How to Add Tasks to a Project from Microsoft Excel

Short video explains how to import tasks from an excel file into Project Insight. Intelligent project scheduling connects tasks so that when earlier tasks are rescheduled, remaining tasks are adjusted automatically. 00:00 Intro 00:14 Import from Excel 00:46 Template

Transcript:

[Music]

In this video, I'm going to show you how to import tasks using Excel. Here, I have a project that is empty; there are no tasks in it. The first step to importing from Excel is to click the plus icon and choose "Import from Excel." This takes you to a form where you can download the template to complete.

You can choose to enter the tasks into a summary task, or if you leave it blank, it will just enter them right at the top. This way, you can bring in tasks from Excel a little bit at a time, or you can import the entire group all at once. I have already downloaded the template and filled it out with the following columns: Task ID, Parent ID, Name, Duration, Work Hours, Start Date, End Date, Resource, and Predecessor.

The reason we have these Task IDs is to create a summary. For example, Task number one is a summary task. Task number two's parent is Task number one, and this also applies to another task where its parent is Task number one. In this case, I would like the second task to be a summary task, and I will add a second task with the appropriate parent ID. This means that this task's parent is designated correctly.

This process allows you to build your Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) all at once in one step. In this example, I have specified durations such as five days, 20 hours, 10 days, 80 hours, one day, and eight hours. I can even assign team members to these tasks by including their names and setting up predecessors. For instance, this task's successor task occurs after the first task, so by entering the Task ID '2', that indicates this task will be the predecessor for the successor task. The second task will, in turn, be the predecessor for Task number three.

Once I have saved this file, I will choose it from my downloads since I already downloaded the template. I am going to go ahead and upload it. After uploading, all of those tasks will be imported into the system. You can see that my tasks are now in place, and everything is already linked the way I wanted it to be.