What Is Microsoft Project?

Microsoft Project is project management software that’s used to create schedules, project
plans, manage resources and keep track of time. It has features such as Gantt charts, kanban
boards and project calendars for project management professionals. Microsoft Project is also
known by other names such as MS Project or Project Professional, which is the software’s
current official name. There are also other Microsoft Project products with similar names
such as Project Online, Project Server and Project for the Web. You can access those
products by acquiring a Microsoft Project Plan subscription, which has three pricing tiers to
choose from.

If you’re looking for a less expensive and more flexible project management software,
there’s Project Manager, work and project management software that’s collaborative and
lets you work how you please. Unlike Microsoft Project, we offer a collaborative, intuitive
platform with multiple project views—managers can plan projects on Gantt charts or the
sheet view while teams can use kanban boards, calendars or robust task lists to manage their
work. Get started today for free

Microsoft Project, we offer a collaborative, intuitive platform with multiple project views—
managers can plan projects on Gantt charts or the sheet view while teams can use kanban
boards, calendars or robust task lists to manage their work. Get started today for free.

Microsoft Project Views :

Like Project Manager, Microsoft Project offers multiple views for project managers and
teams though its platform is not nearly as collaborative. Here’s a simple description of MS
Project’s offered views.

 Grid View: A project view that is used to plan and manage projects with a task list.
 Board View: A visual kanban board view that helps with managing workflow and
status.
 Timeline View: The traditional Gantt chart is used for scheduling tasks over a project
timeline.

1|Page
Microsoft Project Features:

There are plenty of features that project managers and their teams need to better manage their
work and MSP has a number of them. However, to get a full picture, here’s a list of the key
features available to customers who are willing to pay the price.

 Project Planning: Use Gantt charts and kanban boards to plan work. Microsoft
Project’s planning features are much more robust than those of Microsoft Planner.
 Communication & Collaboration: Teams can work together on projects.
Alternatively, you can use Microsoft Teams for a more cost-effective communication
solution.
 Co-authoring: Stakeholders and team members work together to edit and update task
lists and schedules.
 Reporting: Pre-built reports that can track progress, resources, programs and
portfolios.
 Roadmap: Track programs and project portfolios.
 Timesheets: Collect project and non-project time for payroll and invoicing.
 Resource Management: Manage resources by requesting and assigning tasks.

MS Project for Construction Planning:

Specifically, MS Project is a project management software program that has become a
construction industry standard and enables you to create and manage construction schedules.
It allows you to track the progress of your construction project and identify potential
problems such as delays or cost overruns early so that you can take corrective action.
In addition, MS Project can help you forecast your build’s completion date and ensure that
your project stays on track utilizing the following resources traditionally leveraged in a
construction schedule: Starting new projects or importing old, scheduling, cost management,
resource tracking, critical path analysis, and third-party application integration. 

2|Page
The Basics of Creating Your Construction Schedule:
Even some of the most experienced construction project managers and schedulers face
challenges with scheduling, and scheduling using MS Project. However, creating a
Construction project schedule in MS Project can be complex, but it doesn’t have to be
difficult. Learning how to create an MS Project schedule can then be helpful to both seasoned
professionals as well as beginners. Below, we are going to walk you through step-by-step
how to build and create your own construction schedule using MS Project that’s specifically
customized for construction. We’ll teach you how to create a new schedule, how to design
your columns (or what data points to capture unique to construction), what fields to include,
how to create a baseline so you can track planned vs. actual, how to identify and chart your
critical path in MS Project and, then finally, how to display all this in the traditional Gantt
chart view. 

Steps by Step Procedure How to Use MS Project to Set Up a Schedule:

Step 1:  Create a New Construction Project:

1. You have several options to start a new project. You can create a project in the
following ways:

 From an industry template

 Brand new from scratch (blank slate that you populate)
 Based on an existing project
 Open from a previous vs of MSP 

     2. Click Set Options (in the lower-left corner)

1. Go to  > Schedule 
2. Then select or check Auto-Schedule. (It’s very important to select auto-
schedule.) 
3. Under  Default Pass Type make sure to also select the following as well:
1. Split in-progress tasks
2. Update manually scheduled tasks when updating links

3|Page
    3.     Select Blank Project (SmartPM) and assign a name.
Step 2: Adjust Construction Schedule Columns:
Next, you want to adjust the auto-populated columns:

1. Remove or “hide” the Resources column for now temporarily as you don’t need it yet 
2. Then *add (+) the following new columns:
1. % complete
2. Successors
3. Total Slack  (float)
3. Last, rearrange the columns so that % complete is before the predecessor

Step 3: Add Schedule Start Date:

The last thing you need to do to create the schedule is to add a ‘start date’ for your project
and you’re ready to begin filling in the schedule.

1. Go to the project tab at the top

2. Select “Project Information” 
3. Go to the “Start Date” field, and from the pull-down calendar, select your start date.

Step 4: Add Schedule Tasks and Activities:

The first thing you want to do, once your project is created, is add your tasks and activities
for your project: 

1. Go to the column titled, Task Name and begin populating each field with the key
tasks or work required to complete your project. Some key tasks here for construction
might include:
1. Layout & Framing
2. Drywall 
3. Ceilings
4. Floors.

Step 5:  Order Schedule Tasks and Define Relationships:

After you have created your construction work activities and added their durations, you’ll want to
next establish the relationships between each of those tasks, i.e., you want to tell MS Project, what
order they should occur in, and which one should follow the next. We do this by adding tasks
dependencies: 

4|Page
 1. Go to the predecessor and successor columns.
2. In MS Project we take the ‘line item’ number of the task and add that number to either the
predecessor column or the successor columns. 
3. For example, for task #2, Drywall, you would put the number 1 in its predecessor column. For
Layout & Framing (task #1), you would put the number 2 in its successor column 
4. After that, you then want to include any start-to-start logic or finish-to-finish logic in these
two columns including any lag time if necessary* 
5. If you’ve missed a task or the plan has changed, simply select the row where you want the
new task and select ‘insert a new task’ from the pop-up menu.  Type in the name of the new
activity. 

Step 6: Create Construction Schedule WBS, Summary Bars & Milestones:

You could continue creating a long list of job tasks, however, at this stage, it might be
important to create “summary bars” to refine task relationships. Summary bars or WBS (work
breakdown structures) are a good way to “bucket” work activities. All tasks that complete a
larger activity or milestone can be grouped together. To do this, you insert a new task (or
modify a previous one), give it a name, and then “indent” all the sub-tasks below it. Those
changes and new relationships will update on the Gantt chart view. 
To make any summary bar a milestone, you have to indicate to MS Project that it should now
be considered a milestone:

1. Double-click on the task

2. Select “Advanced” from the pop-up menu 
3. Mark as “Milestone” by clicking the check box.

Step 7: Add Schedule Constraints:

As we all know, even with the best-laid plans, things often go awry! Although not
recommended, this is where “constraints” come in. When something that is scheduled for a
certain date can no longer start on that date, as an example, you would need to go back into
that task and put a constraint on it: 

1. Click on the task

2. Select Advanced from the pop-up menu
3. Go to the Constraint Type pull-down menu and select the appropriate constraint, and
then change the date. 

5|Page
Step 8: Define Critical Path Method (CPM) for Construction:
One of the great things about Microsoft Project is that it effortlessly enables you to see the
critical path.  For construction projects, it's perhaps the most critical thing to safeguard and
monitor with respect to the schedule. To view the critical path on your schedule:

1. Go up to the Gantt Chart Format tab

2. Then select the checkbox, Critical Tasks.

Step 9: Set up the Construction Schedule Calendar:

For your project and therefore for your construction work schedule to have accurate times
and dates you need to customize your MS Project calendar to accurately reflect reality. You
need to tell MS Project which days are non-work days such as holidays and what dates those
fall on. You can also refine what days are workdays and what the workweek looks like. To
change your calendar:

1. Go to the Project tab
2. Click on Change Working Time
3. Create a NEW calendar
4. Assign a name
5. Once the new calendar is created you need to create exceptions 
6. Type in the name of the holiday, and define the start and end dates
7. Once your new calendar is defined, highlight the tasks it applies to and tell it to use
your new calendar via the Advanced tab

Step 10: Set Schedule Baseline :

The final step in completing your construction schedule setup is to set the baseline. The
baseline is the official finalized or approved version of the schedule file. The construction
schedule baseline is very important as it's used as a comparison against the final project
schedule. 
It is locked and can only be formally changed through strict change control procedures. To
set the baseline:

1. Go to the Project tab, and select Set Baseline

2. Inside the pop-up window, select Set Baseline again
3. Hit Entire Project, and select okay 

6|Page
 4. To view your baseline, select Gantt chart Format
5. Select Baseline  from the pull-down menu 

And there you have it. You have now created your own MS Project Schedule customized to
start your construction project. Remember once created, do not neglect your project schedule.
Practice good project management best practices and routinely update your schedule—
monitor for any changes, especially those that can adversely impact the critical path.

7|Page
8|Page
 

9|Page
10 | P a g e
11 | P a g e