Karen said:
When would you use Actual Duration and when would you use
Duration?
I went to help to find:
The Duration field is the total span of active working
time for a task. This is generally the amount of working
time from the start to the finish of a task.
The Actual Duration field shows the span of actual
working time for a task so far, based on the scheduled
duration and current remaining work or percent complete.
This program is too confusing
Thank you
Karen,
Just like schedule dates, Duration is a field either entered by the user
or calculated by Project based on scheduled Start and Finish. Those
elements of a task define its plan. Actual values on the other hand
represent what is really happening once the task is started. Actual
Start is assumed by Project to coincide with schedule Start unless the
user manually enters an Actual Start date that is different from the
Start date. Then Project re-adjusts the schedule Start to agree with
what really happened. Keep in mind the original plan is captured by
values in the Baseline fields.
As you note, Actual Duration = Duration x % Complete. Pretty
straightforward. Many users are confused by the % Complete value they
see on a Summary line because it is NOT the sum or average of subtask %
Complete values. Rather % Complete for a Summary line is:
Summary % Complete = (sum of subtask Actual Durations/sum of subtask
Durations) * 100%.
I don't know if this helped but hopefully it gives a little more
background. Project can be VERY confusing. Truly understanding it
requires a solid understanding of Project Management principles and lots
of hands on use. Formal training can help but there is just no
substitute for experience gained with everyday use. Project is just not
as intuitive as other Office applications. Hang in there, most of us
(yeah even the MVPs) are still learning also.
John
Project MVP
