Creating custom Groups in Microsoft Project

This quick question comes from Maurice Iyalla of Intelliglobal Resources based in Houston, TX, USA:

How do you "custom group" on Ms Project?

As Maurice will have probably noticed, the number of pre-defined Groups available within Microsoft Project is pretty limited. Grouping on Critical Tasks, Task Durations or Milestone Y/N is not that exciting. Creating your own Custom Group is a straightforward process, especially as Custom Groups can be saved and reused. If you are using custom fields that contain Lookup Tables, then grouping becomes even more powerful.

This is all you need to do to create a custom group and save it for reuse:

Preparation:

1. First and foremost, know the Field (Task or Resource) that you wish to group upon.

2. Ensure that you are in a Task-based view to group by task field, or a Resource-based view to group by resource field. Note that if you don’t want to see Gantt bars, the Task Sheet is an ideal view to use.

3. If you are looking to subtotal work or cost values by Group, apply the Work or Cost table (customized as appropriate).

To apply the grouping:

1. From the Project menu, select Group, and then select Customize Group By.

2. Within the Customize Group By dialog, select the field you wish to group against, together with an ascending or descending order. Optionally, you can select additional sub-groupings and format the font and cell appearance for each group.

3. Next, click on the SAVE button, giving your new group an appropriate name.

4. Click OK to then group your information.

To revert back to no grouping, just select No Group from the Group By drop down. To re-group, just choose your new group from the list.

Project Plan notes

Download Using_Groups

The attached Microsoft Project data file displays the Task Sheet view. The Work table has been added to this view, with a custom field "Responsibility" added. This field is a simple Lookup Table containing two values "Scott" and "Sue". It could of course contain many values or it could be an Outline Code containing hierarchical values.

As one of the key purposes of grouping is to subtotal work and cost values, or rollup custom field values, Gantt bars can detract from the message. That is why a Task Sheet has been chosen as it just contains words and numbers. If you wanted to group against resource attributes, just use the Resource Sheet view.

Notes for Project Mentor users

See "Reference F1.4 Intelligently using sort criteria" for a comprehensive explanation about this topic.

Posted by: Andy Jessop