Looking to further enhance your efficiency (as well as that of your project team) and ensure successful project management? Perhaps you and your whole team should try using the Oracle primavera p6! According to recent data, an estimated 90% of general contractors. Those who are working on high-value projects with annual revenues of $2 to $50 million are actually using them. The Primavera software! So, to make sure that everyone is efficient, and saves time. When using the software, here are a couple of tips and tricks to remember.

 

Basic Oracle Primavera Features

Okay, let’s start the ball rolling with a couple of tips and tricks for mastering the Oracle primavera p6’ basic features. For starters, activity steps can be added to a project using a template. Which you can then customize as you see fit. 

 

There are 6 different activity types that are available on the primavera p6. So be sure that you select the correct one for the project that you are working on. Every time you update the software. You need to remember to perform an analysis of the project to see. How those updates affect other activities.

 

The primavera p6 has no less than 5 different calculation methods. Which you can utilize to help finely track project performance and cost overruns. One of the most helpful reports in the software is the Cash Flow report, Which can easily be modified in various ways depending on your preferences or requirements.

 

The software also includes 4 unique Activity Duration type options. Which you can utilize to accurately track scheduling depending on your requirements. The Trace Logic feature in the primavera p6 also helps you keep track of both logic. And relationships with regard to the project which your team is currently working on.

 

If you want the other project team members to be able to see the project. But you don’t want them to be able to make changes and potentially mess things up. Make sure you make the project “Read Only” before sending.

Detailed Project Management Tools

Now, let’s move on to the tips and tricks for the more detailed project management tools of the primavera p6. First, the Materials Tracking feature is an amazing way to track submission, approval and even the delivery to specific sites form a common activity date.

 

Before you submit a schedule to a consultant, or to a stakeholder, it would be a great idea to use the primavera p6 to effectively track down any open ends which may be present. The software is natively compatible with Excel, as it allows you to create activities there and use the Bulk Import feature to move them over when you’re ready.

 

The cost of each activity that you and your project team are tracking can also be estimated in Excel before moving to the primavera p6. You can also export a Primavera project into Excel if you like it, as well as convert a Primavera P3 plan into a P6 plan so that you can keep on working on old projects in new software.

 

You can also make and save different layouts to provide yourself more options with regard to the visual look of the project that you are tracking. The Claim Digger feature in the primavera p6 also allows you to compare an updated program to a baseline program, so that you can get a finer look at different sets of revisions and more.

 

The Fill Down feature can also be utilised to easily copy one value to multiple underlying activities. You can also use an S-curve to effectively track a project in the primavera p6 even if you are not utilizing cost or resources features.

 

Adding Weather to the Schedule

With climate change and greenhouse gases making the planet’s weather weirder, and more unpredictable, weather is a major consideration when building a CPM schedule (unless you and your project team are operating indoors all the time!).

This often raises the question of how exactly do we define “typical weather”. As a matter of fact, contracts usually mention that point extensions can only be granted for abnormal or inclement weather while there are no procedures which cover typical weather. 

 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States actually has records for thousands of weather stations around the country, which in some cases return 100 years or additional. 

 

I’m also sure that your weather agency in your town or city will also have a record for weather conditions that cover 100 years or even more.  

 

Progress Spotlight

A spitfire method of highlighting project activities that should have started or finished during a specific period of time in the primavera p6 is the Progress Spotlight feature. To easily access this feature, the first step would be to choose View, then Progress Spotlight, or you can click the Tools toolbar.

 

You can also drag the data date line until you reach the new date you want. The primavera p6 highlights the activities which fall between the last data date and the new data date. Once you spotlight activities, you can now automatically status them or manually update them.

 

But if multiple projects are open, the primavera p6 will help highlight activities from the data date of the default project (Project, Set Default Project). Unlike selected activities, when the Progress Spotlight is active, the activities remain spotlighted even when you click in another area of the layout.

 

I guess there’s a good reason why many project professionals call the primavera p6 the single best planning and scheduling tool ever designed. Yet, despite its versatility, it isn’t always easy to use.