I would like to know if it's possible to to create sub tasks for detailling
the work but I don't want to have to input Work, duration, ressource for
these sub task. I would like to still input these values directly in the
master level task. Now if I create sub tasks, the master level compile the
data in the sub task.
My goal is to use the sub level tasks to describe in detail the work but not
use them to calulate the master task work and duration.
Is it possible ?
Michel,
First let me clarify something. In Project a summary line is NOT a task.
Rather it is simply a summary of data contained within the subtasks
under it. Subtasks are called performance tasks because some type of
effort is performed. Summary lines generally do NOT have any effort
associated with them.
Given that, let me address your questions. Is it possible to create
subtasks for detailing the work but not have any work, duration or
resources associated with them? No. How can they possibly "detail" the
work if they don't have any work? It just doesn't make any sense.
There is one concept that comes close to what you are describing and
that is the concept of a planning package. Maybe that's what you want.
Often times a total project plan may span several months or years. It is
generally quite foolish to try and detail plan out the full project to
the end - the future is just too volatile even for so called "slam dunk"
projects. What we did at our company was to detail plan the first 6
months or so and then just lay in the remaining phases of the project as
planning packages. Planning packages are nothing more than a high level
summary of follow-on phases. The detail work is not totally defined,
(indeed it may change based on how the "front" of the plan is executed),
but the budget and time span of the far term effort is generally
understood. Planning packages can be a single task line with a estimated
duration, work content, and general resource loading of a particular
phase of the effort. Or, a planning package can be a summary line with
rough order subtasks laid in as a starting point. In the latter case,
the summary line does contain the duration, work content and resource
loading while the subtasks contain only an estimated duration to rough
out the schedule. However, planning packages are NOT active tasks. They
are only a budget and work "container" of future effort that will be
flowed into detail subtasks when the progress on the project approaches
the start of the planning package effort.
Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP
