MSProject Training - 2
Mood:  spacey
I was more than mildly disappointed to find that "The Complete Microsoft Office Handbook" from the newsagent, published by 'Microsoft Windows XP, AUSTRALIA'S OFFICIAL MONTHLY MAGAZING" had nothing on Project. The CD did offer a few add-ins to try-n-buy. (Not interested.)

After completing the coursework, I went to the Microsoft site and took their short quiz from a link at one of the vendors' sites. Not surprisingly, I scored 8 out of 10. The quiz was on the 2003 version, which has a few changes from XP.

However, a trainer on the corporate level is expected to know more than the interface and the primary steps involved, so much more was needed.

I downloaded a couple of Tips sheets. They made a few good points about critical paths and resource allocations:

Background
Once the project's schedule has been calculated (with critical path analysis) and a Gantt chart created, the next step in the planning process is to create some resource assignments. These assignments add the people dimension - someone doing something. Assignments can be simple or they can be complex. What is important is a general understanding of the relationship between the task (something that needs to be achieved) and the resource (the individual that performs the work to achieve the task's objective). Once the basics of assignment and aggregation are understood, more sophisticated use can be made of the (often expensive) people that work upon projects.
When tasks have just one resource assigned to them, their scheduled start and the start of the
assignment are the same. The scheduled finish of the task is equal to the end of the assignment.

• Assignments should be made against normal tasks and not summary tasks or milestones.
• As the assignments above are sequential, the assignments can be carried out within the available working time and availability profile(s).
• Within Microsoft Project the default settings for tasks is that they are effort-driven with a task type of fixed units.
• The assigned units for an assignment is usually equal to the resource's max units value. This is the default for new assignments within Microsoft Project.
• Where the aggregated units are less than max units, the resource has additional capacity to carry out other tasks.

First Assignment!

One of my competitors -- and a friend -- has asked me in to help train an 8-person class in it next week.
Fortunately, I had worked with Project 97 a few years ago and she was skilled in 2002/XP. If nothing else, I can explain a few rudimentary project management concepts to the trainees, and show them how to read the manual. (There is an ancient IT proverb: RTFM. I will NOT expand the acronym!)

Filling in the Blanks

Whenever a term or concept seemed to have been treated too lightly by the course material (or in an article or tip sheet) a search was done on the Special Edition book. (There is no way I am gonna be able to wade through 1000+ pages in a week!)
If the Special Edition book seemed to be missing something, then the search was expanded across all of Oreilly's 2000+ books, and/or to reference material or articles on TechRepublic.

TechRepublic is an invaluable resource. Not only for How-to articles or checklists, but also for insight into the areas where users have problems with the software, workarounds, and what a user finds useful.

The guiding principle of AEmeritus is to not reinvent the wheel. The knowledge is out there, it's just a matter of knowing where to find it -- and quickly.
Using the resources of AEmeritus (-- My own experience combined with enterprise accounts. --), I can develop a graduate level course in Project, or any technology, into a textbook or manual in a short time.