FAQ & TroubleshootingPrimavera P6©Focus Planning Ltd

DisclaimerInformation contained within this presentation is for education purposes only. How a programme or schedule is built, maintained and managed is the responsibility of the owning organisation. Focus Planning Ltd accepted no responsibility for changes made to programmes or schedules which are altered as a result of reading slides contained within this presentation. The configuration and settings of computer software are the responsibility of the license holders and Focus Planning Ltd accept no liability for the configuration used by the license holder.

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ContentsEnterprise MenuWhat are “Project Portfolios” and how can I use them?Tools MenuWhat is a Global Change and how do I do one?What does the “Update Progress” do compared to manually updating?What does the “Apply Actuals” do compared to manually entering actual information?What happens when you “Summarize” a project?What is “Claim Digger” used for?View MenuWhat is the “Progress Line” and how does it work? TroubleshootingWhy are the Activity bars splitting at the data date?Why are the baseline bars not the same as current ones with ‘current project’ as the baseline?Why are the relationship lines linked to the baseline bars?Tips & TricksIs there a quicker way to assign codes?Is there a quicker way to assign resources?What does Checking Out a project do?

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What are “Project Portfolios” and how can I use them?

Simply put – Portfolios are a way to organise your projects in P6 and limit what you see on screen. These do not form part of the Enterprise Project Structure and are essentially another way of filtering your projects.

Say for example your EPS organises projects by the Department Delivering them. But each department may deliver projects within a similar geographical area. The Marketing Team may want to see all the projects being delivered in Central London by all departments, so the user would select File > Select Project Portfolio > Central London. Now only the projects in London are visible in the Projects Window.

To create Portfolios go to Enterprise > Project Portfolios > Add. Name the Portfolio and select who can use it under “Available To”, select the Projects Tab and hit “Assign”, select the Projects to be in that portfolio and click add. (You can Ctrl or Shift click to assign multiple projects”.

To view a portfolio select File > Select Project Portfolio, select the required portfolio and click Ok. To view all projects again select File > Select Project Portfolio > All Projects > Ok.

Benefits: Reduces number of filters and project codes, easy for non P6 users to use, group and sort options

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What is Global Change and how do I do one?

A Global Change is a way of changing the following elements in P6 in one hit;•Activities•Resource Assignments•Expenses

These changes are completed according to a statement created by the user which is built to suit the needs of the change. The statements will always contain an “IF”, “THEN” and “ELSE”.

So an example change could be that a new calendar has been created in P6 and this needs to replace the old calendar currently assigned to all activities for projects in a specific division. The remaining divisions need to keep the old calendar.

The Statement would be as follows;IF where Division equals Division Name THEN Calendar = New Calendar Name ELSE Calendar = Old Calendar Name.

Completing a Global Change has wider impacts than the summary contained here, for more detailed information on completing Global Change keep your eyes out for our guide on SlideShare and on the website.

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What does the “Update Progress” option do compared to manually updating?

The Update Progress option is another way of completing an update on your project plan. Unlike manually updating, the Update Progress option will automatically update activity progress by changing the durations and actual dates of activities. This can be a useful tool when a schedule containing hundreds of activities needs updating and it is progressing as planned.

When using the tool it will give you a few options;Current Data Date: This shows the user the current data date for the scheduleNew Data Date: This is where you enter the data date of the progress updateWhen using progress spotlight update progress for: This is where you tell P6 whether to only update activities in the Spotlight, or to update every activity regardless of if they are highlightedWhen actuals are applied from timesheets, calculate activity remaining durations: This is where you tell P6 whether to base the remaining duration on the activity duration type or where to use the Fixed Units & Fixed Units/Time (called Always Recalculate) when completing the update. See http://www.slideshare.net/AdamGarnham/no-nonsense-guide-to-duration-types-in-p6 for more information on these duration types.

When you choose your settings and select Apply the following takes place:Project Planned Start = Actual Start (if planned start < new data date)Project Planned Finish = Actual Finish (if planned finish < new data date)Remaining Duration Changes (Early Finish – new data date)Actual Duration Changes (Original Duration – Remaining Duration)Actual Units Changes (Units Percent Complete * At Complete Units)

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What does Apply Actuals do compared to manually entering actuals?

Unlike manually applying actual dates, the Apply Actuals option applies actual dates to all the activities within every project that the user has open – similar to the Update Progress option. This is mainly used when Timesheets are entered in the system and need to be applied. For guidance follow the information on the Update Progress slide.

It is worth noting that for both Update Progress and Apply Actuals P6 will be using the Planned Dates to apply actual dates. Experienced users will know the lacking in transparency on planned date calculations in that they are not static or intelligent fields.

Because of this activities already marked as complete could see their actual start and finish dates change after Update Progress or Apply Actuals has been completed. It is suggested that only users who understand the conflicting issues around planned dates use there functions.

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What happens when you Summarize a project?

When you summarize a project P6 totals and rolls up the project data to a level of the EPS and refreshes the database. Within the database there is a specific table that holds summary data about each project for quick access to save the memory being stretched on the system, essentially saving you from having to open lots of projects at once to access information.

The best example to show how this works is when the software contains lots of projects and you are reviewing recently updated data at Project Level with lots of columns displaying information on the projects. You will notice that sometimes the data in the columns is only updated for the projects you currently have open – this is because the projects in the EPS have not been summarized.

Once you summarize all projects the data from the individual projects is rolled up to the EPS and the summary tables in the database will refresh – now all the data in the columns in the Projects Window is up to date and correct.

To summarize go to Tools > Summarize. You will then have the choice to update All Projects or only the Open projects. To change the Summarization Options go to Admin > Admin Preferences > Options.

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What is Claim Digger used for?The Claim Digger tool in P6 is used to compare one project to another project or baseline.

This tool is useful when reviewing changes to a schedule between progress updates, and to compare the current schedule to the project baseline. The output is a text file which is defined by the user, this file is in a clean format and can be easily communicated to the project stakeholders in comparison to issuing two separate schedules with the planner manually typing up the changes, or issuing a single schedule with the baseline bars visible and again some manual write up from the planner.

To use the Claim Digger go to Tools > Claim Digger. Select the revised (updated) project on the left screen from the EPS, and select the comparator project on the right from the EPS. To compare to a baseline select Baseline from the dialog box. The lower section of the Claim Digger dialog box contains options to dictate what format the file should output as. Finally use the Output To box to select where the files should save to.

Claim Digger is a helpful tool when analysing delays, see http://www.slideshare.net/AdamGarnham/delay-impact-analysis-utilising-project-reflections-in-p6 for an example of using Claim Digger to help analyse schedule delays.

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What is the Progress Line and how does it work?

The Progress Line in P6 is a graphical way of seeing how the schedule is progressing by looking at actual dates and the activity baselines. It can be viewed in 2 different ways as below;

Right-click the Gantt Chart and select Bar Chart Options > Progress Line

Baseline to use for calculating Progress Line: This is where the user selects the appropriate baseline to draw the progress line against.

Draw Progress Line:Based on difference between current and baseline activities: Select this option if you would like the visually represent the variance between the baseline selected above and current schedules start or finish dates.By connecting progress points based on activities: Percent Complete will put the progress line going through the bar based on its % complete, so an activity 75% complete will see the progress line connect to the bar 75% of the way along. Remaining Duration will calculate the line position as the finish date in the baseline minus remaining duration.

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What are the activity bars splitting at the data date?

See http://www.slideshare.net/AdamGarnham/schedule-build-integrity-checks for info.

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What are the baseline bars not the same as current ones with ‘current project’ as the

baseline?Some users will notice that when the assigned baseline is current project the baseline bars in the Gantt Chart don't track the current dates for some activities, this is because of the Planned Dates. The Planned Dates as mentioned earlier are not clear and Oracle has released little documentation for the calculations and uses for these dates.

The quick win is to remove the Planned Date variance by changing the settings and preferences of your Primavera install. This is best completed by the Admin user or somebody competent who understands the wider implications of changing the global settings in P6.

To get current dates to dictate the baseline bar and not planned dates when no baseline is assigned complete the following steps;

Admin > Admin Preferences > Earned Value > Earned Value Calculation = Budgeted values with current dates (this setting tells P6 to use the current dates as the planned values in EVM calcs)Projects Window > Calculations > Link Budget and At Completion for Not Started Activities > Check. (This helps P6 to determine how to calculate durations in various areas)

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What are relationship lines linked to the baseline bars?

Some users will experience the relationships in the Gantt Chart are linked between baseline bars instead of between the current bars, this is due to the order of bars in the formatting options on the Gantt Chart.

The order of the bars helps to dictate the precedence of one bar over another in the Gantt Chart. To get the relationship lines back on the current bars complete the following;

Right-click the Gantt Chart and select Bars, find and select the baseline bars and click the down arrow on the right side of the dialog box to move them down, continue moving all the baseline bars to the bottom of the bars table. Click Ok.

The relationship lines will now link to the current bars not the baseline bars. To change it back complete the steps again but move the baseline bars above the remaining, critical and actual bars in the bar table.

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Is there a quicker way to assign codes?

There are a few methods you can employ to assign activity codes to a large number of activities much quicker than applying them one by one or project by project, these are;

1.After creating the activity code, add the column containing the code to the activity table2.Assign the activity to the first activity and keep the completed cell highlighted3.Scroll down to the last activity in the table and holding down shift select the empty cell in the activity code column4.Right click and select fill down5.To assign to individual activities this works using Ctrl rather than Shift

6.Select the first activity and on the activity details window select the codes tab7.Click Assign and select the code in the activity codes window8.Keeping the activity codes window open, go back to the activity window9.Select an activity in the activity table and press Ctrl A10.Go back to the codes window and click add (Green + symbol)11.To assign to individual activities this works by using Ctrl rather than Ctrl A

12.Select an activity on the activity table and press Ctrl A13.Select the Codes button on the right hand toolbar14.Select the code and hit assign (Green + symbol)

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Is there a quicker way to assign resources?

All the methodologies used to quickly assign codes can be used to quickly assign resources, with the exception of Fill Down which for resources will only work on a Ctrl click not a Shift click.

What does checking out a project do?

It is good practice to change a project status to checked out if it is being worked on remotely or out of the database. A symbol appears next to the project telling others it is out.

When you change a project Check Out Status in the project details window to Checked Out, the following is applied in P6;•Project icon updates to indicate it is checked out•Reflections can no longer be merged with the project•Store Period Performance cannot be used on the project•The project cannot be modified

To check out a project: In the Projects window select the project, in the project details window select the general tab and change the Checked Out Status to Checked Out. To check the project back in change the status back to Checked In or update it by importing the updated project.