Let’s talk about some of the most important new features in Primavera P6 version 22.12 that just dropped. There are quite a few new features between v.22.12 and the previous version 21.12. I want to show you some of the cool new features and one or two that I'm really impressed with and a couple that disappointed me. 1. Added Baseline Fields The first new feature in Primavera P6 version
The Best Primavera P6 Tutorials & Articles
Browse all of our Primavera P6 Professional tutorials and articles here. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro with Primavera P6 Professional, we've got helpful and informative articles that are perfect for you.
How Primavera Calendars Change Durations – and what to do about it
63 Comments
If you do a quick google on keywords <Primavera calendars change>, you'll end up with quite a few results that show you how to use Primavera's Fill-Down feature to change the activity calendar of all the activities in a project. But I think the fill-down piece is only the first step in changing activity calendars. What about durations? Changing an activity's calendar in Primavera can
Here’s A Quick Way To Keep Your Primavera P6 Milestones in Focus
26 Comments
Primavera P6 Milestone Activities in any schedule usually represent the most important deadlines, deliveries, start ups or drop-dead dates for a project. These are undeniably dates that you’ll want to stay on top of and keep close at hand in case you’re asked for a report or to check on the health of the project. But it can be difficult to search for milestones in a large construction schedule,
One Trick to Export P6 Resource Assignment Data to Excel
62 Comments
As you know Primavera P6 has a lack of graphical features so often we schedulers need to export everything to other software packages (mostly Excel) to produce an understandable schedule and graphs. I always had a problem when I export P6 resource assignment data to Excel with the standard exporting feature on P6 until I found a way to leverage the Reports feature. Here you can use the current
Update Baseline Feature in Primavera P6 Use or Not
10 Comments
In today’s post, I want to talk about the Primavera P6 Update Baseline feature. Are you using it right? Should you be using it at all? I want to dive into that and talk about Project Change Management while we talk about the P6 Update Baseline feature. What is the Problem with Update Baseline? Okay. So number one Update Baseline; If you've done any digging, you know it's fraught with errors and
Top New Features in Primavera P6 v21
7 Comments
A new version of Primavera P6 Professional has recently dropped: Primavera P6 v21, and I'm here to tell about what's new, what's great and what's not. I feel it's my heartfelt duty to schedulers everywhere to unpack these yearly updates and highlight all of the features that are changing or improving, or are still broken. I love to do it, and I've been doing it for years. Here is the yearly
Schedule % Complete in Oracle Primavera – The Missing Guide (Part 2)
27 Comments
If you missed Part 1 of Schedule % Complete in Oracle Primavera, go back now and have a read through. Then come back here. The Proper Setup : Baselined and Cost-loaded Now let’s see how Schedule % Complete works in action on a sample Primavera P6 plan. Since Schedule % Complete is based on both Project Baseline fields and Earned Value Cost fields, to calculate it properly, your schedule
Fix Out of Sequence Progress in Primavera P6 Schedule
27 Comments
What is Out-of-Sequence Progress in Primavera P6? Out-of-sequence progress in Primavera P6 occurs from a deviation in the original planned logic that was set up in the baseline schedule. It can occur when work is executed in the field in a different order than was planned in the schedule. The result can affect your project's logic, which dictates the order of execution of activities. Checking
Convert an EPS Activity Code to a Project Activity Code in Primavera P6
15 Comments
The Primavera P6 EPS Activity Code is great when we want to have a set of Activity Codes available to certain projects based on where they sit in your EPS structure. An example might be having a set of Activity Codes for each Department in your database. Typically, EPS nodes would be set up for each Department, allowing an organization to specific a set of EPS Activity Codes for each Department
Create A Festive Gantt Chart Xmas Tree In Primavera P6
12 Comments
For all you creative types out there who love to create something awesome in a manner which is rather non-traditional....this tutorial is for you. We've already shown you have to colorize the P6 Gantt chart, but in the spirit of the holidays, here are the steps to create a festive Gantt chart Xmas tree (Holiday Wreath) in Primavera P6, complete with decorations. Getting Started with the Gantt
Plan a Festive Holiday Wreath in Primavera P6
2 Comments
Back by popular demand is another festorial in Primavera P6. Who says the lowly Gantt Charts can't be fun & festive? In the spirits of the holidays (and of using Project Management software in ways never intended), I'd like to present you with an Advanced-level Festorial on creating a holiday wreath (Xmas tree). Show off your skills, impress your project controls manager (or your
Use Expected Finish in Primavera P6 to Speed Updates
29 Comments
I'd love to see some stats on the average size of a Primavera P6 schedule. I've never come across any stats, but based on experience and lots of consulting and web-research, it's pretty clear that today's project schedules are the chunky big brother to their slim and compact sibling of 10 or 15 years ago. Schedules are becoming bloated with data. Why? We have computers & software that
How to clean a Primavera P6 XER file using the XER File Parser
11 Comments
In the third part of our Primavera P6 databases and data cleansing series, we will show how to use the parser to clean an xer file In the third part of our Primavera P6 databases and data cleansing series, we will show how to use the parser to clean an xer file. But if you haven't read them go back and read: XER File Parser Excel utility Part 1: 6 Ways to Clean Up Your Primavera Database
How to Show the Critical Path in P6
41 Comments
Not sure how to show the Critical Path in Primavera P6? Not sure if your project's critical activities might be hiding? Don't worry. Here are 4 easy ways you can laser-in on your project's Critical Path in P6 (including 3 reasons you might not have one). 4 Easy Ways to Show the Critical Path in Primavera P6 1. Check the Gantt Chart By default, the P6 Gantt chart will show your project's
How To Import P6 Assignment Codes from Excel
3 Comments
Perhaps you’ve noticed that as of December 2020, there are some new features in Primavera P6 EPPM (Enterprise Project Portfolio Management), which we are going to take a look at today. Specifically, we’ll talk about Assignment Codes, one of the new Primavera P6 features here to make our jobs easier. But only, of course, if you know how to use everything right. Note: If you didn’t read my last
Primavera P6: How To Use Assignment Codes as Cost Accounts
2 Comments
Cost accounts: love ‘em, hate ‘em? I’ll tell you what, though: If you're cost-loading a Primavera P6 schedule, you should be using cost accounts. Now, chances are good you haven’t yet because they’re hard to use. I get it; they’re really inflexible. They were designed so that you set them up once for a whole database, and you can't have different versions of them for different projects. Ergo,
Primavera P6 Version 20.12 Is Out. Here’s What’s New.
14 Comments
Just before the Christmas break, Oracle quietly released Primavera P6 Professional version 20.12. I've had a few days to explore this latest version of P6. Here's what's new in Primavera P6 Professional version 20.12. In case you forgot, Oracle publishes updates to the on-premise version of Primavera P6 annually in December. So we've all had a full year to adjust to Primavera P6 version 19.12 -
Primavera P6 Settings Video Series – NEW
4 Comments
Primavera P6 sure has a lot of settings. Endless options, preferences, customizations and tools means a lot of confusion for almost any regular P6 user. Luckily, to try and help ease your climb up the mountain that mastering P6 can feel like, Plan Academy has been releasing a series of helpful videos covering the many settings and options inside the sometimes-perplexing software. If you follow
Primavera P6 Pro v19.12 is here. Here’s What’s New.
12 Comments
Primavera P6 Professional version 19.12 was released by Oracle on Dec 23rd of last year. Let me highlight some of the new features, bug fixes and enhancements that you'll want to know about. Let's go! What's new in Primavera P6 Professional version 19.12 Watch the video to see what's new. Read-on for a detailed list of ALL of the
Quickly Export From Primavera P6 To Excel
10 Comments
Faster is better. That should be Oracle Primavera's mantra. Well, in this case it is! Exporting Primavera P6 data to Excel could not be faster & easier with this quick tip. Getting Primavera P6 Activity data into Excel is essential. Excel's data crunching, grouping, pivoting and filtering is just so much easier to use than Primavera P6's. Even generating S-curves and graphs is better in
How To Import & Export Activity Layouts in Primavera P6
17 Comments
Primavera P6's Activity Layouts can be a super-feature for helping you to plan, analyze, and progress a schedule. But what about exporting Activity Layouts to other copies of Primavera P6? In this post I'll show you how to import and export those precious Primavera P6 Activity Layouts. The Activity screen is where we spend 95% of our time as Primavera P6 users. Having a facility to configure
Use Primavera P6 Reflections To Merge Scenario Projects
72 Comments
Reflection projects are a little-known but very handy feature in Primavera P6 Professional. A Primavera P6 Reflection project is essentially a copy of a project but with one snazzy built-in trick - the ability to merge the copied project back into the original at any time. If the genius of this trick hasn't struck you yet, it will. This merging ability was designed to help planners work with
Open Zipped XER files in Primavera P6 v18 – New Feature
4 Comments
As of Primavera P6 version 18, you can now import zipped XER files directly into Primavera P6. There's no need to uncompress them first. Primavera P6 will read the zip archive directly. Check out our zipped xer files video tutorial to see firsthand how it all works....and also what doesn't
Color Coding Your Primavera P6 Gantt Chart: 2 Ways To Do It
7 Comments
A picture says a thousand words. And a good color-coding system can do the same on the Primavera P6 Gantt Chart. Did you know you don't need to stick with Primavera P6's default Gantt Chart color scheme? The options are many and in this video tutorial, you'll learn how to color-code bars based on criteria YOU set. You'll learn about 2 ways to set the criteria using Activity Codes or by User
Use Excel Power Query To Graph P6 Data
8 Comments
Excel Power Query & P6 go hand-in-hand. Around two years ago, I realized that although my role as a project planner was based on my skills in Primavera P6, I was spending a significant amount of my day doing repetitive work in Excel. I would update my project schedules in P6 and then spend hours getting all the reports ready. All this changed when I came across Excel’s new data
Install 2 Versions of Primavera P6 On the Same PC – NEW In Version 18
9 Comments
I used to think installing 2 different versions of Primavera P6 Professional on the same PC was impossible. Well, impossible OR really, really difficult. I used to have a complicated VirtualBox setup with a huge virtual machine that would crawl along with delayed mouse movements just so I could run an older version of Primavera P6 on my PC. Of course, I would install the latest version
How To Do Rolling Wave Planning in Primavera P6
11 Comments
One of the biggest challenges with building project schedules is that often you don't know the details of a piece of work but you need it on your schedule regardless. Yes, you know you need to say remediate an area once you've installed the watermain underground. But early in the project, the finer details of what that remediation might look like are scarce. Enter Rolling Wave
How To Find Relationship Lag in Primavera P6
59 Comments
It's not very easy to find Relationship Lag in Primavera P6 project schedules. There aren't really any features to highlight which relationships have lag or lead time. But understanding how leads or lags are used on your Primavera P6 project is a vital part of analyzing a project schedule. We need a process to find relationship lag in Primavera P6 schedule. And I'm going to show you
How to Find Out-of-Sequence Activities in Primavera P6 Professional
23 Comments
Have you ever had a Primavera P6 situation where all predecessors of an activity are 100% complete but the activity’s Start date isn't pushed to the Data Date as expected? Similarly, you might also see the activity's Finish date is much later than the it's remaining duration from Data Date? If you answered yes then this quick tip might help you find the offending activity cause these
Thou Shalt Not Group by WBS Alone – Try Grouping By P6 Activity Codes
9 Comments
On most projects, the structure of Schedule and Cost performance reporting is based on the Project WBS and the reason for this is not farfetched since WBS is a deliverables-driven hierarchical structure. Planning tools such as Primavera P6 have a feature that enables Schedulers and Planners to replicate the Project WBS and this is why activities in a schedule are predominantly grouped by Work
How To Create a Predecessors Report in Primavera P6
30 Comments
On most construction projects Primavera P6 schedules are presented to stakeholders in PDF file format due to the obvious formatting advantage that PDF offers. Unfortunately, when reviewing a P6 Gantt Chart printed to PDF, there is very little information available about the logic relationships between activities in the schedule. In this tutorial I'll shod you the steps to follow to create an
Hack A Primavera P6 Change Log from Activity Steps
23 Comments
One of the most often requested features for Primavera P6 is an Activity Change Log. Although a log of changes to your project's activities is not yet native to the software, you can hack yourself a Primavera P6 Change Log using a few simple steps. I want to first give full credit for this solution to Ronald Weaver, a master scheduler at KBR Australia who brought it to us. It's innovative
