Microsoft® Office Project 2007 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies®

Chapter 2. Entering Actuals

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✓	Understanding the tracking process
✓	Gathering tracking information
✓	Preparing to track
✓	Recording actuals
✓	Checking the progress

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Although our book isn’t linear in nature, some things about working with projects are linear. You initially identify the project’s tasks and set them up, creating dependencies between them and, if necessary, imposing constraints. Next, you work with resources — defining them and then assigning them to project tasks. You typically follow that exercise by focusing on ironing out the kinks in the schedule caused by overallocations or by the schedule predicting that you won’t finish on time or within budget. Finally, you hit the magic day when you set a baseline and the project starts.

At this point, you enter a new phase in the project management life cycle that can make you a better project manager. Noting what actually happens during the life of a project — called tracking or recording actuals — holds the key to obtaining lots of different kinds of valuable information. For example, setting a baseline and recording actuals gives you the ability to compare estimates to actuals. You can use this information to revise your plan to better fit reality, minimizing potential problems or avoiding them altogether. After your project ends, comparing estimates with actuals helps you become a better estimator, and making better estimates makes you a better future project manager.

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