06 tracking progress on tasks

Microsoft Project 2010Simple Scheduling

Tracking Progress on Tasks – (Part 6)

Soe Naing WinEmail: [email protected]

1. Save current values in a schedule as a baseline.

2. Record progress on tasks through a specific date.

3. Record a task’s percentage of completion.

4. Enter actual work and duration values for tasks.

In this chapter, you will learn how to:

• Are tasks starting and finishing as planned? If not, what

will be the impact on the project’s finish date?

• Are resources spending more or less time than

planned to complete tasks?

• Are higher-than-anticipated task costs driving up the

overall cost of the project?

Tracking Actual

The different levels of tracking detail include the following:• Record project work as scheduled. This level works best if

everything in the project occurs exactly as planned.

• Record each task’s percentage of completion, either at precise values or at increments such as 25, 50, 75, or 100 percent.

• Record the actual start, actual finish, actual work, and actual and remaining duration for each task or assignment.

• Track assignment-level work by time period. This is the most detailed level of tracking. Here, you record actual work values per day, week, or other interval. (taught in part 12)

Tracking detail

Baseline

After developing a project plan, one of a project

manager’s most important activities is to record actuals

and evaluate project performance. To judge project

performance properly, it is helpful to compare it with your

original plan. This original plan is called the baseline plan,

or just the baseline.

Saving a Project Baseline

You should save the baseline when,

• You have developed the project plan as fully as

possible. (However, this does not mean that you cannot add

tasks, resources, or assignments to the project after work has

started, for this is often unavoidable.)

• You have not yet started entering actual values, such as

a task’s percentage of completion.

Saving a Project Baseline

Exercise : Save the baseline for a project plan and then view the baseline task values.

• Project tab > Schedule group > Set Baseline.

Saving a Project Baseline

We’ll set the baseline for the entire project by using the default settings of the dialog box.

• Set Baseline > ok

Saving a Project Baseline

See some of the changes caused by saving the baseline.

• View Tab > Task view > Other views > Task sheet

Saving a Project Baseline

• View tab > Data group > Tables > Variances•

Saving a Project Baseline

• This table includes both the scheduled and baseline start and finish columns, shown side by side for easy comparison

• No actual work has occurred yet and no changes to the scheduled work have been made,

Saving a Project Baseline

• View Tab > Task View > Gantt Chart

Saving a Project Baseline

• The simplest approach to tracking progress is to report that the actual work is proceeding exactly as planned. ◦ For example, if the first month of a five-month project has elapsed

and all its tasks have started and finished as scheduled, you can quickly record this in the Update Project dialog box.

• When you record progress through a specific date, Project calculates actual duration, remaining duration, actual costs, and other values up to the date you entered.

Tracking a Project as Scheduled

Exercise : Record project actuals by updating work to a specific date. • Project tab > Status group > Update Project.

Tracking a Project as Scheduled

• In the Gantt Chart view, the progress bar shows how much of each task has been completed.

Tracking a Project as Scheduled

Check marks appear in the Indicators column for tasks that have been completed.

Progress bars indicate the portion of each task that has been completed

Some ways of entering completion percentages: • Use the 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%

(Complete buttons in the Schedule group of the Task tab)

• Enter any percentage value you want in the Update Tasks dialog box.

(to access this dialog box, on the Task tab, in the Schedule group, click the down arrow to the right of the Mark on Track, and then click Update Tasks).

Entering a Task’s Completion Percentage

Exercise : Record completion percentages of some tasks in the new book launch project plan.• Try for 100% in any incomplete task

• Try 50% in any incomplete task

• Try 25% in any incomplete task

• Try 50 in any task 18.

Note that although 50% of the work on task 18 is completed, the progress bar does not span 50% of the width of the Gantt bar. This is because Project measures duration in working time but draws the Gantt bars to extend over nonworking time, which in this case includes Sat & Sun, the nonworking day.

Entering a Task’s Completion Percentage

In chart portion of Gantt Chart view:

• the mouse pointer changes to a percent symbol and right arrow, a Progress ScreenTip appears.

Entering a Task’s Completion Percentage

The mouse pointer changes to a percent symbol and arrow when pointing to a progress bar

Project uses the following rules: • When you enter a task’s actual start date, Project moves the scheduled start

date to match the actual start date. • When you enter a task’s actual finish date, Project moves the scheduled finish

date to match the actual finish date and sets the task to 100% complete.• When you enter a task’s actual work value, Project recalculates the task’s

remaining work value, if any. • When you enter a task’s actual duration, if it is less than the scheduled

duration, Project subtracts the actual duration from the scheduled duration to determine the remaining duration.

• When you enter a task’s actual duration, if it is equal to the scheduled duration, Project sets the task to 100% complete.

• When you enter a task’s actual duration, if it is longer than the scheduled duration, Project adjusts the scheduled duration to match the actual duration and sets the task to 100% complete.

Entering Actual Values for Tasks

Exercise : Record actual work values for some tasks as well as start dates and durations for other tasks. • View tab > Data group >Tables > Work

Entering Actual Values for Tasks

• Actual field for task 12 > change 250 >

Entering Actual Values for Tasks

• Task Name column > task 8 >

• Task tab > Schedule group, click the down arrow to the right of the Mark on Track button, and then click Update Tasks.

Entering Actual Values for Tasks

• In the Start field in the Actual group on the left side of the dialog box, type or select 12/29/13.

• In the Actual dur field, type or select 7d

Entering Actual Values for Tasks

• In the Start field in the Actual group on the left side of the dialog box, type or select 12/29/13.

• In the Actual dur field, type or select 7d

Entering Actual Values for Tasks