Course Syllabus Breakdown
Global Change
This lesson teaches how to use the Global Change tool. The Global Change tool allows you to make changes to multiple activities simultaneously – such as changing calendars or increasing durations. Here, we look at how to create custom Global Change definitions to make swift overarching changes to the project schedule.
Configured Fields
This lesson covers how to create Configured Fields, which are custom fields within OPC. Here, we look at how to create configured fields for a wide variety of data items – such as activities, projects, and resources. We look at each of the different types of fields you can create, such as Boolean or List. We also look at creating Formula Configured Fields, which are fields that automatically produce data based on a set formula. Once created, we cover how to add Configured Fields to tables and use them to group, sort, and filter with.
Codes
Codes are categorical attributes that can be created and assigned to capture additional information that can be used to group, filter, sort, and report on. In this lesson, we look at creating project codes, activity codes, resource codes and role codes. Once created, we look at assigning code values to specific types of project data and use them to categorize and classify data types.
Tasks
This lesson focuses on the Task Management app, which allows you to perform lean scheduling within OPC. First, we cover the different Task Management views, from the Work Plan page to the Task List. Then, we go over how to create tasks, schedule them, and commit them within the plan. By the end of this lesson, you will know how to use each Task Management page to break your CPM schedule into smaller chunks of work for lean scheduling.
Working with Programs
In OPC, Programs are groups of projects that you can work with simultaneously. In this lesson, we cover how to create programs and add projects to them. Then, we look at the Schedule and the Resources app to see how programs allow you to effectively manage multiple projects together – such as with a master schedule.
Moving Data
This lesson focuses on how to move data across workspaces in OPC. First, we look at how to move projects from one workspace to another – and how to manage the data within those projects. Then, we take a look at moving workspace data either up or down within the hierarchy to ensure it’s available for every project that needs it.
Files
In this lesson, we cover how to store files in OPC. Files allow you to associate specific documents with Projects, Activities, and other data types within the program. First, we cover how to use the Files app to upload documents and link them to project data. Then, we look at how to work with files within the database, such as by annotating them, adding comments, checking them in, and checking them out.
Advanced Filters
In OPC, Filters allow you to adjust what data displays within any given table. This lesson will focus specifically on creating complex filters, such as grouped filters with multiple definitions. As an example, we will create a complicated 2-Week Lookahead filter to only show the exact activities you’re looking for.
Calculating Percent Complete
This lesson focuses on the use and effects of the three percent complete types: Physical Percent Complete, Duration Percent Complete, and Units Percent Complete. Here, we look at how each of these individual percent complete types work, what types of activities they should be used with, and how status updates should be performed for each.
Time Impact Analysis
This lesson focuses on creating fragnets to perform Time Impact Analysis (or Delay Analysis) within OPC. Here, we will cover how to effectively display potential delays, scope increases, or other project adjustments. We cover how to create the delay through fragnets, and how to effectively communicate the delay for time extension requests.
Risk Analysis
This lesson focuses on how to use the Risk app to identify, prioritize, and analyze potential project risks. First, we look at how to create risks and assign impacts to the risk. Then, we cover how to use the Risk Analysis tool to run quantitative and qualitative analysis on the risks, along with how to understand the analysis graphs. Lastly, we look at how to add a risk response to potentially minimize the risk, letting you make better decisions for your project.
Reports
This lesson focuses on how to create and run reports in OPC. Reports are tabular, lean, non-graphical displays of data that can be customized to display only the needed project information. Here, we go over how to create, modify, and run reports. We also look at how to schedule reports to run them regularly, such as weekly or monthly.
Dashboards
This lesson focuses on how to create Dashboards to visually display project and workspace data. Specifically, we look at how to create custom Charts to display project data for a variety of different audiences, such as Superintendents and Owners.
Alerts
This lesson covers how to create Alerts to notify users when a project surpasses a specific threshold. Here, we look at how to create alerts for important Project data, such as if the project surpasses a certain finish date, or gains negative float.
Resource Calculation Settings
Here, we look at how the resource calculation settings affect assigning additional resources to activities. We look at the differences between preserving and recalculating the units, durations, and units/time for multiple resource assignments. Additionally, we look at the Duration Type for activities and how different types adjust the effect of assigning additional resources to activities.
Unit & Cost Analysis
This lesson covers analyzing unit and cost data to ensure that the project is within budget and the resources are allocated appropriately. In the lesson, we look at the Activity Usage spreadsheets and graphs, each of which displays unit, cost, and resource usage over the project’s timeline. Also, we specifically look at how to adjust the histogram settings for the profiles. This lets us create filters by resource type and adjust the bars and curves that display.
Resource Leveling
In this lesson we look at the Resource Leveling tool. This tool can be used to automatically adjust the project schedule to fix resource overallocation. If you have a resource assigned to work more hours than they are able, the Leveler will move assigned activities to another date when they have more availability. Here, we cover how to adjust leveling settings to level the project exactly as needed.
