% Complete – MS Project 2013

[Abdul Rahman]

Hi,
This question is for Dave, if he has some availability to answer. Just wanted to know if it is ok to enter % Complete with a value like 10%, 20% etc in MS Project for the actual % of work completed for each task.

[Oliver Gildersleeve, Jr.]

Hover over the header for the %-complete column: the definition pops up: “100 * Actual Duration / Duration”. Thus, a 10 day task that started 5 workdays ago is 50% complete, even if nothing has been accomplished. So, don’t update with %-complete. Updating with %-complete leaves the task Finish date unchanged, as well as it’s critical successors, and it leaves an incomplete part of a task in the past or progress appearing the future.

When a resource reports %-complete, smile and put it in a custom column, then ask for Remaining Work or Remaining Duration. Nice to have is Actual Start. Microsoft Project will calculate the %-complete. Comparing the resource’s “%-complete” with the value calculated by Microsoft Project can give an indication if the resource believes their accomplishments are ahead or behind the task’s schedule.

Updating with %-complete is the misconception most prevalent in project management, I believe.

[Abdul Rahman]

Hi Oliver,
Thanks for the response, the scenario is, I’m entering manually the % Complete values as reported by resources on their respective tasks. The plan is manually scheduled and I’m not tracking resources or their working hours. Its a very loose matrix organization. Hence my job is to track the % complete of all the projects reported to me, hence using percent complete to do this job, as I update the % Complete for any job the summary % complete is updated, which I’m taking into account. Your suggestion, please.

[Author]

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