Task Scheduling and leading zeros

[WhyIsEverythingSoConfusing]

Project has scheduled a task, but the first three days of the assignment have
zero hours assinged to all of the resources. How can I "fix" this such that
the leading zeros (and the annoying "......." in the gantt chart) go away and
the task is scheduled to start the first day a valid assignment is made?

Thanks in advance.

 

[John]

Project has scheduled a task, but the first three days of the assignment have
zero hours assinged to all of the resources. How can I "fix" this such that
the leading zeros (and the annoying "......." in the gantt chart) go away and
the task is scheduled to start the first day a valid assignment is made?

Thanks in advance.

Justin,
It almost sounds like leveling may have been applied. Otherwise, did you
manually assign the resources to start 3 days after the task started?

In either case, it is not clear from your description that anything
"needs" to be "fixed". Rather, it sounds like Project is simply showing
you what the schedule actually looks like, based on the data it has.

Where are you seeing the "leading zeros" - in a Usage view perhaps? As
far as the Gantt display is concerned, if you do not want to see the
"......", you can modify the Gantt bar styles under Format/Bar Styles.
But again, the delay or split is telling you something - ignoring it
won't change anything.

John
Project MVP

 

[WhyIsEverythingSoConfusing]

John,

You are correct, leveling has definitely been applied. And I am seeing the
zeros in the Task Usage view (as well as "........." in the gantt chart).

I don't want to ignore actual task splits; I agree that doing so is quite
pointless (just cleans up a view).

I just don't understand why at the beginning of a task resources are being
assigned days during which they work zero hours. Project is essentially
inserting a delay. The task starts on 09/10/05, but nobody does anything
until 09/13/05. So why, then, doesn't the task simply start on 09/13/05?

 

[John]

John,

You are correct, leveling has definitely been applied. And I am seeing the
zeros in the Task Usage view (as well as "........." in the gantt chart).

I don't want to ignore actual task splits; I agree that doing so is quite
pointless (just cleans up a view).

I just don't understand why at the beginning of a task resources are being
assigned days during which they work zero hours. Project is essentially
inserting a delay. The task starts on 09/10/05, but nobody does anything
until 09/13/05. So why, then, doesn't the task simply start on 09/13/05?

Justin,
The only way I can replicate your scenario is if the 9/10/05 task has an
Actual Start date of 9/10/05. That effectively says the task has
"started" even though there are no resource hours. I suspect the task
has NOT started and the entry in the Actual Start field was either
inadvertent or manually inserted without really understanding what
Actual Start means.

Normally, leveling is applied prior to the project start (i.e. the user
is trying to adjust the schedule so no resource overallocations exist),
or it is applied to resolve overallocations that have crept in over a
period of time. In the latter case, task splits are to be expected (if
the option to split is selected under Tools/Options/Schedule tab).

In the absence of an entry in the Actual Start field, leveling WILL
adjust task start dates. In your case, the 9/10/05 task will indeed be
slipped out to 9/13/05 when the resources are available.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[WhyIsEverythingSoConfusing]

Ah, excellent. I did have a value in the Actual Start field (I am entering
data as the project moves along, and I must've accidentally entered something
that led Project to think that task had started).

Good catch. Thanks for your help.

 

[John]

Ah, excellent. I did have a value in the Actual Start field (I am entering
data as the project moves along, and I must've accidentally entered something
that led Project to think that task had started).

Good catch. Thanks for your help.

Justin,
You're welcome. Thanks for the feedback.

John
Project MVP