Any advice on splitting tasks?

[Michelle]

I have used the task splitting functionality in Project
before but I'm now preparing to use it on a project plan
that is larger than what I've previously managed. One
thing that has bothered me in the past is that if you
split a task to eliminate a resource overallocation and
then your schedule changes, you have to go back and remove
the split and recreate it at a new point in the schedule
because it is not tied to the other task that you split it
to accomodate and therefore does not automatically
adjust. I am not thrilled with the prospect of having to
do this over and over again each time there is a change to
the project plan. This project has a lot of longer
duration tasks that need to be interrupted temporarily to
allow the resources to complete smaller tasks. Any
suggestions on how to make this less painful?

Maybe someone can suggest a better way to manually
resource level (the automatic levelling funciton in
project does not produce a schedule I can live with).

 

[Dale Howard]

Michelle --

You might try a variety of techniques in your larger project to accomplish
the splitting of tasks. These techniques could include:

1. Filter the task list with the "Using Resource..." filter to display only
those tasks being worked by a resource whose assignments need to be delayed.

2. Once the Filter has been applied for an individual resource, select only
those tasks which need to be delayed with a task split.

3. Click Tools - Tracking - Update Project. Select the "Reschedule
uncompleted work to start after" option and set the date after which you
believe work will resume on the selected tasks. Choose the "Selected tasks"
option and click OK. On those tasks which need to be split, task splits
will be created for you automatically. Other tasks may be delayed in their
entirety using a SNET contstraint.

You would need to follow the three steps for each resource whose work will
be delayed. If the entire project were going to be delayed, you could
simply do the third step only, and select the "Entire project" option
instead. I know this method probably isn't perfect, but I hope it gives you
some ideas of how to tackle your problem. Good luck!