Project Planning and Management 1.0 - User Guide and FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions - Project Planning and Management

1. Why can't I see all of the cell formulas?
   The worksheets are protected to ensure the robustness of operation. However, critical formulas are outlined in the embedded help prompts.
   
   
2. When I open the file, it asks me if I want to enable macros. What should I do?
   You need to click "Yes" to accept macros in order to run the tools.
   
   
3. When I open the file, it doesn't ask me if I want to enable macros. Therefore, the macros are disabled. What should I do?
   In this case you need to set your macro security settings to Medium. You can do this by opening a blank workbook and choosing Tools >> Options >> Security >> Macro Security, and selecting the Medium level. You should now be presented with the option to enable macros on opening the template file.
   
   
4. Why can't I see the VBA code?
   The VBA code has been protected to ensure the robustness of operation and for intellectual property purposes.
   
   
5. There are many project management software titles available. Why should I use this one?
   Many of the project management software titles available are very large and complex. This model is 'light', and while it may not have all of the features of a large software title, such as Microsoft Project, it does provide the core features necessary to successfully manage and monitor a project. Furthermore, since it is Excel based, it offers the ability to link data from it to other spreadsheets for financial analysis.
   
   
6. I am working on the project alone, but the model won't let me add tasks until I have entered some participant information. Is there any work around?
   Yes. By adding yourself as a participant, you can add tasks using yourself as the person responsible. You can also leave the hourly rate as zero so that the Earned Value Analysis can be based on hours, rather than task cost value.
   
   
7. I need to manage multiple projects at the same time. Can the template manage multiple projects, or do I need to create a separate workbook for each project?
   The project management template is designed to manage one project with multiple phases and corresponding tasks. Therefore the most comprehensive solution is to create a separate instance of the template for each project. However, since the template is Excel based, a separate 'master' workbook can be created to monitor each of the projects' dynamics by linking into each of the individual template's Status Report and other required information.
   
   Another more limited alternative is to use the predefined project phases and corresponding tasks to mimic separate projects. This is especially convenient if the same participants are working on more than one of the projects as the auto-timing function will allocate time resources for the participants accurately over the sub projects. This approach is limited, however, as each sub project will not be able to be split into phases and projects defined by early phases will be allocated time resources before those defined by later phases.
   
   
8. When I try to email participants, there is nothing the the body text of the emails. What should I do?
   The emailing functionality uses a Windows API call and 'sendkeys' statements to compile the emails so that it will work with a variety of emailing software. Because of this, the results may vary depending on your system and emailing software configuration. It has been tested to work with Outlook, Outlook Express, and Lotus Notes. The first thing to try is to close and reopen your emailing software and try to send the emails again. If this fails, you can create individual participant workbooks using the option presented in the same form and manually send them as attachments. This method also offers the ability to update your model with the remote workbooks created.