How to Work Through Every Step
Durations, schedule tables, critical path highlighting, baselines, actual finish entries, tracking Gantt charts, and variance tables. This assignment builds everything from Chapter 5 on top of the task list you built in Assignment 1. Here’s how to approach each piece — what it’s testing, what to watch for, and where students lose points.
Assignment 2 picks up exactly where Assignment 1 left off. You already have a task list with predecessors and resources. Now the assignment asks you to add time to it — and then use Microsoft Project’s tools to analyze, compress, baseline, and track that schedule. Each section tests a distinct skill. Get clear on what each step is actually measuring before you click anything.
What This Guide Covers
Before You Open the File
Two things to sort out before you touch anything. First, re-save your Assignment 1 file as “Consumer Market Study – 2.” If Assignment 1 has errors, use the provided start file — do not try to fix Assignment 1 on the fly inside Assignment 2; it compounds problems. Second, read what the assignment is actually asking. It’s not a series of isolated steps — it’s a simulation of a real project lifecycle, and each step depends on the previous one being correct.
Two Separate Files, Two Different Purposes
The assignment tells you to save two versions. “Consumer Market Study – 2” is the clean version you keep as a checkpoint — the one you’ll use as a start file for Assignment 3. “Consumer Market Study with Actual Finish Entries” is where you enter Susan’s actual durations, add Steve’s new task, and produce the tracking views. Don’t mix them up. Save the clean version first, then use Save As to create the second version before you start entering actuals.
Why this matters: If you overwrite your clean file with actuals, you lose the baseline reference for Assignment 3. The instructions highlight this in yellow for a reason. Save early, save often, save under the right name.Entering Durations: What the Assignment Is Testing
This is the first substantive step and it’s simpler than it looks — as long as you understand two things: which rows to type into, and what Auto Schedule does.
Type Into the Non-Bolded Rows Only
In Gantt Chart View, the Duration column is where you enter values. Only enter durations for the individual tasks — the non-bolded rows. Summary tasks (bolded, like “Design,” “Responses,” “Software,” “Report”) calculate their own durations by rolling up from the tasks below them. If you type directly into a summary row, you’ll get an error or wrong values.
Duration shorthand: d = days (default), w = weeks, h = hours, m = minutes, mon = months. Just typing “10” gives you 10 days. Typing “2w” gives you 14 days.Verify Auto Schedule Is On for Every Task
Check the Task Mode column. Every task should show the Auto Schedule icon (the small calendar icon with an arrow), not the Manually Schedule icon (the thumbtack). If any task is set to Manual, MS Project will not update its start and finish dates when you enter or change durations. Use the pull-down in the Task Mode column to switch any stragglers to Auto Schedule.
The assignment uses “Auto Schedule” from the Task ribbon as well as the individual task mode column — both need to be consistent. If you see tasks not updating when you change durations, Manual mode is almost always the cause.Check the Total Duration Before Proceeding
After all durations are entered, the top summary row (Consumer Market Study, row 0) should show 138 days. If it doesn’t match, at least one duration was entered incorrectly or into a summary row. Fix this before moving on — everything downstream (critical path, baseline, tracking) is built on this number.
Reading the Schedule Table
The Schedule Table is where MS Project shows you the numbers behind the Gantt chart — Early Start, Early Finish, Late Start, Late Finish, Free Slack, and Total Slack. These are the Chapter 5 metrics the assignment references.
View Ribbon → Tables → Schedule
In Gantt Chart View, go to the View ribbon. Click Tables in the Data group. Select Schedule from the menu. The columns shift to show ES, EF, LS, LF, Free Slack, and Total Slack for every task. You may need to drag column edges to see all the data — some cells truncate if the column is too narrow.
What the numbers mean in plain terms: Early Start and Early Finish are the soonest a task can start and finish given its predecessors. Late Start and Late Finish are the latest it can start or finish without delaying the project end date. Total Slack is the time a task can slip before it affects the project finish. Tasks with 0 Total Slack are on the critical path.Students sometimes think they need to compute ES/EF/LS/LF by hand and enter them. You don’t. MS Project calculates these the moment you enter durations and predecessors. The Schedule Table just exposes what the software already knows. Your job is to read and interpret the values, not populate them.
Finding and Highlighting the Critical Path
The critical path is the sequence of tasks that determines the project’s total duration. Any delay on a critical task delays the whole project. MS Project can show this visually and through a report.
Highlight Critical Tasks in Red on the Gantt Chart
Switch to the Gantt Chart Format ribbon (only visible when you’re in Gantt Chart View). In the Bar Styles group, check the box next to Critical Tasks. The critical path tasks turn red on the Gantt chart. This is a visual toggle — it doesn’t change any data, just the display color.
- Tasks highlighted in red = 0 Total Slack
- Tasks not highlighted = have some float/slack
- The red path traces from start to finish of the project
Run the Critical Tasks Report
On the Report ribbon, click In Progress in the View Reports group, then select Critical Tasks. This generates a formatted report listing every critical task with its start, finish, percent complete, remaining work, and assigned resource. The pie chart on the left shows the on-schedule vs. late breakdown.
- Use this report to verify which tasks you need to shorten
- The report is also what the assignment references in Figure 6
- Only tasks on the critical path appear here — non-critical tasks with slack are excluded
Reducing the Project Duration
The project runs 138 days. The target is 130 days. The assignment decides that the Mail Questionnaire & Get Responses task gets cut from 65 to 55 days. Here’s how to make that change and what to verify afterward.
Entry Table → Change Task 11 Duration from 65d to 55d
Go back to the Entry Table (View ribbon → Tables → Entry). Find the Mail Questionnaire & Get Responses task. Click the Duration cell and type 55d. Press Enter. MS Project immediately recalculates the entire schedule — the Gantt chart updates, the network diagram updates, and the total project duration should drop to 128 days (shown in the row 0 summary).
Why 128, not 130? The task was cut by 10 days, so the project shortens by 10 days: 138 − 10 = 128. That’s within the 130-day requirement. The assignment is demonstrating that reducing one critical path task by enough can meet a deadline constraint — the core concept behind schedule compression (crashing).If you reduce a task that has slack, the project end date doesn’t change — the slack just increases. Mail Questionnaire & Get Responses is on the critical path (0 Total Slack), which is why reducing it actually moves the finish date. This is the practical point the assignment is testing: knowing which tasks to target when you need to compress a schedule.
Setting the Baseline
A baseline is a snapshot of the planned schedule at a point in time. Once you set it, MS Project keeps that snapshot stored alongside the live schedule, so you can compare what was planned versus what actually happened.
Project Ribbon → Set Baseline → Set Baseline → Entire Project → OK
Go to the Project ribbon. In the Schedule group, click Set Baseline, then click Set Baseline again in the submenu. In the dialog box, “Entire project” should be selected. Click OK. MS Project saves the current start/finish dates for every task as Baseline Start and Baseline Finish.
Save immediately after setting the baseline. Save this file as “Consumer Market Study – 2” — this is the Assignment 3 start file. Do not make any more changes to this version. Then use Save As to create “Consumer Market Study with Actual Finish Entries” for the rest of the work.Once the baseline is set, the Tracking Gantt (which you’ll use later) shows two bars per task: the blue bar for the current schedule and the gray bar for the baseline. The Variance Table shows Baseline Start, Baseline Finish, Actual Start, Actual Finish, and the difference between them. Without a baseline, those columns all read NA or 0 — you can’t track variance.
Entering Actual Finish Dates for Susan’s Tasks
This is the monitoring and control part of the assignment. The project was planned one way; Susan’s actual performance differed. You need to update three completed tasks and one task still in progress.
| Task | Planned Duration | Actual Duration | % Complete | What Changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identify Target Consumers | 3 days | 2 days | 100% | Finished a day early — positive variance |
| Develop Draft Questionnaire | 10 days | 9 days | 100% | Finished a day early |
| Pilot-Test Questionnaire | 20 days | 19 days | 100% | Finished a day early |
| Review Comments & Finalize Questionnaire | 5 days | 15 days | In progress (~1%) | Substantial revision needed — 10 extra days added |
Double-Click Each Task Name to Open Task Information
In Gantt Chart View, double-click the task name (or right-click and choose Information). The Task Information window opens. On the General tab, change the Duration field to the actual number and set Percent Complete to 100 for completed tasks. For Review Comments & Finalize Questionnaire, change the duration to 15 days. Click OK after each task.
What to look for after each change: The check marks in the Information Column (the leftmost column) indicate 100% completion for Identify Target Consumers, Develop Draft Questionnaire, and Pilot-Test Questionnaire. The total project duration will increase once you extend Review Comments & Finalize from 5 to 15 days — that’s expected. The Gantt chart adjusts automatically.Adding a New Task Mid-Project
Steve discovered on day 23 of the project that the mailing labels database was outdated and had to order a new one. This is an unplanned task that needs to be inserted into the schedule. The assignment walks through exactly how to do it, but here’s the logic behind each step.
Insert a New Row at Row 9 (Before Print Questionnaire)
Click on the row number where you want to insert. Go to the Task ribbon. In the Insert group, click Task. A blank row appears. This pushes all tasks below it down by one row number — MS Project automatically renumbers them and adjusts predecessor references.
Name It, Set Duration to 21 Days, Set Mode to Manually Schedule
Type “Order New Database for Labels” in the Task Name column. Enter 21d in Duration. This task is Manually Scheduled — not Auto Schedule — because its start date is fixed by when Steve discovered the problem (day 23 of the project), not by its predecessors alone.
Day 23 of the project starting January 12 = Wednesday, February 14, 2018. Enter this date in the Start field of the Task Information window. MS Project’s calendar counts only business days, so count 23 working days from January 12.Make This Task a Predecessor to Prepare Mailing Labels
Open the Task Information window for the Prepare Mailing Labels task. Go to the Predecessors tab. Add the row number for Order New Database for Labels as an additional predecessor. Now Prepare Mailing Labels can’t start until both the original predecessor (Print Questionnaire) and the new database task are complete.
Check your predecessor numbers. After inserting the new row, all task numbers below it shift by one. MS Project updates predecessors automatically, but verify that Prepare Mailing Labels now correctly lists both predecessor task numbers before moving on.Tracking Table, Tracking Gantt, and Variance Table
Three different views. Each one shows a different angle on planned vs. actual performance. You need to know how to switch between them and what each one is showing you.
Actual Start, Actual Finish, % Complete, Remaining Duration
View ribbon → Tables → Tracking. Shows Susan’s three completed tasks with actual start/finish dates. Remaining tasks show NA for actual dates since they haven’t started. This is where you see how much work is done and how much is left for each task.
Two Bars Per Task — Current vs. Baseline
Task ribbon → Gantt Chart drop-down → Tracking Gantt. Each task row shows an upper bar (current schedule) and a lower bar (baseline). When they align, you’re on track. When they diverge, you’ve slipped (or recovered). Susan’s completed tasks show their actual performance against the original plan.
Baseline vs. Actual Dates + Calculated Difference
View ribbon → Tables → Variance. Shows Baseline Start, Baseline Finish, Start, Finish, Start Variance, and Finish Variance for every task. Negative variance = finished early. Positive variance = behind plan. Susan’s tasks show negative variance (she finished tasks faster than planned, except the revision task).
If you forgot to set the baseline before entering actuals, the Baseline Start and Baseline Finish columns will show NA, and the variance columns will be empty or zero. Go back, set the baseline, then re-enter the actuals. This is the most common sequencing error in this assignment — the baseline has to come before the actual data entry.
Where Students Lose Points
Typing Durations Into Summary (Bolded) Rows
Summary tasks calculate automatically. Entering a duration directly into a bolded row can override the rollup formula and produce wrong totals. Only type into the individual task rows.
Enter Durations Only in Non-Bolded Task Rows
If the row is bolded, skip it. Watch the summary row totals update automatically as you fill in the individual tasks. Verify the row 0 total matches 138 days before proceeding.
Saving Actuals Into the “Clean” Baseline File
Entering Susan’s actual finish dates into the “Consumer Market Study – 2” file means the start file for Assignment 3 is now contaminated with actuals. The instructions are very clear: save a second file before entering any actuals.
Save Baseline File First, Then Save As Before Entering Actuals
Set baseline → save “Consumer Market Study – 2” → File → Save As → rename to “Consumer Market Study with Actual Finish Entries” → then enter actuals. Two files, two purposes. Submit the “with Actual Finish Entries” version.
Not Switching the New Task to Manually Scheduled
If Order New Database for Labels is set to Auto Schedule, MS Project will ignore the February 14 start date and reschedule it based on predecessors. The task needs Manual mode specifically because its start is time-driven (day 23), not predecessor-driven.
Set Task Mode to Manually Schedule Before Entering the Start Date
Change the Task Mode column to Manually Schedule first, then open Task Information and enter 2/14/2018 as the start date. In Manual mode, MS Project respects the date you enter regardless of predecessor logic.
Reducing a Non-Critical Task to Shorten the Project
Reducing Develop Software Test Data or any task with significant slack does nothing to the project finish date. Students who don’t identify the critical path correctly end up “crashing” the wrong task.
Check Total Slack = 0 Before Reducing Any Task
In the Schedule Table, confirm the task you’re about to reduce has 0 Total Slack. Mail Questionnaire & Get Responses has 0 slack — it’s on the critical path. That’s the task to shorten. Any task with slack is not your target.
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The whole assignment is a loop: plan → analyze → compress → baseline → track → compare. Each step exists to show you what real project managers actually do with scheduling software. The Gantt chart is not just a bar chart — it’s the visual output of a calculated schedule. The critical path is not a feature you turn on — it’s a mathematical result of the durations and dependencies you entered. The baseline is not a formality — it’s the reference point without which tracking means nothing.
Work through it in order. Verify totals at each step. Save the right file names. The students who lose points on this assignment almost always do so on one of three things: wrong file saved, baseline set too late, or the new task left in Auto Schedule mode.