Update the task status
The video provides a tutorial on how, why, and how often to update the task status.
The task status consists of two main things, whether or not the task is complete and if it鈥檚 not complete, how complete is it? The project percent complete is calculated based on the percent complete of the working tasks.
The accuracy of the project and the task reports is directly related to the status updates made manually by individual contributors. Best practice is to update the status of all tasks you鈥檙e working on at the end of each workday. This will keep the project and the task reports accurate to within a day. Statuses can be new, in progress or complete.
Custom statuses like cancelled can be added by your system administrator. Don鈥檛 confuse status with progress status. The progress status is calculated by work front.
Remember, the percent complete needs to be entered manually.
It鈥檚 never calculated by work front for a working task.
However it is calculated for parent tasks based on the percent complete of each working task and is weighted by either the duration or the planned hours of the task. Which of these is used in the weighting is based on a setting made by your system administrator.
If you are one of multiple people assigned to a task, be sure and mark it as done with my part when you鈥檙e done with your part.
Key takeaways
- How should you update the task status? There are several places where you can update the task status. The most common is in the tasks list on the project page.
- Why is it important to update the task status? Timely and accurate project and task reporting depends entirely on status updates from individual contributors. Without consistent updates, visibility suffers, decisions stall, and progress risks going off track.
- How often should you update the task status?: Update the status of all tasks you鈥檙e working on at the end of each work day. This will keep the project and task reports accurate to within a day.