Last Updated: June 22, 2026

Activity 8: Plan Project Communication

With Microsoft Project Reports, project managers can easily summarize schedule performance, track milestones, monitor resource utilization, forecast workload, and show the overall project status. These reports can be shared with executives, team members, customers, and sponsors to help everyone make informed decisions. There are four reporting features in Microsoft Project:

Printable Views that best communicate schedule, resource, workload, timeline, and project performance information.

• Standard or predefined reports.

• Visual Reports that export data to Excel or Visio.

• Screen Capture commands that use Copy Selection, Cop Picture, Copy Timeline, and Copy Report.

A project plan is only useful if the right people get the information they need. Team members need to know their tasks and priorities. Managers look for performance updates. Customers want to hear about deliverables and milestones. Executives rely on summary information to make decisions. If there is no organized way to share this information, even the best project plan can lose its value.

In Activity 7, you set up the schedule logic for your project. You arranged activities and milestones in order, checked timing constraints, and set up the Calculation Engine to figure out dates, float, and the critical path. This gave you a project plan that can provide useful schedule and performance details.

In this Activity, you will learn how to turn that information into clear project communication. You will find out what each stakeholder needs to know, set up a reporting schedule, define reporting standards, and look at the different reports, views, dashboards, and visual tools in Microsoft Project. You will also see how project managers use Status Dates, reporting schedules, and communication networks to help monitor the project and make decisions from start to finish.

By the end of this Activity, you will have a clear communication system that ensures the right people receive the right information when they need it.

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Activity 8 - Plan Project Communication

Activity 7: Determine Schedule Logic < Activity 8: Plan Project Communication > Activity 9: Evaluate Risk

Workflow (25 minutes)

Exercises (3 hours 25 minutes) jump to

Exercise 8.1: Create the Communication Network and Reporting Cycle for Your Master Project (30 minutes) jump to

Exercise 8.2: Review Microsoft Project’s Eight Field Types (20 minutes) jump to

Exercise 8.3: Print Views as Reports (20 minutes) jump to

Exercise 8.4: Create and Edit Standard Reports (40 minutes) jump to

Exercise 8.5: Create Visual Reports (30 minutes) jump to

Exercise 8.6: Copy Picture, Timeline, or Report (30 minutes) jump to

Exercise 8.7: Create Reports for Your Master Project (20 minutes) jump to

Update Journal on Plan Project Communication (15 minutes) jump to

This entire Activity Workspace should take 4 hours and 56 minutes to complete.

This Activity Workspace is part of the MS Project Master Class learning system and the companion Master Class Book available on Amazon. Many students also complete the Master Class with the assistance of a Master Class Coach or Trainer.

The communication and reporting methods and best practices shared in this Activity Workspace come from over 35 years of experience teaching Microsoft Project, training consultants, deploying Project Server, and helping professionals around the world.

Internalizing the Activity 8 Workflow (25 minutes)

Overview and What You Will Learn

‍Project managers spend a lot of time sharing project information. Things like schedules, status updates, milestone reports, resource forecasts, dashboards, executive briefings, team assignments, and performance reports all rely on a clear communication system. Many projects run into problems because they never clearly define what reports are needed, how often to report, or what information stakeholders want.

In Activity 8, you will learn how to plan project communications and set up the reporting systems needed to manage and control a project. You will learn how to identify who needs to communicate, which reports are needed, how often to report, and how to create reports in Microsoft Project. You will also see how Microsoft Project organizes information and how to turn that data into reports, dashboards, and other tools for sharing project updates.

First, you will figure out who needs project information and what details they need. Then, you will decide how often to create and share reports. Finally, you will establish reporting standards and produce reports that show project status, performance, forecasts, assignments, and other key information for stakeholders.

Think of a ship's log as an example. For centuries, captains used logbooks to record weather, the ship’s position, course changes, maintenance, and important events. They recorded different information at different times for different people, such as navigators, owners, harbor officials, insurers, and future crews. Similarly, project managers need to decide what information to report, who needs it, how often to share it, and which tools to use.

By the end of this Activity, you will know how to turn project data into useful information that supports decision-making, keeps stakeholders involved, strengthens project oversight, and improves project management. This reporting foundation will be even more important as you continue with the next Activities and start managing your Master Project.

Learn Plan Project Communications Workflow (10 minutes)

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Activity 8: Plan Project Communications Workflow Chart

Before you begin the exercises in this Activity Workspace, take a moment to look over the Activity 8 Workflow Chart. Good project communication is intentional. You need to know who needs information, when to measure and share project progress, and which reports, views, dashboards, and standards will inform project decisions.

In this Activity, you will learn how project managers set up communication networks, plan reporting schedules, and create standards that turn project data into useful information. You will also see how Microsoft Project supports communication through views, reports, dashboards, visual reports, and other tools. Understanding this workflow first will help you complete the exercises and build a system that gets the right information to the right people when they need it.

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Complete the Exercises for Activity 8 (3 hours, 55 minutes)

Microsoft Project provides a wide range of reporting options. These exercises involve creating your communication network, better understanding views and fields across eight categories, the four report areas, and then creating reports for your Master Project.

Create a Communication Network and a Reporting Cycle for your Master Project. A project comm

Review the eight field types in Microsoft Project. This is a complicated area, and it is important to understand these fields well. Indeed, understanding these fields will help you report better. One of the difficulties is that many fields have the same names across the eight field categories. For instance, Work. There are eight different work fields.

Print Views as Reports. Microsoft Project has seventeen types of views; eleven can be printed.

Create and Edit Standard Reports. We usually associate these traditional types of 9.5 X 11 reports with reporting.

Create Visual Reports. Visual Reports are typically data exported to Excel.

Copy Picture. There are several screen capture commands Copy Selection, Copy Picture, Copy Timeline, and Copy Report.

Exercise 8.1: Create the Communication Network and Reporting Cycle for Your Master Project (30 minutes)

In this first exercise, you will create the communication network for your Master Project and select a Reporting Cycle.

Communication is a key responsibility for project managers, but it is often misunderstood. Even when projects have plans, reports, meetings, dashboards, and presentations, stakeholders still say they do not get the information they need when they need it.

Usually, the issue is not that there is too little communication. More often, the real problem is poor planning.

Good project communication is more than just sending reports or holding meetings. Project managers need to figure out who needs information, what they need, how to share it, how often to send it, and who will handle it. Without this planning, communication can become inconsistent, incomplete, or take up too much time.

A communication network gives you a clear way to manage these needs. It shows who the stakeholders are and how information moves between them. This helps make sure the right people get the right information at the right time and in the right way.

Most project managers and teams start by setting up a communication network, but they often do not include enough detail. For example, saying "I want a weekly status report on completed tasks" is not enough. This tells you what is needed, but not who will write the report, who will get it, how it will be sent, what it should include, how people will understand it, or how it will help with project decisions.

This Activity will help you figure out and organize your project's formal communication needs. You will group stakeholders, decide which communication needs are most important, and set up the information, schedules, formats, and roles needed for good project communication from start to finish.

In the Communication Network.docx file, do the following:

• Begin by identifying the three to five most important stakeholder groups in your Master Project.

• Group Project Stakeholders. Divide the stakeholders into meaningful groups. The goal is to provide meaningful communication to each group.

• Rank Order Stakeholder Groups.

• Plan Communication. Identify each group's receiver, sender, information, purpose, and schedule.

Then, embed this file in the Notes field of your Project Summary Task.

Microsoft Project Communication Plan

A Microsoft Project Communication Plan defines how project information will be created, distributed, reviewed, and used throughout the project life cycle. Its purpose is to ensure that stakeholders receive the information they need to make decisions, perform their work, manage risks, and monitor project performance.

A communication plan typically identifies the project stakeholders, their information requirements, reporting responsibilities, reporting frequency, communication methods, and the reports used to communicate project information. In many organizations, this document is called a Communication Management Plan, Project Communication Plan, or Project Reporting Plan.

In Activity 8, the Communication Network, Reporting Cycle, and Reporting Standards work together to form the foundation of a practical communication plan. The Communication Network identifies who needs information and who is responsible for providing it. The Reporting Cycle establishes when information will be collected, updated, reviewed, and distributed. Reporting Standards define the reports, views, dashboards, formats, and communication methods used to communicate project information consistently.

Microsoft Project supports this process by providing views, reports, dashboards, visual reports, and presentation tools that transform project data into meaningful information for stakeholders. Together, these tools help ensure that the right information reaches the right people at the right time.

Reporting Cycle

A project plan during the execution phase is only useful if it reflects what is actually happening. As the team works, they complete activities, encounter problems, adjust their estimates, and use up resources. If there is no clear way to gather and update project details, the plan soon becomes outdated and hard to trust. That’s why every well-managed project needs a reporting cycle.

A reporting cycle is a regular process for gathering project details, updating the project plan, checking progress, reviewing results, and sharing updates with stakeholders. It sets clear times for collecting information, making updates, reviewing performance, and informing everyone involved.

In many organizations, project managers spend a lot of time creating schedules but don’t always plan how to keep them up to date. This can lead to updates being gathered at random times, reporting dates changing, and stakeholders receiving outdated or missing information. Even the best project plan loses value if there isn’t a clear process to keep it up to date.

A reporting cycle fixes this by establishing a process the team follows throughout the project. Once in place, the cycle repeats at set times until the project ends.

Established reports are what give a reporting cycle meaning.

For your Master Project, sketch out what you currently think will be your primary reporting cyle. Save this and give it the title, Master Project Reporting Cycle.

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Exercise 8.2: Review Microsoft Project’s Eight Field Types (20 minutes)

Before creating reports, project managers must understand where Microsoft Project stores project information. Reports do not create data; they organize, summarize, and present data that already exists in the project file. The Project Organization Poster provides a conceptual map of Microsoft Project's underlying information structure, helping you understand how tasks, resources, assignments, costs, dates, calendars, and custom fields work together. Once you understand how information is organized, selecting fields, building reports, and communicating project information becomes much easier.

The Microsoft Project Organization Poster explains that reports, views, dashboards, and Visual Reports all draw information from underlying project fields. The basis of reporting in Microsoft Project is a conceptual understanding of the eight field types and which views display them.

One side of the poster reviews the various views and then lists and categorizes the eight types of fields. The other side of the poster illustrates the eight different Work fields and how each field type functions.

The Microsoft Project Organization Posters A and B are designed to help you get a bird' s-eye view of Microsoft Project’s organization or database structure. A basic understanding of this data organization will help you in reporting and when working with Microsoft Projects.

To start this exercise, download the Work.mpp file by using the icon above and opening it in Microsoft Project.

Apply the Task Usage view. Zoom in the timescale to days and move the timescale to Friday right before March 21, 2021, as shown below.

This view shows six different Work fields. Open the Notes for the Project Summary task and identify each field marked A—F in the figure below.

Apply the Resource Usage view. There are four different Work fields displayed in this view. Zoom the timescale to daily and move to the same Friday as above.

For each of these Work fields, A - D, marked in the figure below, describe what they are and what they tell you. Enter this information in the Assignment Information Notes field for the Project Manager on the Select Video Cast task.

Save the project when you are finished.

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Exercise 8.3: Print Views as Reports (20 minutes)

Views are project displays, like the Gantt Chart or Resource Usage views, that can be printed. Reports are purpose-built reporting features found on the Report tab.

In this exercise, you will customize a Resource Usage and print the view as a *.pdf file.

To start this exercise, open the Printing.mpp file. 

Let’s suppose you want to print a report on resource work. A line manager has requested a report for each resource’s work, actual work, and remaining work on your project, and they would like to see that information cross-tabulated for just the second quarter.

Apply the Resource Usage view.

Next, since printing a view in Microsoft Project is a WYSIWYG function, let’s set up the view for the report.

Since the manager is only interested in work, filter out the other non-work resources by applying the Resources - Work filter. This filter comes standard with Microsoft Project. Select the View tab on the ribbon / Filter / Resources - Work.

The Unassigned category is still showing. To filter this out, click the drop-down arrow (AutoFilter) next to the Resource Name column header. Uncheck, Unassigned, and the two tasks with no resources assigned are Project Start and Project Finish. If the AutoFilter isn’t showing, select View / Filter / Display AutoFilter to toggle on this filter feature.

You can also sort data in the column by using the AutoFilter. Sort Resource Names from A to Z.

Hide the Indicators and ID fields (Hide Column) from the table, and after Resources Names, add the Work, Actual Work, and Remaining Work fields. Remove the rest of the columns by selecting the rest in the table, right-clicking, and Hide Column. The ID field is locked in to hide, edit the table, and remove and uncheck the Lock first column.

You can also use the Bridge Quick Access Toolbar to quickly add or hide columns without much clicking.

Best fit the first four columns: Resources Name, Work, Actual Work, and Remaining Work. Center the data in the Work, Actual Work, and Remaining Work columns.

Next, set up the timescale. The manager requested to see the work values weekly. Select the View tab on the ribbon, zoom in on the Entire Project, and select Weeks in the Timescale dropdown. The timescale should show Months and then Weeks. If not, move your cursor to the timescale, right-click, choose Timescale, and select Months in the Middle Tier tab. In the Bottom Tier tab, select Weeks. 

Work details are already showing in the timescale, to add Actual Work and Remaining Work, click Resource Usage Format on the ribbon, and add the timephased Actual Work by checking the Actual Work command in the Details group. Remaining Work is not listed, click the Add Details command and scroll the list of available timephased fields on the left. Remaining Work is not available! Double-check Poster A - Microsoft Project Organization, which can be downloaded above, and notice that Remaining Work is unavailable. In addition, there are no timephased custom columns available in Microsoft Project, so that field can not be customized. There is, however, a Remaining Cumulative Work field available. Add that field instead.

Microsoft defines Remaining Cumulative Work as:

Remaining Cumulative Work = Total Work – Cumulative Work

Best Uses  Add the Remaining Cumulative Work field to the timephased portion of the Resource Usage view to review remaining cumulative work information for a resource. This allows you to see how much total scheduled work remains to be completed for a resource at a given point in time.”

When looking for a particular field, resist the urge to say, “Damn, it isn’t there!” Search the Poster or search online with something like “Microsoft Project available fields.” Likely, the field is named differently than you thought, or there is a field that might even work better for you. You can also give Microsoft support a shot. I am currently conversing with the senior engineer Mr. Raymando Rayappan, and he has been delightful and helpful. He reached out to me based on a question I had asked in an online chat session at Microsoft 365 support.

While in Add Details, make the cell background of Work bright yellow and Remaining Cumulative Work a light blue or grey.

Show this field if you do not have All Assignment Rows in Add Details. In a Usage view, there are several types of records. In the Resources Usage view, the two primary records are Resources and Assignments. The All Assignment Rows field allows you to break these out visually in the timescale area.

Make sure you show this field and make the background a very light green.

This view is almost ready for printing. To print preview, select File / Print. Print preview is the next screen. You can choose your printer driver, edit a date range to print, and make selections in page setup.

To print only the second quarter date range, set the Dates to 4/1/2021 through the end of the project or 6/9/2021.

Select Page Setup and complete the following:

• On the Left side of the Header, Add the Project Current Date from the General dropdown menu. Underneath that line, type in Resource Work Report and make it bold and dark blue.

• On the Center of the Header, Add Work and then Actual Work on the next line. Type in the label for each field before the & symbol. Like this: Work &[Work], otherwise only the data will show, and the reader may not know what it represents.

• Add % Work Complete and Remaining Work on the Right side of the Header, and type in a label for each field.

Also:

• Remove the Borders in the Margins tab.

• In the View tab, uncheck every item.

• Play with the Zoom on the Page tab and see if you can adjust the report to being no more than 3 pages but still legible.

  Save the project.

What if you want or need to print the report as PDF?

There are two ways to do this. First, you can export it as a PDF file. In general, this is not the best solution. The best option is if you have a PDF printer driver listed under Printer, like Adobe or Microsoft Print to PDF. If you can print this report to a PDF driver, name the file Printing.pdf.

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Exercise 8.4: Create and Edit Standard Reports (40 minutes)

Microsoft Project reports do not create project information. Reports organize, summarize, and present information already in the project file. The quality of a report depends on the quality of the underlying project data.

In this exercise, you will complete a three-page standard report with a table and several bar charts. In addition, you will print the report as a *.pdf file and share the report with your Master Project.

First, review the Chart 4-Standard Reports.pdf file. This chart provides an overview of this reporting feature in Microsoft Project.

Open the Standard Reports.mpp file.

Let’s suppose your company is developing this custom training program for Apple retail salespeople nationwide. You want to print a weekly report on resource work and the work and cost status for the major phases of the project. The people attending the status meeting want the report in 8.5 X 11 format.

Click on the Report tab, click the Recent command, and open the Resource Overview report.

You started this report last week when you were just going to report on work. Now, people want the project's work and cost status, so rename the report to Work and Cost Status. You can do that by going to the Reports tab in Organizer or clicking the Design tab, selecting the Manage command, and renaming the Report.

Start on the right foot by showing Page Breaks in the Page Options group under the Report tap and clicking the Page Setup command. Make sure the report is in Landscape Orientation.

In the Text Box next to the Apple logo, type Work and Cost Status Report. Apple’s corporate colors are black and gray, so we will work with those colors so that the report has, from our perspective, the look and feel preferred by the customer.

On the first page, there is a table that includes work information. Select the table and then add the fields below in the Table Data panel. Add them in this order:

• Cost

• Actual Cost

• Remaining Cost

• Cost Variance

As already mentioned, these tables are not easy to work with, it is best to predetermine the fields you want in the table and then add fields (columns) right to left.

Arrange the rows and columns appropriately. The Layout tab has a Cell Size group, but I have found that manual adjustments often work best.

The table shows Outline Level / Level 1, and the variances in the Work and Cost Variances fields are easy to see. In Microsoft Project, positive and negative variances are the opposite of how we think about them when reviewing project status. A positive variance regarding cost, for instance, is actually a negative variance in most people’s minds.

Since this project does not include many tasks, the Outline Level shows Level 2 and Show Hierarchy. This added detail tells a better story or provides a more complete status explanation. Use the Table Design tab / WordArt Styles group / Text Outline command to highlight positive variances in red and negative variances in blue. You could also select the Task tab on the ribbon and use the Font group to highlight text.

It would be great to show the Project Summary task, but the table doesn’t fit well with that added level in the Hierarchy, so let’s add another table and just show the Project Summary. As shown in the figure below, this will make the project summary task visible. 

Select the table, Copy it, and then Paste it. In the Outline Level, select Project Summary. In the second Design tab / Table Style Options, uncheck the Header Row command and arrange the two tables as shown in the figure below. 

Format the positive variances in bold red.

if Word Art has been applied to any fields, this may not be possible. Word Art can be cleared in the second Design table under the Quick Styles command.

Be sure the table, logo, and text box fit on the first page.

This completes the first page of the report.

In the next part of the report, you want to chart resource Work-related status and resource % Work Complete. These are two different data types, so you will need two charts. In addition, the current chart in the report is too busy. You will not be able to fit all the resources on the same chart, so you will place half the resources on one chart and the other half on the other.

First, size the chart to fit on the page. Then, add a Text Box in the Design tab and title it Resource Work Status.

We could use many custom fields, such as the Flag fields, to filter the resources into two different categories for this chart. However, since the Group field is not being used and there is already a filter for Group, let’s use that field. 

Go to the Resource Sheet view in Microsoft Project. Sort the Resources by Name and then enter the letter A for the first five Work type resources and the letter B for the next four. The non-Work type resources are left blank since they do not have work, so there is no reason to show them in the chart.

Return to the report and select the chart. Change the chart to appear like the one in the screen below. Chart Design tab / Change Chart Type command.

Next, in the Chart Data panel, Filter for Group A (enter the A group name) and then Sort By / Custom Sort / Name / Descending.

Select the chart, click the plus symbol to the upper right of the chart (Chart Elements command), and check these items:

• Axis

• Data Labels

• Data Table

• Gridlines

Last, format the bar colors. Select a Work bar; NOTICE: All other work bars are selected. Right-click and fill in black. Click so that all Work bars are selected, not just the bar for a particular resource. Format Actual Work in light gray and Remaining Work in dark gray.

This completes the chart for those resources in Group A.

This second page in the report should look like the one in the figure below.

Next, duplicate this chart on the next page and filter for Group B. Do this by selecting this chart and the Text Box title. Copy / Paste (keep the Source Formatting), and then drag the pasted chart and title to the next page. Remove the Group filter, apply the Group filter, select the B group, and then Sort.

The chart on the third page of the report is identical to the second page, except it is filtered to show resources in the B group.

Save the project.

So far, your report should include:

• Two tables on the first page.

• A chart on the second page shows work information for Group A resources.

• The same chart appears on the third page but shows work information for Group B resources.

• The % Work Complete chart on the fourth page shows all resources and the percentage of work completed.

• All color schemes should be a close match.

Reports can be printed as a *.pdf file and then shared.

Print Preview (File / Print): select the Microsoft Print to PDF driver or your choice of PDF print driver. Then do the following to complete this report:

• My report is printing 8 pages, and I can't figure out why. To solve the problem, I selected pages 1 - 4. I also reduced the size of the report to 97%, which seemed to better position the tables and charts on the pages.

• Don’t show a Border around Every Page.

• Add a Page Number, Project Title, Date, and your name to the Center of the Footer.

In the Page Setup View tab, you will notice that there is no way to prevent the printing of blank pages. If blank pages are shown in the print preview, your tables and charts will have to be rearranged. Move the charts around to remove the blank pages. 

Print your project and give it the file name Work and Cost Status Report.pdf, and then Save your project.

Last, use the Organizer to share your Work and Cost Status report with your Master Project.

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Exercise 8.5: Create Visual Reports (30 minutes)

This exercise will examine Visual Reports. Although project data can be exported to Visio, Visual Reports' primary purpose is to export multidimensional data to Excel for further analysis or reporting.

In this exercise, you will create a new Visual Report template.

Standard reports and dashboards help share project status, but sometimes project managers need more advanced ways to analyze and report data. Microsoft Project meets this need with Visual Reports.

With Visual Reports, you can export project data to Microsoft Excel or Visio. There, you can analyze, summarize, and present information using more advanced tools than those in Microsoft Project. This is especially helpful when stakeholders want custom charts, detailed calculations, trend analysis, or high-quality graphics.

When you create a Visual Report, Microsoft Project exports selected project information into an OLAP cube. This cube organizes your data so you can analyze it from multiple angles, including time, resources, costs, assignments, and work performance. The cube is the base for reports in Excel and Visio.

In Excel, Visual Reports usually use Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts. Pivot Tables help project managers quickly summarize lots of data, group it by category, calculate totals, compare actual and planned values, and spot trends. Pivot Charts turn this information into visuals, making it easier to share results with stakeholders.

Visual Reports are especially useful for several types of project analysis:

Resource Analysis lets project managers check resource use, workload, actual and remaining work, and resource availability.

Cost Analysis helps review planned, actual, and remaining costs, as well as budget performance and cost trends during the project.

Schedule Analysis lets project managers examine work distribution over time, milestone completion, schedule performance, earned value, and other indicators of project progress.

Microsoft Project comes with many built-in Visual Report templates, and organizations can also make their own to fit their needs. Once you create a template, you can use it across different projects, helping standardize reporting and keep communication consistent.

Visual Reports are one of the most powerful reporting tools in Microsoft Project because they combine its scheduling features with the analysis and presentation strengths of Excel and Visio. For project managers who often share project performance with executives, customers, or stakeholders, Visual Reports can be an essential part of communication.

Once you open the Visual Reports.mpp file, the Visual Reports command is located under the Report tab.

Visual Reports occasionally fail because of Microsoft Office configuration issues rather than user error.

Visual Reports are export routines. These routines are saved templates; you can create and edit new templates. In this simulation, we are going to create a new Excel template.

If you have not worked with Visual Reports, open Visual Reports, explore the functionality of the Visual Reports dialog box, and run or view several of the reports.

We are going to create a new template to run a common report that is no longer available in Microsoft Project but was once a popular resource report. We will call this report Who Does What When.

You will see the value in this report as we create this report. The report will show the actual work for each resource, which will be cross-tabulated over time. This report is like a Resource Usage view we worked with above in this Activity. The advantage of exporting is that it allows for the manipulation, analysis, and formatting of data sets in Excel in ways that are impossible in Microsoft Project.

However, one weakness in the export is that Microsoft Project does not export the actual dates. The timescale will show Years, Quarters, Months, Weeks, and Days but not the actual dates for Weeks and Days. These are the Calendar export options:

• Years = Years

• Quarters = Years and Quarters

• Months = Years and Months (likely, the most reasonable export)

• Weeks = Years, Quarters, and Weeks (Weeks are numbered and do not include dates)

• Days = Years, Quarters, Weeks, and Days (Weeks and Days are numbered and do not include dates)

The one calendar option that is not available and that I think is the most important is Years, Quarters, Months, and Weeks.

These calendar options will become clearer once you run some reports.

Who Does What When Excel Report: Creating a New Visual Reports Template In Three Simple Steps

Step 1: Create the Type of Template

• Open Visual Reports under the Report tab on the ribbon.

• Select the Calendar or usage data to export. The options are Years, Quarters, Months, Weeks, and Days. Each time the report is viewed or run, a different calendar can be selected. Select Months. In the Visual Reports—Create Report dialog box, look for the selection Select level of usage data to include in the report.

• Select the New Template button.

• Select the Excel radio button.

• Select Resource Usage in the dropdown menu, the data category to export.

• Next, Select the Field Picker button and the fields you want to export. The fewer fields, the faster the multidimensional build and export. This report only needs three fields: Work, Actual Work, and Type. Since this is a Work report, we want to be able to filter out non-work resources, so we will do that with the Type field. Click the Remove All button and then Add the three fields. If you already show a lot of fields, it is easiest to Remove All and add the three fields.

• When finished, click OK and then OK. The report is then built and opened in Excel.

Step 2: Setup the PivotTable in Excel

Using the figure below as an example:

A - Check all fields exported.

B - Move the resource Type field to the Filters box.

C - Apply the Type filter and select Work to show that resource type.

D - Unselect resources, such as Unassigned.

Step 3: Format the Pivot Table in Excel

For example, you could do the following:

• Remove decimals for Work, Actual Work, and totals by selecting a field and then selecting the PivotTable Analyze tab / Field Setting command in the Active Field group / Number Format.

• Select a style under the Design tab.

• Make selections you find interesting in the Layout group under the Design tab.

• Apply a Theme under the Page Layout tab.

• Format cells and add calculations if desired. Do not disrupt the PivotTable in the template or restrict its movement to the right or the bottom, like the Remaining Work calculations in the screen below.

Step 4: Save as a Template

• First, save as an Excel Template. The default location typically is C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates.

• Name the Template “Who Does What When.”

• When prompted, select Yes to have Excel clear the data and automatically refresh the data when the template is opened.

• Exit Excel, close Visual Reports in Microsoft Project, and open again. You should see the Excel Template you just saved.

If you do not see the template you just created, click the Modify button and select the location of the template file. Then, you can test this template by opening another project with resource assignments and running the Who Does What When Visual Report. 

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Exercise 8.6: Copy Picture, Timeline, or Report (30 minutes)

If you started this MS Project Master Class from the first chapter, this exercise is an in-depth review of the screen capture feature in Microsoft Project called Copy Picture.

In this last exercise on reporting, we will look at the different options for Copy, Copy Picture, and Paste.

In many types of reporting, both formal and informal, you will want to take a snapshot of some aspect of your project and paste it into an email, PowerPoint slide, or other document.

These various Copy, Copy Picture, and Paste features work better or worse depending on your goal. Being familiar with the options will help you quickly decide what is likely to work best.

In this simulation, you will Copy a Timeline view, a Gantt Chart View, and a Standard Report into three slides of the PowerPoint file you downloaded.

Timeline View Copy

Apply the Timeline view to the Copy Picture.mpp. In this view, the remaining project phases are included in the Timeline. The last two Phases are in Callout and highlighted in red. Let’s say you would like to be able to show the status data on the timeline, so a workaround is to open Project Information on the Project tab and type in the Status Date in the Current Date field. The Today field shows the information from the system clock, but you can temporarily enter any date you want.

The Copy Timeline is the capture feature for this type of view. The figure below shows three optimized types of capture. A safe assumption is that the For Presentation is the best selection to try first since you will be pasting it to PowerPoint. However, depending on many variables, the logical selection is not always the best capture selection. You might try all three to determine what works best.

Click the Format tab, and then select the Copy Picture command and make a selection.

When using Paste, you have three options to select from: Use Destination Theme, Keep Source Formatting, and Picture.

Paste this Timeline into slide three of the PowerPoint deck. To get the best results, you might try several approaches.

On my device, with my operating system and my software versions, I found that the best result for this presentation was: Copy / Full Size and Paste / Picture.

Copy Picture a View

Apply the Gantt Chart view. We will copy and paste this view into PowerPoint, but first, let’s set something up.

• Apply the Incomplete filter only to show tasks that are not 100% complete.

• Adjust the pane divider between the table and the taskbars to ensure all five columns are showing.

• The Status date is shown as a red vertical line in the taskbar area of the window. Move that line close to the pane divider and zoom the project to fill the available space in the window.

We are not going to do this, but you can copy and paste the tasks. This is a good option when you just want to paste a table of data, as shown in the figure below. When the target is a slide in PowerPoint, you can select from four different types of paste.

When you want to show tasks bars, Copy Picture is the best capture option. This command is found under the Task tab in the Clipboard group.

Select all of the tasks in the Gantt Chart view, and then click Copy Picture and make the same selections shown below in the Copy Picture dialog box.

When pasting into PowerPoint, there are two selections. Paste this picture into slide number four.

Standard Report Copy

The last copy we are going to do is the Copy Report command for Standard Reports. Open the Critical Task report under the Report tab and the Recent command.

Like some of the other views in Project, you can copy the table or use the Copy Report command. In this case, the difference is in what is actually copied. The Copy Report command will copy all elements (Charts, Tables, Images, etc.) in the report, while copy only copies what is selected in the report.

Copy the report and then paste it into slide five. There are two Paste options. When you have completed this last paste, the presentation is complete.

Save your presentation.

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Exercise 8.7: Create Reports for Your Master Project (30 minutes)

In the Communication Network.docx file, you rank-ordered groups or individuals that require formal communication. You also defined the reporting they required. Select two groups or individuals requiring Microsoft Project reporting and then create those reports. When finished, print the reports as *.pdf files and name them Report1.pdf and Report2.pdf.

Eventually, you need to match each major stakeholder group in your Communication Network to the reports, views, dashboards, or presentation formats used to communicate project information.

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Review Microsoft Project Features Used in Activity 8 (20 minutes)

Standard Reports

Standard Reports in Microsoft Projects are a powerful feature that offers a wealth of pre-built, highly customizable options to suit various project management needs. These reports fall into several categories: Dashboards, which give a visual overview of the project's status; Resources, focusing on the allocation and utilization of resources; Costs, detailing financial metrics; In Progress, showing real-time task and activity progress; Getting Started, which are ideal for new users setting up projects; and Task Boards, supporting Agile methodologies with a visual representation of tasks. (However, as mentioned, the Getting Started reports are not reports, and building Agile methodologies into Microsoft Project is counterintuitive and contradictory.) 

Each report is ready to use out of the box and offers extensive customization options. Users can modify data fields, adjust formats, and integrate formulas, empowering them to tailor the reports precisely to their project's unique requirements. This flexibility extends the utility of these reports, enabling dynamic updates that automatically reflect project changes, ensuring stakeholders always have the most current data at their disposal.

Moreover, these reports can be easily shared with team members and stakeholders, fostering collaboration and ensuring everyone is well-informed about the project's Progress and status. Reusing these reports in other projects, especially for similar or recurring projects, significantly saves time and effort in setting up new reports.

An additional helpful feature is that these reports can be treated like any other view in Microsoft Project. They can be displayed in a split window, allowing users to view a report in one pane while viewing a Gantt chart, calendar, or any other project view in another. This capability is invaluable for simultaneously analyzing different aspects of the project, such as comparing planned versus actual Progress.

Finally, these reports' robust export capabilities support exports to formats like PDF or Excel. This is especially beneficial for presenting project status in meetings or for further analysis outside of Microsoft Project, catering to stakeholders who might not have direct access to the software.

By incorporating these details, the chapter will provide readers with a thorough understanding of how to effectively leverage Standard Reports in Microsoft Project to monitor, manage, and communicate various aspects of their projects.

Printing Views

Printing views in Microsoft Project are pivotal in sharing project information with stakeholders who may need direct access to the software. This functionality is a key tool for producing hard and digital copies of different project views, often essential for meetings, presentations, or archiving purposes. 

Types of Printable Views

Microsoft Project offers a variety of views that can be printed, each serving different purposes depending on the information you want to convey. Commonly printed views include:

Gantt Chart: Perhaps the most frequently used view, this provides a visual timeline of the project schedule, showing task durations, dependencies, and progress.

Task Usage: This view shows how tasks are scheduled over time, including details about the work assigned to each task per day or week.

Resource Sheet: This sheet lists all the project's resources and details their availability and cost rates.

Network Diagram: Visualizes the project tasks in a flowchart-like diagram that illustrates task dependencies.

Printing Setup and Customization

To print a view in Microsoft Project, you first need to ensure that the view is set up to display the desired information effectively. You can customize the view by adjusting the timescale, formatting, and displayed data columns. Once the view is ready, you can access the print options to customize the printout further:

Page Setup: This dialog box allows you to adjust the paper size (like the standard 8.5 x 11 inches), orientation (portrait or landscape), and scaling options to fit your view onto the number of pages you prefer.

Print Preview: Before printing, you can use the Print Preview feature to see exactly how your document will look on paper. This tool is invaluable for making final adjustments to ensure the printout communicates the necessary information without clutter or truncation.

Header and Footer: You can customize headers and footers to include important information such as project title, date, page numbers, and any custom text that might help understand the printed material.

Practical Uses

Printed digital views from Microsoft Project are often used in status update meetings, project audits, stakeholder reviews, and archival documentation. They provide a snapshot of the project’s status at a particular time, which can be extremely useful for communication, especially in environments where digital access is limited or non-preferred.

By understanding and effectively utilizing Microsoft Project's printing capabilities, project managers can ensure that all stakeholders are informed and engaged with the most relevant and up-to-date project information.

Visual Reports

Visual Reports in Microsoft Project offer a dynamic way to present project data through graphical representations, utilizing the robust analytical capabilities of familiar tools like Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Visio. These reports benefit stakeholders who need to digest complex project information quickly and clearly. Here's a detailed overview of Visual Reports in Microsoft Project:

Purpose and Benefits

Visual Reports are designed to transform raw project data into visually appealing and easy-to-understand charts and tables. They provide an immediate visual summary of the project's status, health, and overall progression. The key benefits include:

Enhanced Data Visualization: Project data can be represented graphically through charts and diagrams, making it easier for stakeholders to comprehend trends, patterns, and outliers.

Customizable Templates: Use pre-designed templates that can be customized in Excel or Visio, allowing for flexibility in how data is presented.

Interactive Elements: PivotTables and PivotCharts in Excel enable users to drill down into data, offering interactive capabilities that allow viewers to dynamically explore various aspects of the project data.

Types of Visual Reports

Microsoft Project includes several pre-built Visual Report templates categorized into three main groups:

Task Usage Reports: These reports focus on task allocation and performance over time, making them ideal for monitoring task progress and workload distribution.

Resource Usage Reports visualize how resources are utilized across the project, helping to identify overallocation or inefficiencies.

Assignment Reports: A detailed look at specific assignments shows the relationship between tasks and the resources assigned.

Each category includes templates for both Excel and Visio, depending on the preferred output format. Examples include the Cash Flow Report, Earned Value Over Time Report, and Resource Remaining Work Report. 

Creating a Visual Report

To create a Visual Report in Microsoft Project, follow these steps:

Select the Report: Navigate to the 'Report' tab, choose 'Visual Reports', and select from the available Excel or Visio reports list.

Customize the Template: Once a template is selected, it can be customized further in Excel or Visio. For Excel, this might involve modifying PivotTables or PivotCharts. In Visio, you might adjust shapes, colors, and layout.

Filter and Field Selection: Adjust filters and field choices to refine the data displayed, focusing on specific resources, tasks, or time periods.

Export and Share: Once the report is finalized, it can be saved and shared as a standard Excel or Visio file, making it easy to distribute and present.

Tips for Effective Visual Reports

Simplify Information: Avoid clutter by only including essential data. Too many elements can make the report clearer and more impactful.

Use Appropriate Charts: Choose the chart types that best represent the data. 

Consistent Style: To make your reports easier to read and more professionally appealing, use consistent colors, fonts, and layout throughout.

Regular Updates: The visual reports should regularly reflect the latest project data. This ensures that decision-making is based on the most current information.

Visual Reports are a powerful feature within Microsoft Project that extends the software's utility beyond printing views and standard reports. They provide comprehensive data analysis and reporting capabilities. By effectively using Visual Reports, project managers can ensure that complex data is accessible and understandable, enhancing communication and decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.

Screen Capture

Microsoft Project offers powerful features for exporting and sharing project information across other applications like Microsoft Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint. These features—Copy Selection, Copy Picture, Copy Timeline, and Copy Report—are designed to facilitate communication and presentation of project details. Here's a detailed overview of each function and how to use them to paste information into other Microsoft Office applications:

Copy Selection

Copy Selection allows users to copy specific data or text selections from a task, resource, or tabular data within Microsoft Project.

How to Use: Select the rows or cells in a table within Microsoft Project, right-click, and choose "Copy." You can paste this selection into Microsoft Word, Outlook, or PowerPoint using the standard paste options.

Applications: This is useful for sharing specific details about tasks or resources without needing the entire project view.

Copy Picture

Copy Picture lets you create a snapshot of the current view or selected part of your project schedule, which is helpful for reports and presentations.

How to use it: Go to the "Task" tab and click "Copy Picture." A dialog box will appear, allowing you to choose whether to save the picture as a GIF image file or for screen or printer use. You can also select the range of data to capture, either as shown on the screen or by specifying a date range.

Applications: The image can be pasted directly into documents or slides in Word, PowerPoint, or even in an email through Outlook, providing a visual snapshot of the project timeline or any specific aspect.

Copy Timeline

Copy Timeline is handy for sharing a high-level overview of the project timeline. It allows users to copy the timeline view directly.

How to Use: From the project timeline at the top of the Microsoft Project window, right-click and select "Copy Timeline," then choose "For Email" or "For Presentation" to adjust the level of detail. Then, paste this timeline into Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, or Outlook emails.

Applications: Ideal for including in project updates, proposals, or executive summaries where a concise, high-level view of the project schedule is necessary.

Copy Report

Copy Report involves copying graphical or tabular reports created within Microsoft Project.

How to Use: Navigate to the "Report" tab, select the desired report, and use the copy function to place it on the clipboard. From there, you can paste it directly into Word, PowerPoint, or an email in Outlook.

Applications: Useful for sharing detailed reports like resource allocation, progress updates, or financials in a format that is easy to read and ready for presentation.

Integrating with Microsoft Office Applications

After using any of these copy features, integrating the data into Word, Outlook, or PowerPoint is straightforward:

Word: Paste the copied content into a Word document to include in reports, plans, or documentation. Formatting can be adjusted in Word to fit the context of the document.

Outlook: Paste the content into an email to quickly share updates or data with stakeholders. This can be particularly effective for timely communication directly from your project workspace.

PowerPoint: For impactful presentations during stakeholder meetings or team updates, include pasted timelines, pictures of your Gantt chart, or reports in PowerPoint slides.

These features enhance Microsoft Project's versatility by making it easier to communicate complex project information in a visually appealing and accessible format across various platforms.

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