How do I spread a 5 day duration over a 30 day time span

[Kimi]

I have a task "Aquire Hardware" which takes 5 days actual work but the entire
process is 30 days long. How can I enter the task duration with 5 days but
have the time line indicate 30 days

 

[JulieS]

Hi Kimi,

Create the task with a 30 day duration. Split your screen (Window>Split) to
show the Task form at the bottom.

Change the task type to "Fixed Duration" in the Task Form and click OK.
Assign the resource and enter in the 5d in the work field. Project will
calculate a resource assignment units at 17%.

I suggest then changing the task type back to fixed units or fixed work once
Project has done the calculation.

Hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie

 

[John]

I have a task "Aquire Hardware" which takes 5 days actual work but the entire
process is 30 days long. How can I enter the task duration with 5 days but
have the time line indicate 30 days

Kimi,
OK, don't get confused about Duration time and Work time - they are two
separate entities in Project. Duration is the time span (normally
measured in working days between the task Start and Finish) and Work,
(normally expressed in hours), is the amount of effort one or more
resources will need to complete the task. If a resource is assigned to
work on the task 100%, then Work hours WILL equal Duration hours.

You may or may not want a fixed duration type task, it depends on
whether the task is effort driven or not. Let's assume you do want a
fixed duration task, that can be set in one of two ways. If you want all
your tasks to be fixed duration (the default is fixed units, i.e. fixed
resource assignment allocation) go to Tools/Options/Schedule tab and
change the "Default task type". If you only want a particular task to be
fixed duration, select the task and hit the Task Information icon or
menu item. On the Advanced tab change the "Task Type" and uncheck the
"effort driven" box next to it.

Once the above is done, enter the 30 days (I'll assume you want working
days instead of calendar days) into the Duration field. Assign your
resource or resources. Then in the Work field, (you will probably need
to add that to whatever view you are using), enter 40 hours. You should
see the resource allocation change to 17% in the Resources Name field.
Now you have a task of 30 days duration with an assigned resource who
will spend 40 hours sometime during that 30 day period working on the
task.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Steve House [Project MVP]]

Will the resources be actively working on the task a bit at a time over the
30 days or do they spend 5 days actually ordering the hardware and then are
waiting several weeks for it to be delivered? If it's the former, it would
be a 30 day duration task with 5 days of work, a 16% resource allocation,
with actual activity going on slowly over the full 30 days. OTOH, if it's
the latter, it would be a 5 day task with the resource on it 100% follwed by
a milestone indicating the delivery of the hardware and a 25 or 30 day lag
time in the link between the ordering task and the delivery milestone,
indicating the resource is waiting but not otherwise actively engaged and so
free to do something else in the meantime.