(1) Explain your problem, don't simply post "This isn't working". What were you doing when you faced the problem? What have you tried to resolve - did you look for a solution using "Search" ? Has it happened just once or several times?
(2) It's also good to get feedback when a solution is found, return to the original post to explain how it was resolved so that more people can also use the results.
The consultant requirement is to show in P6 “ % achieved “ with respect to duration and not accepting resource based “ % achieved ”. The illustration of requirement by Consultant shown below. Can any one guide, how we can make ready in P6. Is it right measure to track project progress?
Sl No | Activity Name | Duration | Duration Weightage | % progress complete | % Achieved |
| WBS | 140 | 100.0% | 8.60% |
|
1 | Activity -1 | 20 | 14.3% | 10% | 1.4% |
2 | Activity -2 | 50 | 35.7% | 20% | 7.1% |
3 | Activity -3 | 60 | 42.9% |
| 0.0% |
4 | Activity -4 | 10 | 7.1% |
| 0.0% |
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Hope this helps, just a user defined field and a formula or global change are needed. Be aware fields in P6 are different so you need to adjust the formula and watch for possible traps.
Dear Trevor Rabey,
I am explaining the calculation breakup for each. I understood that it is not the way to measure the progress but how can we substantiate. Is there any standards or any regulataions stating that it is not right measure to evaluate the progress.
| Sl No | Activity Name | Duration | Duration Weightage | Calculation breakup for Duration Weightage | % progress complete | Calculation breakup for % progress complete | % Achieved | Calculation breakup for % Achieved |
| WBS | 140 | 100% | sum of 14%+36%+43%+7% | 8.50% | sum of 1.4% +7.1% | |||
| 1 | Activity -1 | 20 | 14% | .=20/140 | 10% | as per progress | 1.4% | .= 10% x 14% |
| 2 | Activity -2 | 50 | 36% | .=50/140 | 20% | as per progress | 7.1% | .= 20% x 36% |
| 3 | Activity -3 | 60 | 43% | .=60/140 | 0% | 0.0% | ||
| 4 | Activity -4 | 10 | 7% | .=10/140 | 0% | 0.0% |
Pavan,
How are these numbers arrived at?
what is duration weightage, % progress complete and % Achieved?
For the two %ages, what are the numerator and denominator?
The tracking and progress status reporting and the necessary update can be done from the facts, and there is no need for, and no benefit from, using any artificial metrics and especially anything with a % sign on it
Gary,
If I may add a bit to the conversation, I thought you might provide us with a picture, but here is one I cooked up. Of course the % complete of the summaries is meaningless, and the % complete of the tasks is lmost meaningless, but not quite. It does mean something. It means actual duration/duration, where duration = actual duration + remaining duration. And that's all it means. This progress update has been done entirely with mark on track and move incomplete parts to the status date, and re-estimating remaining duration. The choice between the second and third scenarios is a matter of whether the task has started or not. If there was any actual work or actual cost before the status date then of course it has actually started, but if not then it is just a matter of making a decision yes or no. Either way, if no bricks are laid then there is still 5 days of remaining duration. There is no need to even display or report %ages of anything, even at the task level, and it gets less and less meaningful the higher up the WBS levels that you go. It is a bad idea which has persisted for a very long time. I am not saying it should not be part of the software, because it is part of the software, but the use to which %ages are put is wrong.
Pavan,
How are these numbers arrived at?
what is duration weightage, % progress complete and % Achieved?
For the two %ages, what are the numerator and denominator?
The tracking and progress status reporting and the necessary update can be done from the facts, and there is no need for, and no benefit from, using any artificial metrics and especially anything with a % sign on it
Gary,
If I may add a bit to the conversation, I thought you might provide us with a picture, but here is one I cooked up. Of course the % complete of the summaries is meaningless, and the % complete of the tasks is lmost meaningless, but not quite. It does mean something. It means actual duration/duration, where duration = actual duration + remaining duration. And that's all it means. This progress update has been done entirely with mark on track and move incomplete parts to the status date, and re-estimating remaining duration. The choice between the second and third scenarios is a matter of whether the task has started or not. If there was any actual work or actual cost before the status date then of course it has actually started, but if not then it is just a matter of making a decision yes or no. Either way, if no bricks are laid then there is still 5 days of remaining duration. There is no need to even display or report %ages of anything, even at the task level, and it gets less and less meaningful the higher up the WBS levels that you go. It is a bad idea which has persisted for a very long time. I am not saying it should not be part of the software, because it is part of the software, but the use to which %ages are put is wrong.
This is a very well presented question.
Firstly I feel this is a massive issue in our industry, when a client requests progress to be reported on Duration. As Gary mentioned, the fact that you have spent 5 days on a 10 day long planned activity, certainly does not mean that you have earned 5 days worth of work.
It is such a dangerous way to even consider progress.
I have had this discussion many times before with both clients or project managers who simply cannot understand that progress has to be based on a physical quantity of work executed versus that of the total work to be executed. Too many people in the project related industry cannot divorce themselves from the old MS Proj adage that time = deliverables.
That being said, the easiest would be as Gary suggested a dummy resource that you assign to each activity you want to include in the progress reporting, where the budgeted units is equal to the originally duration of that activity, you can then even get a time distribution in your assignments table of that "duration" which could give a nice s-curve and all the graphically appeasing tools.
I hope to hear more thoughts on this topic as for me it is a far too often occurance discussing this on projects.
Dear Mr.Gary Whitehead,
Thank you so much for vide explanations on my query.
Can you please explain me the following and how to make ready in P6.
| Activity Name | Budgeted Qty | Planned for the Month of Oct'15 | Achieved for the Month of Oct'15 | Behind / Ahead of Schedule | Cumulative Planned upto Oct'15 | Cumulative Achieved upto Oct'15 | Behind / Ahead of Schedule |
| Activity-1 | 100 | 50 | 40 | -10 | 70 | 50 | -20 |
| Activity-2 | 150 | 70 | 50 | -20 | 70 | 50 | -20 |
| Activity-3 | 200 |
|
Thanks & Regards,
P.Pavankumar.
P6 can give you the duration & % progress complete data, but it cannot calculate the total Duration at the WBS level to use in the weightage calculation. The duration at the WBS level is calculated as difference between earliest start and latest finish, rather than the sum of all the activity durations, so you can't do it that way.
What you can do is create a "Progress" resource with zero cost and nonlabour type, and load each activity with this at 1 unit per day, with no resource curve.
So long as you have no other nonlabor resources in your programme, you then just have to display the nonlabor units % complete column.
If you are using other nonlabour resources in your project, then things get more tricky. -best bet is probably to take a copy of the programme when it is time for a client update, and delete all the other nonlabor resources before reporting % complete.
The other option is to export the data to excel and do the calcs there.
As to wether it is the right measure to track progress: almost certainly not. Progress of activities like "Project Management", "Government Statutory notification period" or "Planning Support" can be tracked with this method no problem, but for most activities on most projects, 50% of time elapsed does not mean 50% of progress achieved. And using duration as the weighting factor for rolling up progress is just ridiculous. Example below:
Activity 1: Build a wall of 100 bricks in 5 days
Activity 2: Project Management of the walll activity (5d)
Activity 3: cost control of the wall activity (5d)
Activity 4: planning for wall activity (5d)
Activity 5: contract management for wall activity (5d)
On day 3, no bricks have been laid. But activities 2, 3, 4 and 5 have all progressed as planned.
The Brick Wall WBS has a % complete of 48% according to your client's method. Actual physical progress is of course 0%.
It's so easy for the contractor to add lots of silly little activities that require very little effort to complete on plan, and thus mask the effects of real delays to real activities.
Email: PPadmin@planningplanet.com
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