Updating a started task

Summary: Report how much work is left on a started task, so its dates, the buffers and the priorities stay true.

Applies to

Before you start

• The task's project is released, and the task appears in your My activities.
• Know how many working days of work are left, or the date the work will be finished.

What ETTC means

ETTC (expected time to complete) is the working time still needed to finish the task, counted from tomorrow. It is a forecast. It is not the time already spent, and not a percentage complete.

LYNX-X uses it to calculate the task's expected completion, the schedule, the buffers and the priorities. A started task that nobody updates gets one day later every day, and uses up buffer while it does.

Procedure

1. In the top bar, select Focus, then My activities.
2. Select the task. Its side panel opens on the right.
3. Select the Assignments tab. The Update block is at the top.
4. Check Status. Set it to Started if work has begun.
5. In ETTC, type the number of working days still needed. Expected completion changes to match. You can also choose the Expected completion date instead; the ETTC then changes to match.
6. Select Apply changes (the check mark at the top right, or Ctrl+S). Save in the left rail does the same.

Until you apply them, your changes are pending: Save in the left rail shows a count.

To change Units (%), for example because the intensity of the work has changed, select the pencil on the assignment's row. Change Units (%) in the Assignment dialog, select Ok, then select Apply changes.

When the work is genuinely finished, set Status to Completed and apply. An ETTC that reaches zero does not always complete the task by itself.

Expected outcome

Save in the left rail is greyed again. In the task list, the Resources column shows the new ETTC with tomorrow in front of it, for example [tomorrow 20 days, started].

As the task manager, you have updated every assignment of the task: each one has the new ETTC and Expected completion.

Additional information

• ETTC counts working days. Weekend days are not counted: an expected completion on a Saturday gives the same ETTC as the Friday before it.
• A resource can update only their own assignment. A task manager can update all of a task's assignments at once.
• Units (%) changes the hours behind the days, not the ETTC. At 50 %, an assignment of 24 days needs 96 hours instead of 192.
• Project managers and task managers can make the same update in the project plan, on the task's Assignments tab.
• On an auto-complete task, the ETTC counts down by one day every day until it reaches 0; you then set the task to Completed. See Using auto-complete tasks (not yet written).

Troubleshooting

See also

• Creating a project from a template
• Using auto-complete tasks (not yet written)

Revision history