Project gaining-Total Slack

[Keith]

I would to hide/absorb/etc., Total Slack and minimize/eliminate the chances
of it being detected.
Scenario- a project is gaining due to the efforts of the project expeditor
and their subcontractor's. The owner/owner's reps may take advantage of the
gained total slack and relax expediting their responsibilites thus using up
the total slack gained. A monthly updated electronic copy is given to the
owner's 3rd party scheduler for review thus anything schedule comparisons'
differences could be easily detected. Are there any options other than the
most obvious to hide total slack? Total slack is for the benefit of the
project team per contract's General Conditions. The project expeditor's
efforts should not be negated by the "slackness" of the owner.
Thanks!

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Keith --

You can hide the Total Slack field in the Schedule table in the project, but
a savvy Microsoft Project user can always insert the Total Slack field into
any task Table. Thus, the answer is "no" to your question; you cannot
remove it permanently from a project. Hope this helps.

 

[Jack Dahlgren]

You can get rid of it simply by making later tasks longer or inserting a
contingency task equal to total slack.
The latter - an explicit contingency task - is a common practice. The former
is a bit less defensible and whether to use it or not is left to the
individual to determine.

-Jack Dahlgren

 

[Jim Aksel]

This is a management coaching issue to keep pressure on the expeditors. As
Dale said, you can remove or hide the slack column, but there is no real way
to "hide" slack in a schedule. Even by padding the task durations you will
find tasks finishing early. This is more a leadership issue. I might
approach it more like a "Critical Chain" where we want buffers and slack on
some tasks. Perhaps that type of education for the team would prove helpful.
Good luck.
--
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Jim

Check out my new blog for more information:
http://www.msprojectblog.com

 

[Keith]

To All,
Thanks for your helpful replies. That's kinda what I expected to hear. The
architect/CA has not signed but has verbally approved an excusable 8 day time
extension in light of the project gaining. I even thought about creating a
new (task) calendar, with limiting work periods, simply for the punchlist
task and managing the gaining slack. Being upfront and watchful of slipping
slack due to others.
Thanks again.
Keith