The schedule update narrative

A monthly update to an owner or a DOT usually comes with a written narrative: what got done, how the critical path moved, what changed in the schedule, and what is coming. Ganttry drafts it for you from the schedule itself, and you edit it before you send it.

What it compares#

Each time you move the data date forward in Update progress…, Ganttry quietly keeps a compact copy of the schedule as submitted. The narrative reports everything that changed between that copy and the previous one, and names the period it covers (Update period: …). See Progress tracking and the Projects page.

• Only the two most recent copies are kept. They live inside the project, so they follow it wherever it goes: the library, another device, a saved copy.
• Ganttry takes at most one copy per calendar day, and only when the data date moves forward. Correcting the data date on the same day doesn't use up your comparison point.

Until an earlier update is saved there is nothing to compare, and the dialog says so: the first progress update saves a comparison point, and the next one can show what changed since.

Where to find it#

• Update progress…, then Schedule update narrative…;
• the Reports page: Schedule update narrative, then Open schedule update narrative….

The dialog is titled Schedule update narrative.

What it writes#

Four sections, each drafted for you and fully editable:

• Progress this period: how many activities completed and started, the overall percent movement, and earned value when tasks carry costs.
• Critical path: how far the forecast completion moved, in calendar days, and the activities that joined or left the critical path.
• Schedule changes: activities added or removed, duration changes, and logic changes spelled out link by link, for example + Mass excavation FS+2d.
• Delays, weather & upcoming work: a 30-day look ahead, plus your own notes on delays. When the project keeps a contract-day ledger, this section also reports days charged against days allowed, the forecast, and the weather and suspension days logged this period.

Your edits are saved on this device, for this project and this data date. Replace my text with Ganttry’s draft throws your edits away and puts the drafted text back in all four sections.

Open PDF#

Open PDF produces the narrative on letterhead, the same family as the schedule quality checks report, with the detailed change lists under each section. Copy as text puts the whole narrative on the clipboard, ready for an email body.

Who can use it#

Anyone who can open the project in the editor. Field accounts don't see it. See Who can see and do what.

Good to know#

• Because your edits are kept on this device, open the narrative on the same computer to pick up where you left off.