Spread actual work to Status Date

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    • #5235

      I would like MSP to spread actual work entered up to the Status Date. Let me give you an example:

      – Tasks starts on Monday, Duration 10d, Work 6d.

      – After one week only 2d of Work have been done, but spread over 5 days

      – Resource will perform the remaining 4 days of work in the next week, task will finish on time.

      – If I enter 2d as actual work, the progress will not reach up to Friday. If I then reschedule the remaining work, the task is split and longer than planned and I need to set the task type to fixed work and adjust remaining duration.

      I would like to handle above scenario with the least effort possible. Thanks for any hints!

    • #6940

      Martin, there is a good solution for you but it might take a bit of practice. It requires you to setup some options and then follow a process. The option to set (in 2010) are in Options / Advanced / under Calculation options for this project. Select the four (or combination of) the Move end, and move, Move start, and move checkboxes. The fourth one is the one you need to do what you want. Then follow these steps: (1) set the status date, (2) enter actual duration or % complete. The tasks will line up to the status date as indicated on the calculation options.Another easy way to do it as needed is to set the actual start date along with the actual work/duration. Give one or both of them a try and see what you like better. Hope that helps.I’ll also be going over these options in more detail in an MPUG certificate series called Microsoft Project Scheduling Essentials. The three part series will be on the first three weeks of November.

    • #6953

      Larry, thank you for your reply. Actually, that’s not quite what I want, because I don’t want any dates to change (no moving of Start and Finish). The task has not started later than planned, the resource just did not do the amount of work as planned in the first week. I guess I could achieve that with the 3rd box (Move start of remaining parts before status date forward to status date), then at least the Start would not move. I would then have to set the Task Type to Fixed Work and change remaining duration to 5 days so the units will be increased and the task is still completed as originally planned.

      However I now have a split in my task which is not really what I want. The resource did interrupt work on this task, they just worked less hours per day than planned. Larry, is there a way to achieve that?

    • #6954

      That helps understand exactly what you are looking for. What I’m hearing is that the “plan” was to work at 100% allocation but was actually worked at less than that allocation. You want the Gantt chart to accurately indicate an actual work pattern different than what was planned. No problem. Your request isn’t out of line. It’s just a bit of background to understand the answer. There are ways to help support the schedule using features that are task based. That’s the easier method but may not reflect accurate assignment work. You need the schedule to reflect accurate assignment effort. The only way to reflect accurate actual resource allocation is to update the assignment, not the task. Use the Resource Usage or Task Usage view, add actual work to the usage detail styles, and enter actual work on a daily basis. This way you are overriding the planned work with actual work. It’s more work, but more accurate. Hope that helps…

    • #6957

      Hi Larry

      Thank you for your help. I was aware of that possibility, and I have used it before. I was hoping however for something simpler, because if the Status Date is not on a Friday this can be quite cumbersome (I have one project who updates on Tuesday, another one on Thursday), because you have to divide actual work into 2 values.

      Again, thanks a lot, Larry!

    • #6958

      Hi Larry

      Thank you for your help. I was aware of that possibility, and I have used it before. I was hoping however for something simpler, because if the Status Date is not on a Friday this can be quite cumbersome (I have one project who updates on Tuesday, another one on Thursday), because you have to divide actual work into 2 values. But now I know that this is the only solution.

      Again, thanks a lot, Larry!

       

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