How to compare and monitor the progress of several parallel or related tasks

1. How to compare andmonitor the progress of several parallel or related tasks Usually a project consists of several tasks and the project will be considered "finished" only if all subordinate tasks are finished.

2. What project managers want to see? • Initially: specs of all tasks (who’s responsible, task description, due date, etc.) • Before all tasks are done: progress of each task, how many days remaining for each task, etc. • After all tasks are done: performance of all tasks (elapsed days, man-hours, punctuality, etc.)

3. A demo • In the example below, suppose we have a project consists of 3 parallel tasks:

4. Summary of 3 tasks • We will have 3 tasks assigned to “adam”, “bob”, and “chuck” each (starting letters: “a”,”b”,”c”). • The supervisor for all 3 tasks is “david”. • More details are shown on the next page:

5. Summary info of the 3 tasks

6. Task “tags” • The key to compare related tasks is to assign all concerned tasks with the same “tag” (just a single letter or number). In our example, we assign all 3 tasks with letter “a” as the tag. • Tags are assigned (filled in) when creating a new task, see following form:

8. Example of creating a task • Right after all 3 tasks are created and submitted, if we list all tasks with tag “a”:

11. Updating progress After a task is submitted, its “undertaker” can update the “progress” of the task: • Work progress: not yet started, doing, almost done, done, or no solution • Current progress: % of task done • Actual man-hour: (hours) • Progress details: (text) • Current estimated finish date

16. Closing a task When an undertaker filled in the progress as “done”, the system will automatically send an email to the supervisor asking him to “close the case”. The supervisor can just click on the link in the email and get to the see the task; and then click on the “close” the task link:

18. After all tasks are closed When displaying all tasks with same tag, it will show: • The actual completion date: the duration of each task, the punctuality of each task (late, ahead, or on time) • Actual vs. projected man-hour’s

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