Fixing Duration While Increasing Work

[Matt Goldencrown]

Hi everyone. I'm trying to force the schedule of a task to stay the
same (Start and End dates stay the same i.e. Duration) while
increasing the amount of work assigned to a resource automatically.
What I mean is that I'd like to increase the number of labor hours (or
days etc.) that the task will require while keeping the duration
fixed. I know that there's a Fixed Duration setting, but when I
increase the amount of work the duration changes. I'm sure this is a
simple question, but I feel like I've tried everything. If I could
get two constraints, a Must Start On and a Must Finish On, the goal
would be accomplished, but that's not possible, correct?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Dale Howard]

Matt --

Have you tried these steps:

1. Apply the Gantt Chart view and select the task
2. Click Window - Split
3. Right-click in the lower viewing pane and select the "Resource Work"
details
4. Set the Task Type to "Fixed Duration" and click OK
5. Increase the Remaining Work estimate for each resource assigned, as
necessary, and then click OK
6. Click Window - Unsplit

Using the above steps, the only way that the Duration will be increased is
if the Remaining Work was 0 hours before you increased the value. If
Remaining Work equals 0 hours, then that means that the task is complete and
that the % Work Complete and the % Complete both equal 100%. If you attempt
to add additional work to a Fixed Duration task that is already complete,
then Microsoft Project 2002 will extend the Duration of the task to schedule
the additional hours of work. If you do run into this situation, at least
you will get a Microsoft Project warning message before the Duration is
increased. Hope this helps.

 

[Lori Campbell]

I wish I knew the answer to this one.
I have been trying to accomodate this kind of scheduling
as well.
Lori

 

[Dale Howard]

Lori --

See the steps in my answer to Matt's original question. Hope the answer
helps.

 

[William Raymond [Project MVP]]

Hi Lori & Matt,

As a follow-on to Dale's answer, it might be helpful to know that even if
you use the Tools->Options->Schedule->Default Task Type->Fixed Duration, it
will only affect new tasks. If you want this to work on tasks that are
already created in a non-fixed-duration project, you will need to highlight
the tasks, right-click, choose Task Information... and set them to "Fixed
Duration". New tasks will automatically default to your new setting.

-Bill

 

[Matt Goldencrown]

Dale & Bill - Thanks, those worked great.

Matt

Hi Lori & Matt,

As a follow-on to Dale's answer, it might be helpful to know that even if
you use the Tools->Options->Schedule->Default Task Type->Fixed Duration, it
will only affect new tasks. If you want this to work on tasks that are
already created in a non-fixed-duration project, you will need to highlight
the tasks, right-click, choose Task Information... and set them to "Fixed
Duration". New tasks will automatically default to your new setting.

-Bill