Tasks being extended

[Dave]

Hi

I am using Project Server and I have a problem with tasks being
artificially extended. I am using Project 2003.

What I mean by this is that the end of the task on the Gantt chart is
followed by a broken line (the same symbol that is used to illustrate a
task split). However, in these instances, there is no work following
the split and the task just ends with no extra work being scheduled post
the 'split'.

Dependent links follow on from the end of the 'split' element which
obviously plays havoc with scheduling.

This can happen with a variety of projects belonging to a large number
of people across the organisation.

If I look in the Task Usage view, I see periods of 0 work extending into
the future. I don't know where this '0' amount of scheduled work comes
from or why the length of the 'split' is as it is (it can vary from task
to task and they can be substantial).

If, within the Task Usage view I delete the elements of '0' work, then
the task duration comes back into line again and normal scheduling can
be resumed - until it happens again of course.

Has anybody seen this, does anybody now what causes and most importantly
does anybody now how to fix it permanently.

Any help gratefully received.

 

[Gary L. Chefetz [MVP]]

Dave:

Is it possible that users are submitting zero-hour updates to tasks where
they're entering hours for days that are past the completion date?

--

Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
MSProjectExperts
For Project Server Consulting: http://www.msprojectexperts.com
For Project Server FAQS: http://www.projectserverexperts.com

 

[Dave]

Dave:

Is it possible that users are submitting zero-hour updates to tasks
where they're entering hours for days that are past the completion date?

Hi Gary

I don't think that can be it. The extent of it is such that an enormous
number of staff would have to regularly submit zero-hour updates and I
don't think that is likely.

Furthermore, if I correct it, then it can come back again.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Dave

 

[Jackson T. Cole]

Yeah, been there, done that, and never figured out how to stop it!
Project Prof. is the problem, and I'm sure it has something to do with time
updates, the scheduling formula, and the type of task. Can you see any
consistent clues, such as always "effort driven", or always "fixed units",
etc?

JTC

 

[Dave]

Yeah, been there, done that, and never figured out how to stop it!
Project Prof. is the problem, and I'm sure it has something to do with time
updates, the scheduling formula, and the type of task. Can you see any
consistent clues, such as always "effort driven", or always "fixed units",
etc?

JTC

Most tasks will be fixed work. I can't see any pattern to it. I never
experienced this when I used Project Professional in a standalone role
or with a resource pool.

I'm surprised that there hasn't been more response to this. Is this a
relatively rare behaviour that I am seeing exhibited?

 

[Mel]

There is a known bug in the MS Project Professional tool that is
extending out dates and reducing hours scheduled to work per day.
If you were to extend the decimal places of the scheduled work out to
a few more digits, you'd probably see that the resources allocation
has dropped to the point where they're scheduled to work parts of
minutes per day out to around 2049.
Our company just received a hotfix that seems to clear up this bug -
not sure if it's been released to the general public or not, but we've
been monitoring the fix for a few days now, and no one has reported
any new occurrences of the issue so it seems to be pretty solid.
One thing to watch out for that isn't fixed that can cause the same
issue: calendar differences, especially for users who are scheduled
in their calendars to work less hours per day than the project's
calendar. We're seeing that if a user is scheduled to work, say, 6
hours per day, with a calendar of more than 6 hours, any actual time
they work over that 6 hours is redistributed across to the next day
instead of all of the time being put on the day that they work. We
don't see this when hours are manually put in, but we do see it in the
MSPS environment with hours input through PWA or SAP. This has been
reported to Microsoft for them to address in an upcoming hotfix.

Hope this helps,
mel

 

[Dave]

Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the issue I am seeing. If I
expand the timescale in the Task Usage view for example down to minutes,
then the work, actual work are all at 0.

Thanks for the suggestion. Any other ideas?

Dave

 

[crizco]

Hi Dave

Are these tasks Fixed Duration? I have this behaviour when the task is fixed
duration and the work from resources get completed earlier than planned.

For example, a resource completed their assignment earlier than the task's
finish date (remaining work zero). Since the task is fixed duration, it will
place zero's out to the end of the original finish date even though the
resource completed their assignment. You need to zero out remaining duration
to change the finish date to the last actual entered. Or you can delete the
allocated zero's in the task usage view (which does the same thing as
zero'ing out remaining duration). A fixed duration task will not show 100%
complete if there is remaining duration.