Structuring Master Projects with Subprojects


Structuring Master Projects with Subprojects

With Microsoft Project, you can insert one project into another. Inserted projects look and act like summary tasks in any task view, with their subordinate tasks readily available. You can view and change all tasks within that inserted project. The task information is changed in the source project file as well, because the two projects are linked by default.

Although you might insert projects for a variety of reasons, the most effective use of this capability is to create a master project structure with subprojects inserted within that master project. This structure is most useful when you have a large project containing a number of subcomponents, especially if those subcomponents are managed by other project managers. If you're managing the overall project, your master project can give you the view you need into the planning and execution of all the subprojects.

Reviewing multiple projects' information in a master project structure is analogous to using the enterprise Portfolio Analyzer feature. If you're set up for enterprise project management using Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003 and Microsoft Office Project Server 2003, you can use the Portfolio Analyzer to see a high-level overview of multiple enterprise projects. With the Portfolio Analyzer, you can review schedule information, cost performance, and resource allocation, for example.

Cross-References  

For more information about the Portfolio Analyzer, see "Examining Projects Using Portfolio Analyzer".

Even if you're the sole project manager, you might find the master project-subprojects structure helpful for alternating between project details and the overall project picture.

Information in the master project and subprojects are interactively linked to each other. When project managers of the subprojects make changes, by default, you see those changes reflected in your master project. The reverse is true as well ”you can change subproject information in your master project, and those changes are updated in the source subproject .

Your master project can also contain regular tasks. Tasks and subprojects can be organized in relation to one another, and your inserted subprojects can be part of an outline structure and have dependencies, just like regular "native" tasks.

Note  

Instead of inserting and linking projects together, you might need to just link an individual task in one project to a task in another project.

Cross-References  

For information about linking tasks between projects, see "Linking Information Between Project Plans".

Setting Up a Master Project

When you want to set up a master project with subprojects, first decide where all the files are going to reside. If you're the sole user of the projects and subprojects, the files can all be stored on your own computer. If you're handling the master project, and other project managers are responsible for subprojects, you'll need to store the projects on a central file server or in a shared folder to which all the managers have access.

Inserting Projects into a Master Project

Creating a master project is simply a matter of inserting subordinate projects into what you're designating as the central controlling project; that is, the master project. To insert a subproject into a master project, follow these steps:

  1. Open the project that you want to become the master project.

  2. Display the Gantt Chart or other task sheet.

  3. Click the row below where you want to insert the project.

    You can insert the project at any level in an existing outline structure. The inserted project adopts the outline level of the task above the location where it's inserted.

  4. Click Insert, Project. The Insert Project dialog box appears (see Figure 14-1).

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    Figure 14-1: Use the Look In box and the Up One Level button in the Insert Project dialog box to find the location of the project you want to insert.

  5. Browse to the drive and folder in which the subproject is stored.

  6. Click the project file and then click the Insert button.

    The project is inserted and its filename appears as the summary task name in the selected row. The inserted project icon appears in the Indicators field (see Figure 14-2).

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    Figure 14-2: The inserted project looks like a summary task among your regular tasks.

  7. To see the tasks in the inserted project, click the plus sign next to the project name in the Task Name field.

    The subproject expands to show all tasks (see Figure 14-3). They look and behave exactly as if you created them in this project.

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    Figure 14-3: You can view and edit the tasks of an inserted project in the same way as those that were originally created in the master project.

    The summary task Gantt bar for the inserted project is formatted with a different color . On the other hand, the inserted project's Gantt bars for subordinate tasks are formatted exactly the same as native tasks.

    To hide the tasks in the inserted project, click the minus sign next to the project name.

  8. Repeat Steps 3 “6 for any other projects you want to insert into your master project (see Figure 14-4).

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    Figure 14-4: This master project contains four subprojects, each one containing the plan for a major project phase.

  9. Indent or outdent the inserted project as appropriate. Also link inserted projects or tasks to native tasks as needed to reflect task dependencies.

In the Network Diagram view, the summary task representing the subproject is formatted differently from other tasks and includes the path and name of the source project file (see Figure 14-5). The subproject tasks themselves look the same as regular tasks.

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Figure 14-5: In the Network Diagram view, the node representing the subproject summary task shows the name of the source project file as well as its start and finish dates.

In the Calendar view, the name of the subproject appears with the individual subproject tasks (see Figure 14-6). If you don't see the subproject name, drag the bottom edge of a calendar row to increase its height.

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Figure 14-6: The Calendar view displays the subproject name above the individual subproject tasks.

Breaking Up a Large Project into Subprojects

You might know during the preplanning stage of your project that you want your project set up as a master project with subprojects, which makes things easier. On the other hand, you might not know until you're in the middle of project execution that a master project is just the solution you need. You can still set it up without having to significantly rework your project files.

If you already have multiple project files that you want to bring together with a master project, it's pretty simple. Create a new project file, insert the projects, and you're all set.

If you have a single large project file and you want to break it up into more manageable subproject files, it's a little trickier, but still very doable. In this case, you need to do some reverse engineering. The overall process for doing this is as follows :

  1. Create a new project file for each new subproject you want to insert.

  2. In each new file, set the project start date (or project finish date if you're scheduling from the finish date) for the project.

  3. Set the project calendar to match the project calendar in the original file.

    Cross-References  

    For information about copying calendars and other project elements from one project file to another, see "Copying Project Elements Using the Organizer".

  4. Move tasks from the large project file into the subproject file using the Cut and Paste commands.

    Be sure to select all task information by selecting the row headers, not just the task names . When just the cell is selected, the command name is Copy Cell ; when the entire row is selected, the command name is Copy Task, which is what you want. Selecting and copying the entire task copies all necessary task information, including any actual progress information, to the new project file.

    Cross-References  

    For more information about moving project information, see "Copying and Moving Information Between Projects".

  5. After you have all your separate project files set up, as well as the proper project start and finish dates and calendars, you can insert those files as subprojects into your master project.

If you're set up for enterprise project management using Project Professional 2003 and Project Server 2003, only subprojects are published to the server unless the server has been explicitly set up to accept master projects. You create and maintain your master project on your local computer.

Cross-References  

For more information about importing and publishing projects to the enterprise server, see "Creating a New Enterprise Project".

Working with Subproject Information

You can edit any task, resource, or assignment in a subproject. By default, any change you make to subproject information is instantly made in the source project file. Likewise, any change made in the source project file updates the information in your master project because the subproject and source project are linked . This updating is convenient because you never have to worry about whether you're synchronized with the most current subproject information.

Troubleshooting: There are duplicate resource names in your master project
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Often, your master project contains a set of tasks and a set of resources assigned to those tasks. When you insert a project, the resources from that inserted project are added to your master project. Resource information appears in the resource views, and task information from the subproject appears in the task views just as if you had entered it in the master project originally. You can review and edit the information normally.

If you inserted a project that contains some of the same resources as your master project, you see their names listed twice in your resource sheets. One instance of the resource name is associated with the master project, and the other instance is associated with the subproject. If that resource is a part of other projects you insert, that name can appear additional times.

You can assign resources from a particular subproject to tasks only in that subproject. That is, you cannot assign resources from one subproject to tasks in a different subproject.

To see which resources are associated with which project, add the Project column to the Resource Sheet or Resource Usage view.

If you want to work with a single set of resources across all your projects, consider setting up a resource pool.

Cross-References  

For more information, see "Sharing Resources Using a Resource Pool" later in this chapter.

end example
 

Changing Subproject Information to Read-Only

In some cases, you might not want subproject information to be changed from the master project. Maybe you want to view it only in the master project ”which might be the case when you have several project managers in charge of their own subprojects ”and you need to see only the high-level view of all integrated project information. In this case, you can change a subproject to be read-only information in your master project, as follows:

  1. Display the Gantt Chart or other task view.

  2. Click the subproject summary task name.

  3. On the Standard toolbar, click Task Information.

  4. In the Inserted Project Information dialog box, click the Advanced tab (see Figure 14-7).

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    Figure 14-7: Use the Advanced tab in the Inserted Project Information dialog box to change a subproject to read-only or to remove the link to the subproject.

  5. Select the Read Only check box.

    Now, if you make changes to any subproject information and then try to save the master project, you'll see a message reminding you that the subproject is read-only.

Whether you make a subproject read-only or not, whenever you change subproject information in a master project and save the master project, you are given the choice to save the subproject information to the subproject file. You can always discard those changes.

Inside Out: Is the subproject read-only or isn't it?
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If you set your subproject as read-only in your master project, be aware of certain exceptions to read-only subproject enforcement.

If you work in the master project without opening the subproject file, everything behaves as expected: If you change subproject information in the master project, when you try to save the file, Microsoft Project reminds you that the subproject is read-only, and gives you the opportunity to save the subproject as a new file or discard the changes. You can still save changes to other tasks in the master project that are not read-only.

But suppose that you want to open both the master project file and subproject file. The enforcement of the read-only setting depends on which file you open first. If you open the subproject file first and then the master project file, you can make changes to subproject information in the master project, it's reflected in the subproject file, and you can save them.

To be sure that your read-only settings are enforced, therefore, open only your master project, or open the master project first and then the subproject file. In this case, not only can you not save subproject information changed from the master project, you can't save edits made directly in the subproject file.

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Work with subproject- related fields

You might find it helpful to add certain subproject-related fields to a task sheet or resource sheet. You can add the Project, Subproject File, and Subproject Read Only fields to a task sheet (see Figure 14-8). In addition, if you want to know which project a resource is associated with, add the Project field to the Resource Sheet.

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Figure 14-8: Add subproject-related fields to a table in the master project.

To add a field, click the column heading to the right of where you want the new field to be inserted. Click Insert, Column. In the Field Name list, click the field you want.

If you make a subproject read-only, and you add the Subproject Read Only column to a task sheet, you'll see that the subproject summary task is marked Yes, whereas the subtasks are marked No. However, they're all read-only.

You can also sort , group , or filter tasks or resources by these fields.

Cross-References  

For more information about the ways you can view project data, see "Rearranging Your Project Information".

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Viewing the Critical Path in a Master Project

By default, Microsoft Project calculates a single critical path across all your projects. If you prefer, you can change your settings to see the critical path for each subproject, as follows:

  1. In your master project, click Tools, Options and then click the Calculation tab.

  2. Clear the Inserted Projects Are Calculated Like Summary Tasks check box.

    This procedure results in a critical path being calculated for the master project independent of the subprojects. In addition, the critical path for each subproject is shown.

    You can easily see the critical path(s) in the Tracking Gantt chart.

    Tip  

    Review overall project information for an inserted project       You can review project information and statistics for a subproject in a master project. Double-click the subproject summary task. The Inserted Project Information dialog box appears. Click the Project Info button. The Project Information dialog box appears for the inserted project, showing the project start, finish, and status dates, as well as the name of the project calendar.

    To see overall project information for the inserted project ”including the project start, finish, and cost ”click the Statistics button in the Project Information dialog box.

Troubleshooting: You lose text and bar formatting when you insert projects
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The formatting of the master project is adopted by any inserted projects, so if you changed the styles for text, Gantt bars, or Network Diagram nodes in the subproject, you won't see those customizations in the master project. However, any formatting changes you made to the master project are adopted by subprojects being inserted. Also, any formatting changes are retained in the subproject file, even if the subproject and master project are linked.

end example
 

Unlinking a Subproject from Its Source File

You can keep a subproject in a master project but unlink the subproject from its source project file. When you unlink a subproject from its source project file, changes to the source file won't affect the subproject in the master project, and vice versa. To disconnect a subproject from its source, follow these steps:

  1. Display the Gantt Chart or other task view.

  2. Click the subproject summary task.

  3. On the Standard toolbar, click Task Information.

  4. In the Inserted Project Information dialog box, click the Advanced tab.

  5. Clear the Link To Project check box.

    The subproject is now disconnected from its source, and all the tasks are adopted as native to the master project. The inserted project icon is removed from the Indicators field. Although the project filename still appears in the summary task name field, it's now just a regular summary task ”not an inserted project (see Figure 14-9).

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    Figure 14-9: The tasks from the disconnected subproject remain in the project, but they no longer have a link to the source project file.

Removing a Subproject from the Master Project

You can completely delete a subproject from the master project and keep the subproject file intact. To remove a subproject from the master project:

  1. Display the Gantt Chart or other task view.

  2. Select the heading of the row containing the subproject summary task.

  3. Click Edit, Delete Task, or simply press the Delete key.

    A Planning Wizard message reminds you that you're about to delete a summary task along with all of its subtasks.

  4. Make sure that the Continue option is selected and then click OK.

    The subproject is removed from the master project. However, the source file for the subproject is still intact.




Microsoft Office Project 2003 Inside Out
Microsoft Office Project 2003 Inside Out
ISBN: 0735619581
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 268

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