Advanced techniques for project tracking
So far, we have studied the simpler techniques of updating and tracking schedules, based only upon the estimated percentage completion of a task. They can be considered simpler because of the following practical reasons:
- Just using percentage completion for a task is almost never sufficient or realistic. For example, when a software developer says a task is 90% complete, it can mean that they have used up 90% of the time allocated to the task. Last week, if the developer reported 80% completion, then this week it has to be 90% complete. This can mean anything, and often does!
- So far, we have ignored what really happened with the execution details of the task. Was the task really started on time? Did some other task take up extra time and push all the other tasks on a team member's plate? Such incidents cannot be tracked.
So, now, the question is, How can we track with factual information instead of potentially fictional...