Forum Discussion
Bulk changed tasks from fixed units to fixed duration, units not recalculating when work changed
- BlissL --
You are seeing functionality that was introduced in Microsoft Project 2010 to fix a long-standing bug in the software. However, in the process of fixing this long-standing bug, the Microsoft Project development team also introduced new functionality that is confusing, both to experienced users and beginning users alike.
To see this new functionality, apply the Task Usage view. In this view, insert the Assignment Units column and then insert the Peak column as well. When you look at your example task, you will see that the Assignment Units column contains the old Units value, and you will also see that the Peak column contains the new Units value. And if you look at the Work values in the timephased grid, you will see that the Work values are set correctly.
What is unfortunate about this new functionality is that the Microsoft Project software development team chose not to display the Peak value to the right of the resource names in the Gantt Chart view. That is what has led to all of this confusion.
So, the software is correctly calculating the Units value. The only problem is you cannot see the correct Units value unless you display the Task Usage view and insert the Peak column.
Oh, and there is no way to "fix" this problem. We just have to live with this behavior. Hope this helps.
As usual, thank you Dale -
another question: in this project I have a task that's assigned to myself as a team member, originally with Work = 1h, Duration = 1d
This is published to PWA, and then as a team member I can view my tasks page and update the amount of work.
For example, I updated the task to take 80h of work. Since this is a project I have created, I approve my change via File > Info > View Task Updates > Approval Center
But when these changes are applied to my project, the task now takes 80h with an 80 day duration
Is there a way for this to change? Alternatively, is there a way for team members to change the duration for a task, as I can only seem to update the Work value from the Tasks page.
UPDATE: It looks like the tasks somehow reverted to fixed units. I selected all tasks again and changed to fixed duration and it looks like it works - however would still appreciate any info around whether the duration can be changed by a team member or only the amount of work
No, it is not possible for team members to change the Duration of a task from either the Timesheet page or Tasks page in PWA. They are allowed to change the Work or Remaining Work, as those are assignment values. They are not allowed to change the Duration value because that is a task value and not an assignment value. Hope this helps.