Activity Steps in Primavera P6 are a feature for breaking down the work associated with an activity into smaller, manageable segments, allowing for more detailed planning and tracking. These steps can be thought of as mini-tasks that collectively define the completion of a larger activity. Each step can be individually tracked, which helps project managers to monitor progress more precisely and make adjustments as needed to keep the project on track.
The use of Activity Steps in Primavera P6 enables teams to assign specific responsibilities, estimate durations more accurately, and establish clearer communication on project expectations. This granular level of control is especially beneficial in complex projects where high levels of detail and precision are required. By tracking the completion of each step, managers can also better understand productivity rates and identify potential bottlenecks before they cause delays, thereby improving the overall project execution strategy.
On the MegaPlan website, this post will teach you how to create and assign steps to activities in Primavera. A 'Step' refers to the finest level of breaking down a project into smaller components.
Creating and assigning steps to activities in Primavera is done according to the following steps:
1. After creating a project, in order to assign Steps to it, click on the desired project in the Projects view to select it. Then, in the tabs below this view, go to the Calculations tab and check the option "Activity Percent Complete based on activity steps".
2. Right-click on your project and select the Open option. Then, in the Activities view and, in the tabs below this view, go to the General tab. Make sure to select Physical as the % Complete .
3. In this step, within the Activities view, click on the activity you wish to select. Then, from the tabs at the bottom of this view, select the "Step" tab. If the columns on the left side of this view are incomplete, right-click on the column header bar and select "Customize step columns"
4. Add all the columns as shown below.
5. Click on the desired activity and on the left side, in the "Step" tab, click on the "Add" button. In the "Step Name" field, enter the title for each step, and in the "Step Weight" tab, assign a numerical weight to each step.
As soon as a weight is assigned to a step, the adjacent column, "Step Weight Percent," automatically calculates and enters the weight as a percentage of the total weight for that step.
6. Now assume some time has passed since the project started, and you want to update the schedule. Since you have defined steps for the activities, first go to the "Status" tab, check the start date of the activity, and specify it. Then, move to the "Step" tab and check the "Complete" box for each step that has been completed.
As soon as you check off a step, the completion percentage of that step is automatically calculated and entered in the "Step % Complete" column. Use the "Columns" tool to add the "Performance % Complete" column to the Activities view.
Whenever you check off a step, this completion percentage is multiplied by the weight of that step, and the overall progress percentage of an activity is automatically calculated and updated based on the sum of these values.
7. Finally, use the Schedule function (F9) to update the program.
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