Progress Lines - Right or Left Peak?

[GillianHG]

I'm trying to work with progress lines and online Help says lines with a peak
to the right are for tasks ahead of schedule and peaks to the left are for
tasks behind schedule. I have always thought it was the other way around. Is
this a typo in Help, or is it me??

Example:
Say in my project, I have a task are running about two days late (meant to
start Wed Jan 5 and started Friday Jan 7). I do a progress line for Jan 5 on
actuals and it goes out to my late start task on Jan 7 and then back in to
the progress line for Jan 5.

To me, that shows a point is going RIGHT. Yet according to the Help file, a
right point is a task ahead of schedule - this task is clearly behind.

Can someone please help? I'm writing some documentation for a user so I need
to make sure I get this.

 

[Gérard Ducouret]

Hello Gillian,

What is your Status Date ? Jan 5 ?
If so, you can't tell that a task has *already* started on jan 7th, it
*will* start on jan 7 : it has no Actual start, only Scheduled Start.

Gérard Ducouret

 

[GillianHG]

Thanks for your response.

Jan 5 was my status date. The actual start for the task is Jan 7 and it is
100% complete. I think I'm beginning to get this - tell me if I'm on the
right track.

Do you mean that the progress line is 'true' for the status date only? For
example, my status date is Jan 5 and my task is started Jan 7 and finished
Jan 9. Because the status date is Jan 5 and the task has an actual for Jan 7,
the progress line shows as a peak to the right and so 'ahead of schedule'
simply because the task is in progress/complete as of status date (regardless
of what it's original baseline value was).

Hope that makes sense...
G

Hello Gillian,

What is your Status Date ? Jan 5 ?
If so, you can't tell that a task has *already* started on jan 7th, it
*will* start on jan 7 : it has no Actual start, only Scheduled Start.

Gérard Ducouret

 

[GillianHG]

Edited my previous post

Thanks for your response.

Jan 5 was my status date. The actual start for the task is Jan 7 and it is
100% complete. I think I get this - tell me if I'm on the
right track.

Do you mean that the progress line is relative to the status date only? For
example, my status date is Jan 5 and my task is started Jan 7 and finished
Jan 9. Because the status date is Jan 5 and the task has an actual for Jan 7,
the progress line shows as a peak to the right and so 'ahead of schedule'
simply because the task is in progress/complete as of status date. The ahead or behind has nothing to do with when the task was *planned* for, it has to do with when the status date/progress line is drawn. If my status line is Jan 5 (so where I'm at as of Jan 5) and I have a task started Jan 7 then that task shows ahead of schedule because I'm already doing it.

Hope that makes sense...Funny, you don't realize that you don't fully understand something until you have to write courseware - then all the holes in your knowledge become glaringly obvious!!
G

 

[Steve House [MVP]]

But if your status date is Jan 5, how can possibly know that the task in
question began Jan 7 and is complete?? By saying that Jan 5 is the status
date, you're saying the only information you have is the information you
possessed on Jan 5. Unless you are psychic, you can't possibly know ON THE
5th that the task will start on the 7th and be complete by whenever. You
might be planning for it, but you can't know what you've actually done until
sometime after the fact. What you're seeing is an indication that as of the
5th you had been able to do some of the work that was scheduled for the 7th,
hence you were ahead of schedule on the 5th. If that's not reality, as you
say, you must change your status date so you are in fact looking back at
history. Make the status date today and it will make sense.
--
Steve House [MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Thanks for your response.

Jan 5 was my status date. The actual start for the task is Jan 7 and it
is
100% complete. I think I'm beginning to get this - tell me if I'm on the
right track.

Do you mean that the progress line is 'true' for the status date only? For
example, my status date is Jan 5 and my task is started Jan 7 and finished
Jan 9. Because the status date is Jan 5 and the task has an actual for Jan
7,
the progress line shows as a peak to the right and so 'ahead of schedule'
simply because the task is in progress/complete as of status date
(regardless
of what it's original baseline value was).

Hope that makes sense...
G

 

[GillianHG]

Thanks Steve. I probably should have added in my post that the status date
was retroactive and not the current date. A better term might have been the
'progress line date'.

I get this now. Many thanks to you and Gerard.