Assignment-Level Tracking Field Calculations in Microsoft® Office Project Kelly Jones PMO Manager, Information Systems Sharp Healthcare

Agenda  Why Track Progress?  Scope of Presentation  MS-Project Tracking Fields  Other Fields that Affect MS-Project Tracking  Calculation Formulas and Options  Report Definitions  Viewing and Editing Assignment Tracking Fields  Project Server Timesheet Tracking Modes

Why Track Progress?  Monitor  Critical Path  Budget  Status Reporting  Forecasting  Earned Value  Build historical information for future project metrics

Scope of Presentation  Updating of assignment tracking fields only  No direct discussion of task-level tracking field updates  No direct discussion of cost  Actual Cost and Remaining Cost are byproducts of actual work and fixed work  We will discuss Actual Work  How do task types affect the calculations?  How does an assignment update affect a task with a single assignment?  Avoid multiple assignment calculations!  Only discuss assignment- level calculations for fields that have both assignment and task levels

MS-Project Tracking Fields  Assignment-level tracking fields  Actual Start  Actual Finish  Actual Work  % Work Complete  Remaining Work  Timephased Actual Work  Task-level tracking fields  Includes all assignment-level fields plus duration- based fields  %Complete  Actual Duration  Remaining Duration

Other fields that affect assignment-level tracking  Scheduled Fields  Assignment Level Only  Assignment Units  Task Level Only  Duration  Assignment and Task Level  Work  Start  Finish  Task Type  Fixed Duration  Fixed Units  Fixed Work  Assignment Delay  Affects individual assignment start date calculations

Calculation Formulas  Duration formulas (task level only)  % Complete = 100 x (Actual Duration / Duration)  Duration = Actual Duration + Remaining Duration  Work formulas (task and assignment levels)  % Work Complete = 100 x Actual Work / Work  Work = Actual Work + Remaining Work  Scheduling formula  Work = Duration * Units

Calculation Options  Updating task status updates resource status  The default value (checked) is assumed  Status Date  Determines date that actuals are posted  Defaults to today if left NA  Useful if you are entering actuals from previous day  Can be changed using Project, Project Information  New options on the Calculations tab of the Options dialog box  Move end of completed parts after status date back to status date  And move start of remaining parts back to status date  Move start of remaining parts before status date forward to status date  And move end of completed parts forward to status date

Report Definitions  Assignment/ Task Status  Started  Actual Start <> NA  Not Started  Actual Start = NA  Finished  Actual Finish <> NA  Not Finished  Actual Finish = NA  Updated Value  Field value that is being updated  Scheduled Value  Scheduled value of field corresponding to actual field being calculated

Viewing and editing assignment tracking fields  Standard MS-Project assignment views  Task Usage  Groups assignments by task and sorts by resource  Resource Usage  Groups assignments by resource and sorts by task  Other methods for updating these fields  Assignment Information Dialog  Double-click an assignment to see the assignment-specific fields.  Assign Resources dialog  Task Form

Project Server Timesheet Tracking  All updates performed at the assignment level  Modes  Percentage of Work Complete  Total Actual Work and Remaining Work  Timesheet Calculation:  scheduled Work – Actual Work = Remaining Work  Timephased Actual Work and Remaining Work  Timesheet Calculation:  scheduled Work – Actual Work = Remaining Work

Assignment-Level Tracking Field Calculations in Microsoft® Office Project Kelly Jones PMO Manager, Information Systems Sharp Healthcare