Project Work Contour Indicators

by Cecille Ramirez on November 23rd, 2010

Not too many Project Managers are aware of the work contour field in Microsoft Project.  This is why we have to explain this a little bit. Especially for those planning to take and pass the exam on Project.

Work contour field is a column you can add in the Usage View of Microsoft Project. Whenever a contour is applied or have been changed from the default value of flat, a shape or symbol will appear on the indicators column.

The flat contour will not show any shape or symbol being the default in every project plan file. The moment the work contour field is added to the view, it will automatically show the value “flat” for each resource.

This shape tells you how a scheduled work for a resource is distributed across time. You can use this to control how Microsoft Project schedules the work for a resource.  To change it to a different contour, you just have to click on that cell in that work contour field for a resource and an arrow will automatically appear that lists all of the work contours. There are eight (8) choices available. Each following the shape will distribute work accordingly.

For example, a bell curve contour that appears like this shape  will contour the work hours to continually increase to a peak but gradually drops off until work completes. That is why the shape seems to show highest peak in the middle following the bell shape.

To learn more about these Contour Indicators, Microsoft website has some documentation on it.  Just look for the following types: Flat, Bell, Turtle, Front Loaded, Back Loaded, Double Peak, Early Peak, and Late Peak.

Raves & Praise

David

A Cisco Success Story

I attended a resume writing seminar & conducted mock phone interviews with a Microtrain career counselor. These two activities gave me a leg up on distinguishing myself from all the other people looking for work. Since the career counselor's at Microtrain had a track record of getting people hired, their insight and positive past experiences helped me tremendously in getting hired with a Cisco Voice Systems Integrator in the Chicago area. I was hired as a Cisco Voice Tech Engineer with a starting salary of $65,000 / year with a Cisco voice systems reseller located in the Chicagoland area. Microtrain was very instramental in making this a reality. From expediting my WIA grant, to providing excellent hands-on training from knowledgable instructors I was able to achieve becoming certified with my CCNP. Microtrain's career services was the final catalyst in connecting me with this company by communicating with them on my behalf and with me in setting up the interview. One week later and I was hired. No joke. Thanks Microtrain!

Karine Bucci

Project Management

Great class, loved the interaction and team-building exercises. Plenty of materials and learning tools supplied. Although it was a full week's class, never boring. Donna [Russell] was awesome and gave many supporting examples for better understanding.

Christopher Fowler

MCSA

Very thorough, good mix of lecture and lab work. Al is great! Keeps classes interesting and supplements required test material with need-to-know items from real world experience.

Jean S.

PMP Certification Training, Lombard, 2008

I was laid off for many months and not really getting many callbacks for my resume and no job offers. After I put the letters PMP on it, not only did I see an increase in quantity, but also quality of interviews. I had been spinning my wheels for 5 months, and after the PMP went on, I had 2 job offers in 6 weeks. It really was the "golden ticket"

Robert Graf

MCSA

Microtrain presents the course material in an interesting and concise manner. Microtrain gives the student all the resources necessary to pass the certification exams. Both the Chicago and Lombard facilities were excellent, and the staff goes to any length to accommodate any student changes.

Connect with MicroTrain

Begin building a successful long-term career pathway.

(630) 981-0200

Back to Top