Applies to:
@RISK 6.x and Up, Professional and Industrial Editions
@RISK for Project 4.x

Using @RISK with a Project in Progress

There are a few approaches to choose from:

1. Change Date Range - Requires @RISK 6.0 or newer

   1. In the @RISK » Project » Project Settings dialog, set Date Range for Simulation to:

      1.  Activities after Current Project Date OR Activities after Project Status Date.

      2. You don’t need to remove distributions from completed tasks or adjust distributions for partially completed tasks.

      3. During simulation, @RISK will not vary completed tasks, and it will pro-rate the variation for tasks that are partially complete. (Set the Current Date and Status Date in MS Project 2010–2016 using Project → Project Information.)

         To see this in action:

         • In @RISK, open Help » Example Spreadsheets » Project » Probabilistic Branching.

         • After the MPP file loads, set the project status date to a time partway through task 4.

         • In @RISK, go to Project » Settings and set Date Range = Project Status Date.

         • Run a simulation and browse task durations.

         You’ll observe:

         • Tasks 2 and 3 don’t vary (they’re already complete).

         • Task 4 varies less because its uncertainty is pro-rated.

         • Tasks 5–8 vary normally since they occur after the status date.

2. A practical method is to place distributions on Remaining Duration instead of Duration.

   1. When an activity is 100% complete, its remaining duration is automatically zero

   2. For partially completed activities, you can assign an appropriate range to the remaining duration. This avoids the default prorating of uncertainty on unfinished work, allowing you to reassess and model the project based on actual conditions.

3. You can remove distributions from completed tasks and enter the actual finish or actual duration.

   1. Project will calculate the other automatically.

   2. For tasks that have started but aren’t finished, consider replacing the Duration distribution with one on Remaining Duration. If the percent-complete value is uncertain, you may prefer to keep the distribution on Duration. This choice often needs to be made for each task individually.