Track Estimated vs Actual work

[Kevin]

Im trying to track my Estimated vs Actual work. when I enter the Actual Work
the Estiamted Work moves with that and therefore the whole schedule moves.

I want to be able to track my original estimates for reporting and learning
purposes so if I enter Actuals I dont want the Estimates to change.

Is there a way to stop the estimates changing or a better way to do this?

 

[John]

Im trying to track my Estimated vs Actual work. when I enter the Actual Work
the Estiamted Work moves with that and therefore the whole schedule moves.

I want to be able to track my original estimates for reporting and learning
purposes so if I enter Actuals I dont want the Estimates to change.

Is there a way to stop the estimates changing or a better way to do this?

Kevin,
Any time actual values are entered, whether it is Actual Work, Actual
Start, etc. the corresponding estimated values will adjust to agree with
the actual value. This is normal and expected behavior. What you should
be looking at are baseline values. The purpose of a baseline is to "lock
in" the original estimate values (Work, Start, Finish, Cost, etc.) so
they will be available for comparison purposes.

After a project plan is developed and reviewed to ensure everything
plays (i.e. the end goal is doable, resources are properly assigned,
cost values meet the budget, etc.) then a baseline is set. If during the
course of actually performing the plan, major changes occur (e.g. scope
change), the original baseline can be updated or a whole new baseline
can be set (Project has the ability to track multiple baselines).

Hope this helps.
John

 

[Kevin]

John, thanks, I thought that might be the case.

What is the best way to then compare the Baseline schedule to your current
schedule?

Thanks

 

[Steve House [Project MVP]]

"Best" is one of those tricky concepts, it depends on what you're trying to
achieve. You can view variance values in many different tables - variances
compare the values shown in the current schedule to the values saved in
those same field in the baseline. My baseline says the Fidget Widget task
was to start on June 1st and take 10 days. After saving the baseline we
revised our estimated duration to 14 days and also the predecessor task
turns out to be running late - the schedule after posting the updates and
actuals shows Fidget Widget will start 10 June and take 14 days. There is
about a 10-day Start Variance and 4-day Duration Variance.

Another very valuable way to compare them is through Earned Value
calculations. It takes a little getting used to the concept of measuring
time in dollars, but what Earned Value does is compare actual progress in
terms of the work actually done by a designated reporting date, the status
date, related to the work you were expecting to get done by that same date.
Using resource costs insures everything gets compared in constant units and
you always compare apples to apples. The Budgeted Cost of Work Performed
compared to Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled tell you is you're on schedule
while Actual Cost of Work Performed compared to Budgeted Cost of Work
Performed tells you if you're over or under budget. Take a look at
Project's help for more details.

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi Kevin,

You can see one way by looking at the Tracking Gantt view.


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

 

[Kevin]

Guys, thanks. You've been a big help. I checked the Help and it said to use
the regular Gantt chart but to change the Table type to Work instead of
Entry. That showed me the variances and gave me the initial estimates vs the
current schedule. I then added in the Cost columns for each so I could track
my initial schedule and cost vs actual schedule and cost. Which is perfect
for me.

I also did a lot of reading up on the Earned Value which I understand well
now. I will try use it later in the project lifecycle when doing a
post-implementation review.