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some task in MS project will hit into issues and take longer to complete, How do I track these tasks?

pm15127's picture

some task in MS project will hit into issues and take longer to complete, How do I track these tasks?

eagerApprentice's picture

I'm a bit confused by this post... but in general, if can, try to learn the Getting Things Done system - outlook tasks work very well within this system.

Jazzman's picture
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PM15127,

Can you provide an example?

There are a number of ways to handle this.  Is this something that you know about in advance?  Was the issue specific to this task (e.g., equipment didn't arrive when expected) or could have happened to any task (e.g., unexpected medical leave)?

Generically, I can say that for unexpected issues, quickly gather the new information, create a new plan, and adjust.  For anticipated issues (i.e., risks), you should plan in advance what to do and act on your plan.  In MS Project, if you let Project do the scheduling for you (using durations & dependencies), that just means updating the actuals of your task that's running late.  If (like many people) you manually type in start/finish dates, you'll have to go through and fix other tasks manually.  In any case, something in the schedule will change.

...and if that task is critical path, the project will take longer.

-Jazz

jason_koch's picture
Training Badge

 Use the baseline feature of Excel when you first set up the plan. Then as things change, you can change the dates in the plan.

To compare - you compare your project with Baseline and MSP can show you the differences.

hezzw's picture

 I'm not too sure exactly what your problem is, but I can say that MS Project caused me nothing but difficulties. I am a certified project manager and was formally trained on MS project, but found it so difficult and not very efficient. There are so many different PM softwares out there that are better than MS project in my opinion. I have tried and tested many of them and MS Project is one of my least favorites. I have a lot of projects going on at one time and many clients/co-workers located in different cities. The best software I have found is <a href="http://www.PureProjectTools.com">PureProjectTools.com</a> and it's free. They're constantly updating and keeping up with the competition which is nice. 

techno-pm.com's picture

MS Project has 3 options to allow a project manager to see which tasks are getting delayed. Two of them involve using a custom field and one use a highlight feature. Use the below link to find out more.

http://www.techno-pm.com/2015/02/highlight-track-tasks-msproject.html