MS Project with Sub-Projects

Question

We are using MS Project 2010 to manage our projects. We have a subcontractor that works on the same project. They report differently within their company than we do.

So, we had him break apart his schedule so that we could bring them in as four small chunks in the appropriate places in our schedule. The problem is that no matter what % complete the subcontractor schedules report, it does not impact the overall % complete.

This seems incredibly counterintuitive. How should we fix this issue? Is it even an issue at all? If not, how do we handle this?

Answer 1

The problem is that no matter what % complete the subcontractor schedules report, it does not impact the overall % complete.

Maybe this is by design? When a subcontractor reports you completeness in % you shall treat is as 0/100 rule. Mostly because this business entity is out of your control.

Answer 2

Check to see that the tasks of the subcontractor are indented correctly. Then test it out on a dummy project and make sure that is what you are looking for.

Answer 3

• Check to see that the chunks coming in as sub-tasks are at the appropriate points.
• Check that the header tasks (of which these are sub-tasks) are set to calculate percent complete based on sub-tasks/
• Is the schedule mode auto or manual? Check this setting, as it will affect this as well.

Answer 4

Wow! That's a tough one. For something of that complexity I'd suggest just typing MS project help into Google. There are several free sites with forums and a couple of reputable pay sites that specialize in MS project help.

It's what I do whenever I run into a project issue I can't solve.