Fine-Tuning Task Details in Microsoft Office Project 2007

Key Points

• By using a combination of task relationships plus lead and lag time, you can more accurately model how work should be done.

• When entering lead time between a predecessor and successor task, entering a percentage lead time value offers more flexibility because Project recalculates the lead time value whenever the duration of the predecessor task changes.

• The constraint options in Project enable you to fully take advantage of the scheduling engine in Project or to effectively turn it off. Think through the effects of semi-flexible and inflexible constraints on your schedules, and use them sparingly.

• You can often set a deadline date for a task instead of applying a hard constraint, such as Must Finish On.

• You can record any fixed cost value you wish per task, and it is not associated with resource costs.

• The critical path indicates the series of tasks that determine the project’s finish date. Project constantly recalculates the critical path, which may change as the details of your project plan change.

• You can interrupt work on a task by splitting it.

• For tasks that must be completed outside of the project’s normal working time (as specified by the project calendar), you can create a new base calendar and apply it to the task.

• Project supports three different task types; fixed units is the default. A task’s type determines how Project reschedules a task when you change work, duration, or assignment unit values.

• Set up a recurring task for activities, such as status meetings, that occur on a regular frequency.