How to show/hide non-working time based on task calendar in Projec

[josh.butcher]

Question: Is there a way to have all tasks that use the one calendar be
hidden behind the non-working time bars while tasks that use another calendar
are shown in front of them?

Background:
I'm using multiple calendars in MS Project 2003, one for regular working
hours and one for overtime working hours. The regular calendar is a
standard, 8-5, 40 hour work week with the company's holiday information
included. The overtime calendar is contains only 8 hour (8-5) days
throughout.

Management prefers that the non-working time in the Gantt chart view cover
(hide) task bars that cross over between weeks. For example, if a task is
using the standard calendar and needs to over lap two weeks, the part of the
task bar that overlays the weekend needs to be hidden by the non-working time
bar (since weekends aren't part of the standard calendar).

The regular calendar is set as the Project's default (standard) calendar.
The thought was that if overtime would be needed to complete a task on time,
then this could be shown by switching the task in question to the overtime
calendar. Then the Gantt chart would visually reflect which tasks had needed
overtime work to be completed on time.

Verbose question:
The problem is that all tasks are overlapped by the non-working time bars,
regardless of which calendar the task is assigned to. Overtime tasks as well
as regular calendar tasks are hidden behind non-working time grey bars.

I'm wondering if there is a way to have all tasks that use the standard
calendar be hidden behind the non-working time bars while those tasks that
use the overtime calendar are shown in front of them. Thanks.

 

[John]

Question: Is there a way to have all tasks that use the one calendar be
hidden behind the non-working time bars while tasks that use another calendar
are shown in front of them?

Background:
I'm using multiple calendars in MS Project 2003, one for regular working
hours and one for overtime working hours. The regular calendar is a
standard, 8-5, 40 hour work week with the company's holiday information
included. The overtime calendar is contains only 8 hour (8-5) days
throughout.

Management prefers that the non-working time in the Gantt chart view cover
(hide) task bars that cross over between weeks. For example, if a task is
using the standard calendar and needs to over lap two weeks, the part of the
task bar that overlays the weekend needs to be hidden by the non-working time
bar (since weekends aren't part of the standard calendar).

The regular calendar is set as the Project's default (standard) calendar.
The thought was that if overtime would be needed to complete a task on time,
then this could be shown by switching the task in question to the overtime
calendar. Then the Gantt chart would visually reflect which tasks had needed
overtime work to be completed on time.

Verbose question:
The problem is that all tasks are overlapped by the non-working time bars,
regardless of which calendar the task is assigned to. Overtime tasks as well
as regular calendar tasks are hidden behind non-working time grey bars.

I'm wondering if there is a way to have all tasks that use the standard
calendar be hidden behind the non-working time bars while those tasks that
use the overtime calendar are shown in front of them. Thanks.

Josh,
I'm not sure I understand how an overtime calendar can contain only 8
hour days from 8 to 5. Isn't that normal working time (i.e. not
overtime)? I would think that an overtime calendar would as a minimum
cover after-hours 5 pm to 8 am and weekends/holidays. The whole scheme
sounds like a pretty complex setup for very little benefit - but
whatever.

You can kind of do what you want by creating a custom view wherein the
timescale format for the custom view has the non-working time behind the
Gantt bars. What you won't be able to get is a single view that has some
tasks with non-working time behind the bars and others with non-wroking
time in front of the bars. Project just doesn't have that level of
graphics capability.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[josh.butcher]

John, thanks for the timely and informative reply. See my replies below:

Josh,
I'm not sure I understand how an overtime calendar can contain only 8
hour days from 8 to 5. Isn't that normal working time (i.e. not
overtime)? I would think that an overtime calendar would as a minimum
cover after-hours 5 pm to 8 am and weekends/holidays.

We're mainly denoting overtime as those times that the resource comes in on
weekends and puts in an 8 hour day. This is done sometimes regardless of
whether or not the resource already has a standard, 40 hour work week
completed. The (somewhat convoluted) reasoning behind this is that each
product has a specific deadline. So, to meet this deadline we work standard
8-5, 40 hour work weeks. At and immediately after product delivery, however,
there is a 10-20 day period of launch and support that consists of (roughly)
8 hour days. This support period is an everyday thing; whatever time it
happens to cover we work, regardless of holidays or weekends. Thankfully
these times don't come around all that often.

The whole scheme sounds like a pretty complex setup for very little benefit - but
whatever.

I can see where one could think that. The main reasoning behind this setup
is so that the Gantt chart can be used as a quick visual reference as to what
days a task will be worked. We'd like it to accurately display different
tasks according to the their associated calendars. We're looking for an
'idiot proof' wall chart for the group so that they can see, at a glance,
what days a specific task will cover and whether or not to expect to have to
work overtime due to schedule constraints.

Do you have any ideas for how I could improve on this then? Or is it just
a fundamental misunderstanding of how Project works; am I just trying to get
Project to do more than I should?

You can kind of do what you want by creating a custom view wherein the
timescale format for the custom view has the non-working time behind the
Gantt bars. What you won't be able to get is a single view that has some
tasks with non-working time behind the bars and others with non-wroking
time in front of the bars. Project just doesn't have that level of
graphics capability.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

Yes, this paragraph really answers my question. No way to get tasks to be
selectively hidden/shown by the non-working time bars based on their chosen
calendars? Oh well. Maybe in Project 2005 then. Thanks.

 

[John]

Josh,
You're welcome. If I understood your scenario correctly it sounds like
the overtime effort is isolated to support once the product is
delivered. Have you considered putting that effort into a separate
project plan? That might allow you to set up the Gantt graphic the way
you want (i.e. print out the two separate files and hang it up).

John
Project MVP

 

[josh.butcher]

That's a very interesting idea. I had not thought of it yet. While it's not
the "click the OTHER button"-type answer I was hoping for, it sounds like
it'll work for us.

Thanks again.

 

[John]

That's a very interesting idea. I had not thought of it yet. While it's not
the "click the OTHER button"-type answer I was hoping for, it sounds like
it'll work for us.

Thanks again.

Josh,
You're welcome. Sometimes you have to step out of the box to get an
answer and sometimes you just have to go with what will work.

John