microsoft project 2007

[GhostMjr]

So i am using microsoft project for the first time and I haven't a clue what I am doing.

Weirdly I was able to make a gantt chart that look something like a timeline and i think it looks pretty good. Problem is does it follow a logical structure?

Please could someone have a look and let me know whether it's correct and follows a logical pattern?

The gantt chart needs to show a logical structure for a communications campaign for a council.

The delivery methods are by letters, posters and leaflets all are running in parallel and need to all be complete so that they can all be delivered at the same time whilst door-knocking.

the campaign is fictitious and needs to run for 3 months in total.

Really appreciate your help!

File is a project 2003 document.

Thanks!

[DrunkenZombiee]

In all honesty I don't think anyone will be able to tell you if the structure is logical without having "expert knowledge" in your area.
In terms of what can be done in parallel with the resources you have and time allocation no one will have a clue but yourself and thats normally the hard part!

As long as the planning phase comes before delivery etc is about all I will be able to help you with.
What development methodologies are you working to?

Will give it a look tomorrow morning when I fire up the work lappy again.

[delanvital]

Enable crucial path and give that a thought

[Penfold]

lol - I was just thinking that he needed you on the case Delan - this is right up his street. We discussed management consultancy techniques when I gave him a lift from the LAN to the Airport a couple of years ago and I think he lost me somewhere about Ely!

BTW - If you're getting 'scored' for your campaign itself (and its accuracy) then I can certainly give you some help - you're timelines are seriously flawed in some places (i.e. given your timeline you'll seriously struggle to deliver the Above-the-line part of your campaign at the same time as a below-the-line part. The lead times are far more extended).

Looks good though!

[T-Bag]

I haven't done anything on critical paths or any of this sort of stuff since Decision Discrete maths in A-Levels. But The whole point of this sort of an analysis is to track down the best way of performing a task. This project appear to have one, entirely obvious solution. You don't have anything going on in the background, it seems to be phase 1 complete (ie the 3 things that were all being done at the same time all finished at the same time), onto phase 2 where 3 things will be performed concurrently.

The power of this approach is to break down jobs into sub jobs that link to one another. So if I wanted to send a parcel and to do that I needed to (in no particular order):
Drop the parcel into the post office
Pick up wrapping paper
Pick up a label which matches the colour scheme of the paper
Look up address online
Wrap Parcel
etc

You have things which rely on others (ie wrap the parcel depends on having the paper, and picking out the card relies on knowing what paper you have. Though they are both independent). And then you have others which only need to be done at some point before the end (look up the address). The critical path for this would likely be Pick up paper->Wrap Parcel->Drop into post office. The others can be shuffled around without affecting the time scale of the project, whereas if you wait a day to pick up the paper then everything is on hold and your parcel doesn't ship for an extra day. If everything is fixed in position, the project isn't flexible and is prone to a delay if any one component shifts as everything is part of the critical path. If this is the case can any of those jobs be subdivided? Once everything is in it's core components then resources can be more easily assigned. The letter, poster and leaflet mirror each other too closely for you to gain any insight with them being separate, and in fact you see nothing more than if they were a single item "PR items".
If this is imaginary couldn't posters take longer to produce and be printed than the letters/leaflets. That would make things more interesting, the letters and leaflets could float around a bit more.