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.

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.)

A demo

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

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:

Summary info of the 3 tasks

Starting date

Task undertaker

Subject Due date

2009-2-08 adam test one by adam

2009-2-11

2009-2-08 bob task2 by bob

2009-2-12

2009-2-08 chuck task 3 2009-2-12

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:

Example of creating a task

• Right after all 3 tasks are created and submitted, if we list all tasks with tag “a”:

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

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:

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

End of presentation

Thank you very much for reviewing

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