Gantt 101: Building a Better Project Schedule
2 years 28 weeks agoThe Gantt Chart is the most widely used project scheduling tool. It visually depicts the project’s activities, when they will occur, and their interdependencies. When used correctly, it is powerful. Unfortunately, most Gantts are poorly constructed,
How to remove suffixes from dates and display both dates for milestones in Primavera P6
2 years 34 weeks agoIf you came into Primavera P6 from a Microsoft Project background, you would have noticed that actual dates have the suffix “A” appended to them, and constrained dates also have an asterisk appended. And milestones have a blank date field depending on the type of milestone.
In this YouTube video, I will show you a trick you can use to
How to create a Lookahead Filter in Microsoft Project
2 years 36 weeks agoHow would you like to create a rolling date lookahead filter in Microsoft Project instead of using the default Date Range filter? Users of Primavera P6 are used to defining the criteria for lookahead filters using Data Date or Current Date and we can also do same in Microsoft Project using Status Date or Current Date rather
Economics 101 for Project Managers
2 years 37 weeks agoEconomics is the social science that studies making choices subject to constraints. Project, program, and portfolio managers make economic decisions daily. We try to maximize value delivery subject to the constraints of time, cost, quality, risk, and resource availability.
Economics can help project managers make more informed decisions. It
Quick Tip: How to trace out of sequence activities in Primavera P6
2 years 43 weeks agoIf your Primavera P6 schedule is set to use the Retained Logic for out of sequence activities and you notice that despite all the predecessors of an activity being 100% complete, the activity’s Start Date is not on the Data Date as one would expect or the Finish Date is much later than the
Improve Your Project Schedule
2 years 46 weeks agoLet’s be honest, most project schedules disappoint. They are unrealistic, complicated, and do not help guide execution. For decades, Gantt charts, network diagrams, and the critical path method have been the standard practices. Even with these powerful tools, only about half of all projects are completed on time, as reported in the
Making Ethical Project Decisions
2 years 50 weeks agoProject managers rarely face ethical dilemmas. We generally do not make life-or-death decisions or need to choose between “right” and “wrong.” However, we need to be prepared and have a framework for confronting these circumstances when they arise.
My career is probably more colorful than most:
I managed the United States Treasury securities’ auctions when the
How to show Primavera P6 dates in month-year (mmm-yy) format
3 years 1 week agoThe date formats available in Primavera P6 are very limited and to best of my knowledge, you cannot get the mmm-yy (month-year) format straight out of the box. You might want to display dates in mmm-yy if you don't want to show exact dates in issued schedules.
This P6 video outlines a workaround using UDF that can be used to achieve mmm-yy date format.
Project Assumptions & Risks
3 years 3 weeks agoAssumptions and risks are embedded in our daily lives. We expect the day will unfold as planned, and risks will not materialize. Most of these assumptions are benign, like thinking the weather report will be accurate; or no major calamities will occur.
Projects are built on assumptions. Without them, it would be impossible to proceed.
Project Portfolio Management & The Theory of Constraints
3 years 7 weeks agoLarge enterprises struggle to manage their project portfolios effectively. They fall prey to the fallacy of optimizing resource allocation. Or simply stated, they focus on making sure everyone is busy rather than getting things done.
Team members are allocated at least 100% to project work, if not more. As a result, people are working on multiple projects—more than
