Stop Actual Work from impacting Work

[Char]

Hi, is it possible to enter a value in the actual work field without it
making a change to the work field?

In the timephased portion of the task usage view I enter a vlaue in the
actual work cell for a given day but I don't want the work cell to change. So
for a task that has work of 8 hours, I entered actual work of 5. I would like
for work to remain at 8.

Looking forward to answer. Thanks!

 

[Rod Gill]

In the past, work will and must always equal actual work. Baseline Work is
the field used to record what the work was. So, select Tools, Tracking, Set
Baseline and save a Baseline. Now work=8h, Baseline Work=8h and Actual
Work=0h.
Set Actual Work to 5h, Work becomes 5h but Baseline Work will remain at 8h.
The 3h of work you didn't do will be added to the end of the Assignment
unless you adjust Remaining Work down by 3h.

--

Rod Gill
Microsoft MVP for Project

Author of the only book on Project VBA, see:
http://www.projectvbabook.com

 

[Gary L. Chefetz]

Char:

This is a matter of whether the tool should allow you to contradict history.
You think it should, but it doesn't work that way. If you planned to work 8
hours, and then work only 5, you can't leave the currently planned value at
8 and make any sense of it. Why would you continue to plan to work 8 hours
when the known value is only 5? Like Rod points out, baselines are there to
preserve initial values.

--
----------
Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
MSProjectExperts
Project Server Consulting: http://www.msprojectexperts.com
Project Server Training: http://www.projectservertraining.com
Project Server FAQS: http://www.projectserverexperts.com
Project Server Help Blog: http://www.projectserverhelp.com

 

[Char]

Thank you Rod and Gary. Your responses are exactly what I wanted to hear!

 

[Christina]

This may be a silly question... but do you know why the values entered in the
Baseline Work field does not correlate with the values entered in the
Baseline Work field in the Timesheet section in the Task Usage View?

Meaning, I have a project where I have inserted the Baseline Work column
(field) into my Task Usage view. On the right-hand side of the screen where
the timesheet section is, I use the "Work", "Act Work", and "Base Work"
fields. If I enter values in the "Base Work" field for specific days that
work is scheduled, I notice that the corresponding field on the left side of
the screen does not change as a result of what is entered. However, if I
schedule Work to happen on specific days for a certain number of hours in the
Timesheet section, the corresponding Work field on the left side DOES change
based on what I entered.

Is this working as designed? In this particular project, we aren't setting
a baseline at the project level. Rather, certain tasks may have a Baseline
and others don't.

Thanks!
Christina

 

[Rod Gill]

The baseline data is never edited or changed in any way by Project unless
you manually request it to (EG save baseline). This is by design and
desirable so you control it completely. Editing the baseline data for a time
period will therefore have no effect on any other baseline value.

--

Rod Gill
Microsoft MVP for Project

Author of the only book on Project VBA, see:
http://www.projectvbabook.com

 

[Christina]

Ahh. That makes sense.

Thank you!

The baseline data is never edited or changed in any way by Project unless
you manually request it to (EG save baseline). This is by design and
desirable so you control it completely. Editing the baseline data for a time
period will therefore have no effect on any other baseline value.

--

Rod Gill
Microsoft MVP for Project

Author of the only book on Project VBA, see:
http://www.projectvbabook.com