'Act. Work' vs 'Work' - How remaining 'Work' is calculated

[Verossa]

Here is a simplification of my scenario

One tas
Duration: 3 months
Task Type: Fixed Work
Resource Assignment: 2 Units @ £500.00 / da
Contour: Fla

MS Project assigns the hours across the three months as follows

Apr - Work (176h
May - Work (168h
Jun - Work (136h

'Actual Work' is booked on a monthly basis (resources send a sheet - this is inputed into the act.work in MS Project). In April the work booked is 100h - a shortfall of 76h. The remaining 76h should be allocated to 'work' fields for May / Jun only. However, MS Project assigns 36h to Jul as follows

Apr - Work (100h), Act.Work (100
May - Work (168h
Jun - Work (176h
Jul - Work (36h

Why is this? There is enough resource (2 units) to complete the task within the duration (3 months). Or am I mistaken

Can anyone explain what is happening

TIA to all who respond
Vers

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi Verossa,

You say Fixed work, but you expect fixed duration!
When you edit Work on a fixed work tasks, it adapts duration, not units.

Just another thing.
MAX UNITS doen't play any part in this. It only comes into play on 2
occasions
- As a default when assignoing a resource
- During Resource Leveling

HTH
--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
Project Management Consultancy
Prom+ade BVBA
32-495-300 620

Here is a simplification of my scenario:

One task
Duration: 3 months
Task Type: Fixed Work
Resource Assignment: 2 Units @ £500.00 / day
Contour: Flat

MS Project assigns the hours across the three months as follows:

Apr - Work (176h)
May - Work (168h)
Jun - Work (136h)

'Actual Work' is booked on a monthly basis (resources send a sheet - this

is inputed into the act.work in MS Project). In April the work booked is
100h - a shortfall of 76h. The remaining 76h should be allocated to 'work'
fields for May / Jun only. However, MS Project assigns 36h to Jul as
follows:

Apr - Work (100h), Act.Work (100)
May - Work (168h)
Jun - Work (176h)
Jul - Work (36h)

Why is this? There is enough resource (2 units) to complete the task

within the duration (3 months). Or am I mistaken?

 

[Steve House]

When the task type is "fixed work" and you edit the work value, Project
changes duration. It also says that the portioned of remaining work assigned
in May is unchangeable and likewise the part originally scheduled in June.
We should have done 176 hours work but only did 100. "Fixed work" means the
task will require exactly 480 man-hours to complete, no more, no less, 100
of which is done and 304 of which is already scheduled, so we have to
reschedule the missing 76 hours. The only place Project can place it is at
the end, after the presently scheduled 304 hours of work has been done. It
does that rather than increasing the allocation of the the resources in the
current duration because if they're at anything other than maximum (and it
appears they are - 3 months @ 2 resources @ 160 hours per resource per month
equals 960 man-hours, not the 480 you've scheduled) it figures you must have
had a reason for not assigning them full time to begin with and it won't
over-rule your decision by increasing the allocation.

--
Steve House [MVP]
MS Project Trainer/Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Here is a simplification of my scenario:

One task
Duration: 3 months
Task Type: Fixed Work
Resource Assignment: 2 Units @ £500.00 / day
Contour: Flat

MS Project assigns the hours across the three months as follows:

Apr - Work (176h)
May - Work (168h)
Jun - Work (136h)

'Actual Work' is booked on a monthly basis (resources send a sheet - this

is inputed into the act.work in MS Project). In April the work booked is
100h - a shortfall of 76h. The remaining 76h should be allocated to 'work'
fields for May / Jun only. However, MS Project assigns 36h to Jul as
follows:

Apr - Work (100h), Act.Work (100)
May - Work (168h)
Jun - Work (176h)
Jul - Work (36h)

Why is this? There is enough resource (2 units) to complete the task

within the duration (3 months). Or am I mistaken?

 

[verossa]

Steve,

Thanks for the clarification, what can I do in order to acheive the type of
allocation I want?

I'd appreciate any advsie.

Vers

 

[verossa]

I change the task type to fixed duration - is this correct.

Vers

 

[Verossa]

Hi Jan

Following Steve advise I figured I was using the wrong task type. Unfortunately, the durations aren't fixed but I may need to incorporate this into my plan and deal with it at a later date

Thank for responding - Vers

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

As you like... but when they aren't fixed, why do you want Project to not
change them? I alm a bit confused.

Greetz,

--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
Project Management Consultancy
Prom+ade BVBA
32-495-300 620

Hi Jan,

Following Steve advise I figured I was using the wrong task type.

Unfortunately, the durations aren't fixed but I may need to incorporate this
into my plan and deal with it at a later date.

 

[Steve House]

I have no idea. You apparently have them assigned at an average of 50%.
The first question you have to ask is "is it even possible for them to work
more hours per day than they are already assigned?" If so, fixed duration
can help. If not, you'll need to extended the duration. Or is it really
and truly a task the will require 480 man-hours, no more and no less? If
not, perhaps adjusting remaining work is in order. There is no magic setting
in Project that is "correct" - Project is only an extension of your own
thought processes and can never substitute for your personal subject matter
expertise in both project management as a discipline and the process that
your project plan is modeling. You can't create and manage a project plan
to build a bridge unless you are an expert on all the fine details of
exactly what is required to build bridges or (more likely) have experts with
that knowledge at your disposal. To answer your question you have to know
exactly WHAT the task is, WHAT the deliverable is that it creates, how much
WORK it requires to produce it to the desired level of quality, and exactly
how the physical nature of the labour producing that deliverable functions
and what it entails and how it responds to changing conditions.

--
Steve House [MVP]
MS Project Trainer/Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs