Table of Contents

Why This Book?

Chapter 1: Project Management Basics

A. Review of PM Concepts

What is a Project?

What does a Project Manager do?

What are Project Constraints?

What are PM Process Groups?

B. Microsoft Project® Exercise: Jumpstart

Find Microsoft Project

Start a New Project

Navigate Software Interface

Chapter 2: Project Initiation

A. Scenario Introduction

Scenario Description

Information Analysis

B. Microsoft Project Exercise: Set-Up

 Enter Project Information

Set Project Preference

Set Project Start Date

Chapter 3: Project Planning I

A. Scenario Analysis

B. Microsoft Project Exercise: WBS + Schedule

Enter Project Tasks

Enter Task Duration

Enter Task Relationship

Enter Milestone

Insert Summary Task

Display Network Diagram

Chapter 4: Project Planning II

A. Scenario Analysis

B. Microsoft Project Exercise: Resource + Cost

Adjust Project Zoom Level

Define Project Resources

Assign Resources to Tasks

Enter Fixed Cost

 Display Total Cost

Chapter 5: Project Planning III

A. Scenario Analysis

B. Microsoft Project Exercise: Risk Assessment

Display Critical Tasks

View Slack Information

Generate Cash Flow

Chapter 6: Project Executing

A. Scenario Analysis

B. Microsoft Project Exercise: Schedule Update

Set Baseline

Set Status Date

Update Task Progress—Using Shortcut

Update Task Progress—Using Actual Duration

Update Task Progress—Using % Complete

Update Task Progress—Using Actual Dates

Chapter 7: Project Monitoring and Controlling

A. Scenario Analysis

B. Microsoft Project Exercise: Earned-Value

 Review Work Progress

Review Cost Expenditure

Review Earned-Value Information

Display Project Overview Report

Chapter 8: Project Closing

A. Scenario Analysis

B. Microsoft Project Exercise: Closeout

Display Progress Line

Set Closeout Date

Complete Project Update

Process Cost Changes

Evaluating Project Performance

Appendix: MS Project “How-To” Cheat Sheets

A. Schedule Set-Up

B. Resource/Cost Loading

C. Progress Tracking

About the Author

 Why This Book?

Thank you very much for your interest in this book!

First, please allow me to explain what this book does.

If you

 find project management books unbearably boring

 have a hard time in visualizing how the project
management ideas actually work
 need a good review of project management concepts
by using computer software
 ……
 or just want to have some good clean fun

Then congratulations on your purchase!

This book will use Microsoft Project® as the primary tool to

understand the “essential” project management concepts,
covering a project case study from initiation, planning,
executing, monitoring/controlling to closing. No prior
experience in any industry sector is needed.

Let the fun begin!

 Chapter 1: Project Management Basics

In the first chapter, we will talk about the resources you need,
as well as a review of basic project management concepts,
which include the following:

 What is a Project?
 What are Project Constraints?
 Who is a Project Manager?
 What are Project Process Groups?
 What is Microsoft Project®?

1
 A. Review of PM Concepts

What is a Project?
By definition, a project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken
to create a unique, product, service, or result”.

There are three primary features in this definition.

 Temporary: Each project has a definite beginning and
end.
 Unique: Each project is unique although it might have
repetitive elements
 Progressively elaboration: Each project will have more
and more details as it develops and its requirements
are better understood

Other secondary features for a project:

 It requires resources
 It should have a primary customer or sponsor. A
project sponsor usually provides funding for the project.
 It involves uncertainty and needs risk management

2
What does a Project Manager do?

 A Project Manager is responsible for accomplishing the

project objectives.
 A Project Manager strives to meet the triple constraint
by balancing project scope, time, and cost goals
 A Project Manager is the direct link between the parent
organization and the project team
 A Project Manager usually has three skill sets
o Knowledge: Know about project management
o Performance: Able to deliver results
o Personal: Good behavior

3
What are Project Constraints?

One of the responsibilities for a Project Manager is to balance

the competing project constraints, which include:
 Scope
 Schedule/Time
 Cost/Budget
 Quality
 Resources
 Risk

The idea is that if any one factor changes, at least another

factor is likely to be affected.

4
What are PM Process Groups?

There are five Project Management Process Groups

 Initiating: recognizing a project or phase should begin

(“START”)
 Planning: devising and maintaining a workable plan
(“PLAN”)
 Executing: coordinating resources to execute the plan
(“DO”)
 Monitoring and Controlling: ensuring project objectives
are met; monitoring, correcting and measuring
progress (“CHECK” + “ACT”)
 Closing: formalized acceptance (“END”)

5
B. Microsoft Project® Exercise: Jumpstart

Microsoft Project® is probably the most common project

management software program. It is developed and sold by
Microsoft. You can use it to develop a plan, assign resources
to tasks, track progress, manage the budget, and analyze
workloads. In this book, it will be our primary tool for lab
exercises.

The cost of Microsoft Project® ranges from a few hundred to

a couple of thousand dollars, depending on the version and
configuration. Please check with your employer for details.

Suppose you already have Microsoft Project® 2013 or 2010

installed on your computer (If you use earlier versions such as
Project 2007, please search for my other books on Amazon
Kindle). Let’s take a quick “1-2-3” test drive.

6
Find Microsoft Project®

 If you are using Windows 7 or earlier, click “Start” icon

on the lower left corner of your screen  “All

Programs” Microsoft Office®  Microsoft Project®
(either Professional or Standard version is fine)

 If you are using Windows 8, press both the Windows

icon and key “Q” on your keyboard to activate

Search tool  type “Project” to search

After you find it, double click on it to activate the software.

Start a New Project

If the initial start screen shows up, click on “Blank Project”

7
Navigate Software Interface

Explore different parts of the following window to get familiar

with the interface

 Left Side of the screen is “Gantt Spreadsheet”, or Task

List. We will do most of the data entry here. Toolbar on
the top has menus and commands to help us to do so.

 Right Side of the screen is “Gantt Chart”, or Bar Chart.

We will see each task will be represented by a
horizontal bar, indicating its duration. By default, it will
also show the relationship between tasks.

We are going to take a break here before we start the next

exciting chapter!

8
 Chapter 2: Project Initiation

Project Initiation refers to starting a new project or phase by

gaining authorization. Usually there are two processes
involved:

 Develop Project Charter (i.e. write a document that

formally authorizes a project or a phase and records
initial requirements)

 Identify Stakeholders (i.e. find all individuals and

organizations impacted by the project)

Three points you also need to know about project initiation:

 Project manager is selected during initiation
 Business case must be understood during initiation so
that everyone knows the answer to “why this project?”
 High-level planning is also done during initiation (e.g.
dividing the project into phases)

We will explain all these through a case scenario as well as

by completing hands-on computer exercises.

9
 A. Scenario Introduction

In this book, our fictional project will be based on a “common-

sense”, industry-independent case scenario (i.e. no prior
experience is needed from you!)

Scenario Description
“Adam Ding is driving from New York to Los Angeles in a car,
carrying a secret treasure box for CIA. His partner (Agent X)
will also fly from NY to LA at some point in a plane, with the
password to open the box. The two will meet in front of
Chinese Theater at Hollywood to disclose the secret in the
treasure box”.

Information Analysis
1. The above scenario is a project because it is
a. Temporary: It has a start and a finish
b. Unique: Out of so many spy missions out there,
“this one is yours”
c. Progressively elaboration: more details will
come later
2. Adam Ding is appointed as the project manager, i.e. if
something goes wrong, then Adam will be responsible
for it!
3. The spy boss authorized it to start on July 1st, 2020
with a project charter
4. The stakeholders in this project are: Spy boss, Adam
Ding, Agent X, federal government, general public
and……all right, you name it.

Let’s set this up in Microsoft Project®.

10
 B. Microsoft Project® Exercise: Set-Up

Enter Project Information

1. Start Microsoft Project® software (refer to previous

chapter if you need help with this). Click “New Project”

2. Click on “File” at the upper left corner of the toolbar

11
3. Ensure “Info” tab is currently selected.

4. Look to the right side, find “Project Information”. Click

on the small black arrow next to it. Then click on
“Advanced Properties”.

5. Fill out the project information as shown on the next

page. Click OK when done.

12
13
Set Project Preference
1. Ensure your window looks like the following screenshot
(If not, click “File” on the upper left corner of the toolbar
to activate it). This time, click on “Options”.

14
2. In the next window, click on “Schedule”

3. Look at the lower right side of this window. Under

“Scheduling options for this project” , change the option
for “New tasks created” from “Manually scheduled” to
“Auto Scheduled”

4. Click OK when you are done. You will be taken back to

the main screen

15
Set Project Start Date

1. Click on Project tab.

2. In Properties group, click Project Information

3. In the Start Date box, simply type 7/1/20 (or click the down
arrow next to it to display the calendar, scroll to the right until
you can select July 1st, 2020).

16
4. Click OK. We have successfully initiated our project. Let’s
save the file now so that next time we can continue with this.

5. Click on the “Save” button at the upper left corner of the

toolbar or simply press both “Ctrl” and “S” key on your
keyboard to save the file.

17
6. Identify a location you want to save it and give your
project a good name. As long as you know where to
find the file next time, then you are ready for a break.

18
 Chapter 3: Project Planning I

Planning Process Group refers to what’s done to define

project objectives and develop the course of action to achieve
these objectives.

The essential task is to establish project management plan

and project documents, including plans for scope, time, cost,
quality, communications, human resources, risks,
procurements, and stakeholder engagement.

In this chapter, we will focus on scope and time planning first.

19
 A. Scenario Analysis

Let’s plan for what takes to accomplish our “CIA Box” mission

1. Mobilization stage: e.g. Adam and Agent X need to

meet with the spy boss to receive instructions for this
mission

2. Delivery stage: e.g. Adam delivers the box to LA

3. Connection stage: e.g. what Adam and Agent X do in

California

The above list is called “WBS” (Work Breakdown Structure),

which breaks down the whole project scope (i.e. the work that
needs to be done) into three smaller and more manageable
components (i.e. Work Package)

If we look into the WBS a bit further, this is what we get:

Work Packages Activities Duration

Mobilization Meet with Spy Boss 1 Day
Prepare for Road Trip 2 Days
Delivery Drive to LA 4 Days
Partner Flies to LA 1 Day
Connection Meet in Hollywood 1 Day

Here we further breakdown the “Work Packages” into

“Activities” with estimated time. Adding relationships among
them, we would have a project schedule.

We will set it up in Microsoft Project® again.

20
 B. Microsoft Project® Exercise:
WBS + Schedule

Let’s continue with the MS Project® file you worked on

previously. After you find the file, double click to open it up.

Enter Project Tasks

Simply put your cursor under “Task Name” and start typing
the first task name “Meet with Spy Boss”. Hit “ENTER” key
after you are done to move to the next one. This is what the
screen looks like when all task names are entered.

Check: Take a look at “Task Mode” column, ensure your

screen looks similar to the above (i.e. automatic scheduling
mode). Otherwise, refer to the previous chapter on how to fix
that. This is very important, because it will affect what we are
going to do next.

21
Enter Task Duration

Now move your cursor to “Duration” column and enter task

durations. Because the unit is “day” by default, you can simply
enter “1” for 1 day, “2” for 2 days and so on. When complete,
there should be no more question marks (?) for durations.

Enter Task Relationship

The project duration is not just adding up all task durations

(Otherwise you won’t need MS Project® software). For
example, in this project you can see that Agent X and Adam
are travelling independently, if not concurrently. But some
tasks must happen before others, e.g. Adam cannot start to
prepare for the trip before meeting with the spy boss to find
out what the project is.

1. Look to the right side and move your cursor under the
“Predecessors” column.

22
2. As “Meet with Spy Boss” is the first task, please do not
enter anything for the first line (If you did, hit delete
button on keyboard to erase the entry).

3. Move to “Prepare for Road Trip”, type the task ID of the

previous (first) task, i.e. “1”. This means “Meeting”
before “Preparation” (1 is the predecessor of 2)

4. Do the same thing with the next task “Drive to LA”.

Because “Preparation” is before “Driving”, enter “2” this
time (task ID of “Preparation”). Note it is not necessary
to enter both 1 and 2. Because 1 is before 2 already
and if 2 is before 3, then 1 is automatically before 3.

23
5. For Agent X, she doesn’t rely on Adam to start her
travel. But she also needs to meet spy boss before she
starts. So for task 4 “Partner Flies to LA”, this time the
predecessor is just “1”.

6. Finally the team connect in Hollywood. But this

requires both team members to be there, which means
both “3” and “4” to be the predecessor for task “5”. You
can enter “3, 4”, two numbers separated by a comma.

24
Enter Milestone

Let’s add a milestone for project completion.

1. Go to the next new line after last task. Type “Mission

Accomplished”

2. This time, type “0” for its duration

25
 3. Of course you need to connect it with the current
project (Enter “5” to specify its predecessor)

Check: If you look to the right side of the screen, on bar chart
you will see a date “7/10” is attached to the milestone task (in
diamond shape). Remember we started the project on July
1st. The current schedule tells you the project duration is 10
calendar days, or 8 working days plus one weekend.

26
Insert Summary Task
Let’s add a summary task for the whole project.

1. Click on “Format” tab.

2. Look at the right side of the toolbar below, find

“Show/Hide” group.

3. Ensure the options for both “Project Summary Task”

and “Summary Tasks” are checked.

27
 4. This is what your screen might look like. The new task
on top is the “Project Summary Task”.

Check: There are also other ways to insert new summary

tasks and even organize the existing tasks into smaller
phases. Only a short-cut is shown here. If you are interested
in learning more about this topic, refer to the appendix for
more information.

28
Display Network Diagram
Network Diagram is a way that allows you to see all project
task relationship in a visual format.

1. Switch to “VIEW” Tab on top of the toolbar.

2. Find “Task Views” Group, and then click on “Network

Diagram”

3. You will see a logic diagram that looks like this

29
4. If you have trouble in seeing the details, go to “Zoom”
Group Click on Zoom Select “Zoom In”. Repeat
this for a few times until you are happy with the view.

5. You will see tasks shown as boxes with start date,

finish date, ID and duration information. The lines and
arrows mean task relationships. Red color means tasks
are “critical”, i.e. tasks that cannot be delayed.

30
6. Let’s go back to your previous view. Click “Gantt Chart”
button on “Task Views” group

7. Your normal screen should look like this now

31
 Chapter 4: Project Planning II

In addition to scope and time, there are other essential project

management variables, such as cost, quality, human
resources, and communications etc.

It is important to understand a project manager’s job is to

balance these conflicting variables every day.

32
 A. Scenario Analysis
Now let’s look at a list of resources available to finish our “CIA
Box” mission
 Adam Ding: $15/hour
 His Partner (Agent X): $12/Hour
 Spy Boss: $200/Hour
 Car: $40/Day for rental
 Gas: $3.00/Gallon
 United Airline: $400 ticket
 Limousine: $400 per Day

Resource requirements for each project task:

 Start-Up Meeting: Adam Ding, Agent X, Spy Boss
 Preparation: Adam Ding
 Drive: Adam Ding, Rented Car and 600 gallons of Gas
(he will sleep in the car)
 Fly: Agent X, United Airline
 Hollywood: Adam Ding, Agent X, Limousine

PLEASE READ: Here’s project budgeting in a nutshell

 Your project needs resources (e.g. Adam Ding) to
complete tasks
 Resources (e.g. Adam Ding) cost money, which
depends on two things
o How much you are willing to pay resources (e.g.
Adam at $15/hour)
o How long your task needs resources for (e.g.
Adam for 3 days)
 There are also some fixed costs that are not
associated with resources
 Essentially, the project total cost is the summary of all
task costs plus other costs

Because we already have a schedule, apparently we need to

assign these resources/costs to our project tasks. We will do
these in Microsoft Project® again.

33
B. MS Project® Exercise: Resource + Cost

Let’s continue with your previous work file.

Adjust Project Zoom Level

1. Click “VIEW” tab on toolbar

2. In “Zoom” group, click on “Entire Project”

3. You now will see the bar chart for the entire project.

34
Define Project Resources
1. In “Resource Views” group, click “Resource Sheet”

2. The next screen shows our resource database.

Please Read: Here are some general rules for entering

resources (although your company might do it differently)

 people or equipment: entered as “work” resources

with their pay rates
 material or consumables: entered as “material” with
the measurement units and unit prices
 sellers or vendors: entered for their names but
without contract value (to be by cost loading)

3. Under “Resource Name” column, enter the following list of

resources by simply typing their names.

35
4. Now review the resource type. Click the “Type” field for
“Gas” and change it from Work to “Material”.

5. Enter the unit for “Gas” as “Gallon”.

36
6. In the “Std. Rate” column, as the default rates are by hour,
enter the rate for most resources by typing numbers.

7. For resources that charge by day such as “Car” and

“Limo”, enter “40/d” and “400/d” to make it work.

8. Do not enter anything for “United Airline”. This is what your

screen would look like when finished.

37
Assign Resources to Tasks

1. Click “Gantt Chart” button to go back to normal view.

2. Let’s assign resources one task a time. Go to the first task

“Meet with Spy Boss” (Ensure you are not on project
summary task). Double-click your mouse.

3. In the next “Task Information” dialog that pops up, switch

from “General” to “Resources” tab.

38
4. Under “Resource Name”, pick from the list of resources
required for kickoff meeting, i.e. Adam Ding, Agent X and
Spy Boss (one row at a time)

39
5. When finished, it should look like the following.

6. Click OK to go back. You might notice all three resources

you entered are now shown on the bar chart.

40
7. Use your cursor to move onto the next task. Because
“Prepare Road Trip” only requires one resource (Adam
Ding), you can either follow the same procedures above
or simply pick it from “Resource Name” drop down list. If
you cannot see that column, drag the pane divider
between task list and bar chart area.

This is divider

8. Move the cursor to the next task “Drive to LA” and double
click on it. Switch to “Resources” tab.

41
9. Again let’s pick resources. This time, you need “Adam
Ding” (Labor), “Car” (Equipment) and “Gas” (Material).

10. This time you also need to specify the material quantity
for Gas. Type 600 in Units column for Gas. Click OK

11. Below is what to do for “Partner Flies to LA”. Note do not

put any cost information such as ticket price at this point.

42
12. Finally, here’s the list of resources required for the last
task “Meet in Hollywood”

13. Note neither the summary task nor the milestone need any
resources. So do not allocate any resources to milestone
task “Mission Accomplished”.

14. When finished, check your screen with the following list.

43
Enter Fixed Cost

Most resources we entered have pay rates per hour or day.

When combined with task duration, they should generate
dollar values for each task automatically.

There’s only one exception: plane ticket, which is set by the

airline and does not change with task duration. It’s an
example of “fixed cost” (vs. “variable cost”)

1. Look at the far right end of your task list and find “Add
New Column”. If this column is not visible, drag the
pane divider between the task list and the bar chart
area to reveal it.

This is divider

2. Click on the column heading, scroll down and pick

“Fixed Cost” from the list

44
3. Enter 400 for task “Partner flies to LA”, which is ticket
price of $400, the only fixed cost in our entire project.

4. Check your screen with this

45
Display Total Cost

1. Now let’s display the total dollar value for each task.
Look at the right end of your task list again and find
another “Add New Column”.

2. Click on it. This time, just pick “Cost” for the heading.

3. You can see this new list of values is the total cost for
each task, considering resources charges by duration
(labor, material and equipment) and also resources
charges by contract (fixed vendor cost).

46
 4. Check your screen with this

Let’s take a deep breath and save our file for next chapter.

47
 Chapter 5: Project Planning III

Successfully finishing a project often means completing the

scope requirements, using the limited resources, within time
deadline, beating cost budget while meeting quality criteria. Of
course, this is not easy. Therefore as part of the planning
process, we usually will conduct a careful assessment of risks
inherent in the project, evaluating both their probabilities (of
happening) and impacts (if it ever happens).

In addition, the remaining aspects of planning process also

include procurement and stakeholder management.

48
 A. Scenario Analysis

In our “CIA Box” project, we want to focus on two types of

major risks

 Time: Could the team finish the project on time?

 Cost: Would the project cost exceed the budget

allocated?

Usually project scope (and also associated quality) is defined

by requirement documentation. If the client has clear
expectations about deadline and budget, then time and
money will almost always be two variables for a project
manager to control on a daily basis.

To assess these two risks, we will perform the following:

 Critical path analysis: What determines project

duration? Which tasks are more important than others?
Can we have delays? What’s the impact of delays?

 Cash flow projection: How much money does the

project need in the beginning? In the middle of project
execution? Towards the end of project completion?

Again, we will do all of these in Microsoft Project®.

49
 B. Microsoft Project® Exercise:
Risk Assessment

We will continue with the MS Project® file from previous.

Display Critical Tasks

1. Click “VIEW” tab Find “Highlight” on “Data” group

2. Click the drop-down list besides “Highlight”, pick “Critical”

3. You will see most tasks are highlighted on screen. The

only exception is “Partner Flies to LA”

50
4. Intepretation: If you look at the sketch below (tasks with
their duration in days), you will see why this project is 8
days (i.e. the longer route: MeetPrepareDriveLink) ,
not 3 days (i.e. the shorter route: MeetFlyLink). The
longest route that determines the project duration is called
“critical path”. Activities on this path can not be delayed.

Prep Drive
(2) (4)
Link
(1)
Meet
(1) Fly
(1)

5. Click on the drop-down list for “Highlight” option again and

this time change it from “Critical” back to “No Highlight”.

51
View Slack Information

1. Now let’s see how long each task can be delayed without
affecting the whole project. In “Data” group, find “Tables”

2. Click on “Tables” to reveal the drop-down list. Switch from

the current “Entry” table to “Schedule” table.

3. Now, you will see a few new columns. We will go over

them one by one to understand their significance.

52
  Late Start and Late Finish: These are the latest
dates you can start or finish each task without
affecting the project completion. Because most of
our tasks are on critical path, their values are same
as the original early “Start” and early “Finish”. The
only exception is “Flight”: note it can start as late as
July 9, instead of July 2.

 Free Slack: The delay you can have on a certain

task without affecting its successor (i.e. the task
immediately after it). Again, we can see no task in
this project can be delayed other than “Flight”

 Total Slack: The delay you can have on a certain

task without affecting the whole project. Zero value
means any delay on the task will make the project
longer. Although “Flight” has 5 days for both Free
Slack and Total Slack, they have different
meanings.

Comments: Having too many tasks on critical path usually

means higher risks. In our case, the only task we can have
some leeway is just “Flight”. However, having Adam Ding as
the project manager controlling critical path himself means he
is personally responsible for completing this project on time.

53
Generate Cash Flow
1. Let’s evaluate how much money the project is expected to
spend every day if everything goes according to the
current schedule. Click “REPORT” tab on toolbar.

2. In “Export” group, find and click on “Visual Reports” button.

3. In the dialog box that follows, you need to do two things

 Pick “Cash Flow Report”

 Set “select level of usage data to include in the

report” to “Days”

54
4. Click “View” button to activate Microsoft Excel® Template.
It will take a few seconds.

55
5. When finished, this is what it will look like (You are now in
Microsoft Excel®).

56
6. In Microsoft Excel®, switch to “Task Usage” tab at the
bottom left of the screen

7. Now on the new sheet, under Quarter, click on the “+” sign
besides “Q3” to expand and reveal two weeks inside.

57
8. Under Week column, click on the “+” sign besides each
week to reveal days.

9. Please confirm your screen looks like this.

58
10. Now at the bottom left of your screen, switch back to
“Chart 1” tab.

11. You will certainly notice the difference!

12. Interpretation: This prediction of cash flow is based on

“Early Start” schedule we have, which means starting
every task as soon as possible.

 The vertical columns on the chart shows how much

money is expected to be spent for each day, while
the line diagram is the “cumulative value” for the
cost running total. We can see there’s quite high
expenditure on first day, no activity for the weekend
and the 2nd week is mostly even from day to day.

59
  If you compare the cash flow diagram with our
schedule, you will see there are a couple problems
here for Agent X’s flight:

o She’s flying to LA in the first week, which is

unnecessarily too early. She could delay the
flight for 5 days without even affecting the
project completion.

o In addition, her accommodation cost in LA to

wait for Adam Ding to arrive in the next week
is not accounted for.

 To reduce the risks to blow the budget for this

project, Agent X’s flight should have been
rescheduled to sometime in the 2nd week. However,
to keep the exercise simple, for now we will leave
the schedule as it is.

Let’s save a copy of what we did so far before proceeding to

the next chapter.

60
 Chapter 6: Project Executing

Executing Process Group refers to actually doing the project

work. The activities will be performed in accordance with the
project management plan.

In this process group, product deliverables are produced. It

also involves building and managing project team,
coordinating resources, managing stakeholder expectations,
and processing changes.

61
 A. Scenario Analysis

In our 8-day “CIA Box” project, let’s pick July 8, 2020 (A week
after the project was supposed to start) to review how much
work has been done so far.

Here’s the project progress information as of July 8, 2020:

 Meeting with spy boss did happen as planned and was

complete.
 It actually took Adam 3 days (instead of 2 days as
planned) to finish his preparation for road trip.
 Today (July 8, 2020) Adam just arrived in Chicago,
which is about 20% of the whole trip
 Agent X flew to LA on yesterday (July 7, 2020)

To reflect the progress above, we will update our schedule in

Microsoft Project®

62
 B. Microsoft Project® Exercise:
Schedule Update

For this exercise, we will just use the Microsoft Project® file
from previous. In real life, you should always save a copy of
the project file before and after an update is performed (You
can do this by going to File Save As.) This is to prevent
mistakes being carried over from one update to another.

Set Baseline

1. Before we update the schedule, a baseline has to be set

so that a comparison between actual and planned
progresses is possible. Click “PROJECT” tab on toolbar
Find “Set Baseline” in “Schedule” group.

2. Click on it to reveal options Click on “Set Baseline”

63
3. In the next screen that follows, simply click OK.

4. Although you might feel nothing has happened, it is very

important to complete this step before going to the next.

64
Set Status Date

1. The second thing we always need to do is to put in a

“Status Date”, i.e. the date when the update is done to the
project. Click “PROJECT” tab on toolbar Find “Status
Date” in “Status” group  Click where it says “N/A”.

2. Our update is apparently done on July 8, 2020. In the

dialog that follows, type or select “7/8/20”

Change
or Select

3. Verify your status date has been changed. We will quickly

see why this step is so important for you to complete.

65
Update Task Progress—Using Shortcut

1. Click VIEW tab. Find Tables in Data group.

2. Click further on “Tables” to reveal the drop-down list.

Switch to “Entry” table to go back to your normal view.

3. To update progress, let’s start with the first task “Meet with
Spy Boss”. Ensure your cursor is on it.

66
4. The meeting went on as scheduled without any issue.
Click “TASK” tab on toolbar, and you will see a bunch of
percentage (%) numbers in “Schedule” group. Yes, the
task is complete by now. So click on 100%

5. You will notice a couple of changes as a result of this.

 A check mark appeared before this task to indicate

it’s all complete.

 There’s also a full-length progress bar drawn on the

task at the right side of screen, i.e. bar chart area

67
Update Task Progress—Using Actual Duration

1. Now move your cursor to the next task “Prepare for

Road Trip”

2. The road trip actually took 3 days to complete.

However, do NOT directly change the duration info! (2
days were only meant for “planned”) Instead, go to
TASK tab In the Schedule group, find the small
downward arrow to the right side of “Mark on Track”
button. Also, please do NOT click on ““Mark on Track”
button, either!

3. Click further on that small down arrow to bring up two

options. Pick “Update Tasks”

68
4. You will be presented with this window.

5. PLEASE READ: This is where most task updates are

done. You have three ways to do so:

a. Enter “% complete” info

b. Enter actual duration

c. Enter actual start and finish dates

However, keep in mind that for one task, you only need to
and should only complete one of the above three options!
If you decide to do more than one entry, the software will
automatically coordinate these changes and the final result
will not necessarily be what you want.

6. For this task, change actual duration to 3 days by

typing “3d” (or just 3 is fine)

69
7. Click OK. You will notice how this simple entry affects
the whole project schedule. Yes, by receiving your
actual duration info, the software automatically
considers this task is 100% complete! (Note the
duration now reflects “actual”)

70
Update Task Progress—Using % Complete
1. Move your cursor to the next task “Drive to LA”

2. The task progress is 20% (Adam just reached

Chicago). You cannot use % shortcut button this time,
but if you want to, you can still follow the same
procedure as above to bring up the “Update Tasks”
dialog and enter 20 for “% Complete”.

3. However, let’s do this in a different way to learn some new

features. Click on “VIEW” tab on toolbar Find “Details” in
“Split View” group.

71
4. Check the box besides “Details”

5. You will see a screen pops up at the bottom half of the

screen. Ensure the current task is “Drive to LA” and
check the “% Complete” info on the right side.

72
6. If “% Complete” for this task is still 0, then change it to
“20%” by simply typing 20. Click OK.

7. Now uncheck the box besides “Details” to dismiss the

task form.

8. Note in addition to “% complete”, the task form tool can

also be used to enter other information such as
predecessor and resource etc.

73
Update Task Progress—Using Actual Dates

1. Now move cursor to the next task “Partner Flies to LA”

2. Go to TASK tab In the Schedule group, find the small

downward arrow next to “Mark on Track” button.

3. Click on that small down arrow. Then pick “Update

Tasks” option.

74
 4. You will be presented with this familiar window.

5. Under “Actual”, type “7/7/20” (or pick from the calendar

tool) for both “Start” and “Finish” fields. Do NOT do
anything else. Click OK.

Let’s save our work to be ready for the next chapter.

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 Chapter 7: Project Monitoring and
Controlling

Monitoring and Controlling Process Group refers to what is

done to track the project progress and initiate any changes if
necessary.

The key process is to measure project performance against

the project management plan and baseline metrics to
determine variances. This continuous monitoring provides an
insight into the health of the project and identifies any
problems requiring additional attention. Corrective or
preventive actions are recommended to bring the project back
on track.

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 A. Scenario Analysis

In our 8-day “CIA Box” project, we updated the schedule on

July 8, 2020 to reflect project progress. Here’s the summary
of what we did last time:

Activities Progress
Meet with Spy Boss Complete as scheduled
Prepare for Road Trip Took 1 extra day to complete
Drive to LA 20% Complete
Partner flies to LA Complete (finished early)

Yet how do we measure this against the original baseline?

Are there any variances?

For example, the following are examples of common

problems for a task progress:

 Its progress might be behind the schedule (i.e. lagging

behind) or

 Its cost might be over budget (i.e. spending too much)

or

 A combination of both

In case we do have a variance, would any corrective actions

be required?

There is an important technique called “Earned Value

Analysis” (EVA) to help you understand these concepts. We
will see how that works in Microsoft Project®.

77
 B. Microsoft Project® Exercise:
Earned-Value

Everything we do in this exercise will just be based on the

update from last chapter. To keep it simple, we are not even
putting any new progress information this time.

Review Work Progress

1. Let’s first review the big-picture. With the current

progress, now the project is estimated to take 9 days to
complete, instead of 8 days originally.

2. Now let’s also evaluate the progress on the task level.

Click “VIEW” tab on toolbar Find “Tables” in “Data”
group

78
3. Click on “Tables” to reveal the drop-down list. Switch
from the current “Entry” view to “Variance”.

79
4. Progress for Each Task

Note in the above table, the first two columns (“Start”

and “Finish”) are actual progress dates. They are
compared with the planned “Baseline Start” and
“Baseline Finish” values to determine the variances.

 “Meet with Spy Boss” was started and

completed on schedule. Zero value for both
“Start Variance” and “Finish Variance”.

 “Prepare for Road Trip” has a “Finish Variance”

of 1 day because it took 3 days to complete vs.
2 days planned.

 “Drive to LA” has a “Start Variance” and “Finish

Variance” of 1 day each because the delay of its
predecessor (i.e. the task before it)

 “Partner flies to LA” has a “Start Variance” and

“Finish Variance” of 3 days each because it
could have started as early as July 2, although
flying on July 7 will not affect project completion.
It should also be noted that this task was not
critical and initially even had 5 days of slack to
spare.

 The last two tasks are also expected to have

“Variance”, although they haven’t started. This is
because they are on critical path.

80
Review Cost Expenditure

1. Click on “Tables” to reveal the drop-down list again.

Switch from the current “Variance” view to “Cost”.

2. You will see a table listing different types of costs.

81
3. Interpretation for Each Column

 The only “Fixed Cost” was the $400 flight ticket

for Agent X, which already occurred.

 “Total Cost” reflects the current total cost for

each task. Although we don’t have actual cost
information, by default Microsoft Project® will
recalculate “Total Cost” based on required
resources, resource pay rates and task actual
duration from progress.

 “Baseline” reflects the initial budget we started

with for each task. Remember we did set a
baseline before updating the schedule?

 “Variance” is the difference of “Total Cost” and

“Baseline”. “Prepare for Road Trip” has a $120
Variance, because it took 3 days to complete vs.
2 days planned (remember each day it will cost
resources!)

 “Actual” is the actual cost expenditure on the

task at this moment, whether it is complete or
not. “Drive to LA” was 20% complete. Unless
there was actual cost reported, it is assumed to
be 20% of “Baseline” cost (20% x $2440= $488).

 “Remaining” is the money needed to finish the

task, which usually is the difference between
“Total Cost” and “Actual”. For example, the
remaining cost for “Drive to LA” is $2440- $488
=$1952 based on the progress, while the
remaining cost for “Meet in Hollywood” is $616,
because no progress or expenditure was
reported.

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Review Earned-Value Information

1. It’s time to review both the work progress and the cost
expenditure all together. Click on “Tables” to reveal the
drop-down list again. This time, go to the very bottom
of this list and pick “More Tables”.

2. Pick “Earned Value” from the list. Then click “Apply”

83
3. You will see a table with many acronyms. Because all
columns are very important, we will take a few minutes
to explain them one by one.

84
4. Explanations for First 3 columns

a. Planned Value (PV): Essentially it means: As of

today (July 8, status date for our update), what
is the “ESTIMATED” value for the work
“PLANNED to be done”? For example, of
course “Meet with Spy Boss” was planned to be
finished long before July 8, so for its 100%
completion, the budget value was $1816

b. Earned Value (EV): Essentially it means: As of

today (July 8, status date for our update), what
is the “ESTIMATED” value for the work
“ACTUALLY done”? For example, “Drive to LA”
was 20% complete. Thus for this progress, the
allocated budget value would be 20% x $2440=
$488)

85
 c. Actual Cost (AC): Essentially it means: As of
today (July 8, status date for our update), what
is the “ACTUAL” cost for the work “ACTUALLY
done”? This one is much easier to understand.
For example, “Prepare for Road Trip” was done.
But it took 3 days. So its Actual Cost is $360,
although its Earned Value was only $240.

Here’s PV, EV and AC in one chart.

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5. Explanations for Next 2 columns

a. Schedule Variance (SV): The difference of

Earned Value and Planned Value. Formula is:
SV = EV- PV. We can see “Drive to LA” has a
negative SV value, which means it’s behind
schedule.

b. Cost Variance (CV): The difference of Earned

Value and Actual Cost. Formula is: CV = EV-
AC. We can see “Prepare for Road Trip” has a
negative CV value, which means it’s over
budget.

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6. Explanations for Last 3 columns

For simplicity, we will focus on the project level (i.e.

summary task) for these three.

a. EAC (Estimate at Completion): the predicted

cost the project will finish at, based on the
current trend of both work progress and cost
expenditure. Our project is now estimated to
finish at $5829.38. (If you want to know how to
calculate this, press “F1” on your keyboard and
search for EAC)

b. BAC (Budget at Completion): our original

budget value in our baseline schedule, i.e.
$5,608.

c. VAC (Variance at Completion): the difference

between initial budget and current prediction of
final project cost. The formula is

VAC = BAC-EAC

It seems like our project is going to have a cost

overrun (at least $221.38) unless something is
done.

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Display Project Overview Report

1. Let’s see how the project is progressing overall. Click

“REPORT” tab on toolbar Find “Dashboards” on
“View Reports” group.

2. Click on the small arrow below “Dashboards”. Pick

“Project Overview”

3. It seems the project is roughly about 58% complete.

89
Let’s save our work for the next chapter.

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 Chapter 8: Project Closing

Closing Process Group refers to what is done to formally

finish the project. The project manager should confirm the
work is done to the requirements and gain the final
acceptance of the product from customers. Lessons learned
are also recorded during project closing.

It should be pointed out for projects that are terminated early

or even cancelled, the proper closing process is still required
(i.e. “premature closure”).

91
 A. Scenario Analysis

In our “CIA Box” project, the first update was done on July 8,
2020. At that time, the project was running behind the
schedule and over budget.

Let’s say today is July 10th (The planned original project

completion date). So what has happened since the last
update? Here’s new progress information:

 Adam completed road trip today, by driving a bit faster

(note: speeding is not encouraged in real life!)

 As Agent X was already in LA, the team meeting also

happened today. But she also incurred $900 extra for
her accommodation here.

It seems at least the project is now complete! In this chapter,

we will use Microsoft Project® to close it properly, while
reviewing both cost and schedule performance information
against the original baseline.

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 B. Microsoft Project® Exercise: Closeout

Let’s finish the MS Project® file you have been working on.

Display Progress Line

1. First click “VIEW” tab on toolbar  In “Task Views”
group, click on “Gantt Chart” button to go back to your
normal view.

2. Let’s focus on the right side of the screen because the

bar chart is more visual. Still under “VIEW” tab In
“ZOOM” group, click on “Entire Project”

3. Your bar chart should look like this

93
4. In the bar chart area, right click your mousepick
“Progress Lines”

5. In the next dialog box that pops up, do both of the

following two changes:

94
 a. In the upper left area, under “Current progress
line”, check “Display” option

b. In the lower right area, under “Display progress

lines in relation to”, change option from “Actual
plan” to “Baseline plan”

6. Now you will see your screen looks like this:

95
 This is July 8th

7. Note the last project update was done on July 8th,

which is the starting point of the progress line at the
top. From the two zigzags, we can clearly see both
“Drive to LA” task and the entire project were behind
schedule (otherwise, the line would have been straight
through)

96
Set Closeout Date

1. Now with the new progress info, we are going to close

the project. Closeout essentially is another (last)
project update. Click “PROJECT” tab on toolbar In
“Status” group, find “Status Date”  Click on where it
says “7/8/20”.

4. In the dialog that follows, type or select “7/10/20”

5. Note the progress line changes with the new status date.

97
Complete Project Update

1. Move your cursor to “Drive to LA”.

2. Adam was scheduled to finish travel on July 10, and he

did make it on that day. So just click on “TASK” tab on
toolbar, click the “100%” button in “Schedule” group.

3. Visually, you can see “Drive to LA” task is complete.

98
4. Move your cursor to the other task “Meet in Hollywood”

5. For this one, you cannot use the same approach to

update it, because it was finished ahead of time
compared with the current bar chart. Let’s go to TASK
tab In Schedule group, find the small downward
arrow to the right side of “Mark on Track” button.

99
6. Click on the arrow to bring up “Update Tasks”

7. Type in or select the date of “7/10/20” for both “Start”

and “Finish” under “Actual” to reflect the meeting
happened on July 10, 2020

8. Now from the bar chart area, you can see most tasks
are complete.

100
Process Cost Changes
1. You also need to incorporate the extra expenditure for
Agent X’s stay in LA. Click “VIEW” tab on toolbar  In
“Data” Group, find “Tables”

2. Click on “Tables” to reveal the drop-down list and

switch to “Cost”.

3. You need to determine where to process the $900 for

Agent X. Let’s put it under “Meet in Hollywood”. Type
900 under column “Fixed Cost”.

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4. Remember “Variance” column reflects the difference
between “Total Cost” and “Baseline”. You will see there
are two tasks over budget: “Prepare for Road Trip” and
“Meet in Hollywood”.

5. For “Remaining” column, you only see zeros by now,

because almost all tasks are done and there’s no
additional cost expenditure expected.

102
Evaluating Project Performance

1. Let’s see if there’s anything else that needs to be done.

Click “Tables” again to reveal the drop-down list.
Switch it back to “Entry” table.

2. You need to show the last milestone task “Mission

Accomplished” as complete, i.e. there has to be a
check mark for this line.

3. Click “TASK” tab on toolbar In “Schedule” group,

simply click the “100%” button”
103
4. Now you will see everything has been truly done to the
100%!

5. To evaluate overall project performance, click

“REPORT” tab on toolbar In “View Reports” group,
find “Dashboards”

6. Click on the small arrow below “Dashboards”. Pick

“Cost Overview” option.
104
7. Your new window should show the following info.

8. In this window, there are two sections called “Cost

Status” (in both tabular and chart format), which shows
the actual cost expenditure for each task compared
with baseline budget.

105
9. To see the work completion, again switch to “REPORT”
tab on toolbarIn “View Reports” group, find
“Dashboards”  This time pick “Work Overview”.

10. Although the project was finished on time, you can see
the actual work time spent was 152 hours vs. 144
106
hours in baseline (because 1 extra day was spent on
road trip preparation)

Congratulations! You are now done with this project.

Wish you enjoyed the whole journey by going through
a number of MS Project exercises while reading
learning some PM basics at the same time.
107
 Appendix:
MS Project® “How-To” Cheat Sheets

The next few pages include some quick answers on how to do

certain things in Microsoft Project®, which you might find
handy (This book already covered most of the contents
anyway). They are organized in three sections

 Set up a schedule
 Load resources and costs
 Track work progress

108
 A. Schedule Set-Up

Software Skills

 Change from Manual Schedule to Auto Schedule

FILE OPTIONSSCHEDULESCHEDULING OPTIONS
FOR THIS PROJECT: SET “NEW TASKS CREATED” TO
“AUTO SCHEDULED”

 Set project start date/holidays

“PROJECT” TAB “PROPERTIES” GROUP PROJECT

INFO
TO SET SPECIAL HOLIDAYS, “PROJECT” RIBBON
“PROPERTIES” TAB CHANGE WORKING TIME

 Enter tasks or milestone

JUST TYPE. MILESTONE IS AN ACTIVITY WITH “0”
DURATION

 Enter task durations

TYPE D, W, MO FOR DAYS, WEEKS AND MONTHS (M
IS FOR MINUTES)

 Zoom to see the entire project

VIEW TAB “ZOOM” GROUP  ENTIRE PROJECT

 Adjust the time scale to more or less

VIEW TAB “ZOOM” GROUP TIMESCALE DROP
DOWN BOX
IF A MORE CUSTOMIZED OPTION IS DESIRED, PICK
“TIMESCALE” AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS DROP-DOWN
LIST

109
 Switch to Network Diagram view
VIEW TAB “TASK VIEWS” GROUP NETWORK
DIAGRAM

 Define relationship among activities

TYPE TASK ID IN “PREDECESSORS” COLUMN, OR
DRAG AND POINT IN NETWORK DIAGRAM VIEW

 Enter recurring tasks

SELECT THE FIRST TASK, GO TO TASK TAB
“INSERT” GROUP
CLICK THE SMALL ARROW BELOW “TASK” 
RECURRING TASKS

 Display the critical path

VIEW TAB “DATA” GROUP HIGHLIGHT SET TO
“CRITICAL”

OR GO TO VIEW TAB “TASK VIEWS” GROUP

CLICK THE SMALL ARROW NEAR “GANTT
CHART”PICK “TRACKING GANTT”

 Identify the project duration

GO TO PROJECT TAB  PROPERTIES
GROUPPROJECT INFORMATION  STATISTICS AT
THE BOTTOM

 Display Activity Descriptions on the Bar Chart

GO TO FORMAT TAB “BAR STYLES” GROUP 
CLICK THE SMALL ARROW NEAR “FORMAT” PICK
“BAR STYLES”
o IN THE TOP HALF OF THE DIALOG, PICK “TASK”
o AT THE BOTTOM HALF OF THE DIALOG,
SWITCH TO “ TEXT” TAB FOR “LEFT” PICK
“NAME”
o REPEAT THE SAME FOR “MILESTONE” TASKS
110
 B. Resource/Cost Loading

Software Skills

 Delete/insert/copy tasks
PUT THE CURSOR WHERE NEEDED, RIGHT CLICK AND
PICK OPTIONS

 Check task information

DOUBLE-CLICK ON A TASK

 Display free slack and total slack for each activity

VIEW TABDATA GROUP TABLES PICK SCHEDULE

 Enter a list of resources

VIEW TABRESOURCE VIEWS GROUP RESOURCE
SHEET

 Enter resource types (“work” vs. “material”)

IN “RESOURCE SHEET”: LABOR, EQUIPMENT AND
VENDORS USUALLY ARE ENTERED AS “WORK”.
MATERIAL IS “MATERIAL”
MATERIAL MEASUREMENT UNIT IS ENTERED UNDER
“MATERIAL LABEL”
NUMBER OF OF LABOR/UNIT IS ENTERED IN “MAX”
COLUMN AS %. (FIVE PEOPLE ARE ENTERED AS
500%). HALF TIME IS 50%

 Enter pay rates for resources

“STD RATE” CAN BE USED FOR EITHER LABOR
HOURLY RATE OR MATERIAL UNIT PRICE. “OVT RATE”
IS FOR LABOR OVERTIME RATE.
FOR VENDORS: ENTER THEM AS RESOURCES, BUT
NO PAY RATE

111
 Evaluate resource availability and change if necessary
DOUBLE CLICK ON A RESOURCE AND CHANGE
AVAILABLE TIME

 Assign resources to the tasks in the schedule

DOUBLE CLICK ON A TASK, THEN CLICK RESOURCE
TAB. NOTE “UNITS” CAN BE USED TO SPECIFY THE
NUMBER OF RESOURCES

 Cost-load the schedule through resources assignment

o FOR LABOR, MATERIAL AND EQUIPMENT, COST
LOADING IS AUTOMATICALLY DONE THROUGH
RESOURCE ASSIGNMENT.
o FOR VENDORS: ASSIGN THE RESOURCE TO
TASK FIRST, THEN ADD ANOTHER COLUMN
“FIXED COST” TO ENTER $$$

 Evaluate resource assignment to see any conflicts

o VIEW TAB “RESOURCE VIEWS”
GROUPCLICK THE SMALL ARROW NEXT TO
“OTHER VIEWS”CLICK “RESOURCE GRAPH”
TO SEE THE ALLOCATION OF EACH RESOURCE
o VIEW TAB “RESOURCE VIEWS” GROUP
CLICK “RESOURCE USAGE” TO SEE THE
RESOURCE ALLOCATION TO EACH TASK
o
 Resource leveling to resolve conflicts (if any)
RESOURCE “LEVEL” GROUP “LEVEL RESOURCE”

 Identify the total costs loaded in the project

DISPLAY ANOTHER COLUMN “COST” FOR EACH
TASK. THIS MEANS L+ M+ E+ S. YOU WILL SEE IT
MORE CLEARLY IF YOU HAVE “FIXED COST” ALONG
WITH IT, SIDE BY SIDE.

112
 C. Progress Tracking

Software Skills

 Copy a previous schedule as back-up

FILE SAVE AS. ENSURE YOU HAVE APPRORIATE FILE
NAME & DATE

 Save a baseline schedule

PROJECT TAB “SCHEDULE” GROUPSET BASELINE

 Set Project Status Date

PROJECT TAB “STATUS” GROUPSTATUS DATE.

 Update task progress in the schedule

TASK TAB “SCHEDULE” GROUP CLICK THE SMALL
ARROW NEAR “MARK ON TRACK”PICK “UPDATE
TASKS”
IN THE NEXT WINDOW, YOU HAVE 3 OPTIONS
1. ENTER ACTUAL START/FINISH
2. ENTER % COMPLETE
3. ENTER ACTUAL DURATION
REMEMBER PLS ONLY DO ONE OF THREE OPTIONS!

 Show progress lines on Gantt Chart

RIGHT CLICK ON BAR CHART AREA PICK
“PROGRESS LINES”
IN THE NEXT WINDOW
o UPPER LEFT CORNER:CHECK “DISPLAY” UNDER
“CURRENT PROGRESS LINE”
o LOWER RIGHT CORNER: PICK “BASELINE PLAN”
UNDER “DISPLAY PROGRESS LINES IN
RELATION TO”

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 Track cost expenditure
VIEW TAB “DATA” GROUPTABLES  COST
REVIEW EACH COLUMN AND ENTER ACTUAL COST IF
NECESSARY, NOTE THIS TABLE IS INTERACTIVE.

 Basic Schedule Report in Calendar Format

VIEW TAB “TASK VIEWS” GROUPCALENDAR

 Project Report for Work Progress and Cost

Expenditure etc
“REPORTS” TAB “VIEW REPORTS” GROUP  PICK
WHAT YOU WANT
o “DASHBOARDS”: OVERVIEW FOR PROJECT,
WORK AND COST
o “RESOURCES”: OVERVIEW FOR RESOURCES
AND CONFLICTS
o “COSTS”: CASH FLOW, COST OVERRUN AND
EARNED VALUE
o “IN PROGRESS”: CRITICAL, LATE AND
MILESTONE TASKS

114
 About the Author

Adam Ding, MSc, PQS, GSC, PMP, CC, LEED AP (BD+C), is a

construction professional with extensive experience in
managing hundreds of commercial, institutional, residential,
and sustainable infrastructure projects. He holds a Master's
degree in Building Construction from Auburn University, a
Project Management Professional Certificate from Project
Management Institute, a LEED Accredited Professional
Certificate in Building Design and Construction from Green
Building Certification Institute, a Professional Quantity
Surveying diploma from Canadian Institute of Quantity
Surveyors, and a Gold Seal Certificate from Canadian
Construction Association. Adam has had a successful career
in construction industry, working at all stages of project
development cycle from planning, design management,
estimating, project coordination to operation and
maintenance. He is the author of many popular books,
covering project management, cost estimating, information
technology, and green/sustainability issues (available from:
www.amazon.com/author/adamding). If you have any
questions, Adam can be directly reached via email:
adamding76@yahoo.com

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