Microsoft® Office Project Server 2007, Managing Projects

Introduction

Elements of this syllabus are subject to change.

This three-day instructor-led course provides students with the knowledge and skills to initiate, plan, execute, monitor and control, and close enterprise projects by using the Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 enterprise tool.

This is the second course in the Microsoft Office Project 2007 Official Curriculum series and covers the Microsoft Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution.

Audience

This course is intended for experienced project managers and schedulers. These individuals are capable of managing projects in the Microsoft Office Project 2007 EPM environment, including project and non-project efforts, risks, issues, documents, task progress, and timesheets. These individuals should be familiar with key project management concepts and terminology found in Project Management Institute (PMI), A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) – Third Edition, and advanced knowledge and use of Microsoft Office Project 2007.

At Course Completion

After completing this course, students will be able to:

• Get started with Office Project Server 2007.

• Initiate projects

• Understand the project planning processes.

• Plan projects through scope and schedule management.

• Plan projects through staffing management plans.

• Plan resource assignments for projects.

• Plan projects through cost, risk, and other planning documents.

• Execute projects through processes, resources, and deliverables.

• Execute projects by managing timesheets and personal settings.

• Monitor and control projects by tracking task and project progress.

• Monitor and control projects through measuring project performance and reporting progress.

• Close projects.

Prerequisites

• Experience using Microsoft Office Project to create project schedules.

• Fundamental knowledge of project management.

• Experience with the Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista operating system.

• Experience with Microsoft Office Excel 2003.

• Familiarity with the key project management concepts and terminology found in the PMI PMBOK Guide –Third Edition.

In addition, it is recommended, but not required, that students have completed:

• Course 5927: Microsoft Office Project 2007, Managing Project

Course Outline

Module 1: Getting Started with Office Project Server 2007

This module provides insight into the new features and benefits of Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 that are designed to meet enterprise project management (EPM) requirements. Additionally, it explains how to differentiate user interactions and interfaces in Microsoft Project Web Access and how to work with Office Project Server 2007 from Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007.

Lessons

• Describing the Enterprise Project Management Context

• Discovering Office Project Server 2007

• Differentiating the Users of Office Project Server 2007

• Working with Office Project Professional 2007 and Office Project Server 2007

Lab: Creating and Saving a New Project in Office Project Server 2007

• Connecting to Office Project Server 2007

• Creating a New Project in Office Project Server 2007

• Saving a New Project in Office Project Server 2007

After completing this module, students will be able to:

• Describe the enterprise project management context.

• Describe Office Project Server 2007.

• Identify the users of Office Project Server 2007.

• Work with Office Project Professional 2007 within Office Project Server 2007.

Module 2: Initiating Projects

Effectively managing the initiating processes includes setting up a central location to store potential and approved projects. In this module, students will become familiar with the project management initiating processes. They will initiate projects in Office Project Professional 2007 and Office Project Web Access through Office Project Server 2007. Finally, this module will illustrate how they can use Office Project Web Access to centrally store and manage project documents.

Lessons

• Understanding Initiating Processes

• Differentiating the Initiating Processes in Project Professional 2007 and Project Web Access

• Managing Initiating Processes by Using Project Web Access

• Managing Documents in Office Project Web Access

Lab: Initiating Projects and Working with Document Files

• Creating an Activity Plan

• Building a Resource Plan

• Creating a Project Workspace

• Managing Documents

After completing this module, students will be able to:

• Describe the project management initiation processes.

• Differentiate the initiating processes between Office Project Professional 2007 and Office Project Web Access.

• Create and manage proposals, activity plans, and resource plans.

• Manage documents in Project Web Access 2007

Module 3: Planning Projects—Context and Framework

This module describes the project management plan and then explains how students can effectively use Office Project Web Access and Office Project Professional 2007 to connect to Office Project Server 2007 in their planning processes.

Lessons

• Understanding the Project Management Plan

• Differentiating the Office Project Server 2007 Client Software

NO LAB

After completing this module, students will be able to:

• Describe the project management plan.

• Compare the uses of Office Project Web Access and Office Project 2007 in the planning processes.

Module 4: Planning Projects—Scope and Schedule Management

This module explains the scope management plan and the schedule management plan and describes how students can implement these two plans with Office Project Server 2007.

Lessons

• Developing Components of the Scope Management and Schedule Management Plans

• Working with Deliverables

Lab: Working with Tasks, Milestones, and Deliverables

• Entering WBS, Tasks, and Milestones

• Creating the Project Schedule

• Creating Project Deliverables

• Managing Dependencies on Deliverables

After completing this module, students will be able to:

• Establish the scope management and schedule management plans.

• Work with deliverables.

Module 5: Planning Projects—Staffing Management Plan

This module describes the concept of a staffing management plan and how students can implement that plan by using Office Project Server 2007 for different types of organizational structures. This module also identifies the other types of resources available for project teams along with how to manage an organization’s overall resource capacity in Office Project Server 2007.

Lessons

• Building a Project Team

• Managing Resource Availability

Lab: Managing Enterprise Resources

• Building the Project Team

After completing this module, students will be able to:

• Build a project team

• Manage resource availability.

Module 6: Planning Projects—Resource Assignments

This module explains the new concepts and processes involved in the assignment cycle and shows how to resolve enterprise resource overallocations.

Lessons

• Understanding the Assignment Cycle

• Resolving Resource Overallocation

Lab: Working with Assignments

• Assigning Resources

• Self-Assigning to a Team Task

• Reassigning Assignments

• Leveling Overallocation with Enterprise Resources

After completing this module, students will be able to:

• Describe the assignment cycle

• Resolve resource overallocation.

Module 7: Planning Projects—Cost, Risk, and Other Management Plans

This module begins by describing the concept and implementation of a cost management plan in Office Project Server 2007. Students will learn about the risk management plan and how Office Project Server 2007 supports their need to deal with project risk factors. Additionally, other types of management plans are explained in the context of how they are supported by Office Project Server 2007.

Lessons

• Developing Components of the Cost Management Plan

• Developing Components of the Risk Management Plan

• Linking Planning Documents and Using the Team Discussion Feature

Lab: Planning Projects—Cost, Risks, Issues, and Other Planning Documents

• Entering Costs for Resources

• Customizing Risk Items

• Customizing Issue Items

• Uploading Project Documents to the Project Workspace

After completing this module, students will be able to:

• Develop components of the cost management plan.

• Develop components of the risk management plan.

• Link planning documents and use the Team Discussion feature.

Module 8: Executing Projects—Processes, Resources, and Deliverables

In this module, students will learn how Office Project Server 2007 facilitates and expedites the execution of the project management plan through resource assignment, team building, and project deliverable management.

Lessons

• Understanding Executing Processes

• Managing Resources and Deliverables

Lab: Modifying the Project Team and Managing Deliverables

• Modifying the Project Team and Managing Deliverables

• Managing Deliverables

After completing this module, students will be able to:

• Describe the executing processes.

• Manage the executing processes by working with various resources

Module 9: Executing Projects—Managing Timesheets and Personal Settings

In this module, students will work with timesheets in the team member, resource manager, and project manager roles. They will learn how administrative time is captured. Finally, they will configure Office Project Web Access to provide personal alerts and reminders to help them keep track of project activities.

Lessons

• Working with Timesheets

• Reporting Administrative Time

• Configuring Personal Settings

Lab: Using Timesheets and Reporting Administrative Time

• Using Timesheets

• Reporting Non-Project Work

After completing this module, students will be able to:

• Work with timesheets.

• Report administrative time.

• Configure personal settings.

Module 10: Monitoring and Controlling Projects—Tracking Task and Project Progress

In this module students will track task progress and updates in Office Project 2007 and Office Project Web Access 2007. They will also use the Office Outlook 2007 integration as an alternative method to track task progress and submit updates.

Lessons

• Understanding the Monitoring and Controlling Processes

• Working with Task Progress and Updates in Project Web Access

• Working with Task Progress by Using Office Project 2007

• Tracking and Viewing Task Information by Using Outlook 2007

Lab: Tracking Task Progress

• Tracking Task Progress by Using Office Project 2007

• Tracking Task Progress by Using Office Project Web Access

After completing this module, students will be able to:

• Describe the monitoring and controlling processes.

• Work with task progress and updates by using Office Project Web Access.

• Work with task progress and updates by using Office Project 2007.

• Track and view task information by using Office Outlook 2007.

Module 11: Monitoring and Controlling Projects—Measuring Performance and Reporting Progress

Office Project Web Access provides features that help the project manager make informed decisions. In this module students will learn about status reports and their functions, and they will review performance metrics and progress reports.

Lessons

• Understanding Status Reports

• Reviewing Performance Metrics and Progress Reports

Lab: Preparing Status Reports and Analyzing Progress Reports

• Preparing a Status Report

• Analyzing Project Progress in Project Center Views

• Analyzing Project Progress in Project Report Center

After completing this module, students will be able to:

• Describe status reports and their function.

• Review performance metrics and progress reports.

Module 12: Closing Projects

Office Project Server 2007 can also help with the management of closing activities and the storage and disposal of project information. In this module, students will learn about the Closing process and the support provided for it by Office Project Server 2007.

Lessons

• Understanding the Closing Process

• Supporting The Closing Process

Lab: Creating and Saving an Enterprise Template

• Creating and Saving an Enterprise Template

After completing this module, students will be able to:

• Describe the closing process.

• Support the closing process with Office Project 2007.