Clearly Showing Dependent Tasks

[Michael]

I am using Project 2000 to show the links between a set of
technologies and the products being developed that
incorporate them. The best way to describe the situation
is with an example:

Set up tasks for IDs 1, 2, 3 and 4 with the same start and
finish dates. These will represent technologies used to
build products. Then, create a new "product" for task 5,
starting after the finish dates of the technologies and
requiring tasks 1 and 3 as predecessors. Create a
second "product" for task 6, starting after task 5 is
completed (this is important to show what I am talking
about), and requiring tasks 2 and 4 as predecessors.

Then, take a look at the dependency line coming out of
task 3 - if you only look at the picture, this line
intersects with the "products" shown for tasks 5 and 6,
eventhough it is only "really" connected to task 5. This
happens because there is no symbol that appears on the
Project diagram - all that comes out is the connection of
the two lines.

What I am looking for is some kind of "connector" symbol
to be shown for tasks that are truly predecessors - in the
example above, there would be a "dot" at the junction of
tasks 5 and 1, 5 and 3, 6 and 2, 6 and 4. While the
dependency lines would cross between tasks 6 and 3, it
would be clear that these two tasks are not connected
(since there is no "dot" at the junction of the dependency
lines).

I'm sorry about the length of this post, but I was unable
to find a more concise way to describe this problem. Is
there a preference screen (that I haven't found) that
let's me turn this on? Is there a trick that can simulate
this effect? Is this available in a more recent version
of Project?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Steve House]

Forgive me if I'm misinterpreting what you're doing, but understand that
Project is not intended as a diagramming tool and yet it seems like
you're trying to use it as one. A "task" is not a technology or a
condition - it is an observable physical activity being performed by a
resource, work, that takes place over a specific measurable time
interval with a concrete start and finish time and which results in the
creation of a specific deliverable. A hole is to be dug on Tuesday by a
labourer starting at 10am and taking 3 1/2 hours to dig. Links are not
associations or relationships, instead they are dependencies that
fundamentally say the output of one task serves as the input to a
successor task and so it must be present before the successor can begin.
When he finishes the hole, we can pour concrete in it for a foundation
footing. Project is very good at scheduling and tracking such a
sequence of activities, preparing a work schedule that says the
carpenter should show up on Tuesday at 10am with the tools necessary to
hang doorways. What you are asking for is not a feature of Project in
any version because you are trying to use a Critical Path Method
scheduling and budgeting tool for a totally different application from
that for which it is designed. My best advice is to obtain a true
diagramming tool such as Visio.

 

[Gérard Ducouret]

Hello Michael,

Have you tried the following:
Format / Layout / Links : choose the middle one (broken links)...

Gérard Ducouret

 

[BJ]

This is a deficiency in both Microsoft's Gantt chart and Network Diagram.
Lines overlap and you can't follow them. There is no fix except to perhaps
move tasks around. This is why I use an add-on to Project called PERT chart
expert from www.criticaltools.com. It's the only way I know to separate the
dependency lines so I can follow them.

 

[Michael]

Steve:

Thanks for your reply, but I think I am still proposing
a "valid" use of the program. Don't be confused by my use
of the word technology - these are components that have
their own development cycle and are required for
completing the final product. Imaging building a car
(rather than a building) - one "technology" might be a new
automatic transmission, another might be a new engine
design, and a third might be a new safety feature
(airbags). Development of these projects needs to be
scheduled and completed before a car can be built that
utilizes them.

While Project works well in making sure this happens
properly (I can't start development of the car until each
of the technology tasks has been completed), I am looking
for a visual way to link the final product (the car) with
the technology components that make it up. Does the car
use the "old" transmission, or the new one? As detailed
in my original post, all of the dependency lines cross on
the chart without identifying where real junctions take
place.

I would be happy to use a program like Visio - but that
doesn't allow me to associate dates with a project
element - if development of the "transmission" is late, I
need the resulting product (the car) to shift in time as
well - that's why I'm trying to do this in Project.

 

[Steve House]

I see - but still. The car either will have a newly developed
transmission or use an off the shelf one. If off the shelf, the
tramsmission technology won't appear in the plan at all since it
requires zero development time. The WBS is not the same thing as a bill
of materials, that is, a listing of all the components going into the
final deliverable. Properly it is a list of the work that is required
to produce those materials, a list of people doing things at specific
times and dates. If the components already exist it doesn't take any
work to produce them. So only if the new transmission option was
selected would the sub-project to develop a new transmission appear as a
predecessor of the sub-project to assemble the car prototype since
that's the only option to require work and if there ain't physical
activity involved it ain't a task and ain't a part of the project plan.
<g>


--
Steve House
MS Project MVP
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs


..