Show Late Activities on Gantt Chart

[markaztec]

I am trying to show the Activities that are late or on schedule on the Gantt
Chart in Microsoft Project 2003. All I want is the word Late to appear next
to the activities that are late, but I want it to be automatically calculated.

 

[Rod Gill]

Hi,

You need to create a formula in Text1 (or any other text field) then use the
contents of Text1 as text for a new bar.

I suggest you create a new View to do this and edit the bar via Format, Bar
Styles. Look for the text tab.

 

[markaztec]

Yeah been trying that, unfortunately I am very new to Microsoft Project and
have no idea how to write the formula. I have tried many formulas to no
avail.

 

[JulieS]

Hi markaztec,

Well, it depends upon what you consider "Late". The formula below will
show the word "Late" if the finish of the task is scheduled to be later
than the baseline finish.

IIf([Finish]>[Baseline Finish], "Late", " ")

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie

 

[JackD]

Another easy way of showing this which doesn't use the text is to use a
different colored bar which goes from the baseline finish to the finish.
To do this go to format menu, select barstyles
Then add a row which goes from "Baseline Finish" to "Finish" (it will only
show up if baseline finish is before actual finish.
Then in the bottom set the bar format so that it stands out. A fat red solid
bar should catch people's attention.
If you want to emphasize the positive, then do the same thing but from
"Finish" to "Baseline Finish" and make it green or something.

-Jack
I have more tips and tricks here: http://zo-d.com/blog including an article
on writing formulas which might be of help.

Hi markaztec,

Well, it depends upon what you consider "Late". The formula below will
show the word "Late" if the finish of the task is scheduled to be later
than the baseline finish.

IIf([Finish]>[Baseline Finish], "Late", " ")

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie

Yeah been trying that, unfortunately I am very new to Microsoft Project
and
have no idea how to write the formula. I have tried many formulas to no
avail.

 

[John]

I am new to Project too and trying to do the same type of thing. I want a
mark or some indicator to show up when a task is behind schdule or not done
by the deadline date. Do I have to have a baseline finish on my chart?
Please help.

Thanks!

Kimberly,
Do you "have" to have a baseline? No, but setting a baseline before
execution starts is the standard way of laying the groundwork for
schedule tracking. You could also set a deadline for each task but that
really defeats the purpose of a dynamic schedule because very few tasks
in a real schedule truly have a "deadline".

First let me make a suggestion. After your plan is laid out and before
execution starts, go to Tools/Tracking/Save Baseline and set a baseline
for the whole project. From that point on, you can use various filters
(Project/Filtered For/More Filters) to see how the project is
progressing compared to the original baseline. You can also conveniently
display this graphically with the Tracking Gantt view.

Now let me make a recommendation. Go to our MVP website at:
http://www.mvps.org/project/links.htm, and hit the link for fellow MVP,
Mike Glen's tutorials. Mike's tutorials will give you a good overview of
how Project works and how to set up a viable plan.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

Another easy way of showing this which doesn't use the text is to use a
different colored bar which goes from the baseline finish to the finish.
To do this go to format menu, select barstyles
Then add a row which goes from "Baseline Finish" to "Finish" (it will only
show up if baseline finish is before actual finish.
Then in the bottom set the bar format so that it stands out. A fat red
solid
bar should catch people's attention.
If you want to emphasize the positive, then do the same thing but from
"Finish" to "Baseline Finish" and make it green or something.

-Jack
I have more tips and tricks here: http://zo-d.com/blog including an article
on writing formulas which might be of help.

Hi markaztec,

Well, it depends upon what you consider "Late". The formula below will
show the word "Late" if the finish of the task is scheduled to be later
than the baseline finish.

IIf([Finish]>[Baseline Finish], "Late", " ")

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie

Yeah been trying that, unfortunately I am very new to Microsoft Project
and
have no idea how to write the formula. I have tried many formulas to no
avail.

:

Hi,

You need to create a formula in Text1 (or any other text field) then
use
the
contents of Text1 as text for a new bar.

I suggest you create a new View to do this and edit the bar via Format,
Bar
Styles. Look for the text tab.

--

Rod Gill
Project MVP
Visit www.msproject-systems.com for Project Companion Tools and more


I am trying to show the Activities that are late or on schedule on the
Gantt
Chart in Microsoft Project 2003. All I want is the word Late to
appear
next
to the activities that are late, but I want it to be automatically
calculated.

 

[John]

Thanks so much. This will work. The tutorials are awesome too. One
question I have. In the event I have to add new tasks to the project, do I
need to go back and resave the baseline?

Kimberly,
You're welcome.

When adding tasks to an existing schedule, all you need to do is to save
a baseline for the added tasks. Just select the tasks and then go to
Tools/Tracking/Set Baseline and click the option of "selected tasks". If
you don't do that you may end up re-setting the baseline for the whole
project.

John
Project MVP

 

[John]

Thanks John. When I first tried this I was getting the icon with the red
exclamation point under indicator column. Now I cant get it to show up if a
task is behind or past the deadline date. How do I get that to appear?

Thanks

Kimberly,
First tried what? And are you referring to the Status Indicator field or
the Indicator field - they are different. Either one may contain a red
diamond with an exclamation point. Assuming you are referring to the
Indicator field, a red diamond with an exclamation point will appear if
the schedule finish date is beyond the deadline date and the task is not
finished. However, that indicator will disappear if the task is 100%
complete, even if it finished after the deadline date. Why? Because the
task is done and the indicator field is meant to alert the user of what
is likely to happen. If it already happened, you "bought the farm", it's
time to milk the cows and get on with it.

John
Project MVP

 

[John]

Thanks again John. You have helped me tremendously. I was referring to the
status indicator field. I did get the red diamond with exclamation point to
show up.

I appreciate it.

Kimberly,
You're welcome and thanks for the feedback.
John