Microsoft Project 2013

Lesson 10
Project Reporting

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 1
Objectives

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 2
Software Orientation
• The new Report Ribbon makes locating and selecting a report easier
than ever before. With predefined dashboard reports, the user can
show an overview of the project, project burn- down, cost overview,
work overview and many more.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 3
Software Orientation

• The Project Overview Dashboard provides the basic information

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Activate and Print a Dashboard Report
• Using a Dashboard report you can quickly see all of the major
information about your project then print the information on paper.

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Step by Step: Select and Print a Dashboard
Report
GET READY. Before you begin these steps, launch Microsoft Project
2013.
1. OPEN the Don Funk Music Video 10M project schedule.
2. SAVE the file as Don Funk Music Video 10.
3. On the ribbon, click the Project tab. In the Status group click the
calendar icon in the Status Date field. Microsoft Project displays
the Status Date dialog box.
4. In the Select Date: field type
or select 6/10/16. Your screen
should look like the figure at
right.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 6
Step by Step: Select and Print a Dashboard
Report
5. Click OK or press Enter to close the Status Date dialog box. You set the
Status Date to tell Microsoft Project you want information as of this date.
6. On the ribbon,
click the Report
tab and then
select the
Dashboards
button. From the
dropdown menu
that appears,
select Project
Overview. Your
screen should
look similar to the figure above.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 7
Step by Step: Select and Print a Dashboard
Report
7. On the ribbon, click the File tab and then select Print from the navigation
bar on the left side of the screen. Your screen should look similar to
the figure at
right. You may
notice that
some of the
report is cut
|off at the
right side of
the print pre-
view area.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 8
Step by Step: Select and Print a Dashboard
Report
8. At the lower right of the Settings section, click the Page Setup hyperlink.
Microsoft Project displays the Page Setup dialog box.
9. On the Page tab,
in the Scaling
section, click Fit
to: and choose 1 against
the pages wide by
and tall boxes.
Your dialog
box should
look like the figure
at right.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 9
Step by Step: Select and Print a Dashboard
Report
10. Now select the Margins tab. Set all margins to 0.5 inches. Click the OK
to close the dialog box. Your screen should now look like the figure
below.
11. SAVE the
project
schedule.
• PAUSE.
LEAVE
Project
open to
use in
the next
exercise.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 10
Step by Step: Select and Print a Dashboard
Report
• A report is anything the project manager uses to transmit
information about the project. Most all reports are done in writing,
using both words and graphics. Some reports are made available
through dashboards.
• A dashboard is a generic term used to mean an easy to read, single
page interface (usually centrally located–such as a SharePoint web
page) that senior management can quickly view to obtain a high-
level view of current project status.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 11
Customize and Print a Report
• Using the new options of the reports feature in Microsoft Project
2013 allows you to fully customize the information you wish to
include in the report.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 12
Step by Step: Create, Customize and Print a
Report
• GET READY. USE the project schedule you created in the previous
exercise.
1. Click the Report
tab. On the
ribbon, click the
New Report
button.
2. On the drop-
down menu that
appears, click
Table.
3. In the Report Name box that appears, name the new report Remaining
Work Report and then click OK. Your screen should look like the figure
above.
© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 13
Step by Step: Create, Customize and Print a
Report
4. At the top of the field list at the right of the screen, click
Resources.
5. Using the scroll box at the right of the field list box, navigate down
until the Work fields are visible and then select the expand button
next to Work.
6. Select the check box next to Remaining Work.
7. In the Filter box, select Resources: Work.
8. In the Sort by box, select Name.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 14
Step by Step: Create, Customize and Print a
Report
9. Auto fit the name and Remaining Work columns (make them wider
so all information fits on one line) and then center the entire table
on the screen under the report name.
10. Click the File tab and then select Print. You will note that the
report may not be centered on the page. This is because the
previous report was on Landscape orientation.
11. In the settings section, change the orientation to Portrait.
12. Click the return arrow at the top.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 15
Step by Step: Create, Customize and Print a
Report
13. Click the minus
sign on the zoom
slider at the lower
right portion of
the screen two or
three times.
Manually move
the table and the
report name box
to the center of
the page. You will
note page breaks
are indicated by
the dashed lines.
Step by Step: Create, Customize and Print a
Report
14. Click the File tab and then select Print. You will note that the
report is now centered on the page.
15. SAVE the project schedule.
• PAUSE. LEAVE Project open to use in the next exercise.
• Printing information from a project schedule to share with
stakeholders is a common activity for project managers.
• Stakeholders are the people or organizations that might be affected
by project activities and can range from resources working on the
project to customers receiving the project deliverables.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 17
Reporting Project Status
• Microsoft Project provides many different ways to report a project’s
status in terms of budget or variance.
• A key part of a project manager’s job is knowing which stakeholders
need to see which details in which format.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 18
Step by Step: Report Project Variance with a
“Stoplight” View
• USE the project schedule you created in the previous exercise.
1. Click the View tab, then in the Task views group, select Other
Views then select More Views. In the list select Task Sheet and
then click Apply. Microsoft Project displays the Task Sheet view.
2. Select the Tables button and then click Cost.
3. Click on the Project tab, and then click the Custom Fields button.
The Custom Fields dialog box appears.
4. Under the Field label at the top of the dialog box, make sure that
Task is selected. In the Type box, select Number from the
dropdown list.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 19
Step by Step: Report Project Variance with a
“Stoplight” View
5. In the Field list, select Overbudget (Number3).
6. Under the Custom attributes label, click the Formula button. The
Formula dialog box is displayed. The formula shown in this dialog
box has been pre-entered for accuracy and to save time. Your
screen should look similar to the figure below.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 20
Step by Step: Report Project Variance with a
“Stoplight” View
• The formula evaluates each task’s cost variance.
• If the task is above 20 percent above baseline, the formula assigns
the number 30 to the task; if it is between 20 percent and 10 and
percent, a 20; and if below 10 percent, a 10. If the task does not fit
within those criteria, such as the case with a milestone task which
should have no costs, the formula returns a zero value.
• Note: For the purposes of this project, a variance of 20 percent
above baseline has been decided on by the project manager and
sponsor as the maximum tolerance level.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 21
Step by Step: Report Project Variance with a
“Stoplight” View
7. Click Cancel to close the Formula dialog box.
8. In the Custom Fields dialog box, under the Values to display label,
click the Graphical Indicators button. The Graphical Indicators
dialog box appears. This dialog box enables you to specify a
unique graphical indicator to display, depending on the value of a
field for each task. In this usage, the values returned from the
formula in the figure on slide 20 are used to assign the graphical
indicator. To save time, the indicators have already been selected.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 22
Step by Step: Report Project Variance with a
“Stoplight” View
9. Click the first cell under the Image column heading, and then click
the downarrow. Here you can see the many graphical indicators
you can associate with the values of fields.
10. Click Cancel twice to close the Graphical Indicators dialog box,
and then click Cancel again to close the Custom Fields dialog box.
11. Right-click the Fixed Cost column heading. Select Insert Column
from the list.
12. From the keyboard, start typing the word “Over”.
• Notice how Project narrows the list down as you type. You can also
navigate using the scroll bar to Overbudget (Number3).

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 23
Step by Step: Report Project Variance with a
“Stoplight” View
• Microsoft Project displays the Overbudget column in the Cost table.
Your screen should look similar to the figure below.
Step by Step: Report Project Variance with a
“Stoplight” View
• The custom field Overbudget (Number3) displays a graphical
indicator that represents one of three different levels of cost
variance.
• The graphical indicators will change, according to the ranges
specified in the formula, as each task’s cost variance changes. This
is a useful format for identifying tasks whose cost variance is higher
than you would like (as indicated by the red and yellow indicators).
• This makes it easy for any stakeholder to quickly scan the task list
and locate tasks that need further attention.
13. SAVE the project schedule.
• PAUSE. LEAVE Project open to use in the next exercise.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 25
Step by Step: Report Project Variance with a
“Stoplight” View
• In this exercise, you used a custom field with a custom formula to
create a custom stoplight report.
• As a project manager, you will find many ways to present the
current status of your project. Bear in mind the audience of the
report. For example, you will want to present high level information
to upper management. Conversely, you will want to give detailed
information to the project team.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 26
Using Visual Reports
• The Visual Reports feature of Microsoft Project 2013 combines the
power of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Visio with the data of your
project to create high impact, visually centered reports.
• You can use a preformatted report, edit a report or create a new
report that includes a specific set of fields from Microsoft Project.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 27
Step by Step: Create a Visual Report
• USE the project schedule you created in the previous exercise.
1. On the ribbon, click the
Report tab, and
then select the
Visual Reports button. The
Visual Reports–Create Report
dialog box appears. Your
screen should look
like the figure at
right.
2. Click the Task Usage
tab, and then click
Cash Flow Report.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 28
Step by Step: Create a Visual Report
3. In the Select level
of usage data to
include in the
report: box, select
Months.
4. Click the View
button. The Visual
Report engine
gathers data from
your project file
and builds an
Online Analytical
Processing (OLAP) cube. The application Microsoft Excel opens and the
report is presented in Chart form from a preformatted report template.
Your screen should look similar to the figure above.
© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 29
Step by Step: Create a Visual Report
5. At the bottom of the
Excel window, select the
Task Usage sheet tab.
6. In the PivotTable
Field List box,
navigate to the
Time field. Place
your cursor on
Monthly
Calendar and
drag it to the Rows
box. Your screen should
look similar to the figure
at right.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 30
Step by Step: Create a Visual Report
7. In the PivotTable area,
click the expand button
next to the year 2016, to
reveal all the available
time data. Your screen
should look similar
to the figure
at right.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 31
Step by Step: Create a Visual Report
8. Click the Chart1
sheet tab at the
bottom of the
screen. Your screen
should look similar
to the figure at right.
9. Save the Excel visual
report as Don
Funk Cash Flow in
your My Documents
folder or another
folder directed by
your instructor.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 32
Step by Step: Create a Visual Report
10. CLOSE Microsoft Excel.
11. CLOSE the Visual Reports Dialog box.
12. SAVE the project schedule.
• PAUSE. LEAVE Project open to use in the next exercise.
• In this exercise, you created a new visual report.
• A visual report is a specific type of report that utilizes the combines the
power of either Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Visio and the data which you
have created in your project file.
• The data is translated into pivot tables and graphs. You must have
Microsoft Excel 2007 or newer to view the Excel reports with the Visual
Reports feature.
• You must have Microsoft Visio 2007 Professional or higher installed on
your system to view the Visio reports. If this is not installed, the Visio
reports will not be listed in the dialog box.
© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 33
Customizing and Printing a View
• Using a view, you can see your project schedule information on
screen.
• You can change what you see by customizing the view.
• You can also apply these customized views to print the information
on paper.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 34
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
• USE the project
schedule you
created in the
previous exercise.
1. Click the View
tab, then select
the Gantt Chart
button.
2. Click the File tab
and then click
Print. Microsoft
Project displays
print options on
the left side and the Gantt Chart view in the right side, which is the Print
Preview window. Your screen should look like the figure above.
© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 35
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
3. On the Print Preview toolbar, click the Page Right and/or Page
Down button to display different pages.
4. On the Print Preview toolbar, click the Multiple Pages button.
Most of the pages of the Gantt Chart appears in the Print Preview
window. When the multiple pages Print Preview is active the
printed output is displayed on separate sheets. You navigate using
the scroll control at the bottom of the Print Preview pane. The Page
Right, Page Left, Page Up, and Page Down buttons are inactive.
The paper size displayed is determined by your printer settings.
Your screen should look similar to the figure on the next slide.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 36
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 37
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
• The left side of the Print Preview Toolbar status bar should read “3
rows 3 columns.” In the Print Preview window, this means there are
three rows of pages by three columns of pages, for a total of nine
pages. The status bar can help you quickly determine the total
number of pages your printed view will be.
5. On the Print Preview toolbar, click the One Page button. The first
page of the Gantt Chart is displayed.
6. Click the Page Setup hyperlink. The Page Setup dialog box
appears. This is the same dialog box that would appear if you
selected the Page Setup option on the File tab.
7. Click the Header tab. You want to add the company name to the
header that prints on each page.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 38
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
8. There are three Alignment tabs in the center section of the Header
tab box. Select Center if it is not already selected. In the General
box, click Company Name and then click the Add button next to
the General box. Microsoft Project places the following code into
the header: &[Company]. The software also displays a preview in
the Preview window of the Page Setup dialog box.
9. Click the Legend tab. You want to change some of the content of
the Gantt Chart view’s legend.
10. There are three Alignment tabs in the center of the Legend tab box.
Click the Left tab. Currently, Microsoft Project is formatted to print
the project title and current date on the left side of the legend. You
also want to print the start date and duration on the right side of the
legend.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 39
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
12. Click the Right Alignment tab. Click the Right Alignment box,
press Enter, and then type Start: followed by a space.
13. In the General box, select Project Start Date from the dropdown
list. Click the Add button next to the General box. Microsoft
Project adds the label and code for the project start date to the
legend.
14. Press Enter to add a second line to the legend and then type
Duration: followed by a space.
15. In the Project Fields box, select Scheduled Duration from the
dropdown list. Click the Add button next to the Project Fields box.
Microsoft Project adds the label and code for project duration to the
legend.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 40
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
16. In the Width
box, type or
use the scroll
buttons to
enter 3. This
increases the
width of the
box that
appears on
the left side
of the legend.
Your screen
should look similar to the figure above.
© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 41
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
17. Click OK to close the Page Setup dialog box. Microsoft Project
applies the custom changes to the legend.
18. Move your mouse cursor to the lower left corner of the page
preview (your cursor appears as a magnifying glass). Click the
lower left corner of the page. Microsoft Project zooms in to show
the legend. Your screen should look similar to the figure on the
next slide.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 42
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View

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Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
The data you added to the legend will print on every page of the printed
output.
19. Click the Task tab to return to the Gantt Chart view. Take note that
although you did not print, your changes to the header and the
legend will be saved when you save the project file.
20. SAVE the project schedule.
• PAUSE. If you are continuing to the next lesson, keep Project open.
If you are not continuing to additional lessons, CLOSE Project.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 44
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
• In a view, you can enter, read, edit, and print information. In a
report, you can only print the information, you cannot change the
data. Printing a view allows you to provide, on paper, almost
everything you see on your screen. You can print any view you see
in Microsoft Project, with just a few exceptions.
• You cannot print form views (for instance, Task Form) or certain
diagrams, such as the Relationship Diagram.
• If you have two views displayed in a combination view (one view in
the top pane and the other view in the bottom pane), only the view
in the active pane will print.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 45
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
• In this lesson, you applied some custom formulas and graphical
indicators to make it simple to review the status of tasks using the
Task Sheet view.
• Communicating the project status to stakeholders is one of the most
important functions of a project manager and one that may occupy a
significant portion of your working time.
• It is imperative that the project manager know who needs to know
the project status and why, as well as in what format and level of
detail these people need the information.
• The time to find the answers to these questions is in the initial
planning stages of the project.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 46
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
• Once work on the project has commenced, your primary
communication task will be reporting project status. This can take
several forms:
• Status reports describe where the project is in terms of scope, cost,
and schedule. These are often referred to as the triple constraint,
which is a popular model of project management.
• Progress reports that provide the specific accomplishments of the
project team.
• Forecasts that predict future project performance.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 47
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
• Standard report formats may already exist if your organization is
highly focused on projects and project management. If your
organization does not have standard reports, you may be able to
introduce project status formats that are based on clear
communication and project management principles. You may be
able to report project status using some of the following:
• Printing the Project Overview dashboard report.
• Copying Microsoft Project data to other applications. For example,
you could copy the Calendar view to Microsoft Office Word or
Microsoft Office PowerPoint.
• Saving Microsoft Project data in other formats, such as Excel,
HTML or GIF.

© 2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microsoft Official Academic Course, Microsoft Project 2013 48
Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
• It is important to keep in mind that the part of the project schedule
you see on your screen is only a small part of the total project. For
example, to print a six-month project with 75 tasks may require
more than a dozen letter-sized pages.
• In general, Gantt Charts and Network Diagrams can use significant
amounts of paper on large projects.
• Some experienced project managers who regularly use Microsoft
Project print their projects on poster-sized paper using plotters (a
type of printer that draws pictures or graphs using attached pens) or
other specialized printing equipment.

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Step by Step: Customize and Print a Gantt Chart
View
• Projects with several hundred tasks or long time frames will not print
legibly on letter or legal-sized paper.
• To reduce the number of required pages, you can print just summary tasks
or filtered data.
• If you are interested in a specific timeframe, you can print just that portion
of the timescale, which is the band across the top of the Gantt Chart grid
that denotes units of time.
• A filter could be applied to display only the information that is of interest
to a specific audience. In any case, it is a good idea to preview the views
you want to print.
• By using the Page Setup dialog box along with the Print Preview window,
you can control many features of the view to be printed. For example, you
can set the number of pages on which the view will be printed, apply
headers and footers, and determine content that appears in the legend of the
Gantt Chart and some other views.

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Skill Summary

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