Extending Task Dates in the Absence of Updates

[Michael Berkowitz]

I use MS Project, mostly for its resource-leveling feature. I have one terrible problem with it, though, and I'm asking for recommendations of software that deals with this problem:

Often (way too often) a task is being worked on and I update the Actual Work to track where we stand relative to its completion, but then the resource on that task has to be moved onto something else for, say, a week. Or, an even simpler case, the resource takes sick and is unexpectedly absent for a week. I would like for MS Project to recognize that a week has gone by and no Actual Work has been done on the task, and automatically push its expected due date out by a week.

Not only doesn't it do this automatically, such that my project is cluttered with tasks that were supposed to have finished long ago but never did (we won't discuss the *reality* that this reflects!), but I haven't found a good way to explicitly *tell* the software that the task has been delayed.

If someone can recommend an application that's better at tracking but also has resource leveling, please tell me. Alternatively, if you can recommend a way to accomplish what I want within MS Project, that too would be excellent.

Thanks in advance.

[davidhog123]

[QUOTE=Michael Berkowitz;7818]I use MS Project, mostly for its resource-leveling feature. I have one terrible problem with it, though, and I'm asking for recommendations of software that deals with this problem:

Often (way too often) a task is being worked on and I update the Actual Work to track where we stand relative to its completion, but then the resource on that task has to be moved onto something else for, say, a week. Or, an even simpler case, the resource takes sick and is unexpectedly absent for a week. I would like for MS Project to recognize that a week has gone by and no Actual Work has been done on the task, and automatically push its expected due date out by a week.

Not only doesn't it do this automatically, such that my project is cluttered with tasks that were supposed to have finished long ago but never did (we won't discuss the *reality* that this reflects!), but I haven't found a good way to explicitly *tell* the software that the task has been delayed.

If someone can recommend an application that's better at tracking but also has resource leveling, please tell me. Alternatively, if you can recommend a way to accomplish what I want within MS Project, that too would be excellent.

Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]

Hey Michael,
You can try out eResource Scheduler. Its utilization reports would help you to get a clear picture of whether a particular resource is over utilized or under utilized. This would be really beneficial for you in efficiently leveling your resources so that all your resources are optimally utilized. You can visit their website for more details.
www.eresourcescheduler.com