Track progress: Detailed techniques
- 1/30/2017
Practice tasks
The practice files for these tasks are located in the Project2016SBS\Ch14 folder.
Important
If you are running Project Professional with Project Web App/Project Server, take care not to save any of the practice files you work with in this book to Project Web App (PWA). For more information, see Appendix C, “Collaborate: Project, SharePoint, and PWA.”
Update a baseline
The scenario: At Lucerne Publishing, the planning for the new children’s book project has undergone some additional fine-tuning, including adjustments to task durations and the addition of a task. Because of these changes, you need to capture a new baseline before work begins. Open the UpdateBaseline plan in Project, and perform the following tasks:
Examine the current baseline in the Tracking Gantt view with the timescale set to weekly.
In the Tracking Gantt view, note that the recently added task 18 lacks a baseline
Update the baseline for the entire plan.
After the plan’s baseline is updated, the baseline dates align with the as-scheduled task dates and task 18 now has a baseline
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Track actual and remaining work for tasks and assignments
The scenario: Several tasks in the plan have more than one resource assigned. You’d like to get a better look at how your recording of actual work on such tasks affects assigned work. Open the TrackWork plan in Project, and perform the following tasks:
Display the Work table in the Task Usage view.
Record 92 hours of actual work on task 18, Original art review.
After entering actual work on task 18, note how the actual work is split between the two assigned resources
On the same task, change Hany Morcos’s 46 hours of actual work to 62 hours.
After entering actual work on an assignment to task 18, note that the other assignment to the same task is not affected
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Track timephased actual work for tasks and assignments
The scenario: The Acquisition phase of work has been completed, and the Editorial phase has begun. Because of the larger number of resources involved and the variability of the editorial work, these tasks are the riskiest ones so far in the project. To manage the actuals of these tasks in the most detailed way possible, you will record timephased actuals. Open the TrackTimephasedWork plan in Project, and perform the following tasks:
Scroll the timephased grid in the Task Usage view until the scheduled work for task 22, Organize manuscript for copyedit, is visible.
Show the Actual Work detail in the timephased grid of the view.
Record 9 hours of actual work on task 22 for Wednesday, May 30, and 15 hours for Thursday, May 31.
After entering task-level timephased actual work, note the updates to the two assignments on the task
Adjust the timescale to weekly.
Record 12 hours of actual work for Dan Jump’s assignment to task 22, Organize manuscript, for the week of June 3.
After actual work is recorded on one assignment to task 22, the blue change highlighting shows you the task-level and summary task-level changes to actual work
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Reschedule incomplete work
The scenario: Editorial work has been completed. The team has started work on the next phase. However, you need to troubleshoot a delay in work caused by an unforeseen problem. Open the RescheduleIncompleteWork plan in Project, and perform the following tasks:
Scroll the Task Usage view to display the latest actual work recorded for task 31, Proofread and index.
Reschedule incomplete work for the entire project to start after August 7, 2018.
Note the absence of scheduled work for task 31 (as indicated by 0h) on Monday and Tuesday due to the rescheduled incomplete work; in a Gantt chart view, this would appear as a split task
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