Correct Setup Question

[sb]

We work with conversions and can take 30, 45, 90 days to complete a
conversion. How do I setup the project plan template to adjust for different
end dates? However, we have tasks that start and finish prior and after the
conversion end date. The start and finish dates are setup within the lag
field.

 

[John]

We work with conversions and can take 30, 45, 90 days to complete a
conversion. How do I setup the project plan template to adjust for different
end dates? However, we have tasks that start and finish prior and after the
conversion end date. The start and finish dates are setup within the lag
field.

sb,
In Project unless you want to use reverse scheduling (i.e. schedule from
the finish date), the normal process is to lay in all the tasks it takes
to meet some end date. The user enters estimated durations and links
between the tasks and then Project calculates all the dates and tells
you whether the plan you have will meet your end milestone. If it
doesn't, re-work the plan until it does, or, realize at the onset that
you can't get there from here.

If you have tasks the start and finish after the conversion end date,
then obviously that date is not the end milestone. No matter, just
re-work the plan as above while checking to see if it allows you to meet
the conversion end date.

Something I don't understand. What are you doing with the lag, (It's not
really a field in Project, its a part of the Predecessor field)? It
almost sounds like you are trying to force the schedule with manually
entered dates and predecessor lag to "make it all work out". If that's
what you are doing, then bad idea, you are effectively defeating the
reason for using Project, namely, to calculate a dynamic schedule for
you.

John
Project MVP

 

[Steve House]

As you describe it here, your "end date" is not the end date. What you are
calling the end date is probably the cutover date to the converted whatever
towards the end of your project and that is likely an important milestone
with a deadline on it, but the actual project "end date" is DEFINED as the
date when the absolutely last little bit of work on the very last task, is
completed and everyone goes home never to work on any part of the project
again. With MS Project (and CPM scheduling in general) you can never, ever
fix BOTH the project start and project end dates. You have to pick one or
the other to set and then it's the software's function to calculate the
other date for you along with the shortest schedule that will achieve it.
Along that pathway you'll have, as I said, a milestone that represents what
you're presently calling the end date. Set the start of the process with
the Project Start date in the Project Information dialog. Set the required
competion ne cutover by using the Deadline field on the advanced tab of the
Task Information dialog for the milestone. Note that the date shown for the
milestone will be the calculated date that Project concludes it will be able
to take place IF the work leading up to it is organized the way you have
input it. If it calculates it to be after the required deadline, you can't
just wave a magic wand and set it to the required date - you have to
actually reorganize the work leading up to it so Project's calculated date
will pull forward to lie on or before the required deadline date. The idea
of the plan is not just to document the requirements and your intentions -
it's to provide you with a dynamic model of the project that you can use to
do "what-if" kinds of analysis in order to predict the probable impact of
the management and deployment decisions you make, ultimately allowing you to
create a plan that has a higher probability of meeting your business
objectives than you'd get flying by the seat of your pants.

 

[sb]

For example, if I have a task setup with an estimated duration of 60 days
project will automatically calculate my start date. How do I setup a
calculatation for a finish date that is 20 days after my already calculated
start date?

As you describe it here, your "end date" is not the end date. What you are
calling the end date is probably the cutover date to the converted whatever
towards the end of your project and that is likely an important milestone
with a deadline on it, but the actual project "end date" is DEFINED as the
date when the absolutely last little bit of work on the very last task, is
completed and everyone goes home never to work on any part of the project
again. With MS Project (and CPM scheduling in general) you can never, ever
fix BOTH the project start and project end dates. You have to pick one or
the other to set and then it's the software's function to calculate the
other date for you along with the shortest schedule that will achieve it.
Along that pathway you'll have, as I said, a milestone that represents what
you're presently calling the end date. Set the start of the process with
the Project Start date in the Project Information dialog. Set the required
competion ne cutover by using the Deadline field on the advanced tab of the
Task Information dialog for the milestone. Note that the date shown for the
milestone will be the calculated date that Project concludes it will be able
to take place IF the work leading up to it is organized the way you have
input it. If it calculates it to be after the required deadline, you can't
just wave a magic wand and set it to the required date - you have to
actually reorganize the work leading up to it so Project's calculated date
will pull forward to lie on or before the required deadline date. The idea
of the plan is not just to document the requirements and your intentions -
it's to provide you with a dynamic model of the project that you can use to
do "what-if" kinds of analysis in order to predict the probable impact of
the management and deployment decisions you make, ultimately allowing you to
create a plan that has a higher probability of meeting your business
objectives than you'd get flying by the seat of your pants.
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

We work with conversions and can take 30, 45, 90 days to complete a
conversion. How do I setup the project plan template to adjust for
different
end dates? However, we have tasks that start and finish prior and after
the
conversion end date. The start and finish dates are setup within the lag
field.

 

[Steve House]

You don't need to do anything to "setup" such a calculation. Start a new
project with the Project start date of your choice and set it to schedule
from start date forward. Enter a task, just the name. Project "calculates"
the task start date as the project start date. Enter the duration of 20
days. Project calculates the task finish date 20 working days later. Enter
a second task that the first one feeds product into. Link it to the first
in a FS relationship. Projects calculates the start date of task #2 to be
the finish date of task #1, the earliest date it can occur according the the
link. Set the duration of task #2 to 10 days. Project calculates the
finish date to be 10 working days after it starts. And so forth down
through the project. What you are trying to so is exactly what the default
behavior of Project does automatically.

It sounds like you are scheduling from finish date backwards though. While
it makes an intersting academic exercise, this is an incredibly bad idea for
real world projects. If you do it that way, Project schedules each task as
late as it could possibly start for the project to finish on the desired
date. But if anything goes wrong to make a task run late - and one thing
you can absolutely count on is at least one task will finish late - you will
blow past the required project finish date. Far better to schedule from the
start date forward, scheduling each task to start ASAP and work with the
schedule until it shows you'll finish a reasonable amount of time BEFORE the
required finish date. This way you have a cushion to absorb the inevitable
delays and duration underestimates.

HTH


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

For example, if I have a task setup with an estimated duration of 60 days
project will automatically calculate my start date. How do I setup a
calculatation for a finish date that is 20 days after my already
calculated
start date?

As you describe it here, your "end date" is not the end date. What you
are
calling the end date is probably the cutover date to the converted
whatever
towards the end of your project and that is likely an important milestone
with a deadline on it, but the actual project "end date" is DEFINED as
the
date when the absolutely last little bit of work on the very last task,
is
completed and everyone goes home never to work on any part of the project
again. With MS Project (and CPM scheduling in general) you can never,
ever
fix BOTH the project start and project end dates. You have to pick one
or
the other to set and then it's the software's function to calculate the
other date for you along with the shortest schedule that will achieve it.
Along that pathway you'll have, as I said, a milestone that represents
what
you're presently calling the end date. Set the start of the process with
the Project Start date in the Project Information dialog. Set the
required
competion ne cutover by using the Deadline field on the advanced tab of
the
Task Information dialog for the milestone. Note that the date shown for
the
milestone will be the calculated date that Project concludes it will be
able
to take place IF the work leading up to it is organized the way you have
input it. If it calculates it to be after the required deadline, you
can't
just wave a magic wand and set it to the required date - you have to
actually reorganize the work leading up to it so Project's calculated
date
will pull forward to lie on or before the required deadline date. The
idea
of the plan is not just to document the requirements and your
intentions -
it's to provide you with a dynamic model of the project that you can use
to
do "what-if" kinds of analysis in order to predict the probable impact of
the management and deployment decisions you make, ultimately allowing you
to
create a plan that has a higher probability of meeting your business
objectives than you'd get flying by the seat of your pants.
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

We work with conversions and can take 30, 45, 90 days to complete a
conversion. How do I setup the project plan template to adjust for
different
end dates? However, we have tasks that start and finish prior and after
the
conversion end date. The start and finish dates are setup within the
lag
field.