Expected % Complete MS Project Custom Column

Posted on August 9, 2014 Written by

I attended Angela Chellas’ MS Project Advanced workshop today (excellent course) and there was a question about how to figure out what % complete that a task should be if it was on track.  Based on elapsed time, the Expected % Complete for tasks and summary items may be calculated using a MS Project Custom Field.

[expand title=”Text of the formula – to paste in.”]

Int(
  IIf([Current Date]>=[Start]
     ,IIf([Current Date]<=[Finish],
        IIf([Duration]>0,
           ProjDateDiff([Start],[Current Date])/[Duration]*100
           ,IIf([Current Date]>=[Start],100,0))
        ,100)
     ,0)
)

[/expand]

 

You create the custom column like this.

customcol2

Filed Under: MS Project, Other, Project Management

PRINCE2 Joined-Up

Posted on July 30, 2014 Written by

The core of PRINCE2 project governance guidance is summarised in the introduction to the business case …

The ongoing and ever-present decision regarding the Business Case is whether the project can (still) be justified. This is based on whether the project is desirable (the cost/benefit/risk balance), viable (the project can deliver the products) and achievable (the products can provide the benefits).

The Senior User(s) is responsible for specifying the benefits and subsequently realizing the benefits through the use of the products provided by the project. The Executive is responsible for ensuring that those benefits specified by the Senior User(s) represent value for money, are aligned to corporate objectives, and are capable of being realized. ((OGC (Office of Government Commerce) (2009). Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 (2009 ed.). TSO (The Stationery Office).))

 

The following diagram captures the key PRINCE2 roles, and their concerns.  I have found this diagram very useful when socialising the PRINCE2 project patterns with project stakeholders.

PRINCE2 Joined-Up

 

 

 

Talking Points

  • Project is a temporary organisation to turn the inputs into the benefits.
  • Project Objectives (start with the end in mind)
    • Benefits
    • Scope and Quality of Products
    • Time, Cost, and Risk appetite Inputs
  • Executive Role1
    • Key concern: Desirable8? If we had the time, cost and risk appetite would we purchase these benefits?
    • The details of the project product are not in focus.
  • Benefits2
    • Benefits are in business terms (customer impact, costs (e.g. head count), income (e.g. new capabilities and services)
  • Senior Users3
    • Key concern: Achievable4? If we receive the promised products to the required scope and quality, can we use them in the business to deliver the benefits?
  • Products5
    • What is required to achieve the benefits? The product is often an artifact (e.g. consumer product, IT system, building facility)  of some kind combined with people ready to use it.
  • Senior Suppliers6
    • Key concern: Viable7? If we were given the time, budget, and risk appetite, can we deliver to the required scope and quality?
  • Input
    • Time, Budget, People, Risk appetite
Filed Under: PRINCE2 Joined-Up

Portable Bank Account Numbers

Posted on July 1, 2014 Written by

As you are probably aware, the Australian telecommunications regulator mandated mobile phone number portability which eliminated a major source of ‘lock-in’ previously available to phone companies.

Today banks enjoy a very similar source of lock-in – the lack of portability of bank account numbers. Changing from one bank to another s requires the re-establishment of receipt and payment methods with employers, customers and service suppliers. The hassle and effort here works in the banks’ favour by increasing the cost of moving from one bank to another.

I imagine a future in which I can switch banks without disturbing any of my other financial relationships! When I accept funds or pay someone I use a number that is owned by me, not my bank. If I change banks, the number comes with me.

We enjoy this opportunity with our mobile phone communications – anyone else interested in having the same opportunity with our money?

Filed Under: Ideas, Other

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Posted on June 29, 2014 Written by


Cialdini’s book is a must read for all sentient beings. The facts on the ground are too numerous for our minds to accommodate so we consistently adopt mental shortcuts that make us vulnerable to the compliance practitioner. Forewarned is forearmed!

BTW Charlie Munger‘s personal reflection on Cialdini’s thesis, “24 standard causes for human misjudgement“, is also worth a listen.

Filed Under: What David is Reading

Replacing TrueCrypt

Posted on June 28, 2014 Written by

If you are a TrueCrypt user then recent events will have given you pause for thought.  What to do? After reviewing alternatives, I have made the switch to BestCrypt.

The tool is feature complete and the conversion has been seamless so far.

Filed Under: Toolkit

Javascript Concurrency

Posted on May 11, 2014 Written by

Every wondered how the javascript concurrency model works? I didn’t either …. until tonight, chasing a bug in todotxttdi.com todo.txt HTML client.  In case you are interested, here are the three references that got me across the line:

  1. Mozilla Developer Network Concurrency model and Event Loop
  2. Sam Tobin-Hochstadt JavaScript: a concurrent language with shared mutable state
  3. Daniel Lew JavaScript: How do I store javascript functions in a queue for them to be executed eventually
Filed Under: todo.txt Tagged:

Indentifying Configuration Items and MS Project

Posted on November 30, 2013 Written by

clsPermanentID-10This post explores a way of using MS Project to automatically allocate a permanent identifying number to a project’s configuration items.

Within PRINCE2 project management guidance, configuration management depends, in part, on being able to uniquely (and permanently) identify project products.

For projects which are using MS Project as the tool to document the Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) and Project Schedule – it would be convenient if MS Project automatically allocated a unique and permanent identifier to all items in the MS Project plan.

During planning, sections of the PBS and Project Schedule are subject to elaboration and reframing, particularly as more knowledge becomes available.  This means that the permanent identifier of configuration items should survive reorganisation of the PBS and schedule.

The remainer of this post explains why the existing fields in MS Project are not fit for this purpose and how a permanent unique identifier may be automatically generated.

In the description below, “task” is used as it is in MS Project, meaning one item in an MS Project plan that could be a summary element in a PBS or WBS or an individual task.

Firstly, lets look at why the ID, WBS Code, and Unique ID fields do not provide the required uniqueness and permanence.

  1. The ID numbers allocated by MS Project are neither unique nor permanent.  As an MS Project plan is sorted, the ID numbers may be reallocated. In addition, if a task is deleted, the ID will be allocated again to another entry.
  2. The WBS code is neither unique nor permanent.  If a project product’s entry is moved to a different part of the PBS (or WBS) hierarchy the WBS code will change.  The WBS Code will then be allocated to the entry that occupies the spot in the hierarchy that was vacated by the moved entry.
  3. Finally, the Unique ID field is unique but is not permanent. A task’s Unique ID value is unique because it is only allocated once and never reused.  However, the Unique ID for a task is not permanent, it will change if the item is cut and pasted back into the MS Project plan.  The only way to reliably move a task from one place in the PBS (or WBS) hierarchy to another, is to cut it from place and then paste it into its destination location.  In the process, MS Project will allocate the pasted task a new Unique ID. The original Unique ID is lost.

So, how may we get MS Project to automatically allocate an ID that is both unique and permanent? This may be achieved by adding a macro to the MS Project plan, and designating one of the “Number” fields as the “Permanent ID” for the entry.

Here are the installation steps, shown in Project 2010.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: MS Project, Project Management

Innovative Todo.txt client

Posted on March 19, 2013 Written by

Stay on top of your Todo.txt from any (non-IE) browser anywhere!

I am pleased to announce the release of http://todotxttdi.com, a HTML5 Todo.txt app for Dropbox.

Let the content of your Todo.txt drive the user interface,’ and sort and filter anyway you wish, easily enter dates, and manage task dependencies.

Check it out!

Also, Gina Trapani has been kind enough to add a link to the todotxttdi app  from the Todo.txt front page.

Filed Under: todo.txt

Todotxttdi

Posted on March 19, 2013 Written by

todotxttdi64HTML5 Todo.txt app for Dropbox with novel user-centric text-driven user interface.

Filed Under: todo.txt

Ambi Functions

Posted on November 25, 2011 Written by

Here are a couple of short examples of ambi functions. These may be copied and pasted into the Ambi Calculator. The first is a recursive implementation of Euclid’s algorithm for finding the Greatest Common Divisor:

 

function; gcd;
  // A B gcd ;
  // Euclid's algorithm ;
  ifelse ;
    import $b = import $a = $b 0 == ;
    $a export;
    $b $a $b % gcd export ;
  pass;

 

The second is an iterative function to check if a number is prime.

 

function ; isprime ;
  // N isprime ;
  // returns boolean;
  for ;
    import  $n = true  $isprime = 2 $i =;
    $isprime $i $n sqrt <=  and  ;
    $i ++ ;
    $n $i %  0 !=  $isprime =  ;
  $isprime export;
Filed Under: Ambi-lang

Ambi RPN Calculator Update and Chrome Extension

Posted on November 25, 2011 Written by

I have updated and released a new version of the Ambi RPN Calculator and programming language. Version 0.6.0 includes the following improvements …

  • Complete redesign of UI using browser local storage to preserve state across invocations.
  • Added ‘My Ambi Functions’ which are persistent. UI now auto recalculates as the expression is edited.
  • drop, pow, exp, and inv operators
  • Added extensive error reporting.
  • Added a Virtual Keyboard
  • 9 short lessons on how to use ambi
Also, Ambi is now available in the Chrome Store.  There are two versions.  A full screen app and a popup extension.
David
Filed Under: Ambi-lang

Finding “my place” in Australia

Posted on October 27, 2011 Written by

It has been almost eighteen months since posting to this blog and two years since I returned to Australia with my family in late December 2009. I joined Wesley Mission as a Project Manager and Business Analyst in May 2010.  Project managing an upgrade of  core business systems in Wesley Mission’s hospitals at Ashfield and Kogarah continues to stimulate and challenge with many opportunities to learn and develop new skills.

Filed Under: Other

Australian Radio Streaming URLs

Posted on May 18, 2010 Written by

I have just started using the Chrome Radio Player and search as I may, I was unable to find a single source for the streaming urls of Australian radio stations. I have found them and here is the result of my research. You can plug these URLs into your streaming player. — Enjoy

Filed Under: Other Tagged: ,

Visual metaphors assist busy readers, learners

Posted on April 26, 2010 Written by

See this in the news:

 


Announcing the availability of the first implementation of the Knowledge Ferret open source project.

The knowledgeferret.com adds a compelling visual metaphor to the document reader to help busy readers to make sense of large and complicated documents. The Productivity Commissions recent report into the Not-For-Profit sector in Australia is being used as a test of this technology.

The “Knowledge Ferret” is David’s third exploration of adding visual metaphor to large documents. The first was the Visual PMBOK(r) Guide – jospar.com and the second earlier work was for NSW Health’s Protocols and Procedures for Aged Care Assessment

In the “Knowledge Ferret” the visual metaphor is formed by the index on the left hand side of the document. It shows the topic that is currently in focus and the context of this topic. While the user can’t ever see all the topics in a document at one time, if ever a topic is visible, it is always in the same place in relation to all other topics. This means that as the user interacts and explores the document they are simultaneously building a mental map of the whole document.

While a user is reading a topic, the most similar topics in the rest of the document are highlighted in blue. These blue sections are like a ‘radar’ view into the rest of the document and makes connections between the current topic and other topics, possibly many chapters apart.

The search box returns its results using the same dynamic index using green highlighting. The search function is not designed to be exhaustive, but rather to guide the user to the top seven topics that most closely relate to the search term.

The “Most Read” link just under the search box highlights the most frequently read topics in a dark orange colour.

Using the “Share / Save” link, users may comment on via twitter, facebook and a dozen other social media sites about any topic in the document.

Filed Under: e-learning Tagged:

Golf Zero

Posted on March 20, 2010 Written by

Some keen golfers face a time when they can enjoy a walk around a golf course, but are not able to swing a golf club like they used to. A golfer’s swing could be interrupted due to injury, sickness or due to natural aging processes.

Should an inability to swing stop a golfer from enjoying the course? No. “Golf Zero” could be an answer. Here is an idea. Let “Golf Zero” be a zero swing game of golf that uses a small compressed air powered cannon to fire a golf ball when on the fairway, and a curved pipe for putting.

The fairway cannon fits onto a golf buggy in place of a bag of golf clubs and the Golf Zero golfer controls it using a wirelessly linked iPhone App that includes the course layout. The golfer chooses which stick to emulate, either an iron or wood plus a variable swing.

On the putting green, the golfer drops a golf ball down a curved pipe that is pointed towards the flag.

The combination of a small air powered cannon on the fairway and a curved pipe on the green may provide a way for golfers who have lost their swing to stay the course!

Filed Under: Other Tagged: ,
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