Deadline vs. Must Start On

[JenEx]

We are currently using MS Project 2003 Standard.

Is there a way to set a deadline or somekind of notification that ensures
that a task is started 90 days, 60 days or 15 days before a deadline? Ex. I
want to insert markers in project that will warn/remind me that we are
proceeding with risk if a task hasn't started 90 days before the due date.

 

[Steve House [Project MVP]]

You could create a calculated field that compares the current date with the
deadline date minus the desired start and returns a "true" or a "false"
depending on the result. That in turn could be used to trigger a graphic
indicator to the left of the task name.

 

[JenEx]

Can you elaborate a little more on how you would go about creating a
calculated field?

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi JenEx,

You might like to have a look at my series on Microsoft Project in the
TechTrax ezine, particularly #14 & 15, at this site:
http://tinyurl.com/2xbhc or this:
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMFrame.asp?CMD=ArticleSearch&AUTH=23
(Perhaps you'd care to rate the articles before leaving the site,
Thanks.)

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

 

[Steve House [Project MVP]]

Tools menu, Customize, Fields - create a flag field with a formula that
tests for the condition you're monitoring and choose "graphical indicators"
in the dialog box as the results display.

I wonder at the logic of looking at start date with respect to a deadline.
Deadlines describe the required completion date for the task. Checking to
see if a task is started by 90 days before its deadline really only makes
sense if the task requires 90 days to do. The duration of a task is your
best-guess estimate of how long it will actually take to complete the task
once it starts. Comparing a start date with a deadline only gives you useful
information if the time frame you're looking at compares the start with the
deadline minus the duration and it will only be 90, 60, or 15 days if the
task duration also happens to be 90, 60, or 15 days respectively. What
counts is not that it starts 90 days ahead of deadline but rather that it
has started by whatever you have determined is the latest date it should
start so that it can finish by the deadline. Best practice suggests that
when a resource is assigned to a task they will be expected to start it on
the date you have scheduled it to start and work on it full-time until it
has finished. The duration of the task is not how long they are allowed to
finish it - it's your best estimate of how long you think it should take
them to finish it.