Showing How Project Plans Change

Displaying changes to a project schedule

Graphical representations of project schedule changes are very important in any project manager's conversation. Using a picture of schedule changes can be the difference between successfully explaining and understanding the situation and not. OnePager Pro in conjunction with Microsoft Project provides an easy and convenient approach toward graphically showing how schedules change from period to period while maintaining a consistent look and feel that instills confidence in the presentation.

This article shows you how to create a set of Gantt charts that show how a project schedule changes over time. The methodology utilizes Chronicle Graphics’ OnePager Pro to create the charts for you. If you don’t already have OnePager Pro, you can download a 15-day free trial to see how it works.

In starting off, it is helpful to have processes in place for planning, baselining, and obtaining project status. When in place, these processes form the background for making quality schedule change presentations.

1. A typical Microsoft Project schedule file might look like the one below:
   
   



2. Now let’s make a OnePager Pro chart of this same project. This is done by clicking on the OnePager Pro button on the Microsoft Project tool bar or Add-ins tab, which brings up the OnePager Pro import wizard shown below:
   
   



3. Enter the project name, the flag field OnePager should use to filter data from Microsoft Project, and the snapshot/status date of the project. Clicking on the Create new project view button form will produce the following schedule summary:
   
   



4. Now suppose that we update our Microsoft Project schedule on 9/20/2010 with information such that the "Conduct Source Selection" task (line 17) doesn’t complete until 9/24/2010 instead of as scheduled on 9/3/2010. We can see that changes were made by Microsoft Project in the downstream tasks as follows:
   
   



5. Launch OnePager Pro a second time, and update your existing project view as shown below, specifying a revised snapshot/status date:
   
   



6. This creates an updated version of the project schedule, reflecting all of the changes:
   
   
   
   The changes have been highlighted for you. Notice that all of the tasks below the one you revised have slipped, but the baseline markers (shown in dark grey) have stayed put, helping you see exactly far behind schedule the project just became.



7. OnePager Pro makes it easy to show the changes in your project plan. There are a few different ways to show your changes:
   
   - Copy and paste the two different OnePager Pro project views, one from 8/15/2010 and the other from 9/20/2010, into adjoining PowerPoint slides for your presentation and switch between the two to show the differences.
   
   - Use OnePager Pro for the presentation and use the forward snapshot and backward snapshot controls on the OnePager Pro tool bar to move between different versions of your schedule:
   
   
   
   Using either method, your audience will be able to quickly see how the schedule changed between 8/15/2010 and 9/20/2010. Your discussion on the schedule will be clear and focused.

This article provided a method on how to use OnePager Pro within your established project management best practices to show schedule changes over time. OnePager Pro provides a consistent (from snapshot to snapshot) look and feel to your schedule charts that audiences will appreciate as they review the project from one reporting period to the next.

Using OnePager Pro will allow you to create dynamic, informative project presentations with the click of a button, and it eliminates the need to rebuild your presentation by hand every time your project schedule changes.

Get started today by downloading a free trial or attending one of our demonstration webinars.