Entering Actual Duration & Actual Work

[Robin Roe]

Hi,

We would like to enter actual information onto the schedule, but when I
change Actual Work it affects Actual Duration and visa versa.

Example.
A Task with a 5 day duration and a Resource assigned 40hrs (100%)

When updating I assign an Actual Start and Actual Finish date (which in this
case is as planned i.e. 5 day duration). Project marks the task as 100%
complete and the Actual Work is filled out as 40hrs, 100% complete, as I
would expect. I now try to amend the actual work back to 32 hrs and project
recalculates the remaining as 8hrs. When I try zeroing the Remaining Work
field, the Actual Duration (which I had already told it was 5 days) now
changes to 4 days. I understand why this is happening, but it doesn’t really
follow reality. Basically what I want is for Actual Duration and Actual Work
to be independent of each other. I have tried using “Updating task status
updates resource status†setting, but this doesn’t seem to work when the
project is set as 100% (from my first step above). Reading other post the
only possible way around this is to update the resource time sheet (right
hand pane of task usage view)

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[John]

Hi,

We would like to enter actual information onto the schedule, but when I
change Actual Work it affects Actual Duration and visa versa.

Example.
A Task with a 5 day duration and a Resource assigned 40hrs (100%)

When updating I assign an Actual Start and Actual Finish date (which in this
case is as planned i.e. 5 day duration). Project marks the task as 100%
complete and the Actual Work is filled out as 40hrs, 100% complete, as I
would expect. I now try to amend the actual work back to 32 hrs and project
recalculates the remaining as 8hrs. When I try zeroing the Remaining Work
field, the Actual Duration (which I had already told it was 5 days) now
changes to 4 days. I understand why this is happening, but it doesn’t really
follow reality. Basically what I want is for Actual Duration and Actual Work
to be independent of each other. I have tried using “Updating task status
updates resource status†setting, but this doesn’t seem to work when the
project is set as 100% (from my first step above). Reading other post the
only possible way around this is to update the resource time sheet (right
hand pane of task usage view)

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Robin,
I sounds like you want to "divorce" duration from work. In that case you
will need to set up the task(s) as fixed duration, but you'll have to
"zero out" the existing task in order to do that.

The task type is set under Project/Task Information/Advanced tab. Once
the task is set as fixed duration (non-effort driven), you can enter the
5 day (40 hour) duration. Then enter the number of hours you estimate to
actually do the task in the Work field. That will set the resource
assignment level (assuming you have assigned a resource). As you change
the resource assignment level or the work hours, the duration will
remain unchanged.

All of the above is determined by Project's work equation (Duration =
Work/Resource assignment units). You can read more about it in the Help
file under "about task types".

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Robin Roe]

Thanks for your reply John.

I probably didn't make my post clear enough. I have my schedule fully
resourced at this stage and am happy with the planned values, which I think
you are referring to. What I am attempting to do is enter Actual Duration and
Actual Work (what actually happened) onto the schedule, but as far as I can
see, project doesn’t let me make the entries independent of each other. E.g.
David is assigned to a 5 day task at 100% so his planned work is 40hrs. But
in reality the task lasted 6 days and David only worked 30hrs. Project does
not let me show this result. When I enter the Actual Start and End Date
Project makes the task 100% complete, for both Duration and Work. I now try
and change David’s hours back to 30hrs actual work, but project then changes
the duration (if you zero the remaining) or changes the % complete. Basically
I don’t want project to update the Actual Duration when I try and enter the
Actual hrs. This might make sense at the estimating stage, but does not
necessarily reflect what actually happens.

Thanks again

 

[John]

Thanks for your reply John.

I probably didn't make my post clear enough. I have my schedule fully
resourced at this stage and am happy with the planned values, which I think
you are referring to. What I am attempting to do is enter Actual Duration and
Actual Work (what actually happened) onto the schedule, but as far as I can
see, project doesn¹t let me make the entries independent of each other. E.g.
David is assigned to a 5 day task at 100% so his planned work is 40hrs. But
in reality the task lasted 6 days and David only worked 30hrs. Project does
not let me show this result. When I enter the Actual Start and End Date
Project makes the task 100% complete, for both Duration and Work. I now try
and change David¹s hours back to 30hrs actual work, but project then changes
the duration (if you zero the remaining) or changes the % complete. Basically
I don¹t want project to update the Actual Duration when I try and enter the
Actual hrs. This might make sense at the estimating stage, but does not
necessarily reflect what actually happens.

Thanks again

Robin,
Understand, but I'm telling you that you can't get there from here with
the tasks already set up as something other than fixed duration. In a
dynamic schedule, work and duration are not independent. The Project
work equation defines what Project will do based on changes to certain
parameters.

It also sounds like you did not set a baseline after the schedule was
originally developed but before work was actually started. The purpose
of baseline data is to capture a snapshot of the original plan (dates,
duration, work, cost, etc.) so that as the plan is executed, a
comparison can be made between the actual values and the original
baseline. For example, if the planned work on David's task was 40 hours
but it only took 30 hours to accomplish, the Work Variance field will
show the difference (i.e. 10 hours).

At this point your best bet to to set up a set of spare fields to
capture whatever data you want. Of course those spare fields won't be
used in any of Project's normal calculations (earned value, variance,
etc.)

Sorry this isn't what you wanted to hear. You might want to go to our
MVP website at, http://project.mvps.org/links.htm, and click on the link
to fellow MVP, Mike Glen's tutorials before planning your next schedule.

John
Project MVP

 

[Steve House]

I think John misunderstood what you're trying to do. I think what you're
trying to say is that the original schedule called for the resource to work
at 100% for 5 day doing 40 man-hours of work. But what really happened is
that although he took the full 5 days to complete the task, he's reporting
he only did 32 actual man-hours of work on the task, effectively working at
80% instead of 100%. While you can never violate the identity W=D*U, you
can control how Project handles its updates when you post in actual work and
actual duration. The default settings link the two together so entering an
Actual Duration will similarly update Actual Work by the same amount and
vice-versa when you enter an Actual Work. To be able to enter them
independently so that the allocation gets updated to reflect the actual
relationship obtained between time and work, go to the Tools, Options menu,
Calculation page, and clear the checkbox next to "Updating task status
updates resource status."

 

[Robin Roe]

Thanks Steve & John for your replies. Yes Steve has understood correctly what
I am trying to do. Un-ticking the "Updating task status updates resource
status." works, as long as you firstly don’t apply an Actual Finish date,
(there by marking the task 100% complete). When I do this, Project enters the
Work field value into the Actual Work field value (as per normal behaviour).
If you try and edit the Actual Work field at this stage, it will change the
duration (rather than changing the units). So the "Updating task status
updates resource status" option only works to a certain degree as far as I
can see. Editing the time phased data (in the Task Usage View) seems to be
the only way around this, although it’s not ideal.

Thanks again
--
Robin

I think John misunderstood what you're trying to do. I think what you're
trying to say is that the original schedule called for the resource to work
at 100% for 5 day doing 40 man-hours of work. But what really happened is
that although he took the full 5 days to complete the task, he's reporting
he only did 32 actual man-hours of work on the task, effectively working at
80% instead of 100%. While you can never violate the identity W=D*U, you
can control how Project handles its updates when you post in actual work and
actual duration. The default settings link the two together so entering an
Actual Duration will similarly update Actual Work by the same amount and
vice-versa when you enter an Actual Work. To be able to enter them
independently so that the allocation gets updated to reflect the actual
relationship obtained between time and work, go to the Tools, Options menu,
Calculation page, and clear the checkbox next to "Updating task status
updates resource status."

 

[John]

Thanks Steve & John for your replies. Yes Steve has understood correctly what
I am trying to do. Un-ticking the "Updating task status updates resource
status." works, as long as you firstly don’t apply an Actual Finish date,
(there by marking the task 100% complete). When I do this, Project enters the
Work field value into the Actual Work field value (as per normal behaviour).
If you try and edit the Actual Work field at this stage, it will change the
duration (rather than changing the units). So the "Updating task status
updates resource status" option only works to a certain degree as far as I
can see. Editing the time phased data (in the Task Usage View) seems to be
the only way around this, although it’s not ideal.

Thanks again

Robin,
You're welcome and thanks for the feedback.
John

I think John misunderstood what you're trying to do. I think what you're
trying to say is that the original schedule called for the resource to work
at 100% for 5 day doing 40 man-hours of work. But what really happened is
that although he took the full 5 days to complete the task, he's reporting
he only did 32 actual man-hours of work on the task, effectively working at
80% instead of 100%. While you can never violate the identity W=D*U, you
can control how Project handles its updates when you post in actual work
and
actual duration. The default settings link the two together so entering an
Actual Duration will similarly update Actual Work by the same amount and
vice-versa when you enter an Actual Work. To be able to enter them
independently so that the allocation gets updated to reflect the actual
relationship obtained between time and work, go to the Tools, Options menu,
Calculation page, and clear the checkbox next to "Updating task status
updates resource status."
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Thanks for your reply John.

I probably didn't make my post clear enough. I have my schedule fully
resourced at this stage and am happy with the planned values, which I
think
you are referring to. What I am attempting to do is enter Actual Duration
and
Actual Work (what actually happened) onto the schedule, but as far as I
can
see, project doesnâ?Tt let me make the entries independent of each other.
E.g.
David is assigned to a 5 day task at 100% so his planned work is 40hrs.
But
in reality the task lasted 6 days and David only worked 30hrs. Project
does
not let me show this result. When I enter the Actual Start and End Date
Project makes the task 100% complete, for both Duration and Work. I now
try
and change Davidâ?Ts hours back to 30hrs actual work, but project then
changes
the duration (if you zero the remaining) or changes the % complete.
Basically
I donâ?Tt want project to update the Actual Duration when I try and enter
the
Actual hrs. This might make sense at the estimating stage, but does not
necessarily reflect what actually happens.

Thanks again

--
Robin


:

Hi,

We would like to enter actual information onto the schedule, but when
I
change Actual Work it affects Actual Duration and visa versa.

Example.
A Task with a 5 day duration and a Resource assigned 40hrs (100%)

When updating I assign an Actual Start and Actual Finish date (which
in
this
case is as planned i.e. 5 day duration). Project marks the task as
100%
complete and the Actual Work is filled out as 40hrs, 100% complete, as
I
would expect. I now try to amend the actual work back to 32 hrs and
project
recalculates the remaining as 8hrs. When I try zeroing the Remaining
Work
field, the Actual Duration (which I had already told it was 5 days)
now
changes to 4 days. I understand why this is happening, but it
doesnââ,¬â"¢t really
follow reality. Basically what I want is for Actual Duration and
Actual
Work
to be independent of each other. I have tried using ââ,¬Å"Updating
task status
updates resource statusââ,¬Âù setting, but this doesnââ,¬â"¢t seem
to
work when the
project is set as 100% (from my first step above). Reading other post
the
only possible way around this is to update the resource time sheet
(right
hand pane of task usage view)

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Robin,
I sounds like you want to "divorce" duration from work. In that case you
will need to set up the task(s) as fixed duration, but you'll have to
"zero out" the existing task in order to do that.

The task type is set under Project/Task Information/Advanced tab. Once
the task is set as fixed duration (non-effort driven), you can enter the
5 day (40 hour) duration. Then enter the number of hours you estimate to
actually do the task in the Work field. That will set the resource
assignment level (assuming you have assigned a resource). As you change
the resource assignment level or the work hours, the duration will
remain unchanged.

All of the above is determined by Project's work equation (Duration =
Work/Resource assignment units). You can read more about it in the Help
file under "about task types".

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Nauman]

The solution to problem is you enter the effort for individual days through
"Task Usage" view (View menu). By doing this actual work would become
independent of Duration.

Thanks Steve & John for your replies. Yes Steve has understood correctly what
I am trying to do. Un-ticking the "Updating task status updates resource
status." works, as long as you firstly don’t apply an Actual Finish date,
(there by marking the task 100% complete). When I do this, Project enters the
Work field value into the Actual Work field value (as per normal behaviour).
If you try and edit the Actual Work field at this stage, it will change the
duration (rather than changing the units). So the "Updating task status
updates resource status" option only works to a certain degree as far as I
can see. Editing the time phased data (in the Task Usage View) seems to be
the only way around this, although it’s not ideal.

Thanks again

Robin,
You're welcome and thanks for the feedback.
John

I think John misunderstood what you're trying to do. I think what you're
trying to say is that the original schedule called for the resource to work
at 100% for 5 day doing 40 man-hours of work. But what really happened is
that although he took the full 5 days to complete the task, he's reporting
he only did 32 actual man-hours of work on the task, effectively working at
80% instead of 100%. While you can never violate the identity W=D*U, you
can control how Project handles its updates when you post in actual work
and
actual duration. The default settings link the two together so entering an
Actual Duration will similarly update Actual Work by the same amount and
vice-versa when you enter an Actual Work. To be able to enter them
independently so that the allocation gets updated to reflect the actual
relationship obtained between time and work, go to the Tools, Options menu,
Calculation page, and clear the checkbox next to "Updating task status
updates resource status."
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Thanks for your reply John.

I probably didn't make my post clear enough. I have my schedule fully
resourced at this stage and am happy with the planned values, which I
think
you are referring to. What I am attempting to do is enter Actual Duration
and
Actual Work (what actually happened) onto the schedule, but as far as I
can
see, project doesnâ?Tt let me make the entries independent of each other.
E.g.
David is assigned to a 5 day task at 100% so his planned work is 40hrs.
But
in reality the task lasted 6 days and David only worked 30hrs. Project
does
not let me show this result. When I enter the Actual Start and End Date
Project makes the task 100% complete, for both Duration and Work. I now
try
and change Davidâ?Ts hours back to 30hrs actual work, but project then
changes
the duration (if you zero the remaining) or changes the % complete.
Basically
I donâ?Tt want project to update the Actual Duration when I try and enter
the
Actual hrs. This might make sense at the estimating stage, but does not
necessarily reflect what actually happens.

Thanks again

--
Robin


:

Hi,

We would like to enter actual information onto the schedule, but when
I
change Actual Work it affects Actual Duration and visa versa.

Example.
A Task with a 5 day duration and a Resource assigned 40hrs (100%)

When updating I assign an Actual Start and Actual Finish date (which
in
this
case is as planned i.e. 5 day duration). Project marks the task as
100%
complete and the Actual Work is filled out as 40hrs, 100% complete, as
I
would expect. I now try to amend the actual work back to 32 hrs and
project
recalculates the remaining as 8hrs. When I try zeroing the Remaining
Work
field, the Actual Duration (which I had already told it was 5 days)
now
changes to 4 days. I understand why this is happening, but it
doesnââ,¬â"¢t really
follow reality. Basically what I want is for Actual Duration and
Actual
Work
to be independent of each other. I have tried using ââ,¬Å"Updating
task status
updates resource statusââ,¬Âù setting, but this doesnââ,¬â"¢t seem
to
work when the
project is set as 100% (from my first step above). Reading other post
the
only possible way around this is to update the resource time sheet
(right
hand pane of task usage view)

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Robin,
I sounds like you want to "divorce" duration from work. In that case you
will need to set up the task(s) as fixed duration, but you'll have to
"zero out" the existing task in order to do that.

The task type is set under Project/Task Information/Advanced tab. Once
the task is set as fixed duration (non-effort driven), you can enter the
5 day (40 hour) duration. Then enter the number of hours you estimate to
actually do the task in the Work field. That will set the resource
assignment level (assuming you have assigned a resource). As you change
the resource assignment level or the work hours, the duration will
remain unchanged.

All of the above is determined by Project's work equation (Duration =
Work/Resource assignment units). You can read more about it in the Help
file under "about task types".

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP