Calculating actual % complete and comparing to planned % complete
It is important to understand whether or not your project is on track to meet your planned milestones and final delivery date. This should not be a gut feeling, and should be based on your actual progress to date compared to your planned progress to date. It is a simple calculation derived by:
- Calculating the total Planned Effort of all user stories to have been completed in the project at that point, then
- Calculating the total Percent Complete for all user stories that have been completed at this point (entered by users as they update their tasks).
- Multiplying the total Planned Effort at that point by total Percent Complete to give the Completed Effort.
- The Completed Effort result is then divided by the total Planned Effort and multiplied by 100.
- If the percent of completed effort is less than 100%, your team is behind
- If the percent of completed effort is very close to or greater than 100%, your team is on schedule or ahead
For example:
| User Story | Planned Tasks | Planned Complete Date | Planned Tasks Complete as of 4/13 | Completed Tasks as of 4/13 | Expected Percentage Complete as of 4/13 |
Actual Percentage Complete as of 4/13 |
Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| User Story A | 80 tasks | 4/9 | 80 tasks | 72 tasks | 100% | 90% | 10% Behind |
| User Story B | 20 tasks | 4/9 | 20 tasks | 18 tasks | 100% | 90% | 10% Behind |
| User Story C | 40 tasks | 4/16 | 20 tasks | 20 tasks | 50% | 50% | On Schedule |
| User Story D | 20 tasks | 4/16 | 10 tasks | 8 tasks | 50% | 40% | 10% Behind |
| User Story E | ? tasks | 4/23 | ? tasks | not started | 0% | -- | |
| User Story F | ? tasks | 4/23 | ? tasks | not started | 0% | -- | |
| Totals | 160 tasks | 130 tasks | 118 tasks | - | Behind |
Therefore 118 completed tasks / 130 planned tasks x 100 = 90.8% Project Percent Complete. Because this percentage is less than 100%, your team is behind and you'll need to create a plan to catch up.
Note for Project Manager:
- Each week you should be measuring your project % complete and comparing that to your project % planned complete for that point in time.
- If you find that your project is less than 100% complete at a given point in time (remember, this % is relative to the work you expect to complete by that point) you should then drill down into the user story or task level to understand where you're behind, why you're behind, and what it will take to catch up (e.g. adjust resources, adjust scope, extend time to that area, etc...)
- In the table above, User Stories E and F have not been started because they are part of the next sprint. Therefore, you should not have detailed task numbers for these user stories. It's helpful to include them in the table so that you are aware of the work that remains as you consider your plans to get back on track.