Project tracking metrics

I need to emphasize that suggestions needed are for something other than XL tracking sheet having activities in columns and locations in rows which is how we handle at present

Depends on your actual situation & details, this may or may not help.

Create one project to represent each location, another project as a group of some locations using the sub-project feature, then finally the master project contains all the groups. This way you have a grouped viewed MS project. This is if you have many group managers helping you to track the progress.

If you are tracking project centrally (ie. call ppl for update and then perform data entry at HQ), then you can modify MS project columns to emulate your existing excel.

Perhaps I can help better if I get a glimpse of your current excel file.

If your locations are remote locations, then you need to enable the Project Central features for realtime tracking. But be forewarn, there isn't many successful implementation of Project Central. But since you are surviving with Excel, I am guessing you are tracking project from a central location anyway, if that is true, then MS project should be OK.

An alternative to MS project is Iplan. http://www.iplanenterprise.com/default.htm
You can define a project of 10-15 activities, assign them to your 'group managers', each of them can in trun break the task to their own locations. Let me know if you are interested, I may have a word with the MD.

A lot of people love to stick to Excel even when they have MS project. Even though common complain is MS project deficiency. But usually after some analysis with their top management, we found that people who like excel are those who are more 'creative' saying 'I want to know the real situation first, then I will decide how to put it on paper for presentation', while the other people who uses MSproject are those more 'scientific' saying 'show me the facts on paper, I will decide how to present that.'

Hi. Thanx for your response. Let me know where to send you sample XL tracking sheet. You guessed right, projects are monitored centrally, feedback received on mail/phone and by central PM and updated in XL, hardly any group managers, but can't be ruled out either. These are only one kind of projects that our group does. There are other single location projects to which MS project suits well. We have IT HW/SW packages deployment services which is single location in case of central architecture and multilocation for point-of service roll-out. The kind of answers we/mgmt seek are that of typical metrics..
1. How much work is complete, when is the project likely to finish?
2. Given an activity, it is completed in how many locations?
3. Which activities are usually delayed?
4. How do you measure progress - as progress at each location (or group of locations) will be different..?
5. I've checked on iplanenterprise.com, looks like elaborate tool towards process automation...may be I am looking for a small bit. Most clients are based out of my own country, India - so can check that out.

If you would like to roll your plan up to a high level, only list your 15 tasks with % complete up to date (#locations completed/500)*100 for each task. This will give everyone a good executive status.

For actual tracking, all you care about now is keeping track of the % complete. DELEGATE it to people that will be overseeing the tasks in each location. Require a status daily (% complete daily). If you have a network, they can enter directly into MS Project.

Just some ideas!!!