Identifying Tasks and Times

After you identify the project activities and break them down into work packages, it’s time to determine the resources required for each package. This is the breakdown for Activity 7, Pretest Branch Employees:

7.1	Communicate the pretest requirements to employees
7.2	Post the pretest on the intranet
7.2.1	Create welcome page
7.2.2	Create the pretest results database
7.2.3	Post and test web pages
7.3	Follow up with employees
7.3.1	Check to see who has completed the test
7.3.2	E-mail reminders to employees who have not completed the test
7.3.3	E-mail supervisors with completion information
7.4	Evaluate the results
7.5	Communicate the results to XYZ Corporation

Subactivity 7.2 includes three work packages. According to the Train2K webmaster, Work Package 7.2.3 (Post and Test Web Pages) involves four separate tasks. The tasks and the webmaster’s estimates of the hours of work required for each task are shown in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2: Post and Test Web Pages

Task	Estimated Work Required
Apply templates, post, and test static pages	3 hours
Post pretest pages	2 hours
Test links to results database	2 hours
Create hyperlinks from home page	1 hour

Make sure that the estimates such as those shown in Table 2.2 are estimated work hours: the number of hours it will take one person to complete the task, rather than the number of hours it will take a crew of four to complete the task. As you’ll see in Chapters 7 and 8, there are a variety of ways to enter activity, work package, and task information in Project. You can use the Gantt Chart view shown in Figure 2.4, enter information in a task sheet, or use the Task Information dialog box shown in Figure 2.5.

Figure 2.5: Enter information about a task in the Task Information dialog box.

The exhaustive list of activities, subactivities, work packages, and tasks is the final definition of the project’s scope. After you’re convinced that the list is complete, move on to the remaining aspects of the project—costs, performance, and timeline.