Why Can’t I See the Earned Value Indicators?

The Earned Value indicators and charts for each project can be accessed in the project progress section.

To display the values corresponding to the project’s Earned Value, click on the Load Earned Value Section button.

Please note that the button will not be displayed if no tracking has been performed on the project, as the Earned Value data is shown for the last tracking date. Without tracking, the system will not calculate the Earned Value indicators.

Expected progress of summary tasks and projects

The expected progress calculation is made assuming that, up until present time, all tasks are completed in the same percentage as time has elapsed since its inception. On that basis, the expected percentage will calculate the progress of summary tasks and projects in the same way that it is done with the calculated progress.

For example, if a task lasts 10 days and today’s date is on the seventh day, the system will take a 60% expected progress for that task (6 days elapsed/10 days total).

Once all tasks have been calculated, the expected percentage for summary tasks and for projects will accumulate, resulting in the expected % of both.

ITM Platform will take into account the default calendar and weekends for calculating expected progress, just as they are used in the calculation of tasks duration.

 

Expected progress of the baseline

If you have an active baseline, the expected progress will be calculated for both the ongoing planning and baseline, counterposing both the project tracking curve.

How reliable is the expected progress?

The calculation is a temporary projection and therefore does not necessarily represent the expected real progress of the project, unless the actual progress of the tasks is proportional to the time.

In other words, real productivity is not necessarily linked to the elapsed time. The project or task manager reports on the actual progress and not on the progress of time. This may be reason why the expected % may differ from what has been done.

Example: You have a task to lay bricks for 10 days, however, more bricks are stacked in the first couple days than the last. The Task Manager is aware of this and at the end of the third day reports a progress of 40% (there are 40% of the bricks). However, the expected progress will not reflect reality, because the calculation is 30% (3 days elapsed/10 days total)

Tracking progress of tasks and Waterfall projects (Gantt)

ITM Platform gives you the tools to report and monitor the progress of tasks in a project. Task progress will be used to compute the calculated progress of summary tasks and the project’s total progress.

Before continuing, let’s define two similar but not equal concepts:

• Progress of a task, a summary, or a project (also referred to as percentage completed) is a percentage that represents the actual progress ratio. Thus, 0% will indicate that it has not been started, and, in general, 100% indicates it has been completed. You can mark tasks and projects as completed without reaching 100%.
• Progress report of tasks and projects offers additional information. It includes an assessment (configurable values list), a description, the percentage completed (progress), and a progress report date.

The progress value represents its real progress and is generally reported by the task manager or the project manager.

The progress of the task is not caclulated by the actual consumption of estimated hours. The hours invested in the task do not necessarily represent the actual progress of the task.

Who can report the progress of a task?

Usually, it is the task manager or the project manager, although users with Full Access permission can make changes without necessarily having to be assigned to the project.

Where can you report progress on tasks?

There are three places from which a user can report progress: Timesheet, Task Tracking section, and the Gantt.

It is possible to track in an automated way from another application using the API.

Tracking from the timesheet

Task managers will see a “progress” icon on the timesheet that will allow them to create a progress report.

Tracking from the “Task” tab

The tasks have several sections of information, one of them being “Progress”, where you will see a tracking history as well as the possibility of adding a new one.

Progress report by changing the task status

When you move a task to a completed type of status, you can configure the system so that progress is increased to 100%, generating automatic progress report.

To configure this behavior in waterfall projects (Gantt), access the SETTINGS menu > PARAMETERS > Task Parameters > Task Status. When selecting “Status Type”, tick the “Automatically update to 100%” check box

Thereafter, the tasks you mark as completed will be assigned 100% progress.

Note that if you roll back the status to a “Pending” or “In Progress” type, you will need to manually assign the new progress, if desired.

Progress Report from the Gantt chart

In the Gantt chart, there is a “% Completed” column that can be edited by the project manager.

When saving, a progress report will automatically be generated for each task. Progress of summary tasks will be updated following the calculated progress method configured in the project. If the option is checked, a project progress report will also be created.

Progress Report section

In the Progress section of the project, you will have access to the following metrics:

• % Completed: represents the progress created by the project manager, either manually or automatically.
• % Expected today: represents the progress that the project should have reached today, based on its duration.
• Baseline – % expected: represents the progress you would expect from the active baseline.

In this section you will also find:

•  “Add a progress report” button, the option to report progress manually
• “View History” button, that allows you to access previous progress reports
• “Description of current status” section shows last report description
• The “Earned Value” button will show you the project’s Earned value analysis

Other related articles in the Project and Task tracking section.

Project baselines

Baselines allow you to set control points in planning, which may be compared to the current situation of the project.

ITM Platform allows you to establish as many baselines as you want, being able to have one of them active (active baseline), which will be the one that compares with the current situation.

When you set a baseline, different types of project information are saved: schedule, effort in hours, costs, and revenue.

• Schedule
  • Start and end dates of the project.
  • Start and end dates of all tasks.
• Hours:
  • Budgeted hours (for internal, external, and undefined teams).
  • Estimated hours.
• Costs:
  • Budgeted and estimated cost of hours.
  • Projected amounts of purchases and their dates.
  • Amounts of budget accounts.
• Income: expected amounts and their dates

Set a new baseline

New baselines can be created from the General, Budget, and Gantt sections (in case of waterfall projects). From any of these locations, the baseline will record the full project information.

In order to establish new baselines, you need to have the necessary permissions assigned to your user role.

• From the General section, click on the “Manage Baselines” button and click on the “Create new baseline” button.
• From the Budget section, click on the button “Create new baseline.”
• From the Gantt, click on the button “Create new baseline.”

In all cases you will be asked for the name of the baseline, proposing by default one sequential to the previous—if one already existed—and offering the possibility to establish it as an active baseline.

Set an active baseline

You can set an existing baseline as active from the General section of the project, clicking on the “Manage Baselines” button. Select the existing baseline and click the option-button on the left, or click on the option-gear on the right and select “Mark as active.”

You can also uncheck the active baseline and leave the project without any.

Access baseline data

Baseline information is accessible in the same places where the current situation of the project is located, so that it can easily be compared.

• General section of the project
• Budget
• Gantt
• Project lists and task lists
• Reports
• API

The names of the baseline fields are identifiable by their homonyms of the current situation, because they add to the same name the word “baseline.”