PWA Time adding delays..

[Anthony]

We imported an existing project into project server. If a user is assigned to
a task that starts on 1/1 with no actual time, then they enter in time on say
2/1, project is adding a delay of a month and pushing their end date out. How
can we stop this from happening. We are migrating people to project server
for project and time tracking ,but when they enter time for the first time,
delays are added and screwing up the plan.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Anthony --

When a team member enters actuals in the PWA timesheet on an unstarted task,
the system assumes that the first date in which actuals are entered is the
Actual Start date of the task. Therefore, if a task is supposed to begin on
January 1, but does not begin until February 1, then the system reschedules
the task until one month later, based on the Actual Start date of the work.
All successor tasks will be delayed as well by one month.

This is a real-world interpretation of the actuals that were entered. How
else would you want the system to respond? Let us know.

 

[Anthony]

What is happening is that the task is started on 1/1, but until now time has
been tracked manually in another process. Now that we are rolling our teams
into project server, we wanted to track time using project server in the
middle of task and assumed that project server would know that the actual
time in the project plan before import is existing for for that resource
rather than looking at its first time entry as the start date. In other
words, why doesnt the start date for a resource on a task in the project plan
over rule when the date time is entered?

 

[Anthony]

In simpler words: The tasks have been started prior to importing. I would
think that because there is Actual time in the task prior to publising, it
would know that when the resource first enters time via the web, its not the
resources first time entry since the resource has actuals entered in the plan
prior to uploading.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Anthony --

Thanks for the clarification. After you import the project containing
actuals into Project Server, you must immediately do the following:

1. Click Collaborate - Publish - Republish Assignments
2. Select the "Overwrite actual work entered by resources" option
3. Click OK

Doing so will "push" the actuals from the Microsoft Project plan to each
team member's timesheet in PWA. From the description of your problem, I
believe you probably did not perform this step, which would be the source of
your problem. Hope this helps.

 

[Anthony]

Actually, I did perform this step based on a reply from you to a question I
had last week. Since the delays were added and screwed things up, I fixed
them and manually updated the actuals in project client. I then republished
those assignments and checked "overwrite actuals entered.." option. So now,
the project plan online reflects the correct actuals and the delays have been
removed. When the team enters time again on Friday, the tasks should not have
delays added right?

thanks

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Anthony --

If the timesheet shows Actual Work each day from Monday through Thursday,
then no, there will be no delay when the team member enters actuals on
Friday. If there is a 0h entry or a blank in any cell from Tuesday through
Thursday, and then the team member enters actuals on Friday, then the system
will show a split in the task. Hope this helps.

 

[Anthony]

Does this mean that unless we tell users to enter actuals daily, that is will
show a split each week. In other words, we are allowing them to either enter
their weekly time across 5 days (M-F) or just on friday (i.e. 8 hours x 5
days or just 40 hours on Friday), but will this cause a split each week in
the task? Thanks

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Anthony --

I'm puzzled what you are trying to accomplish. What is your objection to
task splits?

We recommend that wherever possible, team members should enter their actuals
on a daily basis in their PWA timesheet and then submit their updates to the
project manager at the end of the week. If a team member enters 8 hours of
Actual Work each day of the week (M, T, Th, F), but on Wednesday enters 0
hours of Actual Work to show that no work was performed, then the software
will show a task split to indicate that no work was performed on that day.
Why do you object to the task split in a case like this? This is the actual
historical data of how the work was performed.

The bigger issue, I think, would be to find out why the team member
performed no work on the task on Wednesday. Was he/she pulled off this
project to work on another project, or was he/she out sick that day so that
no work could be performed? Just some thoughts. Hope this helps.

 

[Anthony]

Thanks for your answer. Task splits probably arent going to be a big issue if
they happen. People on our project give time to other project (but those
arent tracked in project server), so they may only work 3 hours a week on a
task, so we dont exepect them to enter time each day which is why we thought
it would be ok for them to just enter 3 hours for friday vs. 1 hour Mon-Weds.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Anthony --

Thanks for explaining. I think that your situation is definitely a
"training and performance" issue with two groups. First of all, I would
recommend you teach your team members to report actuals using the following
method, if possible:

1. Enter Actual Work on a daily basis (enter 0 hours when no work was
performed on a task after the task has already started)
2. Adjust the Remaining Work as necessary to indicate an early finish or an
estimated late finish
3. Insert a task note on any task in which you the Remaining Work value
4. Submit task updates to your project manager at the end of the week

If your team members use the above methodology, the second issue will be
with your project managers. You must teach them not to "freak out" when
they see task splits and you must teach them what a task split actually
means, which is a normal part of the project management process when team
members enter actuals on a daily basis. The PM's need to see the tasks
splits as important information in the project, and they should want to dig
deeper to find out why the team member performed no actual work on a day.
Just some thoughts to help you on your way. Hope this helps.