Griff said:
I am trying to determine the best way to use MS Project.
Griff,
The best approach is to think of basic tasks as performance tasks and
Summary Lines as general descriptors. A performance task means that
something needs to be done as part of an overall plan. It should
therefore be described using an action verb. For example, a good task
description might be, "Design floor plan for living room", or "Develop
specification for XYZ widget". Many times I see plans that have task
descriptions that are nothing more than a brief word or two (i.e.
"Fabricate", or "Get input"). In my opinion plans with abbreviated task
descriptions are nearly useless because they do not adequately describe
what needs to be done within the context of the whole plan. And if a
select tasks are filtered, grouped or sorted, confusion often results.
A good task description should be complete enough so that pretty much
anyone (not just those close to the work) can understand what needs to
be done.
On the other hand, Summary Lines do NOT describe any task to be
performed. They should therefore NOT be listed in action verb form.
Rather a Summary Line should be noun based and provide an overall
summary description of the subtasks under it. For example, "Phase 1
design of retro-rocket motor for ABC booster", or "413 Walnut Avenue
Interior Restoration".
I don't know if this is what you are looking for, but hopefully it is
helpful.
John
Project MVP
