Actual start is not actualy the start

[Digman]

After I set up a project with links and all, i start filling in progress by
entering % complete. If a task was schedule to start sometime in the future,
(say July 4, 2010) and I enter in 10% complete for that task, the Actually
start automatically goes from NA to July 4, 2010. This is incorrect, the
actual start is today!!! What am i missing???

 

[Steve House]

When you enter just a % Complete, Project assumes that the task is happening
exactly as scheduled, both in regard to the start and finish dates and the
duration. Since your schedule calls for the task to start on the 4th, when
simply ticking off that it's now "X % Complete" Project takes you at your
word. A far better practice is to display the Tracking table and manually
enter the date work actually did start in the Actual Start field, the
duration that has been worked to date in the Actual Duration, and the
estimated duration left to go in the Remaining Duration field (if it looks
like the original duration estimate wasn't accurate). Project will
calculate the % Complete for you using the formula (Actual Duration) /
(Actual Duration + Remaining Duration). Likewise, if a task started late,
just entering a % Complete does not correct the date either - you need to
manually put in the actual date it did start in order for the schedule to
adjust properly.

Note that "% Complete" only refers to time spent versus time required. It
does NOT carry any information about how well the work is going or how much
real progress has been made toward the task's objective. % Work Complete is
a more reliable indicator. % Complete is linked to % Work Complete by
default so that updating one updates the other but that link can be broken
in the Options settings.

Note there is are Options settings on the Schedule tab that will automate
the moving of completed work that "jumped the gun" back to before the status
date and work that should have been in the past but wasn't to move forward
when updating.

HTH

 

[JulieS]

Hello Dave,

It you only enter percent complete, Project assumes your task was
started on the originally scheduled start date.

I suggest displaying the Tracking Table (View > Table > Tracking). In
the tracking table you can enter actual start, actual finish (for task
100% complete), actual and remaining duration.

If you do a quick search of this newsgroup, you'll see a number of
posts concerning the pitfalls of tracking by % complete.

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

 

[Digman]

Thanks - I really am hacking my way thru this (under pressure of course). I
will try to do more research now that you have so nicely nudged me in the
right direction.

Thanks
Dave
--

Dave

Hello Dave,

It you only enter percent complete, Project assumes your task was
started on the originally scheduled start date.

I suggest displaying the Tracking Table (View > Table > Tracking). In
the tracking table you can enter actual start, actual finish (for task
100% complete), actual and remaining duration.

If you do a quick search of this newsgroup, you'll see a number of
posts concerning the pitfalls of tracking by % complete.

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

 

[JulieS]

You're welcome Dave and good luck with the hacking. Post back if you
need some additional nudging.

Julie

Thanks - I really am hacking my way thru this (under pressure of
course). I
will try to do more research now that you have so nicely nudged me
in the
right direction.

Thanks
Dave