what the predecessors used for?

[Courtnay]

Can you tell me what the predecessors used for?

 

[sekweles]

With predecessors you are simply saying "What is happening before a
particular task", and successors will say "what happens after a this task."
i hope i answered your question

 

[davegb]

With predecessors you are simply saying "What is happening before a
particular task", and successors will say "what happens after a this task."
i hope i answered your question

The predecessor/successor relationships between tasks are used to
create a Critical Path Method schedule, a more sophisticated method of
scheduling projects. Most of us start out scheduling by using dates, if
we don't have the advantage of some training by an experienced trainer.
We put in a start and finish date for each task, hoping they'll happen
as scheduled. This is a little better than no schedule at all, or a
checklist.

The problem is that when we schedule by dates, when a given task slips,
we have to subjectively decide and manually implement the affects on
other tasks. The is a very rigid model of our project. By entering
dates directly, we've created "Constraints" on the tasks which make
changing the schedule very tedious and time consuming. And when we are
under pressure to finish on time, it's easy to be overly optimistic and
minimize the impact of those changes. At least until the scheduled end
is near, and the project isn't nearly finished.

A better way is to create a list of tasks, then estimate their
durations, then link those tasks. This works best if we link every task
to other tasks, except for a start milestone and a finish milestone,
one at either end of the schedule. Everything else, except possibly
something like weekly meetings, linked in between. The creates a very
flexible model of the project. When a given task slips out a few days,
the other tasks that are affected by it move out to, in the correct
amount as determined by their relationships. We now have the foundation
for a "Critical Path Method" schedule, a far more powerful tool for
managing and controlling our project.

There's a great deal more to CPM, too much to be covered here. If you
Google this NG for more, there's quite a lot. Also google for "Schedule
Continuity". You can also find more detailed information about CPM in
most any good PM/Scheduling book. I reccommend Lewis' "Project
Planning, Scheduling and Control". It's not very complicated, but not
generally intuitive. Once you understand it, your schedules begin to
reflect reality and to be far more useful for running projects.

Hope this helps in your world.

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi Courtnay,

Welcome to this Microsoft Project newsgroup

You might like to have a look at my series on Microsoft Project in the
TechTrax ezine, particularly #1 covering a link to critical path analysis,
at this site: http://tinyurl.com/2xbhc or this:
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMFrame.asp?CMD=ArticleSearch&AUTH=23
(Perhaps you'd care to rate the article before leaving the site,
Thanks.)

FAQs, companion products and other useful Project information can be seen at
this web address: <http://www.mvps.org/project/>

Hope this helps - please let us know how you get on

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP