how to prevent time approval from unhiding tasks

[Stephan Steiner]

Hi

We currently allow our resources to hide tasks manually - we even have a
tool that allows them to unhide hidden tasks if they accidentally hid one
too many. This works quite well, but there are a few things messing with our
system:

If any change is made to the project plan that has an influence on those
tasks, the assignment will show up again in the timesheet, even if the
remaining work has already been set to 0 (to indicate there's no more work
to be done by the assigned resource and the task in question).

Likewise, if a resource reports time, then hides the task, and then a few
days after the project manager approves those hours, the assignment
reappears as well. We are dealing with quite large timesheets, so resources
being able to set the remaining time to 0 and hide an assignment, and not
having to worry about it reappearing again (unless maybe the project manager
does not approve the hours.. but in that case project managers are supposed
to use the phone and not just not approve the hours). Is there any
alternative other than updating the MSP_WEB_ASSIGNMENTS table and set tasks
with remaining work 0 to hidden automatically every few minutes so that even
with the hours are approved, the assignment won't show up in the timesheet
again and the resource will have to hide it again?

Regards
Stephan

 

[Gary L. Chefetz [MVP]]

Stephan:

I'd call the first scenario sloppy schedule maintenance. If a task is
finished, and an actual start and finish recorded, then there should be no
changes in the plan that cause these to become "new and changed." If that's
happening, then you need to look at how your PMs are handling their
schedules.

The second scenario is by design. The system assumes that you want to see
the PM's acceptance before you hide the task. So, the answer is to extend
your use of customization to help manage tasks that fall into this system
gap. The alternative is to get your PMs to make a habit of same-day update
approval.