DELAYING TASKS

[Jeffrey]

How can you delay a task in MS project. Say your project started on 1/1 and
there is Task 1. Originally it will be scheduled on 1/1 but say that the
resource assigned to the task could not start working until 1/15. I found
information on how to delay a task using the "leveling delay field" but the
value always changes back to zero and does not seem to work. Any ideas?

 

[Jim Aksel]

Several ways to do it. Here is the most general way...
Hightlight the task (or mulitple tasks), select the Task Information Icon on
the toolbar (or just double click the individual task). Pull the Advanced
Tab, then estabilsh a contraint type of "Start No Earlier Than...." and give
it a date. Consider placing a note of explanation into the notes field as
well.

In your case, you could also change the resource availability in their own
work calendar. This would give you traceability as to why the task was
starting late.
--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim
It''s software; it''s not allowed to win.

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for FAQs and more information
about Microsoft Project

 

[JulieS]

Hello Jeffrey,

In addition to Jim's suggestion -- just a point of clarification. You
mention that the task was scheduled to start on 1/1 but that the
resource didn't work as scheduled. If you are attempting to provide
*actual* work data, you should be adding that information into the
Actual Start field. If you want to show the difference between when the
task was originally scheduled and when it actually started, save a
baseline first. This will copy the scheduled start, finish, work,
duration, and cost into baseline start, baseline finish, baseline work,
etc. To supply Actual tracking data (Actual Start, Actual Finish, etc.)
apply the tracking table to the view.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

 

[Jeffrey]

Thank you for the quick response.

I thought it was not a good idea to use constraints. I was looking for a
way without having to use constraints. Apparently there is a way to do it
but it does not seem to work. Do you know why the delay task feature does
not seem to work?

 

[Jeffrey]

Thnaks for the reply.

Actual I am trying to get the schedule right, I am not worrying about actual
tracking start dates yet. Some tasks can not start when MS project
originally schedules them. I am also trying to avoid constraints and was
trying to sue this delay task feature which doe snot seem to work.

I would like to rate this post, what happened to the post rating? It seems
I can only say the post answered the question or did not. Is it because I am
new to this forumn?

 

[Jeffrey]

Go tmy answer on rating, I guess since I was the person asking the quesiton I
can only rate if the post answers the quesiton or not. Otherwise I can rate
that the post was helpful.

 

[Jim Aksel]

I just inserted the "Leveling Delay" column and it worked fine for me. Just
remember that Leveling Delay should be less than the available Total Slack to
avoid pushing the end date of your project. Successor tasks may also be
impacted negatively.

As for constraints, well it is a matter of preference. In my world we
forbid "Must Finish On", "Finish No Later Than", "Start No Later Than", and
"Must Start On". Finish No Earlier Than is discouraged but tolerable. Soft
constraints are not really a problem such as Start No Earlier Than.

We make use of "Deadline Dates" to assist us in keeping the tasks on
schedule. A deadline date is not a constraint. Instead, a deadline date will
graphically indicate if the scheduling logic has pushed the task to the right
of the desired deadline date.

Read Julie's note to be sure you are not artificially taking actual start or
actual finish dates to the right of the status date.
--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim
It''s software; it''s not allowed to win.

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for FAQs and more information
about Microsoft Project

 

[Jeffrey]

Jim,

Thanks again. As a test I created a new task in my plan. I then tried t
increase the edays in the leveling delay column (reosurce allocation view,
delay table). After I change the edyas the preleveled date moves out (green
bar on gantt chart) but then the edays goes back to zero. The start date
does not change???? This task has no successor.

Thanks for the information on contraints and deadline. I agree that the
deadline feature is very helpful to keep things on track.

I don't think the issue is status date related. In my example the status
date would be 1/20.

Regards,

Jeffrey

 

[JulieS]

Hello Jeffrey,

Thanks for the additional clarification that you are still working on
the scheduling (planning) of your project not the tracking part. I see
you have been corresponding with Jim as well concerning the leveling
delay field. Like Jim, I cannot reproduce what you report with the
leveling delay field in the Resource Allocation view > Leveling Gantt
with Delay table applied.

What version of Project are you using and what is the Service Pack Level
(See Help > About Microsoft Project for SP information.)

You can also delay the assignment for individual resources on a task if
that would be helpful. From the Gantt chart view, split your screen
(Window > Split) to show the Task Form in the bottom pane. Click to
activate the bottom pane if necessary and then choose Format > Details
and select Resource Schedule. You'll see two "delay" fields for each
assignment -- leveling delay and assignment delay. Those two fields can
also be added to the Task Usage or the Resource Usage view. See if the
assignment delay field works better for you than the leveling delay
field.

You may also delay a resource's work on a task by editing the work in
the timescaled (right side) portion of the Task Usage or Resource Usage
view. Simply enter zeros on the days you want to postpone the start of
the work.

As far as rating -- sorry, that one I can't answer as I don't usually
use the web to get to this newsgroup. I appreciate you wanting to rate
the answer though -- the important thing is helping you get to the
bottom of the problem

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

 

[Jeffrey]

Thanks. I am on MS Project 2000 SR1. Maybe this is the reasno. I will try
again your suggesitons and let you know how it goes.