Smagma's question is fairly confused, not getting off to a good start
talking about Work rather than Tasks, but everythinbg he wants to do with
tracking can be done.
This is from an earlier thread in August 2008:
MSP knows about three aspects of any Task:
a.. Duration (measured in Working Days)
b.. Cost (measured in Dollars)
c.. Work (measured in Hours).
Most of the fields needed for Tracking, the important ones, are in the
Tracking Table.
There are four important numbers associated with these three aspects of any
Task:
DURATION
a.. Total Duration
b.. Actual Duration
c.. Remaining Duration
d.. % Complete = Actual/Total
COST
a.. Total Cost
b.. Actual Cost
c.. Remaining Cost
d.. % Cost Complete = Actual/Total
WORK
a.. Total Work
b.. Actual Work
c.. Remaining Work
d.. % Work Complete = Actual/Total
There are built-in fields for all of these, except % Cost Complete, and it
is easy to make one for this by using a spare Text field.
Only any two of these are independent, since Actual + Remaining = Total..
Be especially careful about using % Complete, which is about Duration, to
represent how much of the Task has been done.
Note that in MSP, % Complete is about the Duration, only.
MSP does not know (directly) about the progress of the Task itself.
Only the person who looks at the Task can know how much of it is done, how
much remains and how long that will take, ie what the Remaining Duration is.
Only the person who looks at the Task can make a decision about the estimate
of the Remaining Duration.
The Remaining Duration is the really important number because, as we saw,
this is what has an effect on the Successor Tasks and the Project Finish
Date.
Estimating the Remaining Duration when a Task is part complete is a second
chance to get the estimate right after an observation of how the Task is
going.
A Task is usually about something like laying the bricks or pouring the
concrete, and this gives rise to 4 similar values associated with the Task
itself:
a.. Total Task
b.. Actual Task
c.. Remaining Task
d.. % Task Complete = Actual/Total
A Task can also be something relatively easy to measure, such as "Lay 10000
bricks", or less tangible than laying bricks, but no less manageable, such
as "Write A Report" or "Draw a Drawing".
This is where the human judgement and estimating come in, in judging the
progress and the production rate and deciding whether the original estimate
was good or bad, and whether a re-estimate, and a change to the Remaining
Duration, is required.
Some Tasks, such as laying bricks, are easy to measure.
These Tasks, the ones that are easy to measure, can have longer Durations..
Other Tasks, which are harder to measure, must have shorter Durations, or
they will not be controllable.
Be wary of any progress for anything being reported as "x%".
If presented with such a number, ask "x% of what?"
A percent measurement of anything must always have a numerator and a
denominator, and you should be clear about what they are in every case.
With so much data available, and calculations being done by MSP in the
background, it is essential to have a standard, reliable, repeatable way of
setting up MSP so that you can see what you are doing when logging progress
and updating the project plan.
This checklist/procedure is intended, primarily, to ensure that before you
start Tracking and updating that you can see what you are doing.
You may wish to develop your own procedure, but make sure you can see what
you are doing:
1.. Save a Baseline (Tools, Tracking, Save Baseline)
2.. Set a Status Date (Project, Project Information, Status Date)
3.. Show Tracking Gantt View (View, Tracking Gantt)
4.. Show Tracking Table (View, Table, Tracking)
5.. Show Tracking Toolbar (View, Toolbar, Tracking )
6.. Format Gridlines to show the Status Date, Current Date, Start Date etc
((Format, Gridlines)
Record keeping is the key to having the necessary, accurate, data when you
need it.
You need to work out exactly what records are needed and ensure that they
are kept.
Many projects do not maintain accurate records, which makes meaningful
tracking impossible.
When logging progress, start with getting the answers to simple questions
which are based on objective records and the facts:
1.. When did the Task Actually Start (if it has started)?
2.. What has been the Actual Duration?
3.. When did the Task Actually Finish (if it is finished)?
Then, move unused Duration, for the un-completed Task or parts of the Task
into the future relative to the Status Date (3rd button on the Tracking
Toolbar).
Then, re-estimate the Remaining Duration. The Remaining Duration is not
really a "fact" because it is in the future, but it is very close to being a
fact.
Every time a Task is measured and updated, it presents an opportunity to
re-estimate what remains.
The sequence is important.
If you get it wrong you can end up chasing your tail.
Start with the Actual Start Date, then the Actual Duration, then the
Remaining Duration.
% Complete is calculated by MSP after typing in the Actual Duration and
again after typing in the Remaining Duration.
Suppose the Status Date is Day 6 of a Task originally estimated to take 10
Days.
When there are 6 Days of Actual Duration out of 10, % Complete = 60%.
Suppose production (ie the Task) that has been achieved is half what was
expected, say 3000 bricks laid out of 10000 instead of 6000 estimated.
It will take 14 Days to lay the 7000 remaining bricks.
After changing the Remaining Duration from 4 Days to 14 Days, MSP
re-calculates % Complete = 30% because Actual Duration is now 6 Days out of
20 Days total.
However, it would be completely incorrect to type 30% into the % Complete
field based on the observed 3000 Bricks out of 10000 Bricks.
If it doesn't make sense, and/or if it contradicts the records and/or the
facts, then it is wrong.
A Task cannot have an Actual Start Date or an Actual Finish Date in the
future of the Current Date or the Status Date.
Unused parts of Duration in the past must be moved into the future, whichis
the only place where Tasks can be done.
MSP will allow you to create ambiguous or even ludicrous results.
But just because the software allows it doesn't mean that you should do it.
Typing in % Complete is perhaps the most common mistake in project progress
Tracking.
Do not type in % Complete.
Let MSP calculate the percentages from the records, the actuals and the
facts.
--
Trevor Rabey
0407213955
61 8 92727485
PERFECT PROJECT PLANNINGwww.perfectproject.com.au
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