A certain duration is configured for a task in the schedule.
A calendar is also configured in the schedule, along other basic configurations: day start time, day end time, work hours per day, work hours per week and number of days in a month.
Many users change the calendar configurations but not the basic ones. This way, you can create the 25th hour or 13th month, and maybe even miss a month per year.
The HCP apps examines all configurations and maps the gaps between the time duration set for the task (Scheduled Duration) and the duration calculated according to the basic configurations (which supersede in the schedule). The difference between the Calculated Duration and the Scheduled Duration is the Discrepancy value.
Positive Discrepancy value indicates that the calculated duration is longer than the duration set for the task in the Gantt. This can be caused as a result of configuring non work days as holidays or splitting tasks.
Each Negative Discrepancy value should be examined since it indicates that the calculated duration is smaller than the duration set for the task. This can be the result of:
- Using a number of different calendars.
- Use of calendar durations as e-days, e-weeks or e-months.
- Weekend days becoming workdays.
- Gap in the internal schedule software configurations.
In cases where all the incompatibility values are identical, it indicates that there is a gap in the internal schedule software configurations, e.g., between the number of work hours set per each day and the number of work hours that define a workday.
If there is a gap in the internal schedule software configurations, you can repair the file by changing the file configurations (recommended) or by changing one or more of the following configurations: in step 3 of the HCP-Go analysis, go to ‘Project Calendar Settings’, press ‘Click to Modify’ and change the values according to the file calendar configurations: Non-Work Days Per Week, Work Days Per Month, Work Day Hours – Default Start Time, Begin Lunch Hour, End Lunch Hour, Default End Time.
For further information, read Tal Levanon’s blog on The mystery of lost time