Timesheet's data is making the dates shift

[Coco]

A year into a big project (with 14 PMS updating the Gantt daily) we decided
to try out Project Server and PWA to get actual work hours from the team
members.
It wasn't long before we realized that as the actuals were committed to the
Gantt, the dates were shifting left and right.
When we called Microsoft, we were told that this was a training issue, and
that Project Server was a different beast than Pro.
Is there a best practice to keep the tasks from shifting when being updated?

Thank you,
Coco

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Coco --

What is your default method of tracking progress in Project Server?

 

[Coco]

Dale -

Actual work hours and remaining hours are the only fields that we let the
team members enter.
The PMs used to update the tasks by changing the % complete, which had to
stop to allow the actual hours to do what they were supposed to do. I do
believe that we (as PMs or team members) are doing something wrong, that's
why i'm asking that question.

 

[John Sitka]

It wasn't long before we realized that as the actuals were committed to the

Gantt, the dates were shifting left and right.

So what part of this history would you like to rewrite?
Project is a calculation engine for dates There are a bunch of settings that can come into play
but start with a very simple idea about what is going on.

PM had a task set to finish in two days, 1 resource working 8 hours a day = 16 hours work
with a two day duration. If my resources does not record those 8 hours a day as work done on that task
the work is not ASSUMED to have been done. So Project calculates the finish date for the task without
assuming any progress has been made(two days wasted against the original plan). So the resource was delinquent in it's reporting OR
it didn't do the work.
Either way that is the truth as far as Project sees it. This is in direct conflict with most Project Management or general human
ways of envisioning the future course of events. Humans are perfectly comfortable with declaring their
intentions as fact. But when it becomes explicitly "actual work" you did towords a project and your "new best estimate"
as to how much work is left it is much more dificult. Only a single planning "date" should be entered; Project Start for forward
scheduling, or Project End for backward scheduling. All other "dates" are dynamically calculated once tracking.
There are numerous ways to include noncalculated dates in the body of a project that can be used for comparison to
the reality that is unfolding around you.

So now this idea of tracking SEEMS impossible. It's too big!!!. No it is very simple and involves a very tiny contribution
from EACH member on the team. But because all of human experience has relied on the false hope that what I say will
be done at the time "I" said it would, or more often when my "boss" said it would, it is a tough thing to understand at first
glance.
Just keep at it and it removes a huge amount of stress when trying to get things done. We all need hopeful outlooks on what we
plan to achieve but by maintaining focus on the task at hand our performance goes up, creativity fourishes, work becomes flowing
and is much more fun.
People live longer, make more money, etc. etc. Amazing the power of actual and remaining vs. start, finish, percent complete.

 

[Gary L. Chefetz [MVP]]

Coco:

Entering actual work is supposed to make the dates shift, unless everything
happens as exactly as planned on your work planet.<g>