Actual Duration display [Project]

Prev: Force date/deadline
Next: How can web use Shamsi Calendar

From: jp on 3 Apr 2010 11:00

Good morning Jan,

Thank you for your reply. I ran your suggestion and it actually changes the
display of the "Duration" into a format of any choice: Day, Month, Hours, etc.

Usually, when I update a task, I click on the button that has the symbol "%"
next to the set reminder button. Once that prompt windows shows up, it has
the "Actual Dur: in fraction of day format ie. .5d" and Remaining dur: 4.5d".
That was the window I wanted the format to change from.

I don't know if this is an easy or flexible tool, however, here is what I
need to do. At the end of every week, I need to update the tasks that my
resource work on. And every week they're pluggin away at the same tasks or
new tasks. If I add one HR hour to an existing task, I would have to grab a
calculator to do: .5d * 8 = 4 hours +1 = 5. Then I have to upate the prompt
window with the 5 hours worked for the week; if he had worked 4 hours and the
following week he could only work for 1 an on that task.

Do you see my little problem (having to grab a calculator to this this kind
of stuff). Is this normal? Is my schenario completely out of this world?
Have I not updated the task in the proper way? Thanks for your reply

-jp

"Jan De Messemaeker" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Tools, Macro, Macros, Format_Duration, Run.
>
> --
> Jan De Messemaeker
> Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
> +32 495 300 620
> For availability check:
> http://users.online.be/prom-ade/Calendar.pdf
> "jp" <jp(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:1DFDC7A3-8DF3-49AD-AFA8-23F50928DDC4(a)microsoft.com...
> >
> > Hi Andrew,
> >
> > Thanks for replying to my email question. I added the "Actual Work"
> > column
> > but it is not already populated with any hours, even though I have been
> > updating the task.
> > Do the hours not populate automatically when that column is added?
> >
> > -JP
> >
> > "Andrew Lavinsky" wrote:
> >
> >> Why don't you just display the Actual Work column?
> >>
> >> "jp" wrote:
> >>
> >> >
> >> > Hi,
> >> >
> >> > I'm updating tasks with actual hours spent each week on tasks.
> >> > How do I change the display on the "Actual Dur" from days to hours?
> >> > If a developer has worked 4 hour on a task that takes 5 days it
> >> > displays
> >> > .5d under "Actual Dur". I would like to see it as 4 hrs?
> >> >
> >> > -jp
>
>
> .
>

From: jp on 3 Apr 2010 11:01

Hi and good morning Julie,

I checked my project program and it is already checked.

-jp

"JulieS" wrote:

> Hello JP,
>
> Pardon me for bumping in. Actual Work should be automatically
> calculated if you are tracking actual duration and (1) you have
> assigned work resources to the tasks and (2) the option "Updating
> task status updates resources status" on the Calculation tab in
> Tools > Options is enabled (checked).
>
> I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.
>
> Julie
> Project MVP
>
> Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
> information about Microsoft Project
>
> On 4/3/2010 12:36 AM, jp wrote:
> >
> > Hi Andrew,
> >
> > Thanks for replying to my email question. I added the "Actual Work" column
> > but it is not already populated with any hours, even though I have been
> > updating the task.
> > Do the hours not populate automatically when that column is added?
> >
> > -JP
> >
> > "Andrew Lavinsky" wrote:
> >
> >> Why don't you just display the Actual Work column?
> >>
> >> "jp" wrote:
> >>
> >>>
> >>> Hi,
> >>>
> >>> I'm updating tasks with actual hours spent each week on tasks.
> >>> How do I change the display on the "Actual Dur" from days to hours?
> >>> If a developer has worked 4 hour on a task that takes 5 days it displays
> >>> .5d under "Actual Dur". I would like to see it as 4 hrs?
> >>>
> >>> -jp
> .
>

From: jp on 3 Apr 2010 11:02

From: Andrew Lavinsky on 3 Apr 2010 11:21

I think the issue is with your update methodology in all honesty. It sounds
like to me that you're not assigning resources to tasks, but simply creating
tasks, assigning a duration in hours, then decrementing against that total.

That's not quite what MS Project is designed for. Typically, you need two
points of data to develop a duration estimate:

1) Work (Person hours)
2) Units (% that a resource is dedicated to the task. In your case, it sounds
like you are working with the assumption of 100% for all tasks, which implies
that all tasks for a specific resource are in sequence and not overlapping).
3) Duration (The window of time within which the task will take place).

The third point will be derived from the first two using the formula D X
(U X Person hours per day) = W.

From an update methodology standpoint, if you're tracking by hours, you probably
shouldn't be using the % Complete Tracking mechanism that you are. That
method isn't designed for tracking work, but instead for duration. Your
best bet is to update the resource hours against task in the Resource Usage
View each week - then reschedule all incomplete work after the status date.
That will push any open hours to the post status date period and recalculate
the duration estimates for each task. Once you do that, you can review the
resource allocations for potential resource loading issues.

That's how most people I work with deal with the challenge that you've stated.
Otherwise, it just sounds like a task list with each task associated to
a specific budget. That could be managed in Excel just as easily.

- Andrew Lavinsky
Blog: http://blogs.catapultsystems.com/epm

> Good morning Jan,
>
> Thank you for your reply. I ran your suggestion and it actually
> changes the display of the "Duration" into a format of any choice:
> Day, Month, Hours, etc.
>
> Usually, when I update a task, I click on the button that has the
> symbol "%"
> next to the set reminder button. Once that prompt windows shows up, it
> has
> the "Actual Dur: in fraction of day format ie. .5d" and Remaining dur:
> 4.5d".
> That was the window I wanted the format to change from.
> I don't know if this is an easy or flexible tool, however, here is
> what I need to do. At the end of every week, I need to update the
> tasks that my resource work on. And every week they're pluggin away
> at the same tasks or new tasks. If I add one HR hour to an existing
> task, I would have to grab a calculator to do: .5d * 8 = 4 hours +1 =
> 5. Then I have to upate the prompt window with the 5 hours worked for
> the week; if he had worked 4 hours and the following week he could
> only work for 1 an on that task.
>
> Do you see my little problem (having to grab a calculator to this this
> kind of stuff). Is this normal? Is my schenario completely out of
> this world? Have I not updated the task in the proper way? Thanks
> for your reply
>
> -jp
>
> "Jan De Messemaeker" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Tools, Macro, Macros, Format_Duration, Run.
>>
>> --
>> Jan De Messemaeker
>> Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
>> +32 495 300 620
>> For availability check:
>> http://users.online.be/prom-ade/Calendar.pdf
>> "jp" <jp(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:1DFDC7A3-8DF3-49AD-AFA8-23F50928DDC4(a)microsoft.com...
>>> Hi Andrew,
>>>
>>> Thanks for replying to my email question. I added the "Actual Work"
>>> column
>>> but it is not already populated with any hours, even though I have
>>> been
>>> updating the task.
>>> Do the hours not populate automatically when that column is added?
>>> -JP
>>>
>>> "Andrew Lavinsky" wrote:
>>>
>>>> Why don't you just display the Actual Work column?
>>>>
>>>> "jp" wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm updating tasks with actual hours spent each week on tasks.
>>>>> How do I change the display on the "Actual Dur" from days to
>>>>> hours?
>>>>> If a developer has worked 4 hour on a task that takes 5 days it
>>>>> displays
>>>>> .5d under "Actual Dur". I would like to see it as 4 hrs?
>>>>> -jp
>>>>>
>> .
>>

From: JulieS on 3 Apr 2010 21:22

Do you have work resources assigned to the tasks? Is the %
complete changing as you update Actual Duration? Is the
Remaining duration calculating as well?

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

On 4/3/2010 11:01 AM, jp wrote:
>
> Hi and good morning Julie,
>
> I checked my project program and it is already checked.
>
> -jp
>
> "JulieS" wrote:
>
>> Hello JP,
>>
>> Pardon me for bumping in. Actual Work should be automatically
>> calculated if you are tracking actual duration and (1) you have
>> assigned work resources to the tasks and (2) the option "Updating
>> task status updates resources status" on the Calculation tab in
>> Tools> Options is enabled (checked).
>>
>> I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.
>>
>> Julie
>> Project MVP
>>
>> Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
>> information about Microsoft Project
>>
>> On 4/3/2010 12:36 AM, jp wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Andrew,
>>>
>>> Thanks for replying to my email question. I added the "Actual Work" column
>>> but it is not already populated with any hours, even though I have been
>>> updating the task.
>>> Do the hours not populate automatically when that column is added?
>>>
>>> -JP
>>>
>>> "Andrew Lavinsky" wrote:
>>>
>>>> Why don't you just display the Actual Work column?
>>>>
>>>> "jp" wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm updating tasks with actual hours spent each week on tasks.
>>>>> How do I change the display on the "Actual Dur" from days to hours?
>>>>> If a developer has worked 4 hour on a task that takes 5 days it displays
>>>>> .5d under "Actual Dur". I would like to see it as 4 hrs?
>>>>>
>>>>> -jp
>> .
>>

First | Prev | Next | Last
Pages: 1 2 3 4
Prev: Force date/deadline
Next: How can web use Shamsi Calendar