Multiple predecessors

MatthewA

I am new to smartsheet. It's a great tool but have run into difficulty working this out. I need to apply 2 predecessors to a task. One being that the task has to be completed no less than 2 weeks before the final milestone of the project (the event date). The other being that the task can only start once a prior task has been completed.

Any advice on this would be great.

Thanks!

 

J. Craig Williams

MatthewA,

 

You can't do this in Smartsheet.

This would require determining the Duration as you want to set a possible start date (from prior task) and a hard deadline (two weeks before the MS).

In Smartsheet, you can set one of the criteria, but not both.

 

The lines between effort and duration are blurry in Smartsheet.

 

Craig

MatthewA

Thanks Craig - much appreciated.

D_Jacquin

Hi Craig-

I am trying to do something similar. I would like task "3" to start when when task "1" starts and for task "3" to end when task "2" ends. I added 1SS and 2FF as the predecessors, but it just gives a 1 day duration and ends the same time as 2FF. I thought doing in this fashion would create the start and the finish  of task "3", so therefore would create the duration, but it does not appear to work that way. Do you have any suggestions?

 

Thank you!

J. Craig Williams

D_Jacquin,

Not much, unfortunately.

Smartsheet does handle constraints in the same way as other PM tools like MS Project, or even at all in some cases. In Smartsheet, you can't have a predecessor for each end to force the duration. 

Craig

D_Jacquin

Thanks for the quick response Craig!

Ok, then what I will do is start with the same duration as the predecessor (Task "1"), but add a 2FF dependency with a 2 day lag, so that my task "3" will always end 2 days after task "2" just in case task "2" pushes out. Not the perfect solution, but it will work for now.

 

Thanks again!

Dan

J. Craig Williams

Glad to be able to help.

What I tend to do when running a project (which doesn't happen as often as I would like), is to set up notifications and reminders when I know the schedule needs to be checked for certain things. While the system can't do many of the things as you describe, it can be set up to prompt the PM for attention.

Craig

D_Jacquin

Yes, notifications are a great feature, thanks again for the input.

 

Dan