Efforts Page

Effort on the task level shows the assignee effort levels for each task in the project.

To access this page:

View the schedule for the task. See Working the Structured View. In the task's navigation pane, click Efforts.

Note: When a Gate/Milestone is created with the "Project Review" policy, the Efforts node is not available in the navigation pane.

You can also access the Efforts page by selecting a project and clicking Schedule > Efforts View.

This topic describes:

Columns

Name Description

Name

The name of the task or assignee. To see task details, click the Name of the task.

Approval

  • Week Ending. The week ending date for the effort submission. A week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday, making Saturday the week ending day.
  • State. The state of the task or effort.
Duration The number of days or hours in a task.
Percent Allocation The percent of an assignee's allocation to the task.
Effort [Hrs] Plan

The initial calculation of planned effort for a task (no assignees on the task) equals the duration of the task, multiplied by 8 hours.

The plan effort for the assignee. This equals the duration of the task, multiplied by the percentage allocation of effort for the assignee, multiplied by 8 hours.

For example, assume a task with:

Duration = 5 days

Assignee #1 is assigned 50% effort for the task.

Assignee #2 is assigned 75% effort for the task

Assignee #3 is assigned 100% effort for the task.

Calculation of Plan Effort:

Plan Effort for Assignee #1 = 5 * (0.5) * 8 = 20 hours.

Plan Effort for Assignee #2 = 5 * (0.75) * 8 = 30 hours.

Plan Effort for Assignee #3 = 5 * (1) * 8 = 40 hours.

Total Plan Effort = 20 + 30 + 40 = 90 hours.

Note: The Effort [Hrs] Plan for a "Phase/Summary Task" is calculated the same as for a "Task."
Total The total approved effort against a task by the task assignee. The Total Effort at the Task level is the sum of the Approved + Submitted + Rejected effort for all the task assignees.

Pending

The total submitted effort for the task assignee against a task that is either in the Rejected or Submitted state. The Pending Effort at the Task level is the sum of all the pending effort for all the task assignees.

Remain

The remaining effort planned for a Task. The following are algorithms for calculating the remaining effort for a Task:
  • The initial calculation of Remain Effort for an assignee = Plan Effort for an assignee.
  • The subsequent calculation of Remain Effort for an assignee = previous Remain Effort for an assignee - Assignee Submitted/Approved Effort.
  • Total Remain Effort = sum of all assignees' remaining efforts.

Below is an example, with the basis:

Duration of the task = 5 days

Estimated Start Date = Monday, August 2, 2004

Estimated End Date = Friday, August 6, 2004

Assignee #1 is assigned 50% effort for the task.

Assignee #2 is assigned 75% effort for the task

Assignee #3 is assigned 100% effort for the task.

Remain Effort for Assignee #1 = Plan Effort = 5 * (0.5) * 8 = 20 hours.

Remain Effort for Assignee #2 = Plan Effort = 5 * (0.75) * 8 = 30 hours.

Remain Effort for Assignee #3 = Plan Effort = 5 * (1) * 8 = 40 hours.

Total Remain Effort = Total Plan Effort = 20 + 30 + 40 = 90 hours.

At the end of the 1st week (week ending August 7, 2004):

Assignee #1 submits 4 hours of effort.

Remain Effort for Assignee #1 = 20 - 4 = 16 hours

Total Remain Effort = 16 hours.

Assignee #2 submits 16 hours of effort.

Remain Effort for Assignee #2 = 30 - 16 =14 hours

Total Remain Effort = 16 + 14 = 30 hours.

Assignee #3 does not submit any efforts.

Remain Effort for Assignee #3 = 40 - 0 = 40 hours

Total Remain Effort = 16 + 14 + 40 = 70 hours.

Total Approved Effort = sum of approved efforts = 0.

Project Manager approves all submitted efforts.

Total Approved Effort = 4 + 16 = 20 hours.

At the end of the 2nd week (week ending August 14, 2004):

Assignee #1 submits 12 hours of effort.

Remain Effort for Assignee #1 = 16 - 12 = 4 hours.

Total Remain Effort = 4 + 14 + 40 = 58 hours.

Assignee #2 submits 8 hours of effort.

Remain Effort for Assignee #2 = 14 - 8 = 6 hours.

Total Remain Effort = 4 + 6 + 40 = 50 hours.

Assignee #3 submits 16 hours of effort for last week.

If Assignee #3 has effort to submit from last week, the assignee must enter last week's effort first.

Remain Effort for Assignee #3 = 40 - 16 = 24 hours.

Total Remain Effort = 4 + 6 + 24 = 34 hours.

Assignee #3 submits 16 hours of effort for this week

Remain Effort for Assignee #3 = 24 - 16 = 8 hours.

Total Remain Effort = 4 + 6 + 8 = 18 hours.

Total Approved Effort = sum of approved efforts = 20 hours.

Project Manager approves all submitted efforts.

Total Approved Effort = (20 previous approved) + 12 + 8 + 16 + 16 = 72 hours.

% Completed

The percentage of the effort that is completed. Below are the algorithms used to calculate % completed:
  • The total percent complete for the task should = Total Approved Effort / (Total Approved Effort + Total Remain Effort)
  • % Complete does NOT include submitted efforts NOR rejected efforts.
  • Once the task is In Work, the percent complete on the effort summary page will be reflected on the schedule task summary page.
  • The % Complete on the schedule summary page can override the percent complete that was derived from the effort summary page.
  • Effort can still be captured even if a task is considered 100% complete.
  • If the schedule summary page % complete is greater than the % complete on the effort summary page, then the schedule summary page takes precedent over the % complete on the effort page.

Estimate End Date

The estimated end date assigned to the task.

Predicted End Date

Calculated based on the number of days remaining for a task. The project manager has the ability to accept or reject this date as the new Estimated End Date for the task. However, when the Estimated End date is changed it is possible that other tasks in the work breakdown structure is affected because of dependencies.

Below are algorithms used to calculate the predicted end date:

  • The algorithm for individual remaining days is based on the percentage of Effort and Remain Effort. The assignee with the longest remaining days drive the number of days remaining for the overall task.
  • Individual remaining days = Remaining Effort for an assignee / (8 hours * percent of effort).
  • If the individual remaining days are a fractional number, it is taken to the next higher whole number regardless of the value of the fraction.
  • The number of days remaining for the task is used to calculate the Predicted End Date.

Next to the Predicted End Date, icons appear indicating status:

  • displays if the predicted end date is different from the estimated end date for a task.
  • displays if the effort is overdue.
  • displays if the effort is on schedule.

In determining the status of effort, the latest effort is taken into consideration. The current effort object is checked along with all other efforts for the same person for the same task. If the current effort's week ending date is after the other efforts' week ending dates then the current effort is considered the latest effort.

If the remaining efforts are not zero:

  1. The due date is calculated for the effort based on the remaining effort and percentage allocated to user.
  2. If the due date for the effort is after the task's estimated finish date and the effort is the latest, the icon is shown for the effort object.
  3. If the effort is not the latest effort, the cell is left blank.
  4. If the effort is the latest and the due date is before or equal to the task's estimated finish date, the icon displays for the effort object.

If the remaining efforts are zero:

  1. If the effort is the latest and the week ending date for the effort is after the task estimated finish date, the icon is shown for the effort object.
  2. If the effort is before or equal to the task's estimated finish date, the icon is shown.
  3. If the effort is not the latest, the cell is left blank

Actual Details Weekly Total The weekly summary details for submitted effort by each assignee. To see the hours for each day, click the number in the column.