Tracking a Project - No2

Summary
In the previous article, we covered the set up of appropriate screens to assist with the tracking of project progress. Here we look at where and what to enter.

The following information is required to fully track the status of a project as it proceeds:

• Percent Complete
• Actual Start
• Actual Finish (when known)
• Current Forecast Finish (or just 'Finish' as Microsoft calls it) when Actual Finish is not available
• Actual Work
• Problems and Comment

THE FIRST THREE

The first three can be entered directly into the Tracking Table you using in your view. Choose View - Table - Tracking. They can also be entered in the lower form discussed in the previous tip provided you have selected the correct task in the upper half of the screen. The three radio buttons allow you to control which of the three dates you are using. Select the 'Actual' radio button . If you use the form, make sure you click 'OK' on the button in the form to accept the changes.

Notice that the 'NA' shown in the Actual Start and Actual Finish fields indicate that values have not yet been entered for these dates.

If the task has been completed, you can indicate this in two ways:

• Enter the actual date in the appropriate column or field and the percent complete field will be set to 100% or
  
  
• Enter 100% in the percent complete field and an Actual Date will be set equal to the current forecast finish date
  

CURRENT FORECAST
To enter the current forecast finish, either:

• Enter the date directly into the field (selecting the 'Current' button in the lower form)

  OR

• Enter a duration that will cause the 'Finish' date to calculate to the value you want.

ACTUAL WORK

Actual work is best entered at the assignment rather than task level. That is, don't report actual work in the upper part of the screen since this assumes the value to be the one for the entire task. Rather, it should be entered for each resource assigned to the task so that the program can perform the addition necessary to provide the task total. There are two ways to enter the Actual Work:

Cumulatively:

• Right click the lower form and choose 'Resource Costs',
• Manually add the value for the period under review to the total shown under 'Actual Work'.

  Incrementally:

• Choose 'View - Task Usage' with the cursor in the lower part of the scree. This will show a row of dates for each assignment made to the task selected in the upper part of the screen.
• Enter the number of hours performed by each person in the period for the task. This will accrue automatically to the assignment total, and with those of other assignments, to the task total which will appear under 'Actual Work' in the upper part of the screen.

Problems and Comments can be entered in the notepad for the task under review. Either Double-click the task and move the 'Notes' tab, OR Right-click the lower form and choose 'Notes'. It is a good idea to preface each note entry with the current date to distinguish entries made against the same task.