Project date equation

[SarahBelle]

How do I make the chart work backwards. What I mean by this is that I want
to be able to put in a date by which all the sub-tasks must be completed
(finish date) and have the program tell me when each task must be started.

 

[Dave]

How do I make the chart work backwards. What I mean by this is that I want
to be able to put in a date by which all the sub-tasks must be completed
(finish date) and have the program tell me when each task must be started.

Project/Project Information/Schedule from "Project end date".

This is generally regarded as a really bad idea as you will give
yourself no slack or contingency and the slightest thing that goes wrong
will throw your Project off.

Why don't you break your Project into phases and work out what can be
done - if you have a deadline, but a deadline on the project end
milestone and track that instead.

 

[Jack Dahlgren]

First, find the last task in the project. Double click it to open the task
information box. Set a "Must finish on" constraint with the date you need
the project by. Then go to the Project Menu, Select the "Project
information" sub-menu and then set the "Schedule From:" option to "Project
Finish Date".

The danger of this is that now if any task is delayed, your whole project
will be delayed. It may be useful as an analysis tool, but not so good for
actually planning.

An alternative is to display the "Late Start" column. It will tell you the
same date as above, but won't move the tasks around. Think of it as the date
that the task must start by.

All this assumes that you have linked tasks using dependencies (predecessors
/ successors). If not, then you must do that first.

-Jack Dahlgren