12 Tracking Progress on Tasks and Assignments

Soe Naing Win
Email: snw1975@gmail.com

 Update a previously saved baseline plan.
 Record actual work for tasks and assignments.
 Record actual work by time period.
 Interrupt work on a task and specify the date
on which the task should start again

Recall that a baseline is a collection of important
values in a project plan, such as the planned start
dates, finish dates, and costs of tasks,
resources, and assignments. When you save
(or set) a baseline, Project takes a “snapshot” of
the existing values and saves it in the Project plan
for future comparison.

To keep an accurate baseline for later
comparison, you have several options:
• Update the baseline for the entire project. This simply
replaces the original baseline values with the currently
scheduled values.
• Update the baseline for selected tasks. This does not
affect the baseline values for other tasks or resource
baseline values in the project plan.
• Save a second or subsequent baseline. You can save up
to 11 baselines in a single plan. The first one is called
Baseline, and the rest are Baseline 1 through Baseline 10.

Exercise : compare the project plan as it is currently
scheduled with the baseline plan and update the baseline
for the project plan.
• View > Task Views > Gantt Chart > Tracking Gantt

 Task Name > task 18, Original art review > Scroll to
Task
 View > Zoom > Timescale > Weeks

To conclude this exercise, you will resave the baseline for
the project plan. Doing so will update all baseline
information for tasks, resources, and assignments prior to
tracking progress.
• Project > Schedule > Set Baseline > Set Baseline
Make sure that the Set
Baseline option is
selected. In the For
area, make sure that the
Entire project option is
selected

• Click OK to update the baseline.
• Project alerts you that you are about to overwrite the previously saved
baseline values.
• Click Yes.
Project updates the baseline values for the project plan.

Exercise, you record task-level and assignment-level
actuals and see how the information is rolled up or down
between tasks and assignments.
• Change to Task Usage.
• Task Name > task 18, Original art review > Scroll to Task.
• View tab > Data > Tables > Work.

For example,
• The work, total for task 18, 160 hours = the sum of Hany Morcos’
80 hours of work on the task and Jane Dow’s 80 hours.

Next, you’ll change the details shown on the timephased grid on the
right side of the view.
• Format > Details > Actual Work.

Next, you’ll enter task-level and assignment-level actual work values
and see how they are reflected in the timephased details.
• Using the mouse, drag the vertical divider bar to the right until you
can see all the columns in the Work table

In the Actual column for task 18, Original art review, type or click 90h,
and then press the Enter key

Several important things occurred when you pressed Enter:

Several important things occurred when you pressed Enter:
• Project applied change highlighting to the updated values in the table.
• The amount of actual work you entered was subtracted from the Remaining
column.
• The actual work was distributed to the two assignments on the task,
resulting in 44.5 hours of actual work being recorded for one resource and
45.5 hours for the other resource. (The difference in assignments is due to
Hany’s previously customized assignment values.) Likewise, the updated
remaining work value was recalculated for each assignment.
• The updated actual and remaining work values were rolled up to the
Acquisition summary task.
• The actual work values were also redistributed to the task and assignment
timephased values.

To conclude this exercise, you will enter actual work values at the
assignment level and see the effect on the task.
• In the Actual column for Hany Morcos’s assignment to task 18, type or
click 60h, and then press Enter.

Drag the vertical divider bar back to the left to see more of the updated
timephased values for the task.

Exercise C: you enter some actuals for tasks for specific time
periods.
Click the minus sign next to task 15, Acquisition, to collapse this phase of the
project plan.
• Task Name column > click the name of task 22, Organize manuscript for
copyedit > Scroll to Task.
Project scrolls the timephased grid to display the first scheduled work values
of the Editorial phase.

The first timephased actual work values that you will enter are at the
task level and not for specific assignments.
• In the timephased grid, click the cell at the intersection of the Wednesday,
May 23 column and the task 22 actual work row. The actual work row is
directly below the work row, which contains the value 12h.

• Type 9h, and then press the Tab key.

• In the Thursday, May 24 actual work cell, type 15h, and then press
Tab.

• For task 22, enter the following actual work values for the dates
listed.
Date Actual Hours
Friday, May 25 12
Monday, May 28 12
Tuesday, May 29 15

For task 23, Copyedit, you have weekly actual work values from the
assigned resource. The copyeditors have completed the task. For this
task, you’ll adjust the timescale to record weekly actual values.
• View tab > Zoom group > Timescale box > Weeks.
Enter the following actual work values into the timephased grid for the
Copyeditors’ assignment to task 23, Copyedit
 Date (Week of) Actual Hours
 May 27 60
 June 3 80
 June 10 48

The resource’s actual work values were rolled up to the task’s actual
work values. The original work values were saved in the baseline
should you ever need to refer to them later.

Here is how Project handles tasks in relation to the
rescheduled date:
• If the task does not have any actual work recorded for it prior
to the rescheduled date and does not have a constraint
applied, the entire task is rescheduled to begin after that
date.
• If the task has some actual work recorded prior to but none
after the rescheduled date, the task is split so that all
remaining work starts after the rescheduled date. The actual
work is not affected.
• If the task has some actual work recorded for it prior to as
well as after the rescheduled date, the task is not affected

Exercise D: you reschedule uncompleted work
• View tab > Gantt Chart.
• In the Task Name column, click the name of task 31, Proofread
and index > Scroll to Task

You have learned that over the weekend of July 28, a water pipe burst
in the proofreaders’ office. None of the project’s equipment or material
was damaged, but the cleanup will delay work until Wednesday,
August 1. This effectively stops work on the proofreading task for a
few days. Next, you will reschedule incomplete work so that the
project can begin again on Wednesday.
• Project > Status > Update Project.

• Select the Reschedule uncompleted work to start after option,
and in the text box, type or select 7/31/12.

• Project splits task 31 so that the incomplete portion of the task is
delayed until Wednesday

12 Tracking Progress on Tasks and Assignments

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