Outlook task management: Subtasks and task dependencies?

[Kerry]

I am perplexed as to why Outlook does not allow the user to create subtasks
and impose simple task dependency. I would expect any calendaring
application to support the management of common, day-to-day, multitask
"mini" projects.

Consider an example such as preparing a dinner party. This main task may be
composed of several subtasks in the following manner:

TASK Prepare dinner party
SUBTASK - Invite guests
SUBTASK - Purchase ingredients for dinner items
SUBTASK - Prepare dinner items

Additionally, tasks in most projects must follow sequence contraints that
determine the order in which tasks must be performed. In the above example,
naturally one cannot prepare the dinner items until after the ingredients
have been purchased.

You might suggest that one turns to project management software for these
types of assignments, but should it really be necessary to create an MS
Project file just to manage simple multi-part tasks such as planning a
dinner party, researching a book purchase, or contacting your co-workers?
Furthermore, these multiple part tasks often rely on the type of integrated
scheduling, email connectivity, and contact management for which Outlook was
designed.

Outlook's inability to outline and create dependencies for subtasks strikes
this user as a glaring development oversight in an otherwise very robust
group information manager. Does anyone know of a simple workaround? Does
anyone know if future versions of Outlook will allow users to create
subtasks?

Thanks,

Kerry

 

[John Wintle]

Kerry

You have a very interesting viewpoint on the functionality
of Outlook, me being a fellow end-user can understand your
viewpoint. However, Outlook is an advanced communication
tool not a project management tool. It does integrate
with MS Project to some extent but only for the purposes
of reporting back to a central project as you already have
mentioned. The direction of Outlook as I see it will be
pushing towards a Total Communications Tool for the Home
and Office integrating Voice and Data Comms.

So I dont think you will be able to have task dependencies
set up for you via any version of Outlook, but on the
lighter side, in a few years it is likely, Outlook will be
calling your guests and ordering your fine foods for the
dinner party for you.



John Wintle

 

[Kerry]

John,

I agree that Oultook was not developed to manage projects--indeed Microsoft
created a separate application, Microsoft Project, for just this purpose.

Nevertheless, I would find Outlook for more useful it allowed users to
outline their task by creating subtasks. I suspect it would be easy for the
Outlook programmers to implement this feature in the task list and the
result would prove so very useful in managing those small, everyday
multi-part tasks.

Kerry