AUDIENCE:   Staff involved in estimating, planning and controlling systems development projects or setting up new procedures for project management. This includes Project Managers, Team Leaders and Project/Programme Support staff. PREREQUISITES:   Delegates are assumed to have a working knowledge of current versions Windows. No previous knowledge of project management or MS Project 2000/2003 is assumed. DURATION:   4 days. Hands on. OBJECTIVES:   Organisations are increasingly recognising the benefits of using a structured method for managing business projects. However, many of these methods stop short of recommending detailed techniques and tools for the planning and control of projects. This intensive, practical course will enable delegates to apply a range of planning and control techniques to all kinds of IS and business project using one of the most popular software planning tools Microsoft Project 2000/2003. The aims of the course are to: · Develop the basic principles and techniques for estimating, planning and control of projects. · Develop the skills required to create, resource and manage projects using Microsoft Project 2000. By the end of the course delegates will be able to: · Develop a detailed project plan in MS Project 2000 showing activities, dependencies, deadlines and resources. · Set up procedures to control resources, quality, change and progress. · Revise the project plan to show actual progress and schedule changes. · Filter data to provide useful management information and reports. · Configure Microsoft Project 2000 default settings and formatting options. · Create and structure a Microsoft Project 2000 plan. · Prepare estimates of effort and elapsed time for a systems development COURSE CONTENT:   Planning and control principles The need for project planning and control Why projects fail Fundamentals of planning and control Understanding MS Project 2000/2003 default settings Estimating Estimating effort and duration Hard and soft estimates Function Point Analysis Adjustments, allowances and contingency Developing estimating skills Planning techniques Dependencies Activity networks Critical path analysis Schedules and Gantt charts Building and editing a project in MS Project 2000/3 Structuring projects in MS Project 2000/3 Resourcing and task allocation Identifying resource requirements Allocating tasks to people Creating and assigning resources in MS Project 2000/3 Resource smoothing Resolving overallocations in MS Project 2000/3 Quality assurance and change control Quality control techniques Change control procedures Controlling progress Information needed Collection, analysis and reporting Managing project costs in MS Project 2000/3 Managing and updating actuals in MS Project 2000/3 Taking corrective action Overview of MS Project 2000/3 filters, views and reports