1. SSI Toolbox Status Workbook Overview
SSI Status Workbook Overview
The SSI Status Workbook tool makes a turn-around status worksheet for each task owner in a Microsoft Project file
A task owner is the person responsible for assessing the performance of certain tasks in a schedule
Task owners must be identified, in a text or Contact field, for each task and milestone in a project file in order to use this tool
The SSI Status Workbook tool makes a worksheet in the workbook, based on the sheet named “Template”, for each unique task owner
Distribute these sheets to each task owner as a “look ahead” report of near term tasks in the schedule
Task owners can markup their worksheet and return to the scheduler for incorporation into the Integrated Master Schedule
The workbook tool automates much of the status gathering and posting process, allowing maximum time for change & variance analysis

2. SSI Toolbox Quick Guide – When Starting a New Status Workbook
Open a new workbook in Excel
Press Status Turnaround Workbook on the SSI Tools menu
With the tab named Template Sheet Setup open
Press Get The Master Template to add a worksheet named Template to the active Excel workbook
If needed, add or edit Columns in the Excel sheet named Template as follows:
Add or Delete columns in the Excel sheet named Template sheet between columns D through T
If adding a column, enter “user friendly” column title (one your team will recognize) on Row 2 in the Excel sheet named Template
Right-Click and select Insert Comment or Edit Comment in the new column on row 2
Enter the actual Microsoft Project field name (exactly as used in Microsoft Project) as the cell comment.
Make the items below the section named Map Columns in the Worksheet (WS) to Project Field Names match the columns in the Excel sheet named Template. Be sure to use actual Microsoft Project field name (exactly as used in Microsoft Project) instead of your “friendly” titles
With the tab named Make Status Sheets open
Use the drop-down list next to the button named Get Task Owner Names Listed in Project Field >> to select a Microsoft Project text field containing Task Owners (sometimes called Control Account Manager or CAM)
Click the button named Get Task Owner Names Listed in Project Field >>
Select the names that appear in the list box next to the button named Make a Sheet for Each Select Name
Click the button named Make a Sheet for Each Select Name >>. Notice that a new worksheet is added to the workbook for each named selected in the list.
Click the button named Get Tasks

3. SSI Toolbox Quick Guide – When Using an Existing Status Workbook
Open a existing Status Workbook in Excel
Press Status Turnaround Workbook on the SSI Tools menu
With the tab named Template Sheet Setup open
If needed, add or edit Columns in the Excel sheet named Template as follows:
Add or Delete columns in the Excel sheet named Template sheet between columns D through T
If adding a column, enter “user friendly” column title (one your team will recognize) on Row 2 in the Excel sheet named Template
Right-Click and select Insert Comment or Edit Comment in the new column on row 2
Enter the actual Microsoft Project field name (exactly as used in Microsoft Project) as the cell comment.
Make the items below the section named Map Columns in the Worksheet (WS) to Project Field Names match the columns in the Excel sheet named Template. Be sure to use actual Microsoft Project field name (exactly as used in Microsoft Project) instead of your “friendly” titles
With the tab named Make Status Sheets open
*Use the drop-down list next to the button named Get Task Owner Names Listed in Project Field >> to select a Microsoft Project text field containing Task Owners (sometimes called Control Account Manager or CAM)
*Click the button named Get Task Owner Names Listed in Project Field >>
*Select the names that appear in the list box next to the button named Make a Sheet for Each Select Name
*Click the button named Make a Sheet for Each Select Name >>. Notice that a new worksheet is added to the workbook for each named selected in the list.
Click the button named Get Tasks
* Note skip steps 4 – 7 if you are not making changes to the Template and you already have sheets for each Task Owner. SSI Tools will refresh existing Task Owner sheets whenever you press Get Tasks

4. SSI Toolbox Status Workbook Content
Generating Status Worksheets
Setup a Template for extracting project data
Setup the Template to meet your project’s needs
SSI Status Worksheet Generation
Saving Worksheets for Task Owners
File Save Location
Completion of Status sheets by Task Owners
Color Codes and Other Indicators
Tracking changes in a user’s sheet
Compare Original Vs. Updated Worksheets
Setup and Change Indicators
Posting Changed Data to a Project
Posting worksheet values to Microsoft Project
Advanced Features & Recommendations

5. Generating Status Worksheets Create a Template
Add a Template sheet to a new workbook
If the active Excel Workbook does not contain a Template for Status Worksheets, you can add one by Pressing Get The Master Template
Then use Map Columns in the Worksheet (WS) to Project Field Names to identify which Microsoft Project fields contain the data for each column in the Template from D-T
Press Get the Master Template if you are using an Excel workbook that does not have a sheet named Template
The column names in the map must match the exact field names in Microsoft Project

6. Generating Status Worksheets Create a Template
Setup the Template to meet your project’s needs
Open the sheet named Template and create a layout to meet your needs
Row 1 automatically captures the Project Status Date above the Name or Task Name column.
Columns A-C are fixed and should not be changed
Columns D-T can be added, deleted or changed to meet the project’s needs.
Titles on row 2 in Columns A – T can be “user friendly” and do not need to match Microsoft Project field names since you will map these columns to MS Project fields using the section named Map Columns in the Worksheet (WS) to Project Field Names
It’s helpful to add cell comments in row 2 showing the exact Microsoft Project field names used for the source of data for the column

7. Status Workbook Making Worksheets for Task Owners
SSI Status Worksheet Generation
Open a Microsoft Project file, remove all filters and select a task view such as the Gantt Chart.
Press Ctrl Shift S to start the SSI Status Worksheet tool or pick the macro named ShowSSIStatusWorkbookTools.
Click Get Task Owner Names in Project to create a list of unique task owners (Task Owners are taken from the Project field selected)
Select task owner names in the list and click Make a Sheet for Each Selected Name to create a worksheet sheet in the workbook for each name selected (new worksheets will be based on the sheet named “Template”
Click Get Tasks to get items from the project for each task owner that match the date range criteria on Setup Options for Project Data

8. Status Workbook Saving Worksheets for Task Owners
Save Options for Worksheets
Once worksheets have been created, you can create a separate Excel file for each worksheet (or tab in the workbook) by entering a “Save to” and “Save as” options.
Browse to the system location to save each individual worksheet and press Save Sheets as.
Individual sheets can be posted to a common network location, sent by or any other method of providing them to task owners.

9. Status Workbook Worksheet Completion By Task Owner
SSI Status Worksheet Completion
Yellow highlights note that task performance must be assessed by the task owner. Tasks with Start/Finish dates prior to the project status, but no actual performance, show as Yellow cells with red text to indicate an update is required.
Blue cells are tasks due to Start or Finish in the next reporting period and gray cells show Actual Start or Finish dates.
Some cell contain notes to provide additional information about a task like its baseline date or resource assignment details. Mouse over a cell to see these comments.

10. Status Workbook Track Changes in a Worksheet
Use Track Changes to identify updates provided by the task owners
Click Track Changes to compare the current value in each cell with its original value (original values are recorded in each cell’s notes) 
Changed values appear as cells with a thick border and a slash through the cell.
Changed values may be highlighted using Color Options for Tracking Changes

11. Status Workbook Posting Changes in the Project
Post changed values directly in Microsoft Project or use the tab named Post Status to copy values from an updated worksheet to mapped fields in Microsoft Project.
Select the Workbook and Worksheet containing updates to be posted
Match the columns in the worksheet to fields in Project. Note - This mapping can be different than the mapping on the tab named Setup Options for Project Data
Select a Project Field Used to Indicate a Task Change Was Posted.
Posted values from the worksheet appear as shown below – thick cell borders and a X through the cell
When a value is copied from a worksheet to a Project field a log entry is recorded in the Project Field Used to Indicate a Task Change was Posted

12. Status Workbook Posting Changes in the Project
SSI Recommends the following when posting data from worksheets to an active project:
Post Date changes to “Static” date fields using Start/Finish1 – 10
Allows the analyst to inspect and evaluate each date change, in turn, for its impact on linked tasks before entering updated dates as scheduled Start or Finish dates
Post Percent Complete changes to Physical % Complete or a Number field.
Allows the analyst to inspect and evaluate each percent complete change, in turn, for its impact on linked tasks before entering them as duration or work percent complete
Post updates to Work or Cost to Number fields.
Allows the analyst to inspect and evaluate the impact of each change to resource assignments before moving these values to Remaining Work or Remaining Cost
Meet with each task owner to review status, to ensure complete and accurate status was provided and to review how changed values impact key dates in the project.
Anytime a value is copied from a worksheet to a Project field a log entry is recorded in the Project Field Used to Indicate a Task Change was Posted

13. Status Workbook Additional User Notes – advanced features
If you use the key words “EV Method” as a column title in your status worksheet, SSI Tools will attempt to convert MPM Earned Value Methods into “user friendly” definitions such as “LOE” or “Pct Cmp”. This only happens if SSI Tools detects an expected value in the Microsoft Project field you map to this column.
Use the word “None” as the “Field in Project on the tab named “Setup Options for Project Data” to ignore a column in a worksheet
Use the key words “Latest Start” or “Latest Finish” as the “Field in Project on the tab named “Setup Options for Project Data” to calculate the latest date a task can start or finish without delaying a successor task.
The word “Formula” in a column (after column T) on row 1 on the Template worksheet is a SSI Tools keyword. This causes any formula you type on row 3 of the same column to be applied when extracting data to worksheets.

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