How It Works

There are three steps to using the Task Performance Analyzer:

1. Maintain the Schedule: the schedule must be kept up-to-date.  This sounds obvious, but many Project Managers create a schedule at the start of a project and then leave it untouched thereafter.  For the Analyzer to work, take the schedule seriously.  Track work that is done and that remains.  When necessary, revise the whole schedule.
2. Set a Baseline: the system needs a basis for measurement, and the baseline provides it.  Again, many Project Managers are reluctant to set a baseline, perhaps because it represents a visible commitment to dates.  To get over the psychological hurdle, set a preliminary baseline early in the project and then re-set it later for publication.  Modifying the baseline will affect the Analyzer calculations, but you can minimize the impact by re-baselining selected tasks, rather than the project as a whole.
3. Enter Resources and Costs: Assign resources to tasks in the schedule and enter resource rates.  The rates do not have to be exact—approximations will do; in fact, a single default rate of, say, $50 per hour, will generate enough data for the Analyzer to work.