Capstone Project — Planning and Managing a Complete Project — From Calendar to Review
- Objective: plan and manage a real project of your choice (organizing an event, developing a product, worksite) by applying each level — from initial setup to reporting and review.
- Materials: the Microsoft Project aide-memoire below (key concepts, shortcuts and best practices) to keep at hand.
- Method: one stage per level. Build a healthy schedule (linked tasks, automatic mode), run it and manage it by variance to plan.
⬇️ Download the Microsoft Project aide-memoire (TXT)
Stage 0 · Level 0 — Setting Up (L0)
Create the project: start date, calendar (working days, holidays), scheduling options. Get familiar with the Gantt and views.
Stage 1 · Level 1 — Building the Schedule (L1)
Enter tasks and durations, structure in phases (WBS), place milestones, link tasks with dependencies (FS…) and format the Gantt (visible critical path).
Stage 2 · Level 2 — Resources & Costs (L2)
Create resources (work, material, cost) with their rates, assign them to tasks (units), set task types and check the computed budget.
Stage 3 · Level 3 — Optimizing & Starting Tracking (L3)
Analyze the critical path and float, resolve overallocations (audit/level), then save the baseline before starting.
Stage 4 · Level 4 — Managing (L3-L4)
Update progress (% complete / actual work), compare with actuals, reschedule surprises, and exploit earned value (CPI/SPI) and custom indicators.
Stage 5 · Level 5 — Communicating & Capitalizing (L4-L5)
Produce reports and Timeline for management, export to PDF. Bonus: consolidate with another project (master/pool), and save a reusable template.
Success Criteria
- A correctly set up project (start date, working calendar, holidays) and a WBS-structured schedule with milestones.
- Tasks linked by dependencies (automatic mode), a visible critical path and minimal constraints: a healthy, self-recalculating schedule.
- Resources assigned with rates and units, a computed budget, resolved overallocations, and a saved baseline.
- Up-to-date progress tracking compared with baseline (variances, EVM) and clear reporting (reports, Timeline, PDF) suited to the audience.