Earliest of multiple tasks successor

Question
The question below is from Dan who has the following scenario:
I have three programming tasks with three successor testing tasks as described below:
P1 > T1
P2 > T2
P3 > T3
I want to have one task to define the test environment that starts 14 days before THE FIRST programming task is completed.

Project Options You Want to Know About

When I teach a Microsoft Project or Project Server class, it’s often the Project Options that gather audience interest early on.  Most of the Options below relate to simple user interface conveniences, but they can really improve usability to otherwise generic out-of-the-box configurations.

Please note this article focuses on Microsoft Project 2010 and will provide Microsoft Project 2010 solutions, but most of them are also available in Microsoft Project 2007.  Options unique to 2010 will be noted.

My first tip is for setting default options:  Close all open projects including Project 1 before going into the Options menu. 

Making the Project 2010 Ribbon Work For You

If you have made the move to Microsoft Project 2010, congratulations! In my opinion, the 2010 version of Project is truly the biggest change since the initial Windows product back in the early 1990s.

For long-time Project users, the first step into the 2010 version is mastering the new ribbon user interface. That can be a huge adjustment, but the key to making life easy and saving keystrokes is embedded in this ribbon and in the Quick Access toolbar.

MPUG Community Leader Awards winner for 2nd time

For the second Microsoft Project Conference in a row, Larry Christofaro has won a Community Leader award for his contributions to Microsoft Project Server.  This award focused on his dedication to helping other users through presentations and his contributions to the MPUG discussion forums.  Click below to see the complete list of winners:

Microsoft Community Leader Awards

Managing Schedule Contingency

Overview

At many of the training sessions I’ve taught, I’ve received a lot of questions about how to handle contingency. This is a great topic to share. Let’s start with a short explanation of the different types of contingency. Sources may differ but they tend to define two general types of contingency:

• Contingency Reserve: The cost or timeline that is allocated above the estimate to reduce the risk of potential overruns.
• Management Reserve: The cost or timeline that is allocated above the agreed upon project cost (including reserve) to account for situations that cannot be predicted.

The Best Advice I've Ever Gotten

I was managing a very stressful project that required a development discipline a bit higher than the team was used to…but necessary none the less. I tried listening to them and working with them but my graces were running a thin. I sat down with my then manager to get some advice on how I could handle the situation and he simply said “go with your gut”.

Replacing Generic with Named Resources

Using generic resources during the project planning process is a good practice most of the time. The use of generic resources enables a project to be planned and built prior to your knowing the specific individuals that will eventually be assigned to the work. But what happens when your real project team is finally known? Replacing a generic resource with a single, named resource is usually simple. But what about having to replace one generic resource with multiple named resources? Or having to replace multiple generic roles with a single named resource? This article provides some best practices on how to accomplish the replacement of resources with ease.

Simple Steps to Create New Views

Have you ever created a new view, customize it the way you want, only to find out that other similar views are also changed? Do you want a certain format to copy for your status report and currently have to recreate it every time? Views are one of the core features of Microsoft Project, but creating a view from scratch can be tricky. This article provides an easy way to create and manage your own custom views.

MPUG Community Leaders Recognized

Microsoft recognizes community leaders from around the globe at the Project Conference last week.  One of our very own, Larry Christofaro, won not one but two awards for his contributions to the Microsoft Project User Group (MPUG).

• MCLA Leader Award
• MCLA Outreach Award

Click below for further details and a video of the event:
Community Leader Awards and Video

Congratulations Larry...

Creating Custom Project Toolbars is 4 Steps

Creating a custom toolbar in Microsoft Project 2007 is a great way to put all of your most frequently-used functions in one spot. As an example, Figure 1 shows a toolbar with functions that a project manager may use if he or she is updating a project plan using percent complete in a Project Server environment.