Microsoft® Project 2007 Bible

Chapter 11. Understanding Tracking

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Understanding the principles of tracking

• Using baselines

• Changing the baseline

• Viewing progress with the Tracking Gantt view

• Understanding tracking strategies

This chapter marks something of a turning point in this book and in your use of Project, Up to this point, you've been in the planning phase: building a project schedule, entering tasks, adding resources, and shifting things around so that resource assignments don't conflict and so that tasks have the proper relationships to each other. You've even tweaked details such as text formatting and the appearance of taskbars. You now have a workable, good-looking project in hand — and now you are ready to start the project.

Trucking is the process of comparing what actually happens during your project to your estimates of what would happen. To track, you need to take a picture of your project schedule at the moment your planning is complete; this moment is called a baseline. But you also have to understand what steps are involved in tracking and how to set up efficient procedures to handle these steps.

Note

You can store up to 11 baselines for any project.

Understanding the Principles of Tracking

A good plan is only half the battle. How you execute that plan is the key. Think of yourself as the quarterback in a football game. If you run straight down the field toward the goalpost, never swerving to avoid an oncoming opponent, you wont get very far. Project tracking is similar: If you don't ...