How do I move an entire group of tasks

[Dana Scott]

Hello

I am using Project 2007 to help manage Hospital Construction for a
contractor. What I am trying to do is move the start date of a group of
tasks, either earlier or later, based on changing conditions. If one trade
(i.e. plumbing) needs to adjust their schedule, the timing of the group of
tasks needs to stay the same (or relatively so), but the tasks do not all
occur immediately following one another, this allows time for other trades to
perform their work.

So if I have 13 tasks spread over 150 days with several 10-20 day time gaps
and I need to move the start date earlier, I have to adjust each one
individually. I have tried hard and soft constraints, but cannot get that
time gap to remain fixed.

With thousands of tasks and years on the schedule, this can get a little
tedious. I have looked some macros that may help this, but haven't found
anything to fit the bill.

I welcome any advice, and thank you in advance for your help

 

[John]

Hello

I am using Project 2007 to help manage Hospital Construction for a
contractor. What I am trying to do is move the start date of a group of
tasks, either earlier or later, based on changing conditions. If one trade
(i.e. plumbing) needs to adjust their schedule, the timing of the group of
tasks needs to stay the same (or relatively so), but the tasks do not all
occur immediately following one another, this allows time for other trades to
perform their work.

So if I have 13 tasks spread over 150 days with several 10-20 day time gaps
and I need to move the start date earlier, I have to adjust each one
individually. I have tried hard and soft constraints, but cannot get that
time gap to remain fixed.

With thousands of tasks and years on the schedule, this can get a little
tedious. I have looked some macros that may help this, but haven't found
anything to fit the bill.

I welcome any advice, and thank you in advance for your help

Dana,
If you wanted to move the whole schedule earlier or later, the Adjust
Dates utility would do exactly that, but it will not move a select group
of tasks.

It sounds like your plan doesn't have much of a linked structure, that
is, tasks are more-or-less scheduled independently. A much better way to
set up the plan is to have a fully linked dynamic schedule. Use lag in
task predecessors where necessary to put known delay between tasks.
Avoid the use of constraints since they defeat the ability of Project to
automatically adjust the schedule as reality unfolds during plan
execution.

Yes you could change you plan with a macro similar to what the Adjust
Dates utility does but instead, I suggest you revise your plan to link
the schedule. Then all you will need to do is to adjust the link to the
first of the 13 tasks that you need to move earlier or later. Not only
will it be easier to make adjustments but you will also have a dynamic
plan that better emulates the real world.

Probably not the answer you wanted to hear, but taking the time now to
address a not-so-well conceived plan is much better than struggling with
a poorly structured plan throughout the whole period of execution.

John
Project MVP

 

[Dana Scott]

Thanks John

I inherited this headache, I mean schedule, from another person when i was
promoted, and I have been using the lag feature to do just what you suggested
as changes have become necessary. If nothing else, this new project is
teaching me how NOT to build a schedule

Once a lag is defined, can it be modified by changing the start date of a
following task, or only through the "Task Information" window?

Thank you very much for your time and advice.

Dana

 

[Dana Scott]

John

I was also wondering if a pattern of links could be copied.

As we move through the hospital floor by floor, the pattern of work is
repeated. Is there a way to duplicate the timing of the links, but with new
tasks? (Something similar to copy and paste in Excel where it understands you
want to change referenced cell values when you paste the formula in an
adjacent cell)

Thank you

 

[John]

Thanks John

I inherited this headache, I mean schedule, from another person when i was
promoted, and I have been using the lag feature to do just what you suggested
as changes have become necessary. If nothing else, this new project is
teaching me how NOT to build a schedule

Once a lag is defined, can it be modified by changing the start date of a
following task, or only through the "Task Information" window?

Thank you very much for your time and advice.

Dana

Dana,
You're welcom. We run into a fair number of unfortunate souls who
inherit schedules from other people. Project is not a very user friendly
application to begin with and picking up an existing schedule plan that
was generated by another user makes it twice as challenging. I feel for
you.

When working with Project the user should never, (with a few rare
exceptions), enter start or finish dates directly. It sets a constraint
and defeats the dynamic scheduling engine in Project. The best way to
adjust the schedule is to adjust task duration, review and re-organize
task links (i.e. make sure the original logic network is still valid),
or directly modify the lag value, as in your case. This can be done in a
couple of ways but the easiest is probably directly in the Predecessor
field.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[John]

John

I was also wondering if a pattern of links could be copied.

As we move through the hospital floor by floor, the pattern of work is
repeated. Is there a way to duplicate the timing of the links, but with new
tasks? (Something similar to copy and paste in Excel where it understands you
want to change referenced cell values when you paste the formula in an
adjacent cell)

Thank you

Dana,
It looks like you posted this in a separate new post and fellow MVP,
Jan, answered it.

One caution about using a direct copy and paste. No two (or group) of
tasks in any given schedule are identical. If they were, they would be
the exact same task. For example, in your case, similar tasks are
repeated but each group is unique to a floor in the building. Therefore,
the task description (task Name field) should reflect that distinction.
It makes the plan much cleared and easier to track.

John
Project MVP