Columns with Indicators

Does a project activity cost more than was planned? In a project schedule with hundreds of activities, it's helpful to display status "indicators" to show at-a-glance which activities are under/on/over budget, of long/medium/short duration, complete/started/not started, and more. Milestones displays these status "indicators" in specialized SmartColumns based upon user-defined or predefined conditions.  Not only can any toolbox symbol be displayed in these SmartColumns, the "indicator" displayed can also be text, a number, color, percent pie or combinations of these items.  

Indicators can appear in these SmartColumns:

• Calculation/Indicator

• Used, Remaining, Baseline and Actual Duration SmartColumns

• Time Ahead/Behind

• Percent Complete

• Stoplight

• Values, ValueSet and Earned Value SmartColumns

Example of columns with indicator symbols:

In the example below, the Percent Complete column displays percent complete pies, and the Budget minus Cost column displays calculated values and stoplight "indicators" based on those values.

• The green stoplight appears when the Budget column value minus the Calculated Cost column value is greater than zero. Yellow appears when the calculated value = zero; red when the value is less than zero.

• Instead of the green symbol, the cell could have filled with green (or purple, blue, etc.), or displayed the word "good" or "under budget." That is, the "indicator" that appears is defined by the user as part of the column's properties.