Adding Tasks - overview

This topic briefly describes how to add tasks and budgeted hours for a Project Planning tool project. The following also highlights how to create dependencies and summary tasks. Full details on tasks and their properties are located in the All about Tasks topic.

Quickly Add a Task

  1. In the Task column on the left, click in an empty cell and enter the task name. The name should be clear and concise enough for the employees tracking time against the task. You can later add a full description to better detail the task (see Complete Task Properties in the All About Tasks topic).

  2. In the Hours column, enter the budgeted number of hours required to complete the task. By default, 8 hours is entered for each task added.

 

Tip: Try to enter your tasks in the same order that they will be worked.

 

 

After entering budgeted hours for a new task, a small link icon may appear next to the hours. You have the option to use this link to quickly create a dependency between this new task and the task above it. Task dependencies are described next.

 

Linking Tasks / Creating Dependencies

The Project Planning tool uses one type of link dependency: Finish to Start. A Finish to Start dependency should be set when a task (the predecessor) must be finished before another task can start (the successor). The Project Planning tool uses the project's budgeted hours for tasks and their dependencies to determine the project's scheduled finish date.

 

PROJECT PLANNING

 

Setup Overview

Building a small test project

Adding tasks and estimates

Assigning resources to tasks

Leveling a project's resources

Publishing a project

Tracking a project's progress
 

FAQs...
 

Operational Questions

Do we have resources to take on a project?

How long will a new project take?

How much will a project cost?

How is a project doing vs. its budget?

Do I have over utilized employees?
 

More...


 

 Task A must be finished before Task B can start.
 

  1. Click on the predecessor task (Task A) - the task that must finish before the other task can start.

  2. While holding the Ctrl key, select the successor task (Task B) - the task that cannot start before the other is finished.

  3. Click the Link button on the toolbar; or right click and select Link.

The dependency is displayed in the Gantt area as a thin line connecting the tasks.

 

Use the Unlink toolbar button to remove a dependency.

 

See the All About Tasks topic for more information on dependencies.

 

Summary Tasks

 

For larger projects, you can create summary tasks to better group adjacent tasks that have common characteristics or have a logical grouping, and that are scheduled in the same time frame. Summary tasks can be interpreted as project phases or milestones. Creating summary tasks can also help reduce the visual clutter and make the Gantt area more readable.

 

The following instructions assume that the summary task has not yet been added.
 

  1. Click on the top most task you want to group together.

  2. Click the Insert toolbar button . This creates the location for the summary task (above the task selected in step 1).

  3. Enter a name for the summary task. There is no need to enter hours for summary tasks since the sum of the sub-tasks’ hours will be displayed in the Hours column.

  4. Select the tasks to include in the summary task. The selected tasks must be immediately below the summary task and must be consecutive. TIP: With the first task selected, use the Shift key to select the last of the consecutive tasks.

  5. Click the Indent toolbar button , or right click and select Indent.
     

See the All About Tasks topic for more information on summary tasks.

 

WHAT'S  NEXT

Assigning employees to each task created for the project.