Navigating the Microsoft Project 2016 Workspace

As a project manager and user of Microsoft Office 2016, you will benefit from having a thorough knowledge of the options available to you in Microsoft Project. Experience with these tools and how they work together will help you create your most important projects without any snags. Today we will explore the workspace and get started creating a simple project.

If you have been working with Project 2016 recently, the Start screen will provide you with options on the left hand side to revert to your recent work. You also have the option to open specific files versus your recent files.

Templates

If you have projects that you work on with some sort of similarity, Project 2016 may provide you with a list of helpful templates.

On the right-hand side of the Microsoft Project 2016 Start screen workspace, you will find various templates to get you started. You may choose a Blank Project, or choose a template among these preloaded options. The New from Existing project enables allows you to create use an existing project as a starting template for your new project. The New from Excel Workbook lets you create a new project from a project within the Excel. If you’d like to create a list from Sharepoint, simple select the New from Sharepoint Tasks List template.

The other thumbnails all corresponded to different standard project templates.

Window Buttons and Quick Access Toolbar

Depending on the type of project you are creating, you will discover that some tools are used more often than others in Microsoft Project’s long list of options. The Quick Access Toolbar located in the upper left-hand corner of the application gives you the ability to quick save the tools you use the most for more convenient access.

In the upper right-hand corner, you will find the standard Windows buttons that allow you to close and maximize the window, minimize the screen, or get help (F1).

Entry Bar

Just above the Ribbon you will notice a file or project name. When you create a new project, the default name is Project 1.

Underneath the ribbon you will see a feature known as the Entry Bar. The entry bar is used to edit and enter data (such as task names) into a project.

Simply select the area in which you want to enter data, start typing your title or task in the entry bar, and select the tick to the left of the entry bar to enter it in. If you make a mistake or would like to cancel what you have written, simply press the “x” to cancel your entry.

Timeline

The tasks that you have created will show in the Timeline. You may set change your Timeline setting to run over a specific period depending on the duration of your project.

If you don’t see the Timeline, select View from the toolbar and make sure that the Timeline box is checked.

Main Project Window

Below the timeline is the Main Project Window. By default your Main Project Window is a Gantt Chart comprised of two parts: the list of tasks and the chart itself.

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Simon Calder

Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA. He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!