Multi-Phase Project Schedules
Creating Project Schedule Presentations Summarized by Phase
Many complex projects are broken into smaller phases, which make it easier to track tasks, deliverables, and costs. The Microsoft Project documents that outline these projects are often lengthy and complex, making it difficult to summarize each project phase at an executive level.
This article describes how to use OnePager Pro to create a multi-phase project schedule summary, using the project plan you have already created in Microsoft Project. OnePager Pro is a Microsoft Project addin that creates dynamic project summaries and Gantt charts. Don't have OnePager Pro yet? You can download a 15-day free trial to see how it works.
- Start with your Microsoft Project plan. In this example, we'll use a simple project plan with three major phases, and several tasks in each phase:
- Next, we'll create a template that you can use for this project and other projects in the future. Locate the Profiles... button next to the OnePager Pro button in Microsoft Project. For Project 2007 and earlier, the Profiles... button will be on your top toolbar. In Project 2010, you'll find it on your Add-Ins tab:
- Go to the Swimlanes & Colors tab. This is where you will define how the tasks in your project plan are automatically grouped, sorted, and color-coded.
In the Swimlane assignments section, deselect the Order swimlanes the same as Microsoft Project box. Choose "Ancestor Task" from the dropdown, and specify an outline level of "1". This means that your swimlanes will be based on the phase name at the first outline level of your Microsoft Project plan.
Finally, select "Resource Names" as your color column. This will automatically color-code each task based on the resources assigned. Click Save and Use to continue. In this example, the profile is named "Multi-Phased Project Profile".
- Now you're ready to create your multi-phase project chart. Click the OnePager Pro button, and a menu will appear. We'll want to use the profile that we just created, so click on the Profile Choice menu and select the "Multi-Phased Project Profile" profile by name.
Next, give your project view a name that will be easy to remember. In this example, we'll use "Sample Multi-Phased Project".
OnePager Pro allows you to filter a subset of tasks so that you can summarize your project without giving too much detail. In this example, we used the Flag 20 column to place a "Yes" next to tasks that we want to present. As a result, we'll choose the second option in the Task Selection section and specify "Flag 20".
Specify a snapshot (status) date. Later on, you can refresh your project view with a different snapshot date, and retain historical copies of your project at different points in time.
Click the Create new project view button to import your Microsoft Project plan into OnePager Pro:
- Out of the box, you'll get a multi-phased project view that is color-coded by resource names. You can export this project plan to PowerPoint, SharePoint or e-mail to share with others:
- Everything in OnePager Pro is fully-customizable. For example, what if you wanted to visually separate each phase into a different section of the chart? This can be done with curtains. Start by adding a little space at the top of the chart, which you can do by right-clicking on one of the swimlane titles and choosing the Add Swimlane Above menu option:
- Now, go to Insert->Curtain... to insert the curtain for Phase I. Name the curtain "Phase I", specify the dates for the beginning and ending, and format the text as shown below:
- Repeat the previous step for Phase II and Phase III so that you have created three back-to-back curtains in different colors like this:
It's that easy! Once you try OnePager, you'll see how much flexibility it gives to you easily design your own project schedules, while remaining consistent with your underlying Microsoft Project data.
Get started today by downloading a free trial or attending one of our demonstration webinars.
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