Report

[Tom]

How do I create a simple report that includes only the tasks that are due to
be completed in date order, across all groupings?

 

[John]

How do I create a simple report that includes only the tasks that are due to
be completed in date order, across all groupings?

Tom,
What exactly do you mean by, "... only the tasks that are due to be
completed in date order..."? I guess if the whole file is sorted by
finish date, then you would have that report. And what "groupings" are
you referring to?

I think we need a little more information before we can be of assistance.

John
Project MVP

 

[Tom]

Tom,
What exactly do you mean by, "... only the tasks that are due to be
completed in date order..."? I guess if the whole file is sorted by
finish date, then you would have that report. And what "groupings" are
you referring to?

I think we need a little more information before we can be of assistance.

John
Project MVP

Thanks. Sorting by finish date helped.
Our goal is to generate a report that a very non technical superior can look
at and easily see what tasks are supposed to be completed this month (for
example). He wants to be able to call a few days in advance and check the
progress and assess the likelihood of completion.
We've been doing this in Excel by sorting by finish date, but we have so
many projects going at once that we were overwhelmed. We are evaluating
Project to see if it can help us. The program puts out so much information
that, for us, it is hard to use. We're trying to make the reports simpler.

 

[John]

Thanks. Sorting by finish date helped.
Our goal is to generate a report that a very non technical superior can look
at and easily see what tasks are supposed to be completed this month (for
example). He wants to be able to call a few days in advance and check the
progress and assess the likelihood of completion.
We've been doing this in Excel by sorting by finish date, but we have so
many projects going at once that we were overwhelmed. We are evaluating
Project to see if it can help us. The program puts out so much information
that, for us, it is hard to use. We're trying to make the reports simpler.

Tom,
There is of course a big difference between Project and Excel. Excel
"excels" in numerical manipulation and graphing although some people use
it for low level scheduling, probably because Excel is so universal and
easy to use. Project on the other hand is a planning and scheduling
application. It can do some low level numerical manipulation but it
really excels at providing the tools to effectively create and manage
schedules of any size. Unfortunately Project is not nearly as universal
nor as user friendly as Excel and it does require a fair amount of
training and hands-on effort to use it effectively.

I can understand your issue with trying to put together a schedule
report for non-technical management. There are so many variables with
project management that simplifying it is a real challenge. There is a
whole lot more to it than just looking at what tasks were supposed to be
completed by a certain time. Nonetheless, that is most likely what a
non-technical manager most easily understands. To that end, I suggest
you use the following method:

1. Use the Date Range filter to limit the time period of tasks
displayed. You may or may not want to show summary lines. The default of
the built-in filter is to show them. If you do not want them, go to
Project/Filtered For/More Filters and select the Data Range filter from
the list. Hit Edit. Add a third criteria to the filter like this:
And/Or Field Name Test Value
And Summary equals no

Hit "OK" and "Apply".

2. The filtered data can now be sorted by Finish Date.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP