Microsoft Project has three ways to progress the schedule. If your resources have a non-uniform production rate then Microsoft Project Physical % Complete type is the best way to progress the schedule.
The simplest way to progress the schedule is to use the % complete type. This progress way considers the duration of the task. It computes the % complete from the duration task time elapsed and the remaining duration task time.
The % work complete type is a little more involved. The % work complete type considers the work in hours that was expended during the duration task time elapsed. The % work complete type is more accurate when the effort is non-uniform, e.g. the resource worked 4-hours Monday and Tuesday, and 8-hours Wednesday. In the % work complete type the resource burn rates are non-uniform, but the work accomplished is evenly distributed; work accomplished equates directly to work expended.
The Microsoft Project physical % complete type considers the actual physical work accomplished, e.g. in three days effort one half the brick wall was constructed. The physical % complete type is the most accurate when duration expended or work effort expended does not equate to actual work accomplished.
This article introduces the Microsoft Project physical % complete type as a more accurate way to monitor actual work accomplished from duration or work expended.
In Figure 1 we have our demonstration project.
Figure 1
This is a simple piping project that has one task, repair piping, and one assigned resource, pipe fitter. Note in the resource usage sheet that the pipe fitter is scheduled to work five 8-hour days on repair piping. In Figure 2 we distribute this work effort unevenly, Monday and Tuesday are 4-hours work days and Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are 8-hour work days.
Figure 2
In Figure 3 we complete the schedule by selecting set baseline in the project tab, schedule ribbon group, and set baseline drop down menu.
Figure 3
In Figure 4 we progress the schedule with three days of work.
Figure 4
The % complete computes from 3-work days done out of 5-work days scheduled or 3/5 = 60% complete. The work % complete comes from 16-hours worked during this 3-day work period out of a total of 32-hours scheduled for the task or 16/32 = 50% complete. The physical % complete is still zero; we must manually enter the physical % complete. In Figure 5 we manually specify that the physical % complete is 75%.
Figure 5
The crew worked 3-days or 16-hours and accomplished 75% of the piping repair. Note, however, that this value does not automatically rollup to the summary level. This is because the earned value method is set to % complete, Figure 6.
Figure 6
In Figure 7 we set the earned value method of repair piping task to physical % complete.
Figure 7
Also, in advance project options we set the default task earned value method to physical % complete, Figure 8.
Figure 8
In Figure 9 we reenter the physical % complete value of 75% and note that it now rolls up to the summary level.
Figure 9
Summary
Make sure to baseline your Microsoft Project schedule before entering progress. The fastest way to progress the schedule is with the Microsoft Project physical % complete type, which divides the task duration spent by the task duration scheduled.
The % work complete considers the work done during the task duration spent, and divides the hours worked by the task work hours scheduled.
The physical % complete provides the most accurate progress assessment when the hours worked does not equate directly to work accomplished. The physical % complete value is manually entered and based on the actual physical work achieved. Set the earned value method of the respective task to physical % complete when specifying a physical % complete value. Also, in the advanced project options set the default task earned value method to physical % complete. This way the physical % complete value rolls up to the summary level.