Tracking Progress on Tasks

Core Training for Microsoft Office Project 2003

Tracking Progress on Tasks

Saving the Baseline of a Project

1	To begin saving a project baseline, on the Project Guide toolbar, click the Track button.
2	To save the first project baseline, in the Track pane, click Save a baseline plan to compare with later versions.
3	To finish saving the baseline, in the Save Baseline pane, click Save Baseline, and then click Done.
4	To hide the Project Guide pane, on the Project Guide toolbar, click the Show/Hide Project Guide button.
5	To view the task values in the baseline, click the View menu, point to Table: Summary, and then click Variance.
6	To widen the Start column so that the cells showing pound signs will display a value, in the row of column headers, double-click the line that separates the Start and Finish column headers.
7	To widen the Finish column so that the remaining cells showing pound signs will display values, double-click the line that separates the Finish and Baseline Start column headers.
8	To save a second project baseline by using a different method, click the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and then click Save Baseline.
9	In the Save Baseline dialog box, click the arrow in the box below the Save baseline option, and in the Save baseline list, click Baseline 1.
10	To save only selected tasks and roll them up to summary tasks, under For:, click Selected tasks, and then under Roll up baselines:, click the To all summary tasks check box, and then click OK.
11	To clear the project baseline for Baseline 1, click the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and then click Clear Baseline.
12	In the Clear Baseline dialog box, click the Clear baseline plan arrow, click Baseline 1, and then click OK.

Tracking How Much Work Is Complete

1	To begin recording the actual work of a project by updating work to the current date, click the View menu, and then click Gantt Chart.
2	To update the project, click the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and then click Update Project.
3	In the Update Project dialog box, note that the Update work as complete through option is selected, and then click the arrow in the adjacent date box.
4	In the January, 2005 calendar, click 10, and then click OK.
5	To begin tracking the percent complete for tasks, on the Project Guide toolbar, click Track.
6	To track the progress of each task, in the Track pane, click Prepare to track the progress of your project.
7	To set how task progress should be tracked, in the Setup Tracking pane, notice that Always track by entering the Percent of Work Complete is selected, and then click Done.
8	Notice that Project has updated the % Work Complete field to 100% for tasks 2 and 3. To enter the percent of work complete for the next task, click in the % Work Complete field for Pick locations.
9	To update this task to 100% complete, in the % Work Complete field, point to the Up arrow in the selected field, hold down the mouse button until 100% displays, and then press ENTER.
10	To view the Gantt bar for a specific task in the Gantt Chart, in the Task Name column, click Develop script, and then on the Standard toolbar, click the indicated Go To Selected Task button.
11	To change the percentage of work complete for a task by using the Tracking toolbar, click the View menu, point to Toolbars, and click Tracking.
12	To quickly update the percent complete for another task, in the Task Name column, click Hold auditions, and then on the Tracking toolbar, click the 50% Complete button.

Entering Actual Values for Tasks

1	To begin recording actual work values, start dates, and duration for some tasks, in the Track pane, click Prepare to track the progress of your project.
2	To change the tracking method, in the Setup Tracking pane, click Always track by entering the Actual Work Done and Work Remaining.
3	To apply your changes, in the Setup Tracking pane, click below the scroll box on the scroll bar and then click Done.
4	To close the Project Guide, on the Project Guide toolbar, click the Show/Hide Project Guide button.
5	To enter the actual work for a task, click in the Actual Work field for the Hold auditions task, point to the Up arrow and hold down the mouse button until 80 hrs displays, and then press ENTER.
6	Notice that Project extended the Gantt bar of the task to indicate the longer duration, and rescheduled subsequent tasks. To select a new task to update, in the Task Name column, click the Rehearse task.
7	To begin entering the actual start date and duration for the task, click the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and then click Update Tasks.
8	To update the actual start date for the selected task, in the Update Tasks dialog box, under Actual, click the Start arrow, and in the January, 2005 calendar, click 17.
9	To update the actual duration of the task, in the Actual dur box, click the Up arrow until 3d is displayed, and then click OK.
10	Notice that Project has updated the Gantt bar for the Rehearse task to display as 100% complete. To update the actual duration for the next task, in the Task Name column, click Shoot video.
11	To continue updating, click the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and then click Update Tasks.
12	To record the actual duration of the task as three days, in the Update Tasks dialog box, in the Actual dur box, click the Up arrow until 3d is displayed.
13	To apply the change, click OK.