Mary said:
I have created a project plan using "hours" of effort and "fixed work". I'm
trying to have the .mpp roll up to equal the hours listed in a statement of
work.
I've used lag time to account for the length of time between tasks so the
dependencies can be used o.k.
I'm having 2 problems:
1. How do I set up a 16 hour task that starts on 9.18.06 and continues to
11.10.06?
2. My % complete isn't working. I'm not showing duration in my plan but
when I look in task information, the duration is an estimate that's different
than the actual number of hours I've entered for the task.
I appreciate any help or feedback on this.
Thanks.
Mary,
First you need to understand the difference between duration and work.
These two concepts are often confused because they both can be expressed
in terms of time (i.e. hours, days, etc.). Duration is the estimated
time during which the task will be performed. It is the working time
difference between the task start and task finish. Work on the other
hand is the estimated effort one or more resources will expend actually
accomplishing the task. If a single resource is assigned full time to a
task, the duration will equal the work. Generally the relationship
between the two is described by the formula:
Duration = Work * resource units
I don't quite understand your statement about lag time so dependencies
can be used. Lag time may or may not be a valid part of a dependency but
a dependency does NOT require a lag.
At any rate let me answer your questions.
1. By a 16 hour task I assume you mean you have a task that starts
9/18/06 and finishes on 11/10/06. That is a task with a duration of 40
days, assuming a normal 8/5 workweek and a standard calendar. During
that time one or more resources are expected to expend 16 hours of
effort. Since you have fixed work and you have specified a duration,
then using the above formula Project will adjust the resource units to
satisfy the equation. You can set up the task as follows:
a. Assuming the task start date is already set by the Project Start
Date (Project/Project Information/Task Start Date), enter a duration of
40 days. That will give a task start of 9/18/06 and a finish of 11/10/06.
b. Then enter a value of 16 hours in the Work field
c. In the Resource Names field, select the desired resource. When you
do so, Project will assign that resource at a level of 0.05 units.
Basically the resource will spend 5% of his/her time on that task.
2. Your % Complete IS working, but you might not be looking at the right
data to see the result. When you enter a value for % Complete, what are
you expecting to see happen? As far as the duration value not agreeing
with the number of hours you entered, if you are talking about the work
hours you entered, then the two value most likely will NOT be the same
as I explained above. When a value for % Complete is entered, the
duration will NOT change, neither will the work. What WILL change is the
Remaining Duration and Remaining Work fields, if you chose to show them
as columns in your view.
Starting to make sense?
John
Project MVP
