Using the Check Schedule Report Parameters in P6 Professional to Improve Project Health

The ability to run a report called Check Schedule used to be only available in Primavera P6 EPPM Web Access. Now with the newest version of P6 Professional, release 22, the Check Schedule report can be produced. Project Managers can use the tool to create a detailed report on the project schedule based on 14 industry standard metrics.

A detailed breakdown of the 14 metrics can be found in this article, Primavera P6 Check Schedule Tool

If you prefer to use Primavera P6 EPPM Web Access, please view this article, How to run the Check Schedule Tool in Primavera P6 EPPM Web Access

The Check Schedule report allows project managers to choose which metric to run in the report. P6 Users configure the target percentages for each assessment to customize their analysis.

Is the Check Schedule Tool Available in all versions of P6 Professional?

Unfortunately, the Check Schedule tool is not available in Primavera P6 Professional/Windows versions 21 and older of the project management software.

If you are using an older version of Primavera and want to upgrade to the newest one, please send us your details at Contact Us. The IT consultants at P6 Consulting Inc. are experts with P6 installations, upgrades and troubleshooting.

Running Check Schedule Report in P6 Professional

The Check Schedule Tool is available in Primavera P6 versions 22 and newer. Before using the Check Schedule Report, the project must be open first. Once the project is open, on the Menu Bar, click Tools then select Check Schedule Report. Figure 1 shows the steps to open the Check Schedule Report dialog box.

Figure 1: How to run the Check Schedule Report in Primavera P6 Professional

 The Check Schedule Dialog Box

The Check Schedule dialog box allows the P6 user to select or uncheck each of the metrics to run in the report. Each Target Percentage can be changed to suit the project manager’s requirements in order to make better qualitative and quantitative evaluations of the project schedule.  Figure 2 is the Check Schedule dialog box.

Figure 2: The Check Schedule Report Dialog Box in Primavera P6 Professional

Configuring the Check Schedule Report

The Check Schedule dialog box has different sections to configure.

1. At the top is the “Use Check Schedule Parameters from” field. If more than one project is open, then select which project in the dropdown field to use for the analysis.
2. On the left side of the Check Schedule dialog box, P6 Users can choose which metrics to run in the report. Checkmark the item to include it in the report or uncheck it to exclude it from the analysis.
3. On the right side, each Target Percentage can be changed to suit the project manager’s requirements in order to customize the evaluations of the project schedule. The targets for each metric can be increased or decreased by either manually entering a number or by using the up and down arrows.
4. At the bottom, the file name and destination of where the report file is saved. Checkmark “Overwrite Existing” to save the report as the existing file name. If it is unchecked, then a timestamp will be added to the report name. The report will be generated in a webpage HTML file format which can be opened with any web browser program.
5. The Save button on command bar on the right allows the Check Schedule parameters to be saved with the project selected in the dropdown. Each project can have its own report configuration settings. After setting the target percentages, click the Check Schedule button to run the report.

Schedule Check Report – Check Summary

The first part of the report consists of a Check Summary that has an overall result of each assessment. Figure 3 is an example of the Check Summary section of the Schedule Check Report.

The result displays the:

• Target field –The user defined goal for each check.
• Percent Field – The percentage of items found that match the check divided by the total number of items checked.
  • If the cell is green, the target is achieved. If the cell is red, then the target was missed.
• Found field – Are the number of items found that match the check criteria.
• Total field – Are the number of items that were checked when the report ran.

Figure 3: Example Check Schedule Summary Report in Primavera P6 Professional

Schedule Check Report – Details

The remaining portion of the Schedule Check Report expands to show the details of each assessment’s results. Each section can be expanded to show the activities found that match the criteria. Figure 4 is an example of a portion of the report.

Figure 4: Example Check Schedule Report in Primavera P6 Professional

How to print the report

If you want to print the report, you will need to use the print function in your web browser. First expand the relevant sections to include the report, then right-click the mouse and select Print. Depending on how your printers are setup on your computer, you can print to a selected printer or print to PDF.

Alternatively, you can copy/paste the report into MS Excel. In the report, expand the relevant sections then click CTRL-A on your keyboard which selects ‘all’ items. Next click CTRL-C to copy everything that was highlighted. Lastly, open Excel, select one cell, then click CTRL-V which will paste the report into the spreadsheet.

Summary

The Check Schedule tool is now available in both Primavera software scheduling programs P6 Professional Windows and P6 EPPM Web Access. The report analyzes industry best practices and guidelines to help project managers, schedulers and controllers with qualitative and quantitative evaluations to monitor the health of their projects.

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