Planning and Control Using Oracle Primavera P6 Versions 18 to 23 PPM Professional

All scheduling software is difficult to learn for a number of reasons. None have the optimal settings when installed and Layouts, User Preferences and default options need to be adjusted to obtain the best possible performance. Usually the Help files do not connect the user to real life situations and do not explain the practical use of functions. Furthermore, there are many flicks and switches with obscure names that are difficult to understand or decide what they do or which are important. These issues make learning the software very difficult without a comprehensive guide written by an experienced user. Investing in a book written by Paul E Harris will address all these issues and allow you to setup the software properly and understand all the obscure functions letting you become productive more quickly and enhance your career opportunities and salary with a solid understanding of the software. This book is an update of the author’s Primavera P6 Version 8 to 22 book and has been written so it may be used with any software industry version. The book is packed with screen shots, constructive tips and contains workshops with solutions at the end of each chapter for the reader to practice the skills taught. It has been written so it may be used with either the Professional Project Management Client version or the Enterprise Project Portfolio Management Optional Client. The book is aimed at: 1. People who wish learn the software but are unable to attend a training course and find the software reference manual hard going. 2. Project management companies who wish to run their own software training courses or provide their employees with an alternative text to the vendor supplied user manual. 3. Training organizations requiring a training manual to run their own training courses. The book is designed to teach planners and schedulers in any industry how to setup and use the software in a project environment. It explains in plain English and in a logical sequence, the steps required to create and maintain an unresourced and resourced schedule. It tackles some of the more complex aspects of the software that the user manual does not address. It highlights the sources of information and the methods that should be employed to produce a realistic and useful project schedule. The book provides advice on how on how the many software options may be applied to projects environments and it aims to teach readers how to plan and control projects created within the software package and stays focused on explaining how to use Primavera to schedule projects by: 1. Concentrating on the core functions required to set up an enterprise environment and how to plan and control projects. 2. Providing command lists at the start of each chapter as a quick reference. 3. Providing a comprehensive table of contents and index of all topics. The book is intended to be used: 1. As a self-teach book, or 2. A user guide, or 3. A training manual for a three-day training course, instructor PowerPoint slide shows are available from the author. This book is written by an experienced scheduler, who has used the software at the sharp end of projects and is not a techo. It draws on the author's practical experience in using the software in a wide variety of industries. It presents workable solutions to real day to day planning and scheduling problems and contains practical advice on how to set up the software and import data.

Table of Contents:
1. INTRODUCTION 2. CREATING A PROJECT PLAN 3. STARTING UP AND NAVIGATION 4. CREATING A NEW PROJECT 5. DEFINING CALENDARS 6. CREATING A PRIMAVERA PROJECT WBS 7. ADDING ACTIVITIES AND ORGANIZING UNDER THE WBS 8. FORMATTING THE DISPLAY 9. ADDING RELATIONSHIPS 10. ACTIVITY NETWORK VIEW 11. CONSTRAINTS 12. GROUP, SORT AND LAYOUTS 13. FILTERS 14. PRINTING AND REPORTS 15. SCHEDULING OPTIONS AND SETTING A BASELINE 16. UPDATING AN UNRESOURCED SCHEDULE 17. USER AND ADMINISTRATION PREFERENCES AND SCHEDULING OPTIONS 18. CREATING ROLES AND RESOURCES 19. ASSIGNING ROLES, RESOURCES AND EXPENSES 20. RESOURCE OPTIMIZATION 21. UPDATING A RESOURCED SCHEDULE 22. OTHER METHODS OF ORGANIZING PROJECT DATA 23. GLOBAL CHANGE 24. MANAGING THE ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENT 25. MULTIPLE PROJECT SCHEDULING 26. UTILITIES 27. EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT WITH P6 28. WHAT IS NEW IN P6 VERSIONS 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 AND 23 29. TOPICS NOT COVERED IN THIS PUBLICATION 30. INDEX

About the Author :
Paul Harris holds an Honours Degree in Civil Engineering obtained in the UK and is a Certified Cost Engineer through AACEI International, a PRINCE2 Registered Practitioner and a “Managing Successful Programmes” Registered Practitioner. He has worked in the project controls industry for a number of years and has assisted many companies in a range of industries to set up and run project controls systems. His Melbourne, Australia based company, Eastwood Harris Pty Ltd, offers project controls consulting and training services worldwide with a strong focus on Microsoft Project, Elecosoft (Asta) Powerproject and Primavera software.

Review :
The latest release of the Oracle Primavera P6 PPM manual adds to the already impressive collection of project management concepts and project management software training manuals written by Paul Harris. The Oracle Primavera P6 PPM manual expands the previous version of the book to create a comprehensive guide for creating and managing projects using the P6 PPM client. The book follows a logical approach to project schedule development, enabling the user to progress from the definition of project attributes, to the definition of WBS, activities and relationship, and the subsequent creation of resource assignment and the development of the project coding structures. Common to other guides written by Paul, the manual allows the user to learn through self- paced training as well as allowing the content to be delivered in a classroom workshop environment. The extent of the material covered by the book ensures that the manual remains a source of useful reference even after the initial training has been completed. Paul’s many years of experience as project controls practitioner is reflected in the content of the book, with informative tips on the practical use the software features incorporated throughout the book’s chapters. I recommend Paul’s book to anyone who wants to enhance their knowledge about Oracle Primavera P6 application. The presence of Paul’s books in many organisations focused on successful project delivery is recognition of their value to all project management practitioners. Jan Hanak, Managing Director, Keen Science Pty Ltd. The P6 PPM Manual by Paul Harris is a well-crafted guide into the concepts and functionality of Oracle Primavera P6. The manual contains 30 chapters of essential information that P6 users will require to get the most out of this complex scheduling tool. It makes the critical distinction between planning and tracking a non-resourced and a resourced plan and explains the necessary processes in a clear and concise manner. Most chapters are reinforced with a workshop and this gives students the all-important “hands on” time with the software. I believe that this is the best way to understand and learn a new software tool and the workshop data is practical and relevant. The P6 topics are introduced in a logical manner that follows the PMBOK Project Lifecycle stages. Once the P6 interface is understood, the process of building a project is undertaken. The main deliverables are defined in the WBS, the work is broken down into activities, logic is added, calendars are defined and scheduling is undertaken. There are a considerable number of preferences and settings that influence the scheduling calculations and all are explained in a timely and precise fashion. I have been teaching Primavera scheduling to a wide range of industries for over 10 years and I believe that Paul’s training material offers the best combination of functional and practical training, delivered in a style that is easy to comprehend. Tom Grant MSc BSc, Principal, TAG Consultancy