Force tasks to land on same day

[mjones]

Hi Again,

Another question. I have a group of four tasks that should land on
the same day. Can they be grouped somehow to make this happen?

It would be great if I could do that instead of force the dates and
then move them every time the schedule adjusts.

Thanks,

Michele

 

[Rob Schneider]

Michele,

What do you mean "land"? Does this mean that the deadline to complete
each of the four tasks should be the same day?

if they are required to be complete on the same day, then to remember
this and to get Project's help in tracking progross, put in the deadline
you require for each. Then build a schedule with predecessors and
successors that causes all four to get done on or before the deadline.

You do not need to, nor should you have to (or ever) force this by
putting in Finish Dates. Let Project compute the finish dates for you.

--rms

www.rmschneider.com

 

[mjones]

Michele,

What do you mean "land"?  Does this mean that the deadline to complete
each of the four tasks should be the same day?

if they are required to be complete on the same day, then to remember
this and to get Project's help in tracking progross, put in the deadline
you require for each.  Then build a schedule with predecessors and
successors that causes all four to get done on or before the deadline.

You do not need to, nor should you have to (or ever) force this by
putting in Finish Dates.  Let Project compute the finish dates for you.

--rms

www.rmschneider.com

To clarify, I don't need them to be done on a specific day, I need
them to be done on the same day (all four on the same day). I want MS
Project to determine the best day when all the resources (people) are
available at the same time, when all the predecessor tasks assigned to
the individuals are complete, and the resources for all tasks are
received. Since the three people only work part-time, it is helpful
to have MS Project determine this for me.

Specifically, this is moving day for a group in an area of the office
and we would like to have it done in one day. One person looks after
moving computers and power, two people are needed to box up/unbox
their desk and assist with the move, and another is helping with the
heavy lifting. Some tasks are to acquire new furniture and prepare
the office. When is the best day for the move based on availability
and predecessor tasks of the individuals and other physical resources?

Thanks for your help,

Michele

P.S. - I'm still on Project 2003. I hope that 2007 is better because
I find 2003 awkward and often of need of manual intervention which, in
my opinion, is the point of the software - here are the tasks, here
are the constrains, set me a schedule.

 

[Rob Schneider]

Michele,

First, Project 2007 for you will be pretty much the same as Project
2003, as will Project 2010 which arrives next year. I fear you are
misunderstanding how Project works and may not be using it
correctly--hence some frustration. Too much manual intervention will
normally "break" things. I don't know what you mean by manual
intervention, but I suspect this could be a root cause of your frustration.

Simplistically, you build you project plan with all tasks as ASAP. I
would recommend you create a milestone task (duration=0) which collects
all predecessor tasks that are required before the day of the move.
Call it "Ready for Move". The four tasks you want to clump together
would have this milestone task as predecessor.

Project will compute the ASAP date for this "Ready for Move Milestone"
and schedule the move as the next task.

You also need to add the resources to the tasks of moving. Project will
not reschedule based on availability until you *level* the schedule.
Leveling means that Project will delay tasks to keep the resource
assignments within the limits you define.

--rms

www.rmschneider.com

 

[mjones]

Michele,

First, Project 2007 for you will be pretty much the same as Project
2003, as will Project 2010 which arrives next year.  I fear you are
misunderstanding how Project works and may not be using it
correctly--hence some frustration.  Too much manual intervention will
normally "break" things.  I don't know what you mean by manual
intervention, but I suspect this could be a root cause of your frustration.

Simplistically, you build you project plan with all tasks as ASAP. I
would recommend you create a milestone task (duration=0) which collects
all predecessor tasks that are required before the day of the move.
Call it "Ready for Move". The four tasks you want to clump together
would have this milestone task as predecessor.

Project will compute the ASAP date for this "Ready for Move Milestone"
and schedule the move as the next task.

You also need to add the resources to the tasks of moving. Project will
not reschedule based on availability until you *level* the schedule.
Leveling means that Project will delay tasks to keep the resource
assignments within the limits you define.

--rms

www.rmschneider.com

Hi Rob. Thanks for trying to help, but in the long run I need to take
a course in MS Project. I'm not taking manual intervention, in fact
trying very hard no to while trying to understand why MS Project
always seems to fight with me. I understand the concepts,
dependencies, etc., but cannot seem to get the program to be nice to
me. I end up spending more time baby sitting MS Project than is
reasonable for the project.

Now resource leveling it is saying it can't resolve a resource that is
over allocated on a certain date, but I'm not sure what to do about
it. It would be good if the program gave me a hint. The new
milestone is dependent on this task, but the milestone and all other
dependent tasks are start as soon as possible and I don't see the
issue. Is there something in Project similar to Excel that can show
the string of dependent and/or successor tasks easily in case I'm
missing something - which I probably am?

One question. Is it best to put milestones at the bottom or top of
the group it is dependent on?

Thanks again,

Michele

 

[Rob Schneider]

Michele,

Re the course ... that would help. Some of the books are good too.

If you can send me the file, I can take a look for you. Remove the
obvious from the email.

Re the location of the milestone ... whatever you like. I don't get
hung up on positions as the order of tasks is never fixed. I sort and
group in ways which never keep the fixed hierarchy. I guess if I had a
choice I would always put tasks in order of time with earliest at the
top and latest at the bottom. Some people like to keep all the key
(important/visible) milestones in a special block at the bottom or top.
I focus instead on constructing a view of the program for the intended
purpose of that view. There are many purposes!



--rms

www.rmschneider.com

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

The reason why Project isn't nice to you is because it tries to scheduel
taskks when they become possible. Things like forcing tasks to enter
together with other tasks simply isn't there, ast least if you cannot fix
that date.

I am somehow curious though, why force taska to end together? I fail to see
a reason for that (Project or not project). If one of the task finishes
early, how bad is that? what is the penalty?

More, is there one of the tasks that can be considered "leading", i.e.
setting the end dates for the other tasks?

If yes, there is a (very unelegant but still) solution:

Copy the finish date of the "leading" task (Edit, Copy)
Paste Special, Paste Link in the finish field of the other tasks.

But I still wonder why, with somebody workking faster tahn expected, he
can't finish a day early

Greetings,





--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
+32 495 300 620
For availability check:
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/Calendar.pdf

Michele,

What do you mean "land"? Does this mean that the deadline to complete
each of the four tasks should be the same day?

if they are required to be complete on the same day, then to remember
this and to get Project's help in tracking progross, put in the deadline
you require for each. Then build a schedule with predecessors and
successors that causes all four to get done on or before the deadline.

You do not need to, nor should you have to (or ever) force this by
putting in Finish Dates. Let Project compute the finish dates for you.

--rms

www.rmschneider.com

To clarify, I don't need them to be done on a specific day, I need
them to be done on the same day (all four on the same day). I want MS
Project to determine the best day when all the resources (people) are
available at the same time, when all the predecessor tasks assigned to
the individuals are complete, and the resources for all tasks are
received. Since the three people only work part-time, it is helpful
to have MS Project determine this for me.

Specifically, this is moving day for a group in an area of the office
and we would like to have it done in one day. One person looks after
moving computers and power, two people are needed to box up/unbox
their desk and assist with the move, and another is helping with the
heavy lifting. Some tasks are to acquire new furniture and prepare
the office. When is the best day for the move based on availability
and predecessor tasks of the individuals and other physical resources?

Thanks for your help,

Michele

P.S. - I'm still on Project 2003. I hope that 2007 is better because
I find 2003 awkward and often of need of manual intervention which, in
my opinion, is the point of the software - here are the tasks, here
are the constrains, set me a schedule.

 

[mjones]

Hi,

The reason why Project isn't nice to you is because it tries to scheduel
taskks when they become possible. Things like forcing tasks to enter
together with other tasks simply isn't there, ast least if you cannot fix
that date.

I am somehow curious though, why force taska to end together? I fail to see
a reason for that (Project or not project). If one of the task finishes
early, how bad is that? what is the penalty?

More, is there one of the tasks that can be considered "leading", i.e.
setting the end dates for the other tasks?

If yes, there is a (very unelegant but still) solution:

Copy the finish date of the "leading" task (Edit, Copy)
Paste Special, Paste Link in the finish field of the other tasks.

But I still wonder why, with somebody workking faster tahn expected, he
can't finish a day early

Greetings,

--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
+32 495 300 620






To clarify, I don't need them to be done on a specific day, I need
them to be done on the same day (all four on the same day).  I want MS
Project to determine the best day when all the resources (people) are
available at the same time, when all the predecessor tasks assigned to
the individuals are complete, and the resources for all tasks are
received.  Since the three people only work part-time, it is helpful
to have MS Project determine this for me.

Specifically, this is moving day for a group in an area of the office
and we would like to have it done in one day.  One person looks after
moving computers and power, two people are needed to box up/unbox
their desk and assist with the move, and another is helping with the
heavy lifting.  Some tasks are to acquire new furniture and prepare
the office.  When is the best day for the move based on availability
and predecessor tasks of the individuals and other physical resources?

Thanks for your help,

Michele

P.S. - I'm still on Project 2003.  I hope that 2007 is better because
I find 2003 awkward and often of need of manual intervention which, in
my opinion, is the point of the software - here are the tasks, here
are the constrains, set me a schedule.

Hi Jan,

I'll review your whole message later as I'm rushing to meet a
deadline, but to explain why finishing a task early is a problem, let
me present this scenario.

We have to paint a wall. On one side of the wall is a department with
people's desks. The department have a task to pack up their desks and
disconnect their computers just before the painting task is due to
start. If they pack up and disconnect their computer a week before
the painting (finishing ahead of schedule), they will not have desks
to use for a week. These are not one task because they are done by
different people.

Thank you for listening,

Michele