Using Tasks to Report Progress—Exercises

Basic Data Setup

Progress Templates

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to show you how to create progress templates.

Windows:
Project Navigator/Progress Template

1. Create a progress template that can be connected to your tasks.
2. Save your changes.

General exercise for Entering Progress Templates

Required Data

Connecting Tasks to Activities

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to familiarize you with the data that must be in place before you can perform the exercises below.

1. Create and connect tasks to activities in your subproject structure.
2. Save your changes.

General exercise for Creating and Connecting Tasks

Releasing Activities

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to familiarize you with the data that must be in place before you can perform the exercises below.

1. Release the activities which have connected tasks.

General exercise for Executing Activities

Main Exercise

Purpose: The purpose of these exercises is to show you how to report progress on tasks and how to use tasks to update the activity's progress.

Windows:
Project Navigator/Tasks
Project Navigator/Activity
Project Navigator/Connections
Activity/Tasks
Activity/General
Activity/Connections

Reporting Progress on Tasks

1. Open the Project Navigator window. (Alternatively, open the Activity window.) Query for your project.
2. In the Navigator, select the activities that have connected tasks to which you would like to report progress on. (Alternatively in the Activity window, select the desired activities in the Project list.)

Note: Do the following steps to report progress on tasks with no progress template.

3. Click the Tasks tab. (Alternatively, query for your activities and do the following steps in the Tasks window.) 
4. For a task that has no value in the Progress Template field, note that the value in the Progress field is 0%.
5. For this task, select the Completed check box.
6. Save your changes.
7. Observe that the value in the Progress field is 100%.

Note: Do the following steps to report progress on tasks using a progress template.

8. Click the Tasks tab.
9. For a task with a connected progress template, click in the Progress Template Step field.
10. Enter the desired progress template step or select it from the List of Values.
11. Save your changes.
12. Observe that the value in the Progress field is equal to the progress associated with the progress template step that you have entered.
13. You can also select the Completed check box for tasks with a progress template.
14. Save your changes.
15. Observe that the value in the Progress field is 100%.
16. The Task Weighted Progress field will get updated with the weighted progress of the tasks you have entered.

Using Tasks to Update Activity Progress

1. Continue in the Project Navigator window and click the Activity tab. (Alternatively in the Activity window, click the General tab.)
2. In the Progress Method list, click All Connected Objects.
3. Save your changes.
4. If you have entered planned cost or hours you will notice that the Calculated Cost Progress and Calculated Hours Progress fields are updated. This is the activity's weighted progress of all the tasks connected to the activity. The progress of each task is weighted based on its value for Planned Hours.
5. Note that the Actual Start Date field has a value equal to the early start date. Observe that the Early Start Date field is no longer editable.
6. Optionally, change the actual start date and save your changes. Note that the Early Start Date field is changed to be the same date as the actual start date.
7. Click the Connections tab. Observe that the progress for each connected task is shown here in the Object Cost Progress and Object Hours Progress fields accordingly.
8. When an activity's connected tasks have been performed, and all other work executed, complete the activity. (For more information about completing activities, refer to the Executing Activities lesson.) 

Note: For an example of an activity which uses connected tasks to report progress, you can refer to the the project P101 and activity 10010. Assuming that there are no other connected objects, the activity's calculated progress = (100% *  8/40) + (80% * 16/40) + (30% * 16/40) = 64%.