Primavera ® P6 ™ Project Management Reference Manual Version 6.2.1 Copyright © 1999, 2009, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. The Programs (which include both the software and documentation) contain proprietary information; they are provided under a license agreement containing restrictions on use and disclosure and are also protected by copyright, patent, and other intellectual and industrial property laws. Reverse engineering, disassembly, or decompilation of the Programs, except to the extent required to obtain interoperability with other independently created software or as specified by law, is prohibited. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. If you find any problems in the documentation, please report them to us in writing. This document is not warranted to be error-free. Except as may be expressly permitted in your license agreement for these Programs, no part of these Programs may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose. If the Programs are delivered to the United States Government or anyone licensing or using the Programs on behalf of the United States Government, the following notice is applicable: U.S. GOVERNMENT RIGHTS Programs, software, databases, and related documentation and technical data delivered to U.S. Government customers are "commercial computer software" or "commercial technical data" pursuant to the applicable Federal Acquisition Regulation and agency-specific supplemental regulations. As such, use, duplication, disclosure, modification, and adaptation of the Programs, including documentation and technical data, shall be subject to the licensing restrictions set forth in the applicable Oracle license agreement, and, to the extent applicable, the additional rights set forth in FAR 52.227-19, Commercial Computer Software Restricted Rights (June 1987). Oracle USA, Inc., 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065. The Programs are not intended for use in any nuclear, aviation, mass transit, medical, or other inherently dangerous applications. It shall be the licensee's responsibility to take all appropriate fail-safe, backup, redundancy and other measures to ensure the safe use of such applications if the Programs are used for such purposes, and we disclaim liability for any damages caused by such use of the Programs. Oracle, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, and Siebel are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Programs may provide links to Web sites and access to content, products, and services from third parties. Oracle is not responsible for the availability of, or any content provided on, third-party Web sites. You bear all risks associated with the use of such content. If you choose to purchase any products or services from a third party, the relationship is directly between you and the third party. Oracle is not responsible for: (a) the quality of third-party products or services; or (b) fulfilling any of the terms of the agreement with the third party, including delivery of products or services and warranty obligations related to purchased products or services. Oracle is not responsible for any loss or damage of any sort that you may incur from dealing with any third party. To view the P6 Commercial Notices and Disclosures for Documentation, go to the \Documentation\<language>\Notices and Disclosures folder of the P6 physical media or download. iii Table of Contents Preface xi Primavera Products xii Using Documentation and Help xv Where to Get Support xviii Part 1: Overview and Configuration Understanding Project Management 21 Why Use Project Portfolio Management? 22 Your Role in the Organization 23 Project Management Process Overview 26 Planning, Controlling, and Managing Projects 28 Quick Tour 31 Getting Started 32 Selecting a Language 36 The Workspace 37 What Is a Layout? 40 Customizing Displays 42 Sample Layouts 44 Using Wizards 46 Setting User Preferences 49 Formatting Time Units 50 Formatting Dates 52 Setting View Currency and Symbols 53 Setting Mail Preferences 54 Implementing Wizards 55 Creating a Log of Tasks and Setting Startup, Group and Sort, and Column Options 56 Changing Your Password 58 Setting Profile and Spreadsheet Data Options 60 Setting Calculation Options for Resource and Role Assignments 62 Selecting Startup Filters 64 iv Table of Contents Primavera - Project Management Part 2: Structuring Projects Setting Up the Enterprise Project Structure 67 Enterprise Project Structure Overview 68 Setting Up the Enterprise Project Structure 75 Adding a New Project to the Enterprise Project Structure 77 Using Project Architect 79 Working with the Enterprise Project Structure 87 Defining Enterprise Project Structure Details 92 Setting Up the Organizational Breakdown Structure 103 The OBS 104 Viewing an OBS 107 Setting Up an OBS 109 Editing OBS Elements 112 Defining Resources and Roles 115 Resources Overview 116 Viewing and Adding Resources 117 Defining Resource Shifts 124 Defining and Assigning Resource Codes and Values 125 Setting Up Roles 128 Assigning Roles to Resources 133 Defining Custom Resource Curves 135 Reviewing Work Breakdown Structures 139 The WBS 140 Viewing a WBS 142 Grouping by WBS Path 144 Adding WBS Elements and Assigning Properties 145 Using WBS Milestones 149 Assigning WBS Category Values 151 Defining Earned Value Settings for Specific WBS Elements 152 Assigning Estimation Weights to WBS Elements 155 Defining Budgets 159 Top-Down Budgeting 160 Establishing Budgets 163 Establishing a Monthly Spending Plan 165 Tracking Budget Changes 167 Establishing Funding 169 Tracking and Analyzing Budgets 172 Establishing Project Codes 173 Defining and Assigning Project Codes 174 Grouping, Summarizing, and Filtering by Codes 179 Table of Contents v Primavera - Project Management Working with User-Defined Fields 183 Creating User-Defined Fields 184 Working with User-Defined Fields 186 Working with Indicators 188 Creating Calendars 191 Adding Calendars 192 Modifying Calendars 194 Part 3: Implementing the Schedule Establishing Activity Codes 201 Creating Activity Codes and Values 202 Grouping and Summarizing by Codes 207 Working with Activities 211 Activities Overview 212 Adding Activities 213 Defining General Activity Information 215 Defining Schedule Information 219 Establishing Relationships 223 Displaying Activity Details for Assignments 229 Assigning Resources and Roles 230 Assigning Resource Curves to Resource or Role Assignments 234 Manually Planning Future Period Assignments 235 Assigning Activity Codes and Adding Expenses 241 Viewing Activity Feedback and Posting Resource Notes 243 Assigning Work Products and Documents 245 Adding Steps 246 Creating and Assigning Activity Step Templates 248 Viewing Activity Summaries 251 Viewing Contract Manager Documents 252 Using Global Change 253 Working with Cost Accounts and Project Expenses 257 Cost Account and Expense Overview 258 Setting Up a Cost Account Structure 259 Adding Expenses and Entering Cost Information 263 Defining Expense Details 266 Analyzing Costs 268 Performing Top-Down Estimation 271 Performing Top-down Estimation 272 Applying Saved Top-Down Estimates To a Project 276 vi Table of Contents Primavera - Project Management Part 4: Updating and Managing the Schedule Managing Baselines 281 Creating and Maintaining Baselines 282 Assigning Baselines to Projects 286 Comparing Current and Baseline Schedules 288 Updating Baselines 290 Updating, Scheduling, and Leveling 295 The Update Process 296 Choosing a Method of Updating 298 Highlighting Activities for Updating 302 Updating Progress for Spotlighted Activities 304 Estimating Progress Automatically 306 Updating Using Timesheets 309 Updating Activities Manually 314 Interrupting Activity Progress 320 Applying Actuals 322 Storing Period Performance (Past Period Actuals) 324 Scheduling Projects 328 Leveling Resources 333 Recalculating Resource and Role Assignment Costs 337 Managing Resource Assignments 339 Summarizing Projects 341 Setting Summarization Options 342 Summarizing Project Data 343 Project Issues and Thresholds 351 Adding Issues 352 Assigning Tracking Layouts to Issues 356 Using the Issue Navigator 357 Adding Thresholds 358 Threshold Parameter Definitions 361 Monitoring Thresholds 365 Assigning Tracking Layouts to Thresholds 366 Managing Risks 367 Adding Risks 368 Calculating Exposure Values 370 Calculating a Risk’s Impact 371 Creating and Deleting Risk Types 372 Customizing Risk Layouts 373 Table of Contents vii Primavera - Project Management Maintaining a Project’s Document Library 375 Viewing a Document Library and Adding/Deleting Work Products and Documents 376 Specifying Document Location References 378 Assigning Work Products and Documents 379 Tracking Projects 381 Creating Tracking Layouts 382 Working with Tracking Layouts 385 Customizing Tracking Layouts 386 Grouping, Sorting, and Filtering Data in Tracking Layouts 388 Comparing Projects with Claim Digger 391 Claim Digger Overview 392 Comparing Projects/Baselines 393 Comparison Data 400 Creating and Using Reflections 407 Reflection Overview 408 Creating and Using Reflections 409 Reflection Guidelines 413 Checking Projects In and Out 415 Managing Remote Projects 416 Checking Out Projects 417 Checking In Projects 419 Part 5: Customizing Projects Working with Layouts 425 Layout Types 426 Creating, Opening, and Saving Layouts 432 Exporting and Importing Layouts 433 Copying and Pasting Resource Spreadsheet Data to Microsoft Excel 434 Grouping, Sorting, and Filtering Data 435 Grouping Data 436 Sorting Data 440 Filtering Data 441 Customizing Layouts 445 Modifying Columns 446 Adjusting the Timescale 449 Formatting Gantt Charts 452 Formatting Activity Network Layouts 460 Modifying Resource and Activity Usage Profile Settings 464 viii Table of Contents Primavera - Project Management Customizing Reports 473 Reports Overview 474 Opening Reports 475 Creating and Modifying Reports 476 Using the Report Editor 479 Adding Data Sources and Rows to Reports 483 Adding Text Cells to Reports 487 Sorting Report Data Sources 495 Customizing a Report with the Report Editor: an Example 496 Using Report Groups 506 Setting Up Batch Reports 507 Printing Layouts and Reports 509 Defining Page Settings 510 Previewing Layouts and Reports 514 Printing Layouts and Reports 515 Publishing Layouts and Reports in HTML Format 517 Publishing a Project On the Web 519 Project Web Site Overview 520 Publishing a Project Web Site 522 Customizing the Appearance of a Project Web Site 524 Publishing Activity and Tracking Layouts 525 Part 6: Importing and Exporting Data Linking the Project Management and Contract Manager Modules 529 Linking the Project Management Module to Contract Manager 530 Linking a Project Management Project to a Contract Manager Project 532 Importing Contract Manager Data to a Project Management Module Project 534 Transferring Data to Other Project Management Module Users 537 Exporting Projects 538 Exporting Roles or Resources 545 Importing Projects 547 Importing Roles or Resources 567 Transferring Methodology Data 573 Exporting Methodologies 574 Exporting Roles or Resources 576 Importing Methodologies 578 Importing Projects as Methodologies 583 Importing Roles or Resources 588 Table of Contents ix Primavera - Project Management Transferring Data Using Microsoft Project Files 593 Exporting Projects 594 Exporting Resources 602 Importing Projects from Microsoft Project 607 Importing Resources from Microsoft Project 618 Transferring Data Using Microsoft Excel Files 627 Exporting Project Data to Microsoft Excel 628 Updating Project Data in Microsoft Excel 635 Importing Projects from Microsoft Excel 638 Transferring Data Between P3 and the Project Management Module 643 Exporting Projects to P3 3.x 644 Importing P3 3.x Projects to the Project Management Module 653 Transferring Data to Primavera Contractor Users 681 Exporting Projects 682 Exporting Resources 685 Index 687 [...]... high-level project managers; they are responsible for multiple projects and use the Project Management and Methodology Management modules, along with P6 Web Access to: ■ Perform cross -project analysis ■ Manage projects to on-time and on-budget completion ■ Prioritize resources across projects ■ Plan projects before they are funded Primavera - Project Management Understanding Project Management 25 Project. .. Use Project Portfolio Management? Your Role in the Organization Project Management Process Overview Planning, Controlling, and Managing Projects Primavera software products are designed to support the project management needs of organizations that manage large numbers of projects at one time These integrated applications use project portfolio management (PPM) to support the management needs of project. .. support and training Primavera - Project Management Part Overview and Configuration In this part: Understanding Project Management Quick Tour Setting User Preferences 1 R ead this part to learn more about project portfolio management “Understanding Project Management discusses Primavera’s approach to managing projects It also defines the various organization-wide project management roles, explains how... Equipment ■ Information ■ Facilities ■ Roles Project portfolio management factors in all of these variables across multiple projects, enabling project managers and company executives to see an accurate picture of how each project s resource use affects other projects Primavera - Project Management Understanding Project Management 29 The process of project management is guided by three key principles:... propriety exchange format (XER) ■ exchange project data with other Primavera Project Management users using Primavera XML files ■ exchange project data with Microsoft Project or Microsoft Excel ■ exchange project data between the Project Management module and Primavera Project Planner (P3), Primavera Contractor, and Primavera Contract Manager users Project Management Help Provides an extensive online... grouped together, such as project templates or high-risk projects Within each root node, you can further break down an EPS into multiple EPS nodes, such as Capital Improvement projects and Manufacturing projects, to categorize the types of templates projects Primavera - Project Management Understanding Project Management 27 The WBS acts as a continuation of the EPS for the individual projects in the organization... Welcome dialog box to create a new project, open an existing project or the last open project, or open global data only Primavera - Project Management Quick Tour 33 Click to select a different portfolio Starts the Create a New Project wizard for adding a new project Displays the Open Project dialog box for selecting an existing project or EPS node to open Opens the last project you used Opens the module... controlling projects using the Project Management module Read the first chapter to become familiar with the process of PPM, then follow the steps in each successive chapter to build projects and project components, set up codes and documents, manage the resources required to complete the project plan, update projects as work gets underway, and report results throughout the project life cycle This manual. .. program /project managers to structure project, organizational breakdown structure (OBS), and resource hierarchies, set up basic calendars, and define organization-wide custom fields and codes in the Project Management module ■ Working with the project administrator to create user accounts and user groups for the Project Management module ■ Assigning security rights to users in the Project Management. .. ■ display specific information about project ■ produce reports that detail or summarize project information and answer key questions that arise as the project progresses ■ publish a project on the World Wide Web Part 6: Importing and Exporting Data Describes how to: ■ exchange project and methodology data with other Primavera Project Management and Methodology Management users using Primavera’s propriety . the Project Management and Contract Manager Modules 529 Linking the Project Management Module to Contract Manager 530 Linking a Project Management Project. Configuration Understanding Project Management 21 Why Use Project Portfolio Management? 22 Your Role in the Organization 23 Project Management Process Overview