How to enter timephased actuals without MSP changing schedule?

[tpiers]

I am trying to capture timephased actual work in Project. Each time an actual
is entered, Project changes task scheduling data (e.g. start date, end date,
constraint, etc) and other timephased data (e.g. work). I would like to enter
the actuals without affecting any other data.

 

[JulieS]

Hello tpiers,

To accurately record timephased actual work, add the Actual Work field
to the timescaled portion (right side) of either the Task Usage or
Resource Usage view. Then record the actual work per day.

However, if your resource was scheduled to work on a task on Monday and
you recorded actual work starting on Tuesday, the start date of the task
will change. The *Baseline start* will not and you can then compare
Baseline Start with Actual Start. The Start Variance field does just
that. Save a baseline before applying actuals and you are all set.

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

 

[tpiers]

Julie,

Thank you for the suggestion. I was able to save a baseline and it did
retain the baseline information. However, it really does not give me what I
was looking for. I really would like to put in dates, planned hours, and
actual hours, and have MSP leave them all alone. I think I may be trying to
do something that MSP just will not allow. That is, disable all the automated
scheduling and associated calculations.

If you could point me to some information related to disabling more of MSP's
automated features, that would be great! But if I am just trying to use MSP
in a way that it was not intended to be used, I thank you for your help, but
I may just have to pursue other solutions.

Thanks, Tom

 

[JulieS]

Hello Tom,

Your impression that Project will not do what you want is correct. You
can turn off automatic calculation in Project through Tools > Options,
Calculation tab.

However, if you want to manually enter in dates, planned and actual
hours without having any calculations performed, I suggest looking at
using Excel. You can (with formulas) reference one date off another in
Excel and perform calculations *you* wish.

Jack Dahlgren (MVP) wrote some information on his blog about using Excel
for scheduling. See the link below:
http://zo-d.com/blog/archives/excel/project-scheduling-with-excel.html

I am not familiar with Visio, but I believe you can create a Gantt chart
in visio as well but I don't know about the other components you may
need.

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

 

[tpiers]

Julie,

The reason I wanted to do this in Project is because it has many features,
other than automated scheduling, that would be extremely beneficial to me. I
think Excel is far from being useful for my purposes.

Imagine you are managing several teams in IT. You need to plan projects for
the upcoming year based on staff availability and a prioritized list of
business projects. You do not need to plan hours for each task of each
project. Allocating resources at the project level is exactly what you need.

You also need to track and report hours weekly, monthly, and annualy for
completed and on-going projects. There are dozens of current projects being
managed individually. You do not need or want people tracking hours for every
little task on every project. You just need project-level hours collected
weekly for historical and cost allocation purposes.

You do not need the tool to figure out when projects will start or stop. You
do not need the tool to make any adjustments to dates or planned work.

In this situation, automated scheduling is not necessary. But, there are
many other features of Project that make it look almost perfect for
high-level planning and tracking.

- Collaboration capabilities of Project Server provide a web-based interface
for resources to report their project level actuals.
- Centralized resource information is available for individual projects, as
well as high-level plans.
- Dynamic canned views let you look at different data in multiple ways.
- Standardized data collection forms ensure consistency in collected data.
- Pre-defined database for projects, tasks, resources, and dependencies
means that a database doesn't have to be re-invented.
- All kinds of data can be easily exported.
- Spreadsheet-like capabilities for playing "what if".
- Outline levels allow work to be categorized for a variety of management
(but not necessarily project management) purposes (e.g. reporting development
versus maintenance work). And, sub-totals and totals are built-in for each
level.

I could go on, but the point is that there is a great deal of functionality
in Project that I could use if the automated scheduling would quit changing
things. It would take a huge effort to get even close with Excel.

I really do appreciate your taking the time to read my ramblings.

PS If being an MVP gives you any pull with Bill, please ask him to give me a
little more control over Project.

Thanks again, Tom

 

[JulieS]

Tom~

My comments are inline.

Julie,

The reason I wanted to do this in Project is because it has many
features,
other than automated scheduling, that would be extremely beneficial to
me. I
think Excel is far from being useful for my purposes.

Imagine you are managing several teams in IT. You need to plan
projects for
the upcoming year based on staff availability and a prioritized list
of
business projects. You do not need to plan hours for each task of each
project. Allocating resources at the project level is exactly what you
need.

[Julie] The planning and allocation part certainly can be done with
Project. I suggest setting the task type to fixed duration, non-effort
driven. Then as you assign resources, enter the estimated work for the
resource as you assign and Project will handle the calculation of
assignment units. Task dates may still change (assuming you have
entered predecessors/successors) but as you odify work for a resource,
project will not -- in most circumstances -- change the scheduled dates
for the task.

You also need to track and report hours weekly, monthly, and annualy
for
completed and on-going projects. There are dozens of current projects
being
managed individually. You do not need or want people tracking hours
for every
little task on every project. You just need project-level hours
collected
weekly for historical and cost allocation purposes.

[Julie] This still may be possible with some "watching". you can use
the Task Usage (or Resource Usage view) zoomed out to show weeks and
then apply actual work. With fixed duration tasks, adjustments to the
amount of hours worked with simply adjust the assignment unit. You'll
still need to adjust remaining work if needed.

You do not need the tool to figure out when projects will start or
stop. You
do not need the tool to make any adjustments to dates or planned work.

In this situation, automated scheduling is not necessary. But, there
are
many other features of Project that make it look almost perfect for
high-level planning and tracking.

- Collaboration capabilities of Project Server provide a web-based
interface
for resources to report their project level actuals.

[Julie] Sorry, I personally can't give advice on Project Server nor PWA.
You might try re-posting your question to the Project Server Newsgroup
for any advice there on how to prevent updates from PWS from doing the
least amount of change to your project plan.

- Centralized resource information is available for individual
projects, as
well as high-level plans.
- Dynamic canned views let you look at different data in multiple
ways.
- Standardized data collection forms ensure consistency in collected
data.
- Pre-defined database for projects, tasks, resources, and
dependencies
means that a database doesn't have to be re-invented.
- All kinds of data can be easily exported.
- Spreadsheet-like capabilities for playing "what if".
- Outline levels allow work to be categorized for a variety of
management
(but not necessarily project management) purposes (e.g. reporting
development
versus maintenance work). And, sub-totals and totals are built-in for
each
level.

I could go on, but the point is that there is a great deal of
functionality
in Project that I could use if the automated scheduling would quit
changing
things. It would take a huge effort to get even close with Excel.

I really do appreciate your taking the time to read my ramblings.

[Julie] You're welcome and your comments aren't "ramblings"

PS If being an MVP gives you any pull with Bill, please ask him to
give me a
little more control over Project.

[Julie] Oddly enough, he's stopped returning my calls....

Thanks again, Tom

[Julie] - You're most welcome, Tom.<snip>

 

[tpiers]

Julie,

If your motivation for helping others comes from the satisfaction of knowing
that you have helped, please know that you have helped me. You have convinced
me not to give up yet. It may take me a while to get back to this effort
(year-end crush), but I will try the things you suggested.

I am extremely impressed with your calm and reassuring style!

Thank You, Tom

Tom~

My comments are inline.

Julie,

The reason I wanted to do this in Project is because it has many
features,
other than automated scheduling, that would be extremely beneficial to
me. I
think Excel is far from being useful for my purposes.

Imagine you are managing several teams in IT. You need to plan
projects for
the upcoming year based on staff availability and a prioritized list
of
business projects. You do not need to plan hours for each task of each
project. Allocating resources at the project level is exactly what you
need.

[Julie] The planning and allocation part certainly can be done with
Project. I suggest setting the task type to fixed duration, non-effort
driven. Then as you assign resources, enter the estimated work for the
resource as you assign and Project will handle the calculation of
assignment units. Task dates may still change (assuming you have
entered predecessors/successors) but as you odify work for a resource,
project will not -- in most circumstances -- change the scheduled dates
for the task.

You also need to track and report hours weekly, monthly, and annualy
for
completed and on-going projects. There are dozens of current projects
being
managed individually. You do not need or want people tracking hours
for every
little task on every project. You just need project-level hours
collected
weekly for historical and cost allocation purposes.

[Julie] This still may be possible with some "watching". you can use
the Task Usage (or Resource Usage view) zoomed out to show weeks and
then apply actual work. With fixed duration tasks, adjustments to the
amount of hours worked with simply adjust the assignment unit. You'll
still need to adjust remaining work if needed.

You do not need the tool to figure out when projects will start or
stop. You
do not need the tool to make any adjustments to dates or planned work.

In this situation, automated scheduling is not necessary. But, there
are
many other features of Project that make it look almost perfect for
high-level planning and tracking.

- Collaboration capabilities of Project Server provide a web-based
interface
for resources to report their project level actuals.

[Julie] Sorry, I personally can't give advice on Project Server nor PWA.
You might try re-posting your question to the Project Server Newsgroup
for any advice there on how to prevent updates from PWS from doing the
least amount of change to your project plan.

- Centralized resource information is available for individual
projects, as
well as high-level plans.
- Dynamic canned views let you look at different data in multiple
ways.
- Standardized data collection forms ensure consistency in collected
data.
- Pre-defined database for projects, tasks, resources, and
dependencies
means that a database doesn't have to be re-invented.
- All kinds of data can be easily exported.
- Spreadsheet-like capabilities for playing "what if".
- Outline levels allow work to be categorized for a variety of
management
(but not necessarily project management) purposes (e.g. reporting
development
versus maintenance work). And, sub-totals and totals are built-in for
each
level.

I could go on, but the point is that there is a great deal of
functionality
in Project that I could use if the automated scheduling would quit
changing
things. It would take a huge effort to get even close with Excel.

I really do appreciate your taking the time to read my ramblings.

[Julie] You're welcome and your comments aren't "ramblings"

PS If being an MVP gives you any pull with Bill, please ask him to
give me a
little more control over Project.

[Julie] Oddly enough, he's stopped returning my calls....

Thanks again, Tom

[Julie] - You're most welcome, Tom.<snip>

 

[JulieS]

Tom,

Thank you for your kind comments -- you've made my day -- perhaps my
whole week

Good luck getting through the year-end crush and do drop back by the
newsgroup with more questions should you need to.

regards,
Julie

Julie,

If your motivation for helping others comes from the satisfaction of
knowing
that you have helped, please know that you have helped me. You have
convinced
me not to give up yet. It may take me a while to get back to this
effort
(year-end crush), but I will try the things you suggested.

I am extremely impressed with your calm and reassuring style!

Thank You, Tom

Tom~

My comments are inline.

Julie,

The reason I wanted to do this in Project is because it has many
features,
other than automated scheduling, that would be extremely beneficial
to
me. I
think Excel is far from being useful for my purposes.

Imagine you are managing several teams in IT. You need to plan
projects for
the upcoming year based on staff availability and a prioritized
list
of
business projects. You do not need to plan hours for each task of
each
project. Allocating resources at the project level is exactly what
you
need.

[Julie] The planning and allocation part certainly can be done with
Project. I suggest setting the task type to fixed duration,
non-effort
driven. Then as you assign resources, enter the estimated work for
the
resource as you assign and Project will handle the calculation of
assignment units. Task dates may still change (assuming you have
entered predecessors/successors) but as you odify work for a
resource,
project will not -- in most circumstances -- change the scheduled
dates
for the task.

You also need to track and report hours weekly, monthly, and
annualy
for
completed and on-going projects. There are dozens of current
projects
being
managed individually. You do not need or want people tracking hours
for every
little task on every project. You just need project-level hours
collected
weekly for historical and cost allocation purposes.

[Julie] This still may be possible with some "watching". you can use
the Task Usage (or Resource Usage view) zoomed out to show weeks and
then apply actual work. With fixed duration tasks, adjustments to
the
amount of hours worked with simply adjust the assignment unit.
You'll
still need to adjust remaining work if needed.

You do not need the tool to figure out when projects will start or
stop. You
do not need the tool to make any adjustments to dates or planned
work.

In this situation, automated scheduling is not necessary. But,
there
are
many other features of Project that make it look almost perfect for
high-level planning and tracking.

- Collaboration capabilities of Project Server provide a web-based
interface
for resources to report their project level actuals.

[Julie] Sorry, I personally can't give advice on Project Server nor
PWA.
You might try re-posting your question to the Project Server
Newsgroup
for any advice there on how to prevent updates from PWS from doing
the
least amount of change to your project plan.

- Centralized resource information is available for individual
projects, as
well as high-level plans.
- Dynamic canned views let you look at different data in multiple
ways.
- Standardized data collection forms ensure consistency in
collected
data.
- Pre-defined database for projects, tasks, resources, and
dependencies
means that a database doesn't have to be re-invented.
- All kinds of data can be easily exported.
- Spreadsheet-like capabilities for playing "what if".
- Outline levels allow work to be categorized for a variety of
management
(but not necessarily project management) purposes (e.g. reporting
development
versus maintenance work). And, sub-totals and totals are built-in
for
each
level.

I could go on, but the point is that there is a great deal of
functionality
in Project that I could use if the automated scheduling would quit
changing
things. It would take a huge effort to get even close with Excel.

I really do appreciate your taking the time to read my ramblings.

[Julie] You're welcome and your comments aren't "ramblings"

PS If being an MVP gives you any pull with Bill, please ask him to
give me a
little more control over Project.

[Julie] Oddly enough, he's stopped returning my calls....

Thanks again, Tom

[Julie] - You're most welcome, Tom.<snip>