Reporting progress of activities, milestones, and deliverables
In EMDESK you report progress with status updates. A status update is a snapshot of an activity, deliverable or milestone on a reporting date: how far it is (completion %), its status and priority, its actual (or forecast) dates, and a short description. The newest update of an item, by reporting date, is what EMDESK shows everywhere. Projects and parent activities (for example work packages) are calculated from their sub-activities, unless you report on them directly.
💡 Note: To report progress you need at least Edit rights to the item (see Roles, access levels, and access rights), Reporting must be ON in the header, and you must be viewing the active plan version. The item must not be locked.
- Where you see progress
- Ways to report a status update
- The Update sidebar
- The Updates tab: history, editing and deleting
- Projects and parent activities
- What the colour of the completion bar means
- Turning reporting off
Where you see progress
Workplan Table view
The Status and Completion columns show the latest status and completion of every item. For projects and parent activities, the status shows a count such as In Progress (1/3): it was calculated from the sub-activities. The bottom row shows the completion of the whole workspace. The Actual Start and Due Date columns also come from status updates. With Table Settings you can add Priority, Delay and Last Update Description.
The item's sidebar
Click an item to open its sidebar. At the bottom of the Edit tab, Completion shows the current completion and status. Add new status update takes you to the Updates tab.
The Updates tab (second icon at the top of the sidebar) shows the progress over time: the planned months above the bar, the actual months below it, and the completion with the current status. Below the bar, all updates are listed, the newest first.
Gantt view
Each bar is filled according to its completion, and the status is shown next to it (for parents with a count, such as In Planning (2/2)). Under Settings you can switch the status and completion labels on or off; At-Risk highlights overdue and soon-due items.
Kanban view
Each item sits in the column of its current status. No Selection contains items that have no status update yet.
Dashboard, Activity Stream and notifications
On the Dashboard, each project shows how many deliverables and milestones are completed (that is, have a status with This status must be reached) and a timeline of its milestones. New status updates also appear in the Activity Stream and as New update notifications; clicking one opens the item's Updates tab.
Ways to report a status update
All of these open the same Update sidebar:
- Updates tab: open the item, go to the Updates tab and click + Update Status at the bottom (see the screenshot above).
- Row menu: in the Table or Gantt view, click the … button at the end of a row and select Update Status.
- Gantt bar: hover over a bar and click the small chart icon next to it.
- Kanban: drag a card to another status column. The Update sidebar opens with the new status preselected. If you close it without saving, the card goes back.
- Dashboard: click Quick actions › Report status update, choose the project or activity and click Continue (activities and projects only).
- Suggested update: for a project or parent activity, the Updates tab can suggest an update calculated from its sub-activities; click Add this Update? to use it (see Projects and parent activities).
The Update sidebar
The Update sidebar opens on top of the page you are working in. It is prefilled with the item's latest update, so you only change what has changed. Nothing is saved until you click Save Update.
- Completion (%): type the value at the top or use the slider.
- Reporting Date: the date the update refers to; today by default. If an administrator has locked reporting up to a date, you see Reporting deactivated until … and cannot report before that date.
- Status: the current status. Customize status flow takes you to the status workflow. For activities, choosing a status with This status must be reached (for example Completed) sets the completion to 100 %.
- Priority: Normal by default.
- Description (optional): what was done, what is next, any issues.
- Actual Start and Actual Duration (activities and projects): the actual or forecast timing. These values are the only source of the actual dates shown in the Workplan and Gantt.
For a deliverable or milestone, the sidebar has a Due Date (the actual or forecast date) instead of Actual Start and Actual Duration:
When you save, the update is added to the item's history and every view (Table, Kanban, Gantt, dashboard) shows the new values. A backdated update does not replace a newer one.
The Updates tab: history, editing and deleting
- Each entry shows who reported it and when, the completion, what changed (status, priority, dates) and the description. Three entries are shown at first; click Load more for older ones.
- Click Edit next to an entry to correct it. Entries you cannot change (for example because they are locked or dated before a reporting lock) show View instead.
- To delete an entry, open it and click the … button at the top right of its sidebar.
- Administrators and managers can lock individual entries so that they can no longer be changed.
Projects and parent activities
You usually report on the lowest level (tasks, deliverables, milestones). Projects and parent activities then show values calculated from their sub-activities: the completion weighted by planned effort, the earliest actual start and latest end, and a status with a count, for example In Progress (2/3). See How completion % is calculated.
You can also report on a parent directly. Its own update is used as long as it is at least as new as the updates of its sub-activities. When the sub-activities have newer updates, the Updates tab shows Estimated status: … – Add this Update? so you can take over the calculated values with one click.
What the colour of the completion bar means
The colour of the completion bar is a deadline signal, independent of the percentage:
- Green: on schedule. The end date is more than 30 days away, or the item has a status with This status must be reached switched on.
- Orange: due soon. The end date is today or within the next 30 days.
- Red: overdue. The end date has passed.
The actual end date is used once progress has been reported, otherwise the planned end date. See How completion % is calculated for details.
Turning reporting off
- For one activity: switch off Enable Update Reporting at the bottom of its Edit tab. The Updates tab then shows Updates disabled. and no new updates can be added there; existing updates are kept.
- For the whole workspace: Reporting can be switched ON or OFF in the header, and progress reporting can be locked up to a date (see Disable reporting temporarily).