How can I make the Finish date change based on the % complete

[Dammika]

Example : A task with 40hr Duration started 2 days ago but the engineer has
completed 80% of the task during the 2 days. I need to make my project plan
end date to change based on the % complete to complete this task on the 3rd
day.
Can this be done? I tried many options and non worked.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Dammika --

Open the project in question and do the following:

1. Click View - Gantt Chart
2. Click View - Table - Tracking
3. Enter 2d in the Actual Duration column for the task in question
4. Enter .5d in the Remaining Duration column for the task in question
5. Save the project

The above steps will show that the task is 80% complete after two days of
actual work and will finish around noon on the third day. When the task
actually finishes, you can enter the Actual Finish date in this table as
well. Hope this helps.

 

[Dammika]

Dale,

Thanks for the prompt response. When I did the below, I noticed that the
tasks to follow doesn't change it's start dates accordingly. Is there a work
around for this?

Thanks once more for making my life easier.

Regards
Dammika

 

[Steve House [Project MVP]]

When you entered the tasks, did you enter the start and finish dates or did
you let Project calculate them for you? While we don't have enough
information about your exact situation to know if this is the problem in
your case, a very common cause of sucessor tasks not moving when their
prdecessors get shorter is that they have "Start No Earlier Than"
constraints on them. Those constraints will automatically be set if you
manually enter task start dates instead of letting Project freely calculate
them (as you should).

FYI, % Complete always refers to duration so it's impossible for a task that
is scheduled for 40 hours to be 80% complete after working only 16 hours.
By definition, that would make it 40% complete. What your engineer is
saying is that you overestimated the time required and that's why Dale's
suggestion is the correct method to follow.
--
Steve House [MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Dammika --

Do you have automatic calculation disabled (Tools - Options - Calculate)?
Do you have a constraint on the successor task? Have actuals been entered
on the successor task? Any of these could "lock" the Start date of the
successor task.