Advice for the Project Management Professional (PMP)

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Appendix A
TIP
5. Display the Indicators column. Click Insert on the Menu bar, and then click
Column. The Column Definition dialog box opens. Click the Field name list
arrow, select Indicators, and then click OK. The Indicators column is displayed,
showing a check mark by completed tasks.
6. Display a project summary task bar. Click Tools on the Menu bar, and
then click Options. The Options dialog box opens. Click the Show project
summary task option in the lower right side of the dialog box, and then click
OK. The name of the file is now displayed in Row 0.
7. Review changes in the Gantt chart. Move the split bar to the left to reveal more
of the Gantt chart. Notice that the Gantt chart bars for completed tasks have
changed. Gantt chart bars for completed tasks appear with a black line drawn
through the middle. You can also see the project summary task bar as the first
bar displayed.
You can hide the Indicators column by dragging the right border of the column heading to the left.
You can also view actual and baseline schedule information more clearly with the Tracking
Gantt view. See the main text or use the Help facility for descriptions of the symbols
on a Tracking Gantt chart.
To display the Tracking Gantt chart:
1. View the Tracking Gantt chart. Click View on the Menu bar, and then click
Tracking Gantt. Alternatively, you can click the Tracking Gantt button on
the View Bar, if it is displayed. Use the horizontal scroll bar in the Gantt chart
window, if necessary, to see symbols on the Tracking Gantt chart.
2. Display Gantt chart information in months. Double-click the Zoom Out
button to display information in months. Your screen should resemble Figure
A-52. Notice that the delay in this one task on the critical path has caused
the planned completion date for the entire project to slip. Because the
Analysis task preceded others on the critical path, such as Design, Implementation,
and so on, they were delayed in starting. A good project manager would
take corrective action to make up for this lost time or renegotiate the
completion date.
3. Save your file as a new file named tracking.mpp. Click File on the Menu bar,
and then click Save As. Name the file tracking, and then click Save.
Notice the additional information available on the Tracking Gantt chart. Completed tasks
have 100% by their symbols on the Tracking Gantt chart. Tasks that have not started yet display
0%. Tasks in progress, such as Task 9, show the percentage of the work completed (31%
in this example). The project summary task bar indicates that the entire project is 32%
complete. Also, note that the project completion date has moved to 11/26 since several tasks
depended on the completion of Task 10, which took longer than planned. Recall from the main
text that a white diamond represents a slipped milestone. Viewing the Tracking Gantt chart
allows you to easily see your schedule progress against the baseline plan.
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