VA Primavera P 6 Activities and Milestones Department

VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Information and Technology IT Workforce Development (ITWD) in collaboration with Product Development

Welcome and Introduction VA Primavera Team: Mairye Bates IT Specialist / OIT PD/Open Source, Configuration & Tools Management Division Charlene Murray IT Specialist / OIT PD/Open Source, Configuration & Tools Management Division VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 3 of 45

Training Objectives • • Understand Activity Types Understand Duration Types Understand Percent Complete Types Learn how these types impact project schedules VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 4 of 45

Training Overview • Audience − Project managers and planners who need to create project plans • Prerequisites − Understand how to connect and launch VA Primavera P 6 Project Management − Licensed user of Project Management − VA Primavera P 6: Resource Attributes and Assigning Resources training VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 4 of 45

Section 1: ACTIVITIES AND MILESTONES: ACTIVITY TYPES VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 5 of 45

Activity Types There are six (6) Activity Types: 1. Finish Milestone 2. Level of Effort 3. Resource Dependent 4. Start Milestone 5. Task Dependent 6. WBS Summary VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 6 of 45

Activity Types Activity Details toggle button General tab VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 7 of 45

Milestone Overview Activity Type VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 8 of 45

Start and Finish Milestones Start Milestone Finish Milestones have zero duration and units, and do not have any resources assigned for work Used to mark the beginning of a phase or completion of a phase or to indicate project deliverables A Primary Resource may be assigned to a Milestone for reporting responsibilities, but the Milestone activity will not appear on the resource’s timesheet, or on any reports relating to times VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 9 of 45

Level of Effort (LOE) – Generally spans the entire project – Used for ongoing activities whose duration is based on the duration of other activities – All LOE activities should be placed in a single WBS for Earned Value computations VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 10 of 45

Task Dependent (TD) – Used when the work needs to be done in a given time frame, regardless of the assigned resources’ availability – Most frequent choice VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 11 of 45

Resource Dependent (RD) – Used when multiple resources are assigned to the same activity and the individual calendars will dictate when the work is done – Requires resource calendars VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 12 of 45

Which One To Use? Activity Type Task Dependent (TD) Resource Dependent (RD) best when: Scheduled according to the activity’s calendar Scheduled according to the resources’ assigned calendars Multiple resources work together on one activity Several resources are assigned to the same activity, but may work separately Resource calendars are not maintained If resource calendars are not maintained, this is ineffective VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 13 of 45

WBS Summary • This activity type is intended to indicate that the activity’s duration is dependent on the activities assigned to a single WBS • A Level Of Effort (LOE) activity based on other activities in the same WBS VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 14 of 45

Section 2: ACTIVITIES AND MILESTONES: CHOOSING THE ACTIVITY OR MILESTONE TYPE VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 15 of 45

Choosing Activity Type – Question 1 What Activity Type? Q 1: Does this activity represent effort or not? If not, then activity is a Milestone Does the activity mark the beginning of a phase or is it required to begin the next activity? If yes, then it is a Start Milestone If no, then it is a Finish Milestone If the activity represents effort, then move on to the next question VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 16 of 45

Choosing Activity Type Question 2 What Activity Type? Q 2: Is the period of time over for the activity determined by the amount of work or by the length of other activities? If by the length of other activities, then the activity is Level of Effort. If by the length of other activities completely within one WBS, then the activity is a WBS Summary. If it’s determined by the amount of work to be accomplished, then move on to the next question VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 17 of 45

Choosing Activity Type Question 3 What Activity Type? Q 3: Is the activity’s schedule determined by resource availability and are resource calendars maintained? Yes If both responses are yes, then the activity is Resource Dependent. No If no, then the activity is Task Dependent (recommended setting) VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 18 of 45

Section 3: ACTIVITIES AND MILESTONES: DURATION DEFINITIONS VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 19 of 45

Duration – The duration of an activity is the period of time over which the activity will take place and is usually expressed as days (d) **Duration does not indicate how many units of work must be expended to accomplish the activity VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 20 of 45

Units – Units, sometimes called Labor Units, are the number of labor hours or effort involved in completing the activity and are usually expressed as hours (h) **Units do not indicate period of time over which the work must be accomplished on an activity VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 21 of 45

Units/Time – Units/Time (U/T) is the rate of work that a resource is assigned to an activity. It’s usually expressed as hours per day (h/d) **Units/Time is not available until a resource has been assigned VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 22 of 45

Section 4: ACTIVITIES AND MILESTONES: DURATION TYPES VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 23 of 45

Schedule Calculations Scheduling Formulas Example Units ÷ U/T = Duration 30 hours ÷ 3 h/d = 10 days Duration x U/T = Units 4 days x 2 h/d = 8 hours Units/Duration = U/T VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones 10 hours/2 days = 5 h/d Slide 24 of 45

Duration Types General Tab VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Duration Type Slide 25 of 45

Duration Types The Duration Type depends on the function of the activity and the calendar that should be used for the activity during scheduling – There are four Duration Types: 1. 2. 3. 4. Fixed Duration and Units/Time Fixed Units/Time VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 26 of 45

Duration Types – Fixed Units • The activity will take a fixed number of units of effort, or labor hours to complete • Adding more resources will shorten the duration Note: Fixed Units is a recommended setting VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 27 of 45

Duration Type – Fixed Units Example Units (fixed) Number of Resources Duration (calculated) 20 hours One person at 5 h/d 4 days 20 hours Two people at 5 h/d 2 days VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 28 of 45

Duration Types – Fixed Duration and Units • It is necessary to adjust resource workloads (units/time) without changing the duration or overall units planned Note: Fixed Duration and Units is a recommended setting VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 29 of 45

Duration Type – Fixed Duration and Units Example Duration (fixed) Units (fixed) Resource U/T (calculated) 2 weeks 80 hours Two people at 4 h/d 2 weeks 80 hours One person at 8 h/d VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 30 of 45

Duration Types – Fixed Units/Time • The activity has fixed resource availability Note: Fixed Units/Time is not recommended for use after project actuals are applied VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 31 of 45

Duration Type – Fixed Units/Time Example Units/Time (fixed) Duration (can change) Units (can change) 2 h/d 4 days (set) 8 hours (calculated) 2 h/d 2 days (calculated) 16 hours (set) VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 32 of 45

Duration Types – Fixed Duration and Units/Time • The activity’s duration is set by the nature of the activity • Adding more resources will not shorten the duration Note: Fixed Duration and Units/Time is not recommended for use after project actuals are applied VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 33 of 45

Duration Type – Fixed Duration and Units/Time Example Duration (fixed) Units/Time per resource (fixed) Units (can change) 6 days 2 h/d One person: 12 hours 6 days 2 h/d Two people: 24 hours VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 34 of 45

Section 5: ACTIVITIES AND MILESTONES: DURATION, UNITS AND UNITS/TIME RELATIONSHIPS VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 35 of 45

Entering Activity Information Duration Labor Units Planned Units/Time VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 36 of 45

Entering Activity Information Activity or Duration Type Set As Fixed Units Planned Labor Units Fixed Duration and Units Planned Duration or Planned Labor Units Fixed Duration and Units/Time Planned Duration Fixed Units/Time Planned Duration or Planned Labor Units Level of Effort Planned Units/Time (after resources are assigned, on the Resources tab) VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 37 of 45

How Duration Type Affects Resources’ Planned Work on an Activity Duration Type Constant value Schedule Calculates Fixed Units/Time Fixed Duration and Units/Time Fixed Units (Either) Fixed Duration & Units (or) Fixed Duration & Units Duration Units Duration VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 38 of 45

Section 6: ACTIVITIES AND MILESTONES: PERCENT COMPLETE TYPES VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 39 of 45

Percent Complete Types: Measure the progress of an activity Duration % Percent complete is determined by how much time has passed Physical % Percent complete is determined by checking off steps which have a weighted value Recommended method for Earned Value VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Units % Percent complete is determined by measuring the units completed against the planned units Slide 40 of 45

Section 7: ACTIVITIES AND MILESTONES: SETTING DEFAULT VALUES VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 41 of 45

Setting Defaults Suggested settings Duration Type = Fixed Units Percent Complete Type = Units Activity Type = Task Dependent VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 42 of 45

Activities and Milestones – User Support Email Primavera 2@va. gov VA Primavera P 6: Activities and Milestones Slide 43 of 45