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Microsoft Project Progress line porblem

Anonymous
2014-07-03T07:15:21+00:00

I am using Microsoft project to insert progress into a job but the progress line is only showing slippage it is not showing how fair ahead we are. if we are ahead on a task then the progress line just goes straight down from the status date.

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Anonymous
2014-07-04T08:21:55+00:00

That doesn't make progress lines valid! My understanding is that progress lines were created purely because it fits the "unique " way they track in Japan.

Critical Path is important. The more time critical the project the more important CP is. You can't get accurate critical path if you have incomplete work in the past and some of your future tasks are already complete. You can't filter for tasks this week, you can't do a what if scenario for a new change request when your schedule can't accurately say what you still have to do when in the future (with incomplete work in the past).

Progress lines are wrong in so many ways and as Trevor said, many clients (and managers) have no idea what they should be asking for.

Use baselines, not progress lines to communicate progress.

If your client has asked for them I would demonstrate what should be done and how baselines provide much more relevant data. I get them to show me what happened since last week and since the last steering committee meeting 4 weeks ago and more.

Obviously if progress lines are the bees knees for them go with it, but if you want to control your project, use baselines as well!

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-07-03T21:13:54+00:00

    I am using Microsoft project to insert progress into a job but the progress line is only showing slippage it is not showing how fair ahead we are. if we are ahead on a task then the progress line just goes straight down from the status date.

    Pls see the thread here at: http://www.mpug.com/forums/topic/progress-lines-in-ms-project-2010/

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-07-03T12:19:51+00:00

    Suggestion: Take Rod's advice. He knows what he is talking about. Many clients ask for things in contracts that they do not understand. Many contracts contain requirements about planning/scheduling/programming which are absurd and have been written by lawyers who have never actually planned a project or tracked progress and have never used software such as MSP. Many people, including builders, architects, engineers and lawyers do not understand how to use MSP or even what it is for, and could not give even a coherent explanation of what the critical path method is.

    What can I say? If that's what they want, give it to them? Ask them to give you an interpretation that makes sense?

    If you have that progress line running down your status date (or down the current date if there is no status date) then some of those tasks have planned duration (I would say duration, not work) in the past (left of the line) and some of them have actual duration in the future (right hand side of the line).

    I am guessing that your clients accept this without comment?

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-07-03T09:58:30+00:00

    myself and my company have always used progress lines as this is what the clients require contractually. I have never had a problem in the past and on the odd occasion the progress line works.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-07-03T09:02:27+00:00

    Progress lines are an artifact of earlier versions of MS Project and they do not, in my opinion, provide any meaningful measure of progress. They just clutter up the chart and prevent visibility of what does matter. No one, and I am happy to be corrected on this, knows why they are still in there.

    However, a zig-zag progress line is a useful indicator that the progress has not been properly updated.

    Wherever a progress line zigs to the left, it is showing tasks with scheduled duration in the past.

    Scheduled duration in the past should be moved to asap in the future, since you cannot (logically) say that you plan to do something in the past.

    Wherever a progress line zags to the right, it is showing actual duration in the future.

    Actual duration in the future is impossible, since you cannot (logically) say that you did something next week (or tomorrow). For example, if a 10 day task started 6 days ago and you declare that it is "80% Complete" MSP will give the task an actual start (= to the scheduled start) and 8 days of actual duration (8/10 = 80%). 6 of those actual days will be in the past and two of them will be in the future.

    Do you have a status date set in project information?

    Can you show us a screenshot of your chart with the progress lines?

    Can you show us a screenshot of the progress lines options that you have chosen?

    Can you send me the file?

    I will just make up a sample of relevant screenshots now and paste them into my next post.

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