How to file these tasks?

[Henk]

Hello everybody,

How to cope best with tasks that you know that have to be done in this
project, but not exactely when. In fact I would like to insert no date
at all to that kind of tasks, but that's not possible in Project 2003.

Now I plan them for the beginning of the next half year e.g. 1 july
2007, but this is some kind of frustrating in management reports.

How do you deal with these tasks? Is there a built in solution in
Project, or a custom made solution?

Thanks in advance.

Best Regards, Henk

 

[davegb]

Hello everybody,

How to cope best with tasks that you know that have to be done in this
project, but not exactely when. In fact I would like to insert no date
at all to that kind of tasks, but that's not possible in Project 2003.

Now I plan them for the beginning of the next half year e.g. 1 july
2007, but this is some kind of frustrating in management reports.

How do you deal with these tasks? Is there a built in solution in
Project, or a custom made solution?

Thanks in advance.

Best Regards, Henk

The first thing I'd ask is, "Are these tasks really a part of the
project?". If they have no dependencies on any other tasks, they often
aren't part of the project. If not, they shouldn't be on the schedule
at all. But if you're putting them off until at least July, why? Is
there something else they're dependent on? If so, show that dependency.
Or is it because you think you'll finally find time in July? If so,
resource level or put a constraint on them. This kind of task is rare,
but they do exist. If they truly don't have any dependencies at all,
they should be successors to your "Start" milestone and a predecessor
to your "Finish" milestone. (I always have a "Start" and a "Finish"
milestone on every project, partly for this reason.) So they're still
linked in and you can have Schedule Continuity. In which case, they
should be scheduled asap, and done asap, not put off until July. I've
actually seen a task that could have been done at any time during the
project, no dependencies, cause a multi-million dollar project to slip
by a few weeks because it was identified early on, but was put off
until it was forgotten. Just as the rest of the project was winding
down, someone remembered it and it was the last thing done, delaying
the finish!

Hope this helps in your world.

 

[Steve House]

The whole idea behind Project is for it to tell you when you ought to
schedule those tasks. It is a schedule generating program, not a schedule
documenting program. As such, you don't tell it the dates when tasks will
take place, it tells YOU the dates when tasks CAN take place that will
result in the shortest possible project duration.

You said "I'd like to insert no date..." and that's good, but that's not
restricted to just those tasks you mention in your note. In fact, with
certain specific exceptions you shouldn't be inserting dates for ANY of the
tasks except for the project start date.

 

[Henk]

OK thanks a lot for the feedback. I now understand that my suggestion
is not the right approach.

Best Regards Henk.

The whole idea behind Project is for it to tell you when you ought to
schedule those tasks. It is a schedule generating program, not a schedule
documenting program. As such, you don't tell it the dates when tasks will
take place, it tells YOU the dates when tasks CAN take place that will
result in the shortest possible project duration.

You said "I'd like to insert no date..." and that's good, but that's not
restricted to just those tasks you mention in your note. In fact, with
certain specific exceptions you shouldn't be inserting dates for ANY of the
tasks except for the project start date.
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visithttp://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htmfor the FAQs

Hello everybody,

How to cope best with tasks that you know that have to be done in this
project, but not exactely when. In fact I would like to insert no date
at all to that kind of tasks, but that's not possible in Project 2003.

Now I plan them for the beginning of the next half year e.g. 1 july
2007, but this is some kind of frustrating in management reports.

How do you deal with these tasks? Is there a built in solution in
Project, or a custom made solution?

Thanks in advance.

Best Regards, Henk- Tekst uit oorspronkelijk bericht niet weergeven -- Tekst uit oorspronkelijk bericht weergeven -