How to spread short task to be completed over a longer period

[Jessaqua]

We need to schedule some short tasks over a longer span of time, for instance
an hour long conference call that will need to happen within a three day
period. Can Project do this?

 

[John]

We need to schedule some short tasks over a longer span of time, for instance
an hour long conference call that will need to happen within a three day
period. Can Project do this?

Jessaqua,
What you are describing is the basic difference between task duration
and task effort. Both fields are normally expressed in hours or days but
they represent totally different concepts. Task duration is the time
span during which the task is performed. In your case, that is 3 days.
Effort is captured by the Work field and represents the time one or more
resources will actually spend accomplishing the task. In your case that
is 1 hour.

To set this up in Project, select the task and go to Project/Task
Information/Advanced tab. Set the Task type to "Fixed Duration" with the
"effort driven" option not selected. Enter 3 days in the Duration field
for the task. In the Resource Names field, select those resources that
will be involved in the conference call and in the Work field, (you may
need to add this field as a column in the view), enter 1 hour. That will
give you a 1 hour call that can take place at anytime during the 3 day
period.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Jessaqua]

Very helpful..thank you! That brings me to my next question. We did not
know of this when we set up the files. Now I have hundreds of tasks for
which I need to change to "fixed Duration" and uncheck the "Effort driven"
box. Can I do this is one fell swoop or will I need to go into each and
every task and change it? Clearly, Iwill be setting this as the default for
future projects.

Thank you!

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

Insert the columns "Type" and "Effort Driven" in your Task view and use Copy
Down (Edit menu or Ctrl+D or drag the value down)
HTH

 

[John]

Very helpful..thank you! That brings me to my next question. We did not
know of this when we set up the files. Now I have hundreds of tasks for
which I need to change to "fixed Duration" and uncheck the "Effort driven"
box. Can I do this is one fell swoop or will I need to go into each and
every task and change it? Clearly, Iwill be setting this as the default for
future projects.

Thank you!

Jessaqua,
You're welcome. I think Jan addressed your new question. If not, post
again.

John
Project MVP