Tasks that occur concurrently- Microsoft Project

[Meghan]

I am attempting to create a schedule where various tasks (some with different
durations, some with the same) need to occur concurrently. It isnt a matter
of starting on the same date or finishing together only, they are flexible as
long as they occur during the same time. Ex. Task A requires 30 days. During
that 30 days Task B must occur requireing only 10 days. Task B does not need
to start when task A starts nor finish on the same day as task A, it simply
must occur DURING the 30 days. Is there a way to show this?

 

[John]

I am attempting to create a schedule where various tasks (some with different
durations, some with the same) need to occur concurrently. It isnt a matter
of starting on the same date or finishing together only, they are flexible as
long as they occur during the same time. Ex. Task A requires 30 days. During
that 30 days Task B must occur requireing only 10 days. Task B does not need
to start when task A starts nor finish on the same day as task A, it simply
must occur DURING the 30 days. Is there a way to show this?

Meghan,
Well there are various things coming into play with your requirement.
You can set up links that will cause multiple tasks to track with the
start date of a "master task" but I wonder if that is really what you
want. For example, let's say Task A is the "master" task. Its start date
can move in time. Tasks B must start with A but takes less time and task
C starts 5 days after task A starts. The links for that scenario could
be:
ID Task Predecessor
1 A
2 B 1SS
3 C 1SS+5d

However, when you say that Task B only "requires" 10 days to complete, I
wonder if you are really talking about effort instead of duration. In
Project duration is the time span during which a task is performed. On
the other hand, effort is the amount of work required to actually
perform the task. It kind of sounds like Task B requires less work, not
necessarily less duration. In that case you MAY want to set up your
tasks with fixed duration and then enter the estimated effort in the
Work field. All tasks could have the same duration but differing amounts
of effort. You could still have Task A as the "master" and the other
tasks all linked with start-to-start dependency (as shown above but
without the lag).

So, bottom line, yes there is a way to show what you want but the
details may vary.

John
Project MVP

 

[Saratoga]

If task B has 20 days of slack and can start when task A starts you could
also do this. Have task A and B start on the same day and place a Finish no
later than constraint date equal to the finish date of task A. If B slips it
will only slip 20 days. If A slips B will not slip beyond the original end
date of A.

 

[John]

If task B has 20 days of slack and can start when task A starts you could
also do this. Have task A and B start on the same day and place a Finish no
later than constraint date equal to the finish date of task A. If B slips it
will only slip 20 days. If A slips B will not slip beyond the original end
date of A.

Saratoga,
I don't think that's what the poster wants. Meghan stated that Task B
MUST occur during the 30 day period when Task A is being executed. With
the finish-no-later-than constraint on Task B, that requirement will NOT
be met in all cases.

John

 

[Saratoga]

I may be right I may be wrong. I think we are both making some assumptions. I
focused more on the example than I did on the second sentence. Maybe Magen
could clear it up.

 

[John]

I may be right I may be wrong. I think we are both making some assumptions. I
focused more on the example than I did on the second sentence. Maybe Magen
could clear it up.

Saratoga,
You're correct in that right and wrong are relative. I considered
everything that Meghan said and took it literally, but I often find that
a poster will not accurately describe what they are trying to achieve.
It may be clear to them but it doesn't come across that way when read by
someone else.

John