Schedule two tasks within one day

[_Bob]

I have two tasks that each takes 2 hours. Task 2 depends on Task 1. I'm
using Fixed Work task type. The nature of the dependency is finish-to-start
(Task1 must be done first). I can't seem to set Task 1 as the
Finish-to-Start predecessor on Task 2 AND have them start/end in the same
day. I can see if I change the dependency to Start-to-Start they can be
scheduled in the same day. Is that what I have to do despite the nature of
the dependency?

 

[John]

I have two tasks that each takes 2 hours. Task 2 depends on Task 1. I'm
using Fixed Work task type. The nature of the dependency is finish-to-start
(Task1 must be done first). I can't seem to set Task 1 as the
Finish-to-Start predecessor on Task 2 AND have them start/end in the same
day. I can see if I change the dependency to Start-to-Start they can be
scheduled in the same day. Is that what I have to do despite the nature of
the dependency?

Bob,
Shouldn't be a problem. Here is how I set up your scenario. I entered
two tasks, A and B linked finish to start (A drives B). Upon entry,
Project gave them the default estimated duration of 1 day each. Next I
assigned a resource to each task. Initially that set the work at 8 hrs.
However, since I have Fixed work tasks, I then set the desired work
value at 2 hours each. Project then re-calculated the duration at 0.25
days. Both tasks occur during the same day and A is the predecessor of B.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[_Bob]

Thanks John. I looked at it again and realized that I needed to set the Lag
to be -1d. I tried what you said below and it didn't move the 2nd task to
be on the same day as the first one. Changing the Lag did the trick.

Thanks
Bob

 

[John]

Thanks John. I looked at it again and realized that I needed to set the Lag
to be -1d. I tried what you said below and it didn't move the 2nd task to
be on the same day as the first one. Changing the Lag did the trick.

Thanks
Bob

Bob,
You're welcome. It will work the way you set it up but you are "forcing"
the issue. The method I described is the more standard approach,
however, you will probably need to delete and then re-enter the tasks as
I described. Attempting to modify existing tasks can sometimes result in
undesired results because Project's work equation (duration =
work/units) acts differently depending on which part is fixed and also
on the sequence in which the variables are entered. I suggest you go to
the Project help file and search for "work equation". Then select "About
task types".

John
Project MVP

 

[Steve House]

Be careful to keep the notions of duration and work separate. If you have a
task that requires 2 hours of work, that can either be a 1 day task with the
resource assigned 25% (doing 2 hours of Full Time Equivalent work over the
course of 8 hours duration) OR it can be a 2 hour duration task with the
resource assigned 100%, giving it his full attention for the 2 hours it
takes to do the work. If you schedule two tasks linked FS using the first
method, the 2nd task can't occur on the same day as the first because the
first task isn't considered finished until the end of day 1 - the resource
is dribbling the work out in bits and piences and it's taking him the full 8
hours to get the two actual hours of work completed because he's doing other
things at the same time. He starts the task at 8am but we can't call it
done until 5pm and so the next task can't confidently be scheduled to start
until the next day. OTOH, if you schedule using the latter method, then
they can occur on the same day because we can count on a 2-hours work task
that starts at 8am to be finshed by 10am, thus allowing the 2nd task to
start immediately at 10.