Task finish depends on view

[Stacey S.]

We utilize project and Project Server 2007.
Using the Gantt Chart view, the finish date for Task A (duration based) is
1/10/10. If I double click on the task in either the Task Usage or Resource
Usage views, the end date is early December. This (I think) is causing the
resource hours to be "front-loaded" i.e. no planned work is present for
December or early January.
I've double checked for constraints.
Additional Information: The time planned for Sept-Nov was higher than the
actual hours used. What is the best way to change this so the plan reflects
reality?
Thanks!

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi Stacey,

Try posting on the microsoft.public.project.server newsgroup (forum). Please see FAQ Item: 24. Project Newsgroups. FAQs, companion products and other useful Project information can be seen at this web address: http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm

Mike Glen
Project MVP


We utilize project and Project Server 2007.
Using the Gantt Chart view, the finish date for Task A (duration based) is
1/10/10. If I double click on the task in either the Task Usage or Resource
Usage views, the end date is early December. This (I think) is causing the
resource hours to be "front-loaded" i.e. no planned work is present for
December or early January.
I've double checked for constraints.
Additional Information: The time planned for Sept-Nov was higher than the
actual hours used. What is the best way to change this so the plan reflects
reality?
Thanks!

 

[Andrew Lavinsky]

Do you see a work contour icon in the resource or task usage views? Contours
can do funny things to task schedules.

What happens if you change the assignment contour to flat?
What happens if you delete the assignment and create a new one?

As for the Sept-Nov hours, you can either zero out the hours by zeroing out
Actual Work for those tasks, or you can push the remaining work out past the
status date by first setting the status date in Project > Project
Information, and then using the Reschedule Remaining Work icon in the
Tracking toolbar.

-A

 

[Stacey S.]

The work contour was flat. Sorry I didn't note that in the original post.
My concern is, if this is related to how our PMs are entering and updating
tasks, it will continue to be an issue. A recent training inidicated fixed
duration and fixed work (non-effort driven always) were the best ways to
input resource estimates.
If anyone else has experience with a better "best practice" please let us
know.
Thanks

 

[Andrew Lavinsky]

It all depends on your estimating methodology, there is no real right answer.
I generally find though that fixed duration or fixed work may be good in
the estimating stage, but when it comes to execution, I tend to shift to
fixed units - thus allowing duration to shift based on the revised work estimates.
In IT projects, that would generally be my approach. For construction projects,
I may consider using Fixed Duration in execution.

Are your PM's statusing their projects properly? I suspect they may not
be, as you appear to have incomplete work to the left of the status date.
That's generally a no no.

- Andrew Lavinsky
Blog: http://blogs.catapultsystems.com/epm