spanning task for contingency buffer

[ron paul]

Say I have three tasks a, b and c.

Task C is fixed to start on a particular date.

I want to make task B a "spanning task" that is the time between the end of task A and the beginning of task C. I want the end time of task B to be fixed (to the start time of Task C) and the start time and duration of task B to automatically vary as the end time of task A varies.

The reason I want to do this is to have task B be a "buffer/contingency" task that has resources assigned to it, and as task A gets longer, the buffer automatically shrinks.


How can I do this?

 

[Jack D.]

Say I have three tasks a, b and c.

Task C is fixed to start on a particular date.

I want to make task B a "spanning task" that is the time between the end
of task A and the beginning of task C. I want the end time of task B to
be fixed (to the start time of Task C) and the start time and duration of
task B to automatically vary as the end time of task A varies.

The reason I want to do this is to have task B be a "buffer/contingency"
task that has resources assigned to it, and as task A gets longer, the
buffer automatically shrinks.


How can I do this?

See the FAQ item 19, Hammock Tasks

http://mvps.org/project/faqs.htm

--
Please try to keep replies in this group. I do check e-mail, but only
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For Macros and other things check http://masamiki.com/project

-Jack Dahlgren, Project MVP
email: J -at- eM Vee Pee S dot COM


+++++++++++++++++++

 

[Steve House]

What drives the start of task C? Is there some reason you can't begin
it immediately when task A is done, sliding it's start date back and
forth in synch to changes in task A's duration? Jack suggested you look
at Hammock tasks - good advice as that is how you can accomplish
something like this. But for the life of me I can't see any practical
reason for actually doing something like this and it's really going to
screw up your budgets by including "non-tasks" in the project and then
assigning resources to them.


--
Steve House
MS Project MVP
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Say I have three tasks a, b and c.

Task C is fixed to start on a particular date.

I want to make task B a "spanning task" that is the time between the

end of task A and the beginning of task C. I want the end time of task
B to be fixed (to the start time of Task C) and the start time and
duration of task B to automatically vary as the end time of task A
varies.

The reason I want to do this is to have task B be a

"buffer/contingency" task that has resources assigned to it, and as task
A gets longer, the buffer automatically shrinks.

 

[Ron Paul]

The project has a budget which includes a contingency amount. We want to assign resources to the contingency amount and we want the contingency budget to shrink as the "real" tasks on the project slip out. Task A represents the real tasks, task C the project deadline and task B the contingency budget.

Does that make sense?

 

[Steve House]

The idea of contingency budgets makes absolutely perfect sense, I just
debate the wisdom of including them in the costs that MSP is carrying
until such time as they are utilized. Contingency funds are funds held
in reserve to mitigate the costs of predictable risks to be used if the
risk events occur. If the risk has passed without occuring, those funds
can be released or shifted to other risks in the project. If the
project ends without the risks occuring, those funds remain unspent.
Project is not the end-all and be-all PM tool and IMHO this is a case in
point of that - I would maintain the contingency and management reserve
funds as separate accounts and only have them reflected in the cost
figures in Project when and if the risk event occurs - at that time but
not before the tasks that mitigate the risk are incorporated into the
project plan and Project's costs updated to reflect the shifting of the
funds into the operating budget. If you want to display multiple cases
to do "what-if" reports, you can use Project's PERT tools to create
best-case, likely, and worst-case Projects schedules and associated cost
estimates. I like the notion that Project's schedule is an accurate
model of what is predicted to actually happen in the real world.

--
Steve House
MS Project MVP
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

The project has a budget which includes a contingency amount. We want

to assign resources to the contingency amount and we want the
contingency budget to shrink as the "real" tasks on the project slip
out. Task A represents the real tasks, task C the project deadline and
task B the contingency budget.