actual completion date versus task calendar date

[Lina]

Example:
Project Date = January 1st
Task1 3 days/24 hours starting date of January 1st.
Task2 2 days/16 hours depending on completion of task 1.
1 hr/day resource assigned to task1 (completion will be in February)

How can I make task2 start at the actual completion date of task1 in
February, not on January 4th?
Thanks

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi Lina,

Welcome to this Microsoft Project newsgroup


Oh Dear! Select the two trasks and click the link button on the Standard
toolbar.

It sounds like you sadly need a course in project management and how to use
Microsoft Project if you seriously want to get up and runing quickly.
Meanwhile, you might like to have a look at my series on Microsoft Project
in the TechTrax ezine, particularly #1 - Introduction, and then all the
others, at this site: http://tinyurl.com/2xbhc or this:
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMFrame.asp?CMD=ArticleSearch&AUTH=23
(Perhaps you'd care to rate the article before leaving the site,
Thanks.)

FAQs, companion products and other useful Project information can be seen at
this web address: <http://www.mvps.org/project/>

Hope this helps - please let us know how you get on

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

 

[Lina]

Thanks Mike and you're right I badly need some training on Project, and I am
working on requesting it. I will check your site out.

I do have the 2 tasks linked, The problem is that Project doesn't calculate
the actual ending date for task1 according to the resources allocated to
task1.
actual ending date of task1(1hour/day for 24 days) = February something, not
January 4th.
Project calculates the start date of task2 as if it would be completed in 3
days, not 1hour/day for 24 days.

How can I get around this?
Thanks for your help,
Lina

 

[JulieD]

Hi Lina

when you enter a task, project, by default, schedules the task to be
completed as soon as possible.

So if you enter a 24hr task, then project will spread the 24hrs over the
available working day (as defined under tools/change working time) -
generally giving you a duration on the calendar of 3 working days. Now,
when you assign a resource to this, project adjusts when the job can be done
taking into account the resource's calendar. So if you have adjusted the
calendar of the resource to work on the project only 1 hour per day (double
click on resource name, edit the calendar under working time tab) then
project will schedule the work over 24 days (IMHO this is the best method to
use where the resource only works on the project 1 hour per day - if the
resource is to work on multiple tasks within the project and must spend one
hour per day on this project, then i would assign the resource to this task
at 100% and edit the hours per day in the resource usage view).

so i'm interested in what you mean when you say "Project doesn't calculate
the actual ending date for task1 according to the resources allocated to
task1." ... how did assign the resource? how did you tell project that the
resource only works on it 1 hour per day for 24 days?

Cheers
JulieD
PS push for that training - using Project without attending a good 2-3 days
hands-on course is asking for trouble (again IMHO).

 

[Steve House [MVP]]

One hour per day is the equivalent of a 12.5% resource assignment level if
the resource's calendar says he works an 8 hour workday. Your task begins
Jan 1st?? New Years Day isn't a holiday and your resource works weekends?
For discussion lets say your resource works 8-5 M-F, 5 days @ 8 hours/day
for a 40-hour workweek. Task X which requires 24 man-hours of work begins
the first workday in Jan, Mon 03 Jan. If your resource worked full-time on
it, it would finish Wed at 5 pm, 24 working hours later or 3 workdays. But
your resource is only working 1 hour per day - that means the task duration
will require 24 days to accumulate 24 man-hours of work. Enter the task
with a duration of 24 days, assign the resource at 12.5% and when you
display the work column, split the screen for instance, you'll see that it
shows 24 man-hours of work being performed. Alternately, enter the task as
3 days duration, assign the resource 100% and then EDIT the resource
assignment to reduce it to 12.5% and Project will calculate a new duration
of 24 days. In either case, the result is a task that starts Mon 03 Jan and
ends Thur 03 Feb with the task following it ln the link starting Fri 04 Feb

 

[Lina]

Thanks Julie and Happy New Year to you,

Ok in order for me to understand the startdate concept, I made my question
less complicated,
Task1 3 days
Task2 2 days
Task1 & Task2 are linked, and task2 depends on the completition of taks1.

Why is it that the task2 doesnt get a startdate of endingdate of task1, when
task2 is depending on completion of task1. How come they both have the same
startdate?


Lina

 

[JulieD]

Hi Lina

double click on task 2
check the predecessors' tab
it should show that task 1 is the predecessor with a type of finish/start
and lag of 0?

if this is what is shown, please zip up your project file and email it
directly to me (julied_ng at hcts dot net dot au) as it doesn't seem to be
working correctly.

Cheers
JulieD

 

[Steve House [MVP]]

Very first thing to check -- in the Tools menu, select Options. Look at the
calculation tab and make sure recalculation is set to "automatic." In your
example, and with all the default calendars etc, if Task 1 starts Monday at
8am it would finish Wednesday at 5pm and task 2 would start Thursday 8am and
finish Friday at 5pm.

 

[Lina]

Thank you Steve, that did it.
Bless your heart..........