complete effort

Hi Emmanuel,

Could you please explain what you mean by work and effort? From my understanding they are pretty much one and the same.

I believe MS Project only recognises Duration (the period of time required to complete the task) and Work (the total labour required to complete the task).

They generally form two sides of the project management triumvirate, quality being the other.

Regards,

Darren

Isn’t the good ole triangle made from scope, time and cost?

Apart from the use of the word "Effort" in a setting "Effort Driven" in connection with Task Type and the realation W = E x D where E stands for "Effort", there is no such thing as Effort in MSP as some sort of quantity of something which can be expended or logged or measured or recorded, and also not outside MSP either.

MSP knows about Duration, Work and Cost and these are the only "quantities" that have an Actual and a Remaining which can be measured or recorded.

Trevor,

It depends who you ask ;o)

I will agree with you that the concept of the triple constraint is a bit of an ironic misnomer.

Regards,

Darren

Hi guys

Thank you for the messages, the question was perhap incorrect question to ask. I have now used % of work completed.

I was mixing effort with work.

Thanks again

Hi guys,
Need some knockings :). This is how I prepare my programme. 1.Link task. 2.Enter the contract sum in fixed cost column to produce s-curve. 3.track using percent complete 4.compare schedule progress & actual progress using number columns. I dont tract actual start. No labour and material tracking. Just lump sum contract cost. I get confuse when someone tells me to track progress using work not duration. Please assist. If need so, I would be glad to email my work.

regards
aziz

Hi Aziz,

MS Project can track progress using % Complete (Duration) and % Work Complete (Work).

Duration is an estimate of time a task will take.

Work is an estimate of labour that will used to complete the task.

As an example, a task can be completed in 1 day using 2 resources, so using a standard 8 hour working day the Duration will be 1d or 8h but the Work will be 2d or 16h.

Why will the Work be 2d but the Duration only 1d? This is because Work has been calculated using man-days and Duration has been calculated using calendar-days.

A man-day in this example = 1 resource working 8h, but there are 2 resources working on the task who will be a cost to the project, so it will be 2 man-days.

Getting back to your problem, as there isn’t labour or material tracking in your programme, I’m not sure how you can track progress using Work.

Regards,

Darren

EDIT: I should mention that calendar day in this example means a work day, Monday / Tuesday / etc.

Brad,

By talking b******s I take it you mean taking timeout to help explain to someone the theory behind the practice??

I’ll have you know I haven’t been on a single course for a least a couple of weeks, so it’s always good to keep your eye in!!

Regards,

Darren

Got to find some way to get to sleep at night when the alcohol doesn’t work haven’t I!!