Can you have a column showing a driving predecessor for a task?

Question

In my job as a scheduler a common question is "which of the predecessors for this activity is driving the date?" Currently I have to rely on my own knowledge of my schedules or, worst case, I have to look at every predecessor until I find the one I am looking for. Microsoft Project is nice because it has the "inspect" tool. P6 is nice because it has the "driving" column in the activity details.

I would like a column that displays, ideally, the line number and name of the driving predecessor for each activity. If that's not possible, just the name or line number is fine. If this is not possible at all, I would just like to know if there's any way at all to find the driving predecessor quickly in Smartsheets.

So in short, my question is this- when you are asked what the driving predecessor for a task is, how do you find the answer?

NHowerter · Answer

Update- I have found a way to list the line number and task name for all incomplete predecessors. I also have a column that will display "ready" if all predecessors are done, "waiting" if not all predecessors are done, "in progress" if the task is in progess, and "complete" if the task is complete. If someone stumbles upon this post and wants me to explain it, reply to this and I will when I am able.

I have not yet found a way to ONLY list the driving predecessor.

NHowerter · Answer

That does look along the right lines! I think I figured out how to list the predecessors that aren't completed but not sure about how to list the driving predecessor only.

Darren Mullen · Answer

@NHowerter Does this solution give you want you need? It sounds like it.  It tells you which predecessors a specific task is still waiting on before it can start.

https://smartsheetguru.com/smartsheet-task-ready-to-start-solution/