In MS Project, is it possible to adjust task estimates based on v.

[mr b]

I am estimating a computer project and the number of programs to be written
is variable, depending on the scope. I would like to be able to quickly
adjust the estimates for certain tasks based on the number of programs to be
written and then see the effects of the change on the project schedule and
the project cost. Is this possible? How is it done?

 

[John]

I am estimating a computer project and the number of programs to be written
is variable, depending on the scope. I would like to be able to quickly
adjust the estimates for certain tasks based on the number of programs to be
written and then see the effects of the change on the project schedule and
the project cost. Is this possible? How is it done?

Mr b,
Yes it is certainly possible. How it is done depends on the structure of
your file and the end goal. For example, do you have a completion
milestone that is more or less fixed due to contractual or business
constraints? If so, are you trying to adjust the durations of tasks such
that with more or less programs, the overall schedule still meets the
end milestone? On the other hand maybe you just want to do a linear
reduction (or expansion) of duration estimates as programs are added or
deleted. There can be a lot of scenarios.

You mentioned being able to do the adjustment quickly. I'm not aware of
any utility that will tweak durations and doing so by hand most likely
won't be quick. I suggest you define a process for adjusting the
durations and then develop a VBA macro to implement the process. It will
definitely be quick.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Steve House [MVP]]

You might be able to figure a way but I'd think it would be more beneficial
to treat each program as a separate deliverable, each of which has a number
of tasks required to produce it. So it's not that the "design" task is
longer for 5 programs than it is for 3. Instead you'd have 3 different
design tasks if you need to write 3 programs and 5 design tasks if you
needed to write 5 programs. That seems like it would give you a more
accurate model of the real workflow and that's the name of the PM game.

 

[mr b]

John,

Thanks for the response. We are looking more for the linear reduction type
of capabilities. I should have explained more...

I have done this in the past using MS Excel. I do up the entire workplan in
Excel. The estimate for each task is based on hours per unit and the number
of units. The number of units is based on the scope of the project. The
number of units (in this case, programs) is stored in one cell and then
re-used across multiple tasks. This way, if we adjust the scope (and thus
the number of units/programs), the spreadsheet automatically readjusts the
total work effort and voila', in one second we have the answer to how much
the effort changes because of the scope change. I use from 50 to 100 such
unit types (we call them estimating factors) in a typical workplan. The
limitation is that Excel requires that we manually re-schedule the project,
which can take hours. We are hoping to leverage MS project for the task
dependencies and scheduling capabilities but we don't want to lose the
ability to make quick adjustments to the effort levels on the tasks like we
have done in Excel.

Can you think of a quick way to readjust the effort similar to the way we
have been doing it in Excel?

By the way, once we have settled on a scope and an overall estimate, we
would then start developing detailed workplans with each program listed and
detailed dependencies, resources, etc.

 

[John]

John,

Thanks for the response. We are looking more for the linear reduction type
of capabilities. I should have explained more...

I have done this in the past using MS Excel. I do up the entire workplan in
Excel. The estimate for each task is based on hours per unit and the number
of units. The number of units is based on the scope of the project. The
number of units (in this case, programs) is stored in one cell and then
re-used across multiple tasks. This way, if we adjust the scope (and thus
the number of units/programs), the spreadsheet automatically readjusts the
total work effort and voila', in one second we have the answer to how much
the effort changes because of the scope change. I use from 50 to 100 such
unit types (we call them estimating factors) in a typical workplan. The
limitation is that Excel requires that we manually re-schedule the project,
which can take hours. We are hoping to leverage MS project for the task
dependencies and scheduling capabilities but we don't want to lose the
ability to make quick adjustments to the effort levels on the tasks like we
have done in Excel.

Can you think of a quick way to readjust the effort similar to the way we
have been doing it in Excel?

By the way, once we have settled on a scope and an overall estimate, we
would then start developing detailed workplans with each program listed and
detailed dependencies, resources, etc.

Mr b,
I can think of a couple of ways to implement Project to do the
equivalent of what you currently do in Excel. One is through the use of
one or more formulas in custom fields and the second is via VBA. I
rarely use formulas because they have many limitations and can get very
complex in a hurry. If I were to implement what you want I would write a
macro based on this pseudo-code.
1. Pop up a user message asking for the number of units
2. Set up a loop to cycle through all tasks (or a specific set of tasks).
3. Perform whatever units/program math you need to adjust the task work
4. End of story, you're done

Keep in mind that in Project Task Duration and Task Work are two
different things. Duration is the time span estimated for completing the
task. Work is the effort of one or more resources to perform the task.
For example, an estimate of 1 week (40 hours duration) may be given for
writing a code module. However the effort of a single resource to
perform the task may only be 30 hours (Work effort). Your post talks
about "work effort" so the pseudo-code above assumes you want to adjust
the Work field. In a plan that has more than one resource per task
things can get a little more complex unless all resources on that task
have equal work.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[mr b]

John,

Thanks, again, for the reply. We do not have VBA skills on the project.
Therefore, we need to focus on an out-of-the-box solution. Could you tell me
a little more about formulas and custom fields. Please note that I have done
a lot of project mgmt type work but am still something of a novice at MS
Project. Thanks!!

 

[John]

John,

Thanks, again, for the reply. We do not have VBA skills on the project.
Therefore, we need to focus on an out-of-the-box solution. Could you tell me
a little more about formulas and custom fields. Please note that I have done
a lot of project mgmt type work but am still something of a novice at MS
Project. Thanks!!

Mr b,
As far as I'm concerned, VBA is an out-of-the-box solution because VBA
is one of the basic tools included with Project and every other
Microsoft Office product. True, it does take some learning to be able to
use VBA effectively but once you do, there are basically no limits. One
final note on VBA. It isn't that difficult to learn and there is a lot
of help available in this and related newsgroups. If you are simply not
interested, there is always the option of having someone write the code
for you.

With regard to formulas and custom fields. Starting with Project 2000,
Microsoft expanded the functionality of spare fields. It is now possible
to insert formulas into any spare field. Although formulas cannot be
used directly in built-in Project fields (e.g. Name, Duration, etc.)
there is still some limited ability to effect a change in those fields
based on a formula in a custom field. For more information on formulas
look in the help file under, "available functions for custom field
formulas". For more information about custom fields in general look in
the help file under, "custom fields".

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi mr b,

Welcome to this Microsoft Project newsgroup

You might like to have a look at my series on Microsoft Project in the
TechTrax ezine, particularly #14 & 15 - Customizing Fields, at this site:
http://tinyurl.com/2xbhc or this:
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMFrame.asp?CMD=ArticleSearch&AUTH=23
(Perhaps you'd care to rate the article before leaving the site,
Thanks.)

FAQs, companion products and other useful Project information can be seen at
this web address: <http://www.mvps.org/project/>

Hope this helps - please let us know how you get on

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP