Updating Tasks with Actual Data

If you’ve spent a lot of time in planning a project, nothing is more exciting than seeing the first few project tasks completed. The project is finally underway and all the hard work that went into preparing for the project begins to pay off. In Chapter 15, we’ll discuss e-mail, the most common method of communicating with project team members about the status of their tasks. In Chapters 21 and 22 we’ll look at the communication tools available if you’re using Project 2002 Server, including the Web Access feature that lets others view project details from their web browsers. All of these methods automatically update the project with actual work, timephased work, percent complete, and start and finish dates.

Note 

Timephased work is work on tasks as it appears on Project’s timescale. Team members can report timephased work by using either Project’s e-mail or Project Server-based tools.

In the next section, we’ll describe each of the data fields that you can use to track project data and then provide an overview of the different ways you can use to update data.

Understanding the Project Update Fields

Some tasks may not have resources assigned to them; or, for whatever reason, perhaps you can’t include certain resources in the workgroup communication process. Fortunately, Project lets you manually record progress on these tasks.

For tasks that do not have resources assigned to them, you can manually update the following:

  • Actual Start and Finish

  • Task Status, including Percent Complete, Actual Duration and Remaining Duration

  • Costs

For the tasks to which you have assigned resources, you can also update

  • Actual Work

  • Timephased Work

Actual Start and Finish Dates

Actual Start is the date and time when a task actually begins. Project calculates this date based on entries to the Percent Complete field, Actual Work, or Percent Work Completed fields. You can also manually adjust the Actual Start date. However, if you do, the scheduled Start Date field changes to match the Actual Start Date you enter.

Actual Finish is calculated when there is 0 remaining work or when the Percent Complete or Percent Work Complete fields are set to 100%.

Note 

Both Actual Start and Actual Finish contain NA until there are values to display.

Percent Complete

The % Complete field is the percentage difference between Actual Duration and Duration. The formula Project uses is % Complete = Actual Duration / Duration * 100.

When you enter % Complete, Project automatically calculates Actual Duration and Remaining Duration. If you enter Actual Duration, Remaining Duration, or Actual Work (because it affects Actual Duration), Project calculates Percent Complete.

Tip 

In addition to the % Complete field, which is based on Actual Duration/Duration, Project also has a % Work Complete field that is based on the amount of actual work completed on the project (percent work complete = (actual work/work) * 100). If you want to enter % Work Complete, switch to any sheet view (for example, Task Sheet/Tracking table), and insert the % Work Complete column into the sheet.

Actual and Remaining Duration

Actual Duration is the total span of working time, regardless of the actual number of hours (amount of work) spent on a task. If a task, for example, starts on Monday and is completed on Friday, the Actual Duration is five days.

Remaining Duration is the difference between Scheduled Duration and Actual Duration. Project also calculates Remaining Duration based on the entry in Percent Completed. For example, if the duration of a task is five days and the task is 50% completed, the Remaining Duration is two and a half days.

Warning 

If you assign resources to tasks and use the effort-driven scheduling default, do not enter Actual Duration. Instead, you should enter Actual Work. If the Actual Duration you enter is greater than the value in the Duration (Scheduled Duration) field, Microsoft Project updates Duration to equal Actual Duration, changes Remaining Duration to 0, and marks the task as 100% complete. For more about effort-driven scheduling, see Chapter 10.

Actual Costs

Actual Costs include costs incurred by the project to date for resources and fixed costs attached to a task. Project calculates this field based on Actual Work, Actual Overtime Work, Per Use Cost, and Fixed Cost. The formula that Project uses is

Actual Cost = (Actual Work * Standard Rate)

+ (Actual Overtime Work * Overtime Rate)

+ Resource Per Use Costs + Task Fixed Cost

Because of the complexity of calculating prorated actual costs, we recommend that you generally let Project calculate Actual Cost; however, you can specify whether you enter actual costs or have Microsoft Project automatically calculate them. Follow these steps to calculate Actual Costs manually:

  1. Click Tools Ø Options and then click the Calculation tab.

  2. Uncheck the Actual Costs Are Always Calculated by Microsoft Project check box.

  3. Click OK to close the Options dialog box and save the changes.

If you choose to manually calculate actual costs, any actual costs you already entered will be cleared. If you choose to have Microsoft Project calculate actual costs, you can manually enter additional actual costs after the task is 100% complete.

Actual Work

Project calculates Actual Work based on the amount of work completed by the resources assigned to the project. This field is not available if you do not have resources assigned to a task. When you manually enter Actual Work, Project calculates Percent Work Complete and Remaining Work according to these formulas:

Percent Work Complete = Actual Work/Work

Remaining Work = Work ñ Actual Work

When you enter Percent Complete, Percent Work Complete, or Actual Work, Microsoft Project updates Actual Work for the task.

Timephased Actual Work is the actual work broken down into time periods. For more information about entering timephased Actual Work, see “Tracking Timephased Actual Work,” later in this chapter.

Entering Task Update Data

You can update most project data by using the Tracking table in Task Sheet view. This view, shown in Figure 12.1, contains the Actual Start (Act. Start) and Finish (Act. Finish), Percent Complete (% Comp.), Physical Percent Complete (Phys. % Comp.), Actual Duration (Act. Dur.), Remaining Duration (Rem. Dur.), Actual Cost (Act. Cost), and Actual Work (Act. Work) fields. You can enter data into every column except the Actual Costs column. This is, by default, a calculated column. See the previous section, “Understanding the Project Update Fields,” to see how to enter values in this field.

To switch to the Task Sheet/Tracking Table view, follow these steps:

  1. Choose View Ø More Views to display the More Views dialog box.

  2. Select Task Sheet, and then click OK.

  3. Now choose ViewsØ Table ØTracking.

    click to expand
    Figure 12.1: Use the Task Sheet view to update task data.

To enter date data into the table, click the appropriate cell and then click the down arrow. Select a date from the drop-down calendar.

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To enter numeric values in fields such as % Comp. and Act. Dur., first click the cell; then use the spin box controls to change the values, or simply type a number in the cell.

Using the Tracking Toolbar

To provide easier access to common tracking operations, consider displaying Project’s Tracking toolbar. You activate the Tracking toolbar by choosing ViewØToolbarsØTracking.

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The Tracking toolbar, shown in Figure 12.2, is filled with useful shortcuts to help you track and update project information. Table 12.1 describes the function of each toolbar button.


Figure 12.2: The Tracking toolbar

Table 12.1: Tracking Toolbar Buttons

Button

Name

Description

Project Statistics

Opens the Project Statistics message box, shown in Figure12.3, that displays current, baseline, actual, and variance for Start, Finish, Duration, Work, and Costs.

Update as Scheduled

Changes the actual start and finish dates of all or selected tasks to match the schedule.

Reschedule Work

Reschedules the remaining duration on all or selected tasks to continue from the Status Date. You can set the Status Date in the Project Information dialog box (ProjectØProject Information).

Add Progress Lines

Add progress lines to a Gantt Chart view to visually seewhere the project is ahead and behind schedule. (See “Adding Progress Lines to the Gantt Chart” later inthis chapter.)

% Complete

Sets the percent complete on a taskfrom 0% to 100%.

Update Tasks

Opens the Update Tasks dialog box (see “Using the Update Tasks Dialog Box” later in this chapter).

Collaborate Toolbar

Opens the Collaborate toolbar (see “Using the Collaborate Toolbar” in Chapter 15).

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Figure 12.3: The Project Statistics message box

Using the Update Tasks Dialog Box

In the Update Tasks dialog box, shown in Figure 12.4, you can enter the percentage of work completed, the actual duration, remaining duration, actual start and finish, and notes. You can access this dialog box from the Tracking toolbar as well as from the menu by clicking ToolsØTrackingØUpdate Tasks.

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Figure 12.4: The Update Tasks dialog box

Updating Tasks for the Entire Project

If you are on schedule, you can quickly update the completed tasks in the project to 100% by choosing ToolsØTrackingØUpdate Project. This opens the Update Project dialog box shown in Figure 12.5.

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Figure 12.5: Update your tasks in the Update Project dialog box.

To update tasks for the entire project up through a specified date by using the Update Project dialog box, follow these steps:

  1. On the View menu, click Gantt Chart.

  2. Select ToolsØTrackingØUpdate Project.

  3. Click Update Work as Complete Through; then type or select the date through which you want progress updated.

  4. Click Set 0% or 100% Complete Only.

  5. Select Entire Project.

  6. Click OK.

    Note 

    If you want to update only some tasks in the project, select those tasks before opening the Update Project dialog box.

Entering Percent Complete

In addition to using the Update Tasks and Update Projects dialog box, you can update the percent complete by selecting the tasks you want to update and clicking the appropriate % Complete button on the Tracking toolbar—from 0% to 100%. (See “Using the Tracking Toolbar” earlier in this chapter.)

Finally, you can update the percent complete by dragging the left side of the Gantt bar. When you point to the left side of a bar on the Gantt chart, the pointer changes to a % symbol with a right-pointing arrow. Drag that arrow over the Gantt bar until the correct Complete Through date appears in the information box that opens.

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Tracking Timephased Actual Work

You can manually enter timephased actual work, or you can let Project enter it automatically based on data entered by resources when they respond to your requests for project updates. If you want to enter timephased actual work manually, or if you want to review timephased work entered from e-mail responses, follow these steps:

  1. Switch to Task Usage View (ViewØTask Usage).

  2. Choose the Tracking table (ViewØTablesØTracking).

  3. Click FormatØDetails, and select Actual Work.

In Figure 12.6, the timephased actual work was entered manually on a daily basis.

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Figure 12.6: Use the Tracking table to enter timephased Actual Work.

Tip 

Change the timescale of the Task Usage Tracking table by right-clicking on the gray area that displays the timescale and then choosing TimeScale.



Mastering Microsoft Project 2002
Mastering Microsoft Project 2002
ISBN: 0782141471
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 241

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