or fail to meet
quality expectations.

 

[Dave]

Well you've got it now so you may as well use it!

There is a danger that it could lull you (or more likely others) into a
false sense of security. People who don't know how you are using might
be tempted to think that you have got "proper Project plans" and think
that they have more credibility than they really have.

On the other hand ... now you have it, you have the chance to up your
game. I would suggest carrying on using it but put some effort into
developing your skills and becoming more sophisticated users.

We all have to start somewhere with it and drawing activities on Gantt
charts is chapter one of most books. Get that book and start to learn
more about it.