Update task information for Project Web Access

With the 2007 release of Microsoft Office Project Web Access, you can view and update your task assignments in Microsoft Office Outlook by using the Tasks folder and the Calendar, regardless of whether you are currently online. This is helpful for those who may not always have network access. If you update your task assignments while you are offline, you can update the server with your updated time and status information when you are back online.

Note: To view and update your tasks from within Outlook, you must have the Microsoft Office 2007 Project Add-in for Outlook installed. This add-in works with Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 and Microsoft Office Outlook 2003. For more information on downloading and installing the Microsoft Office 2007 Project Add-in for Outlook, see Import assignments from Project Web Access to Outlook.

About updating your task information in Outlook

Many organizations and project managers choose to track task status separately from work hours with different approvers for each data type. For example, you may be assigned to a task for 40 hours, but you are able to complete the task in 30 hours. If your organization tracks task status separately from work hours, you can report that the task is 100% complete, but only required 30 of the 40 hours allotted to the task. If your organization tracks task status and work hours together, and you completed 30 of the 40 hours allotted to the task, the task status would show 75% work complete.

The forms used to report your status and work hours in Outlook are different, depending on the tracking method used by your organization or project manager.

To determine which method is being used for one of your task assignments:

Open an Outlook task or appointment that was imported from Office Project Web Access.
- If you have opened an appointment, on the Appointment tab, in the Show group, click Project Web Access to view the form used to report on your tasks.
- If you have opened a task, the form used to report on your tasks is displayed by default.
On the form used to report on your tasks:
- If you see two tabs, Task Management and Timesheet, your organization tracks task status separately from work hours. You will enter this data separately in Outlook and your work hours will not change your task status information. Follow the steps in the Submit your task status to Project Web Access and your manager and Submit your work hours to Project Web Access sections.
  
  Your organization may choose to track task status separately from work hours to separate the amount of actual work hours from the amount of effort you put into your tasks.
- If you do not see two tabs, and there is a grid where you can enter your hours for the task, your organization combines status and timesheet tracking. You will enter your work hours in Outlook and the add-in will calculate your task status information. Follow the steps in the Submit your combined task status and work hours to Project Web Access section.

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Submit your task status to Project Web Access and your manager

Task status information posted by using Outlook will overwrite any task status data already captured in Office Project Web Access. If you are unsure of what data may already be captured in Office Project Web Access, verify the status information in Office Project Web Access before submitting your task information by using Outlook.

In Outlook, open the synchronized task or appointment that you are reporting on from the Tasks folder or the Calendar. If you have opened an appointment, on the Appointment tab, in the Show group, click Project Web Access to view the task reporting form. If you have opened a task, the task reporting form is displayed, by default.
On the Task Management tab of the task reporting form, type the appropriate data in the Percent of work complete, Remaining work, or Actual work box, depending on your organization's settings. Typing data in any of these boxes will automatically calculate the other two.

For example, if a task requires a total of 40 hours of work, and you type 20% in the Percent of work complete box, the Actual work box will automatically update to reflect one day of work (1 d), and the Remaining work box will update to reflect four days left to complete the task (4 d). If you think that the remaining work on the task will take longer than 4 days, you can increase the remaining work, thereby increasing the task's total duration.
If you want to submit your status to both Office Project Web Access and your manager, select the And submit to Project Manager check box.
Click Save to Project Web Access.

If you want to submit your status at a later time, click Save & Close in the Save group on the Task or Appointment tab. Your changes are saved locally in Outlook without submitting them to Office Project Web Access or your manager. Use this option when working offline.

Alternatively, if you have captured status information for several tasks and you want to submit all of them to Office Project Web Access, click Update Project Web Access on the Project Web Access toolbar in Outlook. This submits all of your changes at one time, rather than requiring you to submit each task individually.

This method of submitting your task status also submits timesheet changes.

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Submit your timesheet hours to Project Web Access

Timesheet hours posted by using Outlook will overwrite any timesheet hours already captured in Office Project Web Access. If you are unsure of what data may already be captured in Office Project Web Access, verify the timesheet hours in Office Project Web Access before submitting your task information by using Outlook.

In Outlook, open the synchronized task or appointment that you are reporting on from the Tasks folder or the Calendar. If you have opened an appointment, on the Appointment tab, in the Show group, click Project Web Access to view the task reporting form. If you have opened a task, the task reporting form is displayed, by default.
On the Timesheet tab of the task reporting form, type your actual hours worked on the task for each day displayed in the grid. These hours will not change any status data you may have entered on the Task Management tab.

Click Previous or Next to scroll through the calendar by weeks. You cannot enter timesheet hours any earlier than one week before the planned start date for the task assignment, or any later than one week after the planned finish date for the assignment.

If your timesheet hours closely match the planned time for the task assignment, you can easily copy the planned hours into the grid, and then modify the hours, as needed. Click Copy from Planned to automatically populate the grid with the default work hours for the task. For example, if a task has 40 hours of work scheduled during a one-week period and you are scheduled to work 8 hours per day for 5 days, clicking Copy from Planned will automatically enter 8 hours for each day that the task is scheduled during the displayed reporting period. If your actual work varies slightly from the planned work, you can modify the numbers in the grid before saving your work to Office Project Web Access.
Click Save to Project Web Access.

If you are ready to submit your timesheet to your manager, click Go To Web Timesheet. A new window opens and the Timesheet Center page is displayed.

To save your timesheet to submit to Office Project Web Access at a later time, click Save & Close in the Save group on the Task or Appointment tab. Your changes are saved locally in Outlook without submitting them to Office Project Web Access or your manager. Use this option when working offline.

Alternatively, if you have captured work hours for several tasks and you want to save all of them to Office Project Web Access, click Update Project Web Access on the Project Web Access toolbar in Outlook. This saves all of your changes at one time, rather than requiring you to save each task individually. After saving your work hours in Outlook, you will need to submit your timesheet to your manager in Office Project Web Access.

This method of saving your work hours to Office Project Web Access also submits changes to your task status.

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Submit your combined task status and timesheet hours to Project Web Access

In Outlook, open the synchronized task or appointment that you are reporting on from the Tasks folder or the Calendar. If you have opened an appointment, on the Appointment tab, in the Show group, click Project Web Access to view the task reporting form. If you have opened a task, the task reporting form is displayed by default.
Type your actual hours worked on the task for each day displayed in the grid.

Click Previous or Next to move through the calendar by weeks. You cannot enter timesheet hours any earlier than one week before the planned start date for the task assignment or any later than one week after the planned finish date for the assignment.

Hours entered on the grid are automatically rolled up to populate the Percent of work complete and Total work boxes.

For example, if a task requires a total of two weeks of work (2 w) and you enter 16 hours of work during the current reporting period on the grid, the Percent of work complete box will automatically update to reflect 20% complete. If you need additional time to complete the task, you can type the remaining work in the Remaining Work box to extend the task's duration. You can also reduce the task's duration by typing a smaller number in the Remaining Work box.

If your timesheet hours closely match the planned time for the task assignment, you can easily copy the planned hours into the grid and then modify the hours as needed. Click Copy from Planned to automatically populate the grid with the default work hours for the task. For example, if a task has 40 hours of work scheduled during a one-week period and you are scheduled to work 8 hours per day for 5 days, clicking Copy from Planned will automatically enter 8 hours for each day that the task is scheduled during the displayed reporting period. If your actual work varies slightly from the planned work, you can modify the numbers in the grid before saving your work to Office Project Web Access.
Click Save to Project Web Access.

If you are ready to submit your timesheet to your manager, click Go To Web Timesheet. A new window opens and the Timesheet List page is displayed.

To save your timesheet to submit to Office Project Web Access at a later time, click Save & Close in the Save group on the Task or Appointment tab. Your changes are saved locally in Outlook, without submitting them to Office Project Web Access or your manager. Use this option when working offline.

Alternatively, if you have captured work hours for several tasks and you want to submit all of them to Office Project Web Access, click Update Project Web Access on the Project Web Access toolbar in Outlook. This submits all of your changes at one time rather than requiring you to submit each task individually. After submitting your changes in Outlook, you will need to submit your timesheet to your manager in Office Project Web Access.

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Set up automatic task updating in Outlook

You can change the default options and specify how and how often you want to update assignments to Office Project Web Access.

To update Project Web Access automatically, you must be logged on to Microsoft Office Project Server by using a Windows user account.

In Outlook, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Project Web Access tab.
In the Assignment Update section, click Every.
Specify the number of days, weeks, or months in the corresponding boxes, and then enter when you want the next update to occur in the next update box.
Select the Send me a confirmation message check box to receive a summary email message after each update occurs.

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Saturday, February 16, 2019