Creating and Configuring Tracked Activities

Creating and Configuring Tracked Activities


Introduction

Tracked Activities define the work your team wants to monitor in Progress Tracking. 

An activity can come directly from your imported project schedule or be created independently as a Standalone Activity. Once configured, the activity provides the structure DatuBIM uses to record quantities, dates, and progress, and to contribute to project-level reporting and dashboard calculations. 

Before You Begin

Before creating a tracked activity, determine: 
  1. Whether the work is already represented appropriately in your imported Gantt schedule.
  2. How progress for the activity should be measured.
  3. The total quantity required to complete the activity, when applicable. 
  4. The planned dates for the work.
  5. How the activity should contribute to overall project progress. 

Choose How the Activity Will Be Created

From the Tracked Activities panel, select + Track new activity.

You can choose between: 
  1. Gantt activity
  2. Standalone activity

Gantt Activity

Choose Gantt activity when the work you want to track is represented in your imported project schedule.

Selecting this option opens the Gantt viewer, where you can locate and select the applicable activity. This workflow is covered in more detail in Importing Your Project Schedule for Progress Tracking.

When the necessary information is available in the schedule, the Gantt activity can provide the activity's planned dates, quantity, and measurement unit.

Standalone Activity

Choose Standalone activity when: 
  1. The project does not have an imported schedule.
  2. The applicable Gantt activity does not contain the quantity or unit information required for your tracking method. 
  3. Your team wants to use a Progress Tracking structure that differs from the formal project schedule.
Standalone activities allow you to define the activity information directly in DatuBIM.

How to Create and Configure a Standalone Activity

Create the Activity

  1. Select + Track new activity.
  2. Choose Standalone activity.
  3. Enter a clear name for the activity.
Use a name that makes the tracked scope easy to recognize for both field and project management teams.


Enter the Activity Details

Use the Activity Details tab to configure the information needed to track the work.

Depending on your workflow, this can include: 
  1. Activity Type / Measurement Type
  2. Activity Weight
  3. Planned Start Date
  4. Planned End Date
  5. Comments
  6. Actual Required Quantity
The activity card also displays actual and forecast date information as progress is recorded.

Choose How Progress Will Be Measured

Select the measurement type that best represents how the activity will be completed and reported. 

DatuBIM supports: 
  1. Count
  2. Length
  3. Area
  4. Volume
  5. Mass
  6. Percentage
Use a physical quantity when progress can be reliably measured against a defined total.

Percentage can be used for non-geometric or more complex work that cannot be reliably represented by a single geometric quantity.

Enter the Required Quantity

For quantity-based tracking, enter the Actual Required Quantity for the entire activity. 

This establishes the total amount of work required to complete the activity. Progress can then be recorded against that total.

For example, if an activity is measured by Count, the required quantity represents the total number of units that must be completed. 

Once the Actual Required Quantity is entered, the activity's Progress Table and Progress Graph become available.  DatuBIM uses the Required Quantity as the total amount of work against which reported progress can be calculated.

Helpful Note: For a Gantt Activity, quantity and measurement unit information can come from the imported project schedule when those fields are available. For a Standalone Activity, the required quantity and measurement information are configured directly within DatuBIM.

Enter the Activity Weight

Enter the activity's weight according to the weighting approach being used for your project. 

Activity weight determines how much the activity contributes to the overall completion value for the monitored project scope. We will cover how to determine and configure activity weights in Configuring Activity Weights.

Helpful Note:  Activity progress and activity weight serve different purposes.  The activity's quantity and measurement method determine how progress toward completion is recorded, while its weight determines how much that activity contributes to the overall progress calculation.

Save and Review the Activity

Once the applicable information has been configured, save the activity. 

The activity will appear in the Tracked Activities panel alongside other Standalone and Gantt activities.


Before continuing, confirm that: 
  1. The activity name clearly identifies the work being tracked. 
  2. The correct measurement type is selected. 
  3. The required quantity is correct.
  4. Planned dates reflect the intended work period. 
  5. The activity weight has been entered according to your project's weighting approach.

Linking a Standalone Activity to Design Objects

Standalone Activities can also be connected to design objects. 

When design objects are selected, Link to activity includes an option to connect those objects to an existing Standalone Activity. This allows teams to use object-level tracking even when the activity is being managed independently from the formal Gantt schedule. 

Ready to Continue?

Once your tracked activities are configured, you can begin recording actual progress as work is completed. 
Continue to Updating Progress and Activity Status.