Monitoring Projects

using
Microsoft Project
(August 02 - 04, 2022)

Yalam Vaidya
M. Engg., PMP

1
Monitoring Tools : Tracking Data,
Entering Actuals
Using Microsoft Project
(Day 2)
Monitoring a Project

Project Planning—developing and communicating the

details of a plan before actual work begins.
When work begins, so does the next phase of project
management: Monitoring or Tracking Progress
Tracking means recording details such as who did what
work, when the work was done, and at what cost.
These details are often called Actual.
Tracking a Project – Benefits & Advantages
Tracking Project Performance and Comparing it with the Original Plan
(as saved in a Baseline) you are able to answer such questions as the
following:
 Are tasks starting and finishing as planned? If not, what will be the
impact on the Project’s Finish Date?
 Are Resources spending more or less time than planned to
complete tasks?
 Are higher-than-anticipated Task Costs driving up the Overall Cost
of the Project?
 When planning similar Projects in the future, will you be able to
determine how good your Team’s Estimating Skills were in prior
Projects?
Tracking Details
Different Levels of Tracking detail include following:
 Record project work as Scheduled. This level works best if
everything in the project occurs exactly as planned.

 Record each Task’s Percentage of completion, either at precise

values or at preset increments such as 25, 50, 75, or 100 percent.

 Record the Actual Start Date, Actual Finish Date, Actual Work,
and Actual and Remaining Duration for each Task or Assignment.

 Track Assignment-Level Work by Time Period. This is the most

detailed Level of Tracking. Here, you record Actual Work Values
per Day, Week, or other Interval.
Saving a Baseline
 The original plan, called Baseline Plan, or just Baseline, is a
collection of important schedule, cost, and work values, including
some values distributed over time (called time-phased values)
 When you save a baseline, MS-Project takes a snapshot of the
existing values and saves it in your plan for future comparison.
 You should save the baseline when you have developed the plan as
fully as possible. (This does not mean you cannot add tasks,
resources, or assignments after work has started—this is often
unavoidable)
 MS-Project supports not just one baseline, but up to 11 baselines in
a single plan. The first one is called Baseline, and the rest are
Baseline 1 through Baseline 10.
Creating a Baseline
 On PROJECT Tab, and in SCHEDULE Group, Click SET BASELINE
Icon, and then Choose SET BASELINE on Drop-Down Menu.
 Set Baseline Dialog Box appears.
 SET BASELINE Option allows you to choose up to 11 baselines.
 SET INTERIM PLAN Option allows you to store only current start
and finish dates of a Project. Up to 10 Interim Plans can be saved.
 And Select FOR Option to mention whether this Baseline/Interim
Plan is for Entire Project or for Selected Tasks.
 Open TRACKING GANTT View to display the Planned Schedule vs
the Actual Schedule (which you will input thru Actual).
 You can clear any of the defined baselines using CLEAR BASELINE
option.
Entering ACTUALS – As Scheduled thru a Specific Date
The simplest approach to tracking progress is to report that the
actual work is proceeding exactly as planned.
On the PROJECT Tab, in the STATUS Group, Click UPDATE
PROJECT.
Make sure UPDATE WORK AS COMPLETE THROUGH Option is
selected and then DATE is provided.
 You can Choose progress to be mentioned between 0 to 100% value
or one of 0 or 100% value.
RESCHEDULE UNCOMPLETED WORK TO START AFTER Option
allows to you to move uncompleted Task to the Date supplied.
You can select above command to be applicable FOR Entire
Project or Selected Tasks.
Entering ACTUALS – As Scheduled thru a Specific Date

Another way to indicate that just certain Tasks (not Entire Plan)
have been completed as scheduled is to use the MARK ON TRACK
command (TASK Tab, SCHEDULE Group).

This command applies only to the selected Tasks, and it sets them
as complete through till the Status Date (if you set a Status Date on
the PROJECT Tab, STATUS Group, STATUS DATE Command).

Or if you have not set a Status Date, the command applies through
the Current Date.
Entering ACTUALS – Task’s Completion Percentages

After work begins on a task, you can quickly record its progress as
a percentage.

When you enter a completion percentage greater than 0, Project

sets the task’s actual start date to match its scheduled start date.

Project then calculates the actual duration, the remaining duration,

actual costs, and other values based on the percentage you enter.

For example, if you specify that a four-day task is 25 percent

complete, Project calculates that it has had one day of actual
duration and three days of remaining duration.
Entering ACTUALS – Task’s Completion Percentages
Here are some ways of entering completion percentages:

 Use the 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% Complete Buttons in the
SCHEDULE Group of the TASK Tab, OR

 Add Percent Complete Column (labeled % Complete in the interface)

to a Table in a TASK View, and enter the value you want, OR

 Enter any Percentage value you want in the UPDATE TASKS Dialog
Box. (To Access this Dialog Box, on the TASK Tab, in the SCHEDULE
Group, Click the Down Arrow to the Right of MARK ON TRACK, and
then Click UPDATE TASKS), OR

 Use the Mouse to Set Progress on Gantt Bars.

Entering ACTUAL Values of a Task

A more detailed way to keep your schedule up to date is to

record what actually happened for each task in your project.

You can record each task’s actual Start, Finish, Work, and
Duration values.

For example, when you enter 3 days of actual duration on a

task with 5 days of scheduled duration and 40 hours of work,
Project calculates the actual work to be 24 hours, the percent
complete to be 60%, and the remaining duration to be 2 days
 Entering ACTUAL Values of a Task
When you enter various actual values
MS- Project uses following rules to update plan:
 When you enter Task’s actual start date, Project moves scheduled start date to
match actual start date.
 When you enter Task’s actual finish date, Project moves scheduled finish date
to match actual finish date and sets the task to 100% complete.
 When you enter Task’s actual work value, Project recalculates Task’s remaining
work value, if any.
 When you enter Task’s actual duration, if it is less than scheduled duration,
Project subtracts actual duration from scheduled duration to determine
remaining duration.
 When you enter Task’s actual duration, if it is equal to scheduled duration,
Project sets task to 100% complete.
 When you enter Task’s actual duration, if it is longer than scheduled duration,
Project adjusts scheduled duration to match actual duration and sets task to
100% complete.
Entering ACTUAL Values of a Task
Here are some ways of entering Actual Values:
Option 1:
 On VIEW Tab, in DATA Group, Click TABLES and then Click
WORK. The Work table appears.
 You can display whichever table is most relevant to the details you are
focused on while tracking progress in a plan.
 Useful tables include the Work table, which focuses on work values, and
the Cost table, which focuses on cost values.
 The Tracking table is a good all-around table when recording or viewing
progress.

Option 2:
 On TASK Tab, in SCHEDULE Group, Click Down Arrow to right of
MARK ON TRACK Button, and then Click UPDATE TASKS.
Tracking Actual/Remaining Values for Tasks/Assignments
For tasks that have resources assigned to them, you can enter actual
and remaining work values for the task as a whole or for specific
assignments to that task.
To help you understand how MS-Project handles the actual values
you enter, consider the following:
 If a task has a single resource assigned to it, the actual work values you
enter for the task or assignment apply equally to both the task and the
resource.
 If a task has multiple resources assigned to it, the actual work values you
enter for the task are distributed among or rolled down to the
assignments according to their assignment units.
 If a task has multiple resources assigned to it, the actual work values you
enter for one assignment are rolled up to the task. However, the new
actual work values do not affect the other assignments’ work values on
the task.
Tracking Actual/Remaining Values for Tasks/Assignments
On the VIEW Tab, in the TASK VIEWS Group, Click TASK USAGE.
On the VIEW Tab, in the DATA Group, Click TABLES and then Click
WORK. The Work table appears.
On the FORMAT Tab, in the DETAILS Group, Click ACTUAL WORK.
 For each Task and Assignment, Project now displays the Work and Actual
Work rows on the Time-Phased Grid on the Right Side of the View.
 In the Time-Phased Grid, you see the Scheduled Work values per Day.
 If you add up the Daily Work values for a Specific Task or Assignment, the
total equals the value in the Work Column for that Task or Assignment
 Next, you’ll Enter Task-level and Assignment-level Actual Work values and
see how they are reflected in the Time-Phased details.

Click Right Button of Mouse on Right Side of View, and Choose

DETAIL STYLES to Format Time-Phased Grid.
Tracking Time-Phased Actual Work for Tasks/Assignments
 When you need to track Actual Work at the most detailed level
possible, use the Time-Phased Grid in the Task Usage or Resource
Usage View.

 In either View, you can enter Actual Work values for individual
Assignments daily, weekly, or at whatever time period you want (by
adjusting the Timescale).

 For example, if a task has three resources assigned to it and you know
that two resources worked on the task for eight hours one day and the
third resource worked for six hours, you can enter these as three
separate values on a Time-Phased Grid.
 Entering Actual Costs Manually
Whenever you’ve entered actual work values, MS-Project has
calculated actual cost values for the affected task, its summary
task, the resources assigned to the task, and the entire project.
By default, MS-Project calculates actual costs and does not allow
you to enter them directly.
However, if you want to enter actual cost values yourself in your
own plans, follow these steps.
 On the FILE Tab, Click OPTIONS.
 The Project Options dialog box appears.
 Click SCHEDULE Tab, Under CALCULATION OPTIONS FOR THIS
PROJECT label, clear ACTUAL COSTS ARE ALWAYS CALCULATED
BY PROJECT Check Box.