Scheduling with Stickies

Andrea Brockmeier, PMP

Few problems in life can't be solved with sticky notes and an Excel spreadsheet. With the addition of countless colors and shapes in today's sticky note selection, the possibilities are endless. This article provides creative ideas for how to use the ever-useful sticky note in project scheduling.

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Use Case Tips and Tricks
November 18, 2008 — 1-2 pm CDT
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This presentation provides a brief overview for those new to Use Cases, and from which even experienced people should learn something new. It spends most of the time covering a number of useful tips and tricks that will help enhance your Use Case knowledge and practice.

CBAP^® Certification: From “What is it?” to “I Did it!”
December 15, 2008 — 1-2 pm CDT
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This presentation summarizes the CBAP® program, and why Business Analysts should become certified. It also touches on the benefits to organizations for assisting and encouraging their BAs to become certified. Finally, the steps you should follow to become certified are presented. You'll leave understanding why becoming a CBAP® is important, and with an action plan to help you become certified.

Time Management Tip

Susan K. Heidorn, CBAP, PMP

Have you ever been in a meeting where time seems to stand still—the meeting drags on and on and nothing gets accomplished? If you seem to be struggling to get to that last agenda item, here are a few tips to consider to keep your next meeting on task.

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Microsoft Project Expert Tip

Jim Clayton, Microsoft Certification for Office Suite and MS Project

Have you ever had this problem?
You create two tasks: Task 1.2 has a start date of January 17 and its duration is 2 days. Task 1.3 is linked to Task 1.2 as “finish-to-start” and has a duration of 1 day. Even though these two tasks are linked (FS), Task 1.3 has an incorrect start date of January 17. It should have a start date of January 19. Why doesn't the (FS) dependency automatically move the second task so it begins on January 19?

Solution:
The quickest way to solve this problem is to press the (F9) key. This automatically recalculates the project duration. The problem arises because calculations are set to “manual,” and they should be set to “automatic.” Navigate to Tools -> Options -> Calculation and set the calculation mode to “automatic.”

Congratulations Scholarship Winners!

Hats off to the following individuals who won scholarship seats to the IIBA Minneapolis-St. Paul PDD Symposium in January 2009. They are all ProjectBrief subscribers and will be attending the symposium as guests of Watermark Learning.

Lona Doolan
Ameriprise Financial

Kristin Ritter
State of Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension

Jane Carlson
OptumHealth Financial Services

Is there a Project Management, Business Analysis, or Influencing Skills topic you'd like to learn more about? Please let us know! Drop us an email with a list of topics, and we'll consider it for an upcoming issue of The ProjectBrief.

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