Summary Task % Complete 1

[YANKRAY]

MS Projects 2003.

I have a task with 10 subtasks underneath it.

The first three sub tasks have percent completes indicating the tasks are on schedule.

The remaining tasks are not scheduled to start.

The Summary Tasks progress bar indicates the group of tasks is behind schedule.

I would expect to see the Summary Task progress as equal to the on time schedules of the first three tasks until the the remaining tasks go into work.

Is there a way to show the Summary Task progression differently?

Thanks,
Ray

 

[PDQBach]

I don't like tracking by %Complete since it is simply a measure of elapsed time and is really quite irrelevant to the progress of the project as a whole ... it's just grains of sand through an hourglass.

Assume a simple case:

T0 summary task
T1 2 days duration; 90 days of work
T2 9 days duration; 5 days of work
T3 9 days duration; 5 days of work

T1 is a predecessor to T2 and T2 is a predecessor to T3.

When T1 is 100% Complete:

What is the %Complete of the summary task? 10% ... but 10% of what? (Elapsed days -- grains of sand)

What is the %WorkComplete of the summary task? 83% ... but 83% of what? (Real, honest-to-goodness, easily tracked, deliverable, work product -- exactly what your project is supposed to track).

You don't say which view you're using, but I use View | Gantt then Format | Bar Styles and add a line to track Summary tasks based on Start and %WorkComplete.

 

[YANKRAY]

Thanks for the help.

I too am using the Gantt view. I have added the %WorkComplete column and adjusted my Bar Styles as you suggested.

The %WorkComplete entered for the subtasks are not adjusting the Summary %WorkComplete.

Are Summary %WorkComplete entries manual or is there a way for them to automatically adjust like the Summary %Complete?

Ray

 

[PDQBach]

They get updated on my schedule.

Look at Tools | Options | Calculation-tab and make certain the Calculation mode is "Automatic".

 

[YANKRAY]

I think it is because my schedule is strictly based on Duration. There are no resources or work hours.

Looks like I'm stuck with what I got.

Thanks for your help.

 

[PDQBach]

Ah ... that will cause a minor issue -- but easily resolved. Make sure the tasks are all Fixed Duration then copy and paste from Duration into Work. Then set the %WorkComplete to the appropriate percentages.

On a go-forward basis, keep the tasks as Fixed Work and ask the people responsible for the deliverables ... when will the work be delivered and what percentage have you done?

By keeping the tasks as Fixed Work, you can change the duration without having an impact on the amount of Work. And you can change the %WorkComplete without having to worry about accidentally changing the Work or the Duration.

Your Gantt will look great; your tracking will be good and you'll be writing answers here too!

 

[YANKRAY]

That took care of it.

Thanks for the help!