Project Schedule

SQUAVA provides a simple and robust project schedule which will provide you even more visibility into the progress and health of your projects to help you better anticipate issues.  You can now create simple gantt charts and project work curves (Earned Value or S-Curve) at project or task levels.  Managing your projects just went to the next level. 

Quick Summary of Step-by-Step Guide: 

1. Access Project Schedule
2. Select desired chart/graph type
3. Choose to manage schedule at the project or task level
4. Save when finished 

In-Depth Step-by-Step Guide: 

1. Access Project Schedule
   First, we need to open the project budget page (you can also access the schedule from the Project Management page).  If you are unsure about how to create a project, please see our Help Article: Adding Projects.  Inside the project, click on the 'Schedule' tab to customize and view the project schedule.
   
   
   
   
   
2.  After clicking on the 'Schedule' tab, choose between a Gantt chart or a line graph view for your schedule.  In this example, we are going to click the button that says 'Project' which will show a line graph for our schedule.  Your screen will look similar to the image below. 
     
   
   
   NOTE: The line graph is an Earned Value (or S-Curve) Graph which provides an execution plan for your project (work to perform over time) and will track your budget used and work complete against your defined plan. 
   
   
3. Next, we will choose the level to which we want to manage the schedule - at the project level or the more detailed task level.  If you wish to define and track to the task level, click the toggle button that says 'Schedule with Tasks'.  For this example, we are going to choose 'Schedule with Tasks' to illustrate all the schedule options.  
    
   
   
   
4. At the project level, the schedule start/end dates will carry forward from the schedule you initially defined when setting up the project.  Adjust your task start/end dates as appropriate. 
   
   
5. At the task level, you will have the option to assign 'Predecessor Tasks' (when viewing with a gantt chart) to more easily maintain an order and priority to your tasks - and have SQUAVA's help to automatically adjust task start/end dates with predecessors defined.  You have the option to select one or more tasks as predecessors.  
   
   The image below is an example of a project schedule with a predecessor task within a gantt chart. 
    
   
   
6. The flag icon represents 'Milestones'.  You can select 'Milestone Tasks' which SQUAVA will display on your graph for reference.  
   
   
   
   
7. Under the 'Work Curve' column, select a curve from the dropdown that best represents how you expect your work to execute.  This is often called an S-Curve Graph because typically, a project will follow an S-Curve with more work occurring at the start and end of a project.  You have the option to select a 'Work Curve' for each task to account for activities which might follow more aggressive plans.  This feature also allows for more accurate tracking at the project level if task details are not as critical.
    
   
   
   
8. You have the option to add notes for future reference or collaboration.  If you add a note, it will be designated by a solid filled note icon.
   
   
    
9. The 'Budget Used' will show you how your labor budget is being spent.  This will show all invoiced labor time ('Billed to Date') as well as 'Current' or otherwise known as Work in Progress (WIP) time (time charged but not yet invoiced).
   
   
   
   
10. In the 'Work Complete' column, at desired times, enter what you estimate to be the percentage of actual work complete for each task as you work on the project.  If you chose to manage the schedule at the project level, you will only enter one amount.  After you enter an amount and select 'Update', you will be prompted for a date to correlate the estimate.  Choose the date that reflects when the percentage of work was complete.  This will help you track the actual work progress and budget used according to your project plan.  Be sure to click 'Save' when finished.  
    
    The image below is an example of a project schedule.
    
    
    

11. The SPI and CPI metrics above the graph are overall indicators of the project's performance or health. SPI stands for Schedule Performance Index and CPI stands for Cost Performance Index.  These values indicate how well the project is progressing based on the defined plan. 

• A value of 1.0 would indicate that the schedule or cost is tracking on plan.
• A value less than 1.0 would indicate poor performance or health (over budget or behind schedule).
• A value greater than 1.0 would indicate good performance or health (under budget or ahead of schedule). 

These metrics provide a quick and good high-level perspective on project performance or health. 

SUCCESS!!! 

• You have successfully learned how to access and create a project schedule!
• If you have any other questions related to projects, refer to other Help Articles in the Projects 101 section.  
• If you can't find an available Help Article, feel free to give us a call, submit a request, or send us a chat message.