Display completion % by custom columns instead of summary tasks?

Question

I have a project structured with the below tasks:

Summary task A: Project Initiation

• Sub task A1
• Sub task A2

Summary task B: Project Design

• Sub task B1 (Workstream 1)
• Sub task B2 (Workstream 1)
• Sub task B3 (Workstream 2)
• Sub task B4 (Workstream 2)

Summary task C: Project Build

• Sub task C1 (Workstream 1)
• Sub task C2 (Workstream 1)

I need to report completion percentage of Workstream 1 and Workstream 2 separately.

The easiest way to do this would be to structure the project plan by workstream instead of project phases (Initiate, Design etc) but I don't have that option. I tried putting summary tasks under B, for example

Summary task B: Project Design

• Sub summary task 1 (Workstream 1)

  • Sub sub task B1 (WS1)
  • Sub sub task B2 (Ws1)

etc.

But this didn't work for me as this only gives me workstream 1 completion within summary B. I need the completion for workstreams overall.

Would appreciate if the community could help me with this, or point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

1. Make a custom field for Workstream, then assign your detailed tasks (NOT SUMMARY TASKS) the corresponding field values.
2. On the Data group of the View Ribbon, create a new "Group by:" specification with the top level set to Group By your Workstream custom field.
3. Implement the new GroupBy specification on any view with a table that shows %Complete. The GroupBy %Complete will be computed the same as a summary task %Complete (i.e. the duration-weighted average %Complete of the underlying tasks).

This is a very simple example. Combining Group-By specifications with hierarchical outline codes allows one to view any project from many different perspectives.