Fever Chart
The Fever Chart tab appears in the Task Details view when the task is an endpoint. It provides a graphical display of current and historical project status for that endpoint, helping you track progress and assess risk by visualizing buffer consumption and project completion percentage over time.
Opening the tab
The Fever Chart tab is shown in the Task Details view when viewing an endpoint task.
To access it, open the endpoint’s Task Details and select the Fever Chart tab, or select View fever chart from an action menu.
You can also open the Task Details as a primary view in a new browser tab by CTRL-clicking the task name or key.
Selecting the data set
The Scheduled Date selection allow you to choose the specific data set displayed in the charts, enabling you to view different scheduling snapshots. Select a specific reschedule date to view project status as it was for that schedule version. The default selection is the most recent reschedule. Selecting an older Scheduled Date allows you to view fever chart as they were before subsequent rescheduling events, which may be useful for historical analysis.
Buffer data
Buffer End Date: The scheduled end date of the buffer, which remains fixed unless the project is rescheduled or the buffer size is adjusted.
1 Day of Buffer: Represents the percentage of the project buffer that corresponds to a single day. For example, if 1 Day of Buffer is 1%, the total buffer duration is approximately 100 days. This value helps to understand buffer consumption in terms of daily impact.
Buffer Used in Last Week: The number of buffer days used over the past week.
Chart types
The Fever Chart tab offers two chart types for visualizing project status. Use the Chart Type selector to switch between the and the Time Chart and the Traditional fever chart . Use the Chart Size selector to choose between a Small or Large chart.
Time Chart
The Time Chart plots Time on the horizontal (X) axis and % Project Complete on the vertical (Y) axis. Key elements include:
Buffer start and finish: Vertical dividers represent the project’s buffer with dates shown at the bottom. These lines divide the chart and correspond to significant project milestones.
Data points and cone: Each data point represents a project update. The selected point appears as a solid blue circle. A translucent cone is displayed for the selected point that projects optimistic (left boundary) and pessimistic (right boundary) scenarios. The Landing Zone at the top shows the estimated range of project completion dates. If the Landing Zone extends beyond the buffer, a red area appears to the right, indicating additional time may be needed.
Buffer regions: The red and yellow regions in the Time Chart align closely with those in the Fever Chart. However, the Time Chart considers non-working days, potentially resulting in slight color differences between charts. For consistency, it’s best to use one chart type in reporting.
If task constraints delay project work, the reference line and buffer regions may “dog leg” horizontally, reflecting paused work on the critical chain and delayed buffer consumption.
If a data point lacks cone and landing zone details, it may have been updated using ProChain Project Scheduling version 12 or earlier.
Traditional Fever Chart
The Traditional fever chart plots % Buffer Used on the vertical (Y) axis against % Chain Complete on the horizontal (X) axis. This chart type is often called the “traditional” fever chart and helps identify project risk areas:
Red zone: Indicates high risk, signaling the need for immediate action. By default, the red threshold begins at 20% buffer consumption and ends at 90% at project completion.
Yellow zone: Shows moderate risk, where management may need to intervene. The default threshold starts at 0% buffer consumption and rises to 45%.
The Red Zone and Yellow Zone threshold settings can be customized in System Options.
Data points: Each data point represents a project update. The selected point appears as a solid blue circle. If this point is in the red or yellow zone, it suggests action may be necessary to stay on track.
Show variability profile: Select this checkbox to display a dotted line on the fever chart, indicating the “expected” buffer consumption at different points along the project’s progress. This line reflects anticipated buffer use based on variability within the project’s critical chain.
The profile line accounts for variability in task durations and integration points. For example:
If the project has low variability early on—meaning low-risk and focus durations are similar, with minimal integration risk—the line will initially be close to the horizontal axis and slope upward more steeply later, reaching 100% chain complete and 100% buffer used in the upper right.
Conversely, if the project has higher variability earlier in the chain, the line will slope more sharply at the start and flatten later.
If the latest fever chart point is positioned above the variability profile line, it indicates that more buffer is being used than “expected” based on the network’s variability.
Zoom controls: Use the zoom controls to adjust your view of the fever chart. Hold down the Ctrl key while using the mouse wheel, or use the zoom control buttons to zoom in and out. If your chart has overlapping status points, zooming in can help provide a clearer view.
Status point data
The status point data section displays detailed data for a selected status point, representing a snapshot of the project’s progress at a specific date. You can select a Status Date from a dropdown list, which corresponds to data points on the Fever Chart or Time Chart. When a point is selected in the chart, the Status Date in the list updates automatically, and vice-versa.
The data fields displayed below the Status Date selection represent key metrics for the chosen status date and chart point. For definitions of these data fields, refer to the endpoint fields documentation.
Editing status comments
To update a historical status comment, hover your mouse pointer over the comment field. An Edit link will appear to the right of the comment. Click Edit to make changes, and then click Save to apply and save your updates.
Custom fields
If custom fields are defined for the selected endpoint, they appear in the Custom Fields section at the bottom of the view. Here, you can view and update endpoint custom field values as needed.
See also
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