% complete vs. time left in project

[BK]

Let's say I have a project that will last 2 days. The first day, I 'plan'
the project (it takes all day, I am the resource). The next day, I have 4
contractors working on their pieces of the project, all which will take one
day, running concurrently.

The project lasts 2 days, and there is 5 days worth of work. After the
first day, the project time is 50% complete, but I still have 80% of the
project (the 4 contractors) to be completed. MS Project tells me I'm 20%
complete, and this makes sense to me. However, I have to report this
'discrepancy' to some micro-managing superiors, on a much more complex
project. Is there a graph which would display this for me graphically? I'm
looking for a graph which compares 'project days' to 'cumulative work
content'. Or is this the Holy Grail of project management?

BK

 

[John]

Let's say I have a project that will last 2 days. The first day, I 'plan'
the project (it takes all day, I am the resource). The next day, I have 4
contractors working on their pieces of the project, all which will take one
day, running concurrently.

The project lasts 2 days, and there is 5 days worth of work. After the
first day, the project time is 50% complete, but I still have 80% of the
project (the 4 contractors) to be completed. MS Project tells me I'm 20%
complete, and this makes sense to me. However, I have to report this
'discrepancy' to some micro-managing superiors, on a much more complex
project. Is there a graph which would display this for me graphically? I'm
looking for a graph which compares 'project days' to 'cumulative work
content'. Or is this the Holy Grail of project management?

BK

BK,
I don't see the discrepancy. You can't equate your 8 hours of work
(making the plan) to the 4 contractors 32 hours of work (performance
effort). Even though the duration is half way the work is only 20%
complete. I'm not sure you need a special graph to show that, the Gantt
Chart view with the %Complete field and a progress line on the Project
Summary Line show it pretty well.

If the powers that be don't understand, just explain to them that the
passage of time does not always equate to progress. Take this example.
Let's say I have 5 days in which to complete a task. The total work
content however is 16 hours. I'm a go-getter type of guy so I work full
time the first two days and complete the task. It is in fact 100% done
even though only 40% of the time has elapsed. Which value, 100% or 40%
better describes progress?

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP