How to get project overall delay in days in Smartsheet with multiple sub-parent rows

marmanlive · 10/18/24

Hi

While we use the Baselines on the task level to see the delays per task, is there a way to grab the overall project delay in days and also show it in the Dashboard?

I'm using multiple sub-rows (up to three levels) to host tasks into different workstreams.

Example:

TOP ROW [Level]
1. Parent Row1 [Level 2]
  1. Task 1 [Level 3]
  2. Task 2
  3. Task 2, etc.

When done so, the Variance cell in the top row does not return any value. I'm not able to enter a formula either, as it is a system row for baseline calculation.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for your help!

Regards

/Marat

che.rabajante · 10/20/24

Hi @marmanlive

In Smartsheet's Gantt chart, variance is automatically calculated based on the project's baseline and the scheduled dates of tasks when predecessors are set. If there are no predecessors defined for tasks, Smartsheet cannot determine the relationship between tasks and thus may return a blank value for variance.

With Predecessors - When you set predecessors for tasks, Smartsheet calculates the variance by comparing the actual start and finish dates with the baseline dates. This allows you to see if a task is ahead or behind schedule.

Without Predecessors - If a task does not have any predecessors, Smartsheet treats it as independent, meaning it cannot calculate its variance in relation to other tasks. This leads to a blank variance field since it lacks the context needed to assess delays or progress.

Hope this helps.🙂

Che

jmyzk_cloudsmart_jp · 10/21/24

Hi @marmanlive

As @che.rabajante pointed out, "variance is automatically calculated based on the project's baseline and the scheduled dates of tasks when predecessors are set" (Upper Top Row in the image below.)

If you do not want to set predecessors, you can calculate the overall variance using the following method. (Lower Top Row in the image below.)

Add a checkbox helper column [is Child] with the following formula;
- =IF(COUNT(CHILDREN()) = 0, 1)
Then, you can get the overall variance at a helper column, variance value with the following formula;
- =IF([is Child]@row, Variance@row, SUM(CHILDREN()))

https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=b798636248424495a8c2312b4963d49d

marmanlive · 10/21/24

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/458938#Comment_458938

Hi @che.rabajante

Thanks for the details.

There cannot be blank variance fields, if the task has no predecessor, the Variance returns 0 for the task.

Are you saying that when there is at least one task with Variance = 0, Smartsheet does not calculate the overall Variance of the project in the top row?

2024-10-21 11_44_08-2024 _ HV - Upgrading Analytics Solution.png

che.rabajante · 10/27/24

Hello @marmanlive

The absence of an overall baseline start and finish date is causing the variance at the top row to not calculate correctly.

To address this, you’ll need to reset the baseline, but please ensure that all planned dates are input first. After resetting the baseline, check that the overall baseline start and finish dates are reflected at the project level. Once everything looks good, you can then input the actual dates, which should allow the variance to display correctly.

Hope this helps!🙂

Thanks
che

How to get project overall delay in days in Smartsheet with multiple sub-parent rows

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