blue bars in Gannt chart in PWA project view

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Naomi --

First of all, understand that Percent Complete is not an estimate. It is a
calculated as Actual Duration/Duration * 100. The trick is to figure out
how the system calculates Actual Duration, which is not obvious. Consider
the following scenario:

1. The first task in a four-task project has a 5-day Duration with three
resources assigned.
2. Two of the resources submit their % Work Complete as 100%.
3. The third resource has not reported yet, so his % Work Complete is 0%.
4. I have three other tasks in the project, each with a 5-day Duration,
linked with FS dependencies, and the tasks have not started yet.
5. The Duration of the entire project is 20 days.

The Duration of the task is 5 days. Actual Duration is calculated as
Duration * Percent Complete. In my scenario above, Microsoft Project
calculates the Percent Complete value as the average of the % Complete for
the three resources reporting on the task. The % Complete, therefore, is
(100% + 100% + 0%)/3 = 200%/3 = 66.67%. The system then calculates Actual
Duration for the task as 5d * 66.67% = 3.33 days.

When the system calculates the % Complete for the entire project, it factors
in the % Complete for each task, calculated using the information presented
above. So, in my example above, the Actual Duration for the project matches
the Actual Duration for the first task, which is 3.33 days. The system
calculates the % Complete for the entire project as 3.33/20 * 100 = 17%.

It's not an easy concept to understand how Project calculates % Complete,
but believe me, it is not an estimate. It is a calculated number. To learn
more about how Microsoft Project calculates % Complete, read the Help
articles on the % Complete column and the Actual Duration column. Hope this
helps.

 

[Naomi Nissen]

I've applied the tracking Gannt Chart to my Project Center view in
PWA. I'm trying to understand the bar colors. It looks like the grey
bar is baseline, black bar is Start/Finish, but I don't know what is
the blue bar. In my project this blue bar starts where the black bar
ends with no corrolation in the project.

Thanks,
Naomi

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Naomi --

The blue bar indicates the current schedule of the project, the black bar
indicates progress in the project, and the gray bar indicates the baseline
schedule for the project. Hope this helps.

 

[Naomi Nissen]

Dale,
when you say "current schedule" and "progress" what kind of
information does this correlate to? (e.g. start, finish, actual
start, actual finish).

thanks, Naomi

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Naomi --

Current schedule is exactly what it means. If a team member enters task
progress that drives a task 5 days late in its Finish date, and that task
has multiple successors, then all of the successor tasks are five days late
as a consequence. After approving and updating that task update from the
team member, the schedule now shows that task and all successors as five
days late.

Think of the Microsoft Project plan information this way. Baseline schedule
is the way we planned the project to happen. Current schedule is the way
the project is ACTUALLY happening.

On the Project Center page, I believe the black line bar actually represents
the current % Complete for the entire project. You can determine that by
displaying the Project Summary Task (Row 0) in the enterprise project in
question, and then inserting the % Complete field temporarily. Compare the
number you see in the Microsoft Project plan with the black bar you see in
the Project Center page. Hope this helps.

 

[Naomi Nissen]

Dale,

I was able to bring in the "0" row and the % complete column. But I'm
not sure how to extrapolate that information as you explained in
comparing a % complete to the length of a bar with no number on it.

Also, I created a new view, but the gray bar doesn't show up, even
though I have baseline columns included. All the settings for the
view are identical to a view where the gray bar does show up.

Thanks, Naomi

 

[Naomi Nissen]

Repost! For some reason the baseline (gray) bar just popped up on its
own. Regarding the % complete, I looked at this more carefully and
did some calculations on the dates. The black bar seems to be an
estimate, a kind of graphical clue, as to % completed. (and while
we're at it, what's the dif between % complete and % work complete?
Time vs. work?)

Thanks. Naomi

 

[Naomi Nissen]

Correction taken - I really didn't mean estimate myself. I was
certain the bar was based on a calculation. But given it's a
graphical representation, that's where the estimation comes into play
- it's an eyeball, not a number. Thanks for the rundown on these
calculations. I'll print this out and study it!

Naomi

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Naomi --

You are more than welcome, my friend!