Set a task that has a set (firm) date and predesessors

Hi,

Is it possible to set a task with a "must occurr on date" with a duration and Predesessor?

Exmple of use:

I have some tasks that people need to complete before I send them on an external training course. The course has a set date and cannot be changed. Therefore I do not want the course date to change in the task list or Gantt for any reason.

Task name: Traing Course

Duration: 1d

Start Date: 4 August 2016

Predessor: 10 (previous task prior to this task)

Can anyone tell me how to handle this?

Reagrds

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Comments

J. Craig Williams

Dingo,

Smartsheet does not handle contraints the same way as some other PM tools.

To have a date that is not changed by other factors (except manually), just remove the Predecessor.

Disadvantages:

1. Critical path is broken (if the task lies on it)

2. If slippage occurs leading up with the task, one or all prereqs may be missed.

There are several different ways I could/would handle this:

1. Change portion of the schedule to a reverse/work-back schedule

see this excellent article about that

https://www.smartsheet.com/blog/support-tip-work-back-schedule

This method also gives Smartsheet's critical path method fits.

You also can't have a task that is has both a forward looking predecessor and a backword looking one. Again, constraints are handled differently.

2. Put in Alerts (Reminders particularly, but also Notifications) on the predecessors leading up to it. All of those prereqs need to be done so the team can go to the training, so I would make sure I put in the schedule warnings and flags to make sure they happened.

I hope this helps.

Craig

DingoBlue

Hi Craig,

Absolutely perfect. Thank you.

I have implemented the solution documented in the link (reverse/work-back).

Regards

Al Z

Craig,

I have a similar question about a "must occur on" constraint, or lack thereof. I did read about the reverse/work schedule but my predecessor/successor/constraint issue is a bit different. I'm putting a schedule together that requires government approvals and public hearings and it is not the end of the project. The public hearings only occur 1/month. For purposes of my question, let's say it is always the 15th of the month.

For example, say multiple predecessors have to be complete by 2/1 in order to be on the government agenda on 2/15. If not complete, we would be on the government agenda on 3/15. And so on. I understand that SS doesn't have a "must occur on" constraint, but any thoughts on a work around for that that force the task "Public Hearing" to be on the next 15th of the month once all predecessors are complete?

Thanks,