A task has a start date, duration, and a finish date. Duration will drive
the finish date.
The only way to increase duration without impacting "finish" is to start
earlier.
This can be accomplished in several ways. First, look at the constraints
for the task, see if you can link the task to a predecessor with an earlier
finish date.
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with Jim here. I don't
think it's good, or even acceptable, scheduling practice to select a
task's predecessors based on which one gives you a Finish date you
like. Links should be based on what work has to be done before
something else can be done, like you can't paint the wall until the
drywall has been placed. If you create a dependency between the finish
of the plumbing and the painting, it'll give you an earlier finish
date. But when the painter shows up at the site to paint the drywall,
and there is no drywall, someone's going to be in trouble.
The process of scheduling depends on a considerable degree of
integrity. If links are based on what gives you the end date you
desire, why bother linking at all? List some tasks, set some dates
that give you the end date you want, and go ahead. When the project
comes in late, act surprised! Don't laugh, there are lots of places
that do exactly that.
You can place a constraint on the task "Finish No Later Than" and give it a
date. However, this is not sound scheduling logic and can cause problems.
Might you be confusing Duration with Work? If you decide the the task is
"twice as hard as you originally estimated" then add resources to the task
after desecting "Effort Driven" from the advanced tab of the Task Information
form.
--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.
Jim
Visithttp://project.mvps.org/for FAQs and more information
about Microsoft Project
- Show quoted text -
Overall, scheduling to get "dates you like" is bad practice. CPM
scheduling is largely about getting away from this all to common
practice. Better to learn how to use the tool correctly, and educate
those about you, then to create wishlists, call them schedules, and
perpetually be making excuses.
Hope this helps in your world.
