Nenad Trajkovski

Estimation in hours and Resource Assignments with Fixed work Tasks in MS Project 2019

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi,

very often Tasks are estimated by effort, not duration. And Tasks are fixed work type. Now the question is: “How many hours will each resource spend at the Task?”

I will show that in MS PROJECT 2019.¸

Let’s say that I have a Project with one Task which need effort 24 hour (I will show that in Task Usage View):

and that we have four Resources:

John is available 100%, Mary 50%, Peter 75%, and Paula 20% to work per day. So John can work max. 8 hours per day, Mary 4 hours, Peter 6 hours, and Paula 2 hours.

Now I will assign them to the Task:

So, Duration is 3 days, and each Resource will work 6 hours in Total. Let me explain the calculation:

Since total work is 24 hours, and we have four Resources, each Resource will have to work 24 hours / 4 Resources = 6 hours
John is 100% assigned. So according to formula Work = Duration * Units he will work 6 hours at first day, and he is done
Mary is 50% assigned. So according to formula Work = Duration * Units she will work 4 hours at first day, and remining 2 hours at second day
Peter is 75% assigned. So according to formula Work = Duration * Units he will work 6 hours at first day, and he is done
Paula is 25% assigned. So according to formula Work = Duration * Units she will work 2 hours at first day, 2 hours at second day, and remining 2 hours at third day.

No, suppose that only John and Paula will work on Task:

So, Duration is 6 days, and each Resource will work 12 hours in Total. Let me explain the calculation:

Since total work is 24 hours, and we have two Resources, each Resource will have to work 24 hours / 2 Resources = 12 hours
John is 100% assigned. So according to formula Work = Duration * Units he will work 8 hours at first day, and remaining 4 hours at second day
Paula is 25% assigned. So according to formula Work = Duration * Units she will work 2 hours each day, and it will take her 6 days to fulfill those 12 hours.

This might seem complicated, but once you got it, you will see it is not!

Hope this helps.

Regards

Actual duration and Actual start “problem” in MS PROJECT 2019

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi,

I have a question from blog reader:

“Hi Nenad,
I would like to track the progress in the following scenario:
Task A: 3,5 d duration
Task B: 3 d duration with a constraint FS with task A
Progress: Say that Task A is on track (Actual start date: 11/02; Actual duration: 3,5 d; Rem. duration:0 d)
Task B starts 14/02 actual duration 1 d; Rem. duration:2 d
What I get is not what I want because Task B starts when Task A isn’t yet finished.
Then it is necessary to enter in the actual start date of Task B also the time.
In this case it is easy but in more complex projects it could be more difficult and above all more boring.
Is there a tip to avoid this?”

Here is the Project:

Since Task A is finished on time, and it was started on time I will mark it as 100% completed;

and I will get:

Now, Task B has started on time, and Actual duration is 1 day, with Remaining duration 2 days.

and:

and I will get:

The Problem is that Actual start of Task B is 14.02.2019 at 08:00, but Task A, has finished at 12:00 same day, so it seems that Task B has been started before Task A has been finished. Why? Because if I put Actual start date, it will take start time from Calendar. To avoid that just DON’T put anything in Actual start field like this:

Final result is, as expected:

So when Task has been started immediately after predecessor is finished, leave Actual start field empty.

Hope this helps!

Posted in MICROSOFT PROJECT 2019 | Tagged Micorosft Project 2019 - Tasks, Micorosft Project 2019 - tracking | Leave a comment

How to apply same filter on different tables in MS PROJECT 2019

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi,

today I will show you how to apply same filter only once, and use different tables in MS PROJECT 2019.

First, I’m going to create a simple Project:

and I will create Resources needed for the Project:

Finally I will assign Resources to Tasks:

Finally I will save the Baseline:

and:

Now I want to see some information for all John’s Tasks.

I will apply filter:

and I will get:

Now let’s say that I want to see Cost, and Work Tables for John. I have two possibilities.

First one is to leave this filter on, and just jump to the Cost and Work Table:

and the result is:

For the Work Table, the result is:

Advantage of this approach is that you have to set filter only once, and no matter which table will you choose, the result will be shown for that file which was applied on another table. Disadvantage is that you do not see filter on other tables (in my example, Cost and Work), and when you want to switch this filter off, you should go to the original table like this:

Second possibility is to add a column on each table on which you want to apply filter like this:

Now you can apply filter like I did (shown on few pictures above).

Advantage of this approach is that you see filters on each and every table. Disadvantage is that you have to put column on the screen for every table you want to see, and apply filter, and than apply that filter.

BUT! No matter which approach you will take, when you apply filter on one Table it will be shown on any other table which you will look at. And, if you save your project with filter turned on, when you, ore someone else open the same Project again, the filter remains applied.

Regards!

Posted in MICROSOFT PROJECT 2019 | Tagged Micorosft Project 2019 - Filters, Micorosft Project 2019 - Tables | Leave a comment

Actual duration vs. Actual Start and Actual Finish in MS PROJECT 2019

Posted on January 28, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi,

today I will show you a short tip about tracking progress in MS PROJECT 2019!

Suppose this scenario:

The Task has 0,5 days duration, and is supposed to be started and finished at 28.01.2019. Now let’s suppose that it started and finished one day later, e.g. at 29.01.2019. I can track this by putting start and finish date as:

and:

I will get:

And this is not what I wanted, because actual duration is 0,5 days. To get that, do not put Actual finish date, but instead of that, follow this steps:

and the result is:

To conclude, when you want to have exact number of actual days (3,5 for example), put this value in Actual duration, and Remaining duration should be zero. And if task has started at different date then planned put this Actual start date, and Actual finish should be left empty. Since remaining duration is zero, Actual finish will be calculated.

Regards!

Posted in MS PROJECT 2019 | Tagged Micorosft Project 2019 - Actuals | Leave a comment

Changing Resource Calendars and Task Progress–Microsoft Project 2019

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi,

today I will show you what happens if you change Resource Calendar AFTER Task is in progress with MS PROJECT 2019.

First I will create two simple Tasks:

and two Resources:

Now I will assign John to Task 1, and Mary to Task 2:

Finally, I will put 100% Completed for Task 1, and 50% Completed for Task 2:

Now, let’s say that I forgot that John and Mary are on education from Wednesday 21.01.2019 to Friday 25.01.2019, and they are not available for my Project:

When I do same thing for Mary, finally I will get:

As you can see, nothing has been changed for John, and Mary the Finish date is postponed to Tuesday 29.01.2019. Now, the question is: “Why the Task for John didn’t move as it did for Mary?”. And the answer is very simple: “Because it is marked as Done!” In MS PROJECT if Task is done (or just a part of it), you can change Calendar as you want but those dates (periods) in which Task is done will not be affected. If, for example, I put Education exception from 21.01.2019 to 24.01.2019 (the whole period), the result will be the same, e.g. since Task 1 is completed nothing will be changed, and Since Task 2 is only 50% complete (work is done at Monday and Tuesday), only remaining part will be affected. If you forgot to put Exception before Task is completed you should first mark this Task as 0% completed, then change the Calendar, and then mark it completed.

Regards.

Posted in MS PROJECT 2019 | Tagged Microsoft Project 2019 - Calendars | Leave a comment

When to use Task Calendar in MS Project 2019

Posted on January 12, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi, I have very good question form one Blog reader: “Hello Nenad. I found your website while trying to solve a very particular problem in MS Project. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a solution and was hoping that you could help. I have a task that is 18 days in duration called Lab Testing. This task is automatically scheduled so that any delay’s to the previous task will push this task out. The Lab will be shut down for 1 month in September, but our task is currently scheduled to finish before then. However, if we encounter delays to our schedule, it is possible that we will have 8 days prior to the lab shutting down and then will have to complete the 10 days after it opens back up. Is there anyway to schedule this such that the Lab Testing schedule will “float” or “adjust” itself around the fixed Lab Shutdown dates, so that the total amount of testing time (18 days) is the same?”

I will show the solution, using MS PROJECT 2019.

In this solution I will NOT use Lab as resource, and I will use Task Calendar.

Here is Scenario:

Now, let’s say that in March 2019, Lab is going to be shutdown, and Task need Lab cannot be done in this period.

First I will going to create Lab shutdown Calendar:

and:

Now I will apply this new calendar to the Task:

Now, lets say that Task 1 is 100% completed, and Task need Lab has 8 days actual work:

and:

and I will get:

Let’s say that this is all work done until 28.02.2019 (end of February). I will move uncompleted part after that date like this:

and:

and I will get:

The rest of Task need Lab is here:

Of course, another way is to create Lab as Resource, and put in it’s calendar March as exceptions. but in that case that Resource should be assigned to that Task, and work is calculated in hours as well.

Hop this helps.

Regards!

Posted in MICROSOFT PROJECT, MICROSOFT PROJECT 2019 | Tagged Micorosft Project 2019 - Calendars | Leave a comment

How to Delay Project in MS PROJECT 2019

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi all,

I have a question from one of my Blog readers: “The project I am involve in is using only material resources and the unit rate for each resource did not change through time. Currently the project has more than 4 years of delay . Depending on the current status how am I going to forecast the project end date using Microsoft Project.”

I will show how to do it with MS PROJECT 2019. First of all since only Material Resources are used in Project, I will now use them in my example, because cost remain the same.

Here is on simple Project which starts at 01.01.2019:

Now, let’s say that Task 1, and Task 2 are finished 100%, and Task 3 is finished 75%:

As you can see Project end date is 21.01.2019. Now, let’s say that for some reasons Project has ben postponed, and it will be restarted 01.01.2023. It is easy to put in MS PROJECT: