hi i am having some issue in MS project progress update of fixed duration task

[chinthala91]

in the above schedule task-6 slab formwork is started before the predecessor task has finished. say it started on 05-06-2024 and i am updating the progress on end of 12th day i.e 16-06-2024. so in the update task dialouge box when i enter the following details 

% of complete as 50%

actual start as -05-06-2024 

remaining duration as 12days

actual duration as 12days 

once i press enter the result showing as 100% completed as per below picture , instead of showing 50% completion how it is possible i am doing anything wrong here please help .

[#2]

@chinthala91

A few questions are in order.

If the task is 50% complete, why is the actual duration AND the remaining duration both set at 12d? The original duration was scheduled for 7 days so even though you enter a percent complete value of 50%, as soon as you set actual duration to 12d, Project re-calculates percent complete as 100% (percent complete = actual duration/duration or 100% maximum).

So what really is the status of the task? It started early, I get that, but what about the 7 day planned duration versus the apparent 12d remaining duration? And if it's half done, is it now a 24d task?

Are any resources assigned to the task? Bear in mind that percent complete is duration based and has nothing to do with how much work is preformed. The only type of tasks that are truly duration based are things such as concrete curing, paint drying, wounds healing, etc. The vast majority of "stuff" that gets accomplished is via effort (work) performed by labor or machine resources. And progress is measured by how much actual work is performed compared to the estimated work to accomplish the task (i.e. percent work complete).

John

[#3]

HI @John-project 

First, thanks for taking the time to respond to an unknown. As you rightly asked the task was initially scheduled to be completed in 7 days, but the task was started a little early i.e 05-06-2024 and up to the status date i.e 16-06-2024 the elapsed duration is 12 days, in the 12 days say 50% of work is completed. The estimated duration for the balance work to be completed is 12 days. So the revised task duration will be 24 days. if this is the situation the % complete should show as 50% right?

Please correct me If i am wrong.

chinthala venkatesh 

[#4]

chinthala91,
When you input actual duration and remaining duration Project will automatically calculate percent complete. So, don't try to force the issue by also inputting percent complete. In other words, use this process.
1. input the actual start date
2. input actual duration
3. input remaining duration
Project will then calculate the percent complete at 50%. Boom! you're done.

I'm not sure what you were trying to ask in your private message (i.e. "clarify my doubts").

John

[#5]

Hi Mr @John-project 

i updated the project as per your instruction but still it shows that task is completed 100% instead of 50%.

below is  1st screen shot 

once i press enter result is this 

so there is something wrong here why it is taking as 100% complete where i am giving a input 12 days left. how is it possible. 

[#6]

@chinthala91,

In your first screen shot I see you have already entered a % Complete value of 50%. That's where the problem lies. Do NOT enter a % Complete value. It should be 0% at the onset. Then, if you follow my steps, you will get the 50% value your are seeking.

John

[#7]

Hi @chinthala91 

You can try these two options in this scenario you describe to obtain a result like the one you are looking for:

Option A: If the task is of type Fixed Duration, and the Actual Duration exceeds the Duration of the task before its update Project will set the % Complete to 100%.
In the event that the actual Duration is less than the previous one of its update, it takes as the final Duration of the task the working days between the Start and Finish dates, regardless of the interruption time that exists between them. Thus, and applying the formula, the % completed would be equal to 100 x Actual Duration / (Actual Duration + Remaining Duration), a value that may not be significant for the progress of the task, especially if the task is not continuous and has predecessors that interrupts the task and postpones the remaining Duration.

In this case the solution would be to change the Type of task before updating, to Fixed Units or Fixed Work, instead of Fixed Duration.

Option B: The other workaround is to delete, before updating, the predecessors that interrupt the task and postpone the Remaining Duration, in this case Id=5.

I hope I've helped.

Ignacio

[#8]

@John-project
I didn't enter the percentage completion please refer to my first screenshot it is zero % only. I entered actual start ,actual duration and remaining duration only

[#9]

@chinthala91 

Sorry, I thought I saw a 50% entry in percent complete on your screen shot. Perhaps I inadvertently looked at the screen shot in your original post that does show the 50% value. At any rate, I don't know why the process I outlined is not working for you. Every time I run a simulation of your plan under various conditions, I get this same basic result.

Before hitting "OK":

After hitting "OK", this is the result:

You are apparently using a 7 day workweek as your project calendar but I see there is a task calendar applied to the "slab formwork" task. What is that task calendar?

It appears you have 6 work type resources assigned to the task (i.e. Form work resource at 600%). Instead of trying to track progress with duration, actual duration and remaining duration (which seems to be "wrapping you around the axle"), why not focus on what really matters, the amount of work accomplished (as of the status date) compared to what was originally planned. For a 7 day duration task with a 600% group resource assigned, that equates to 7x6x8=336 hours (assuming a normal 8 hour workday 7 days a week, or equivalent thereof). So the question is, how much work has been accomplished since the early start date of 6/5/24 and is the remaining work still the 336 hours minus actual work to date or will it take more work to finish the task, in which case the remaining work may need to be adjusted. Project will calculate percent work complete based on those inputs.

John