Setting up duration for parent row

I would like to estimate durations for work packages level - not on individual task / activity level. The reason behind this, the activities are duration less action plan items that are simply to be checked off while the work package (a group of action items) can be planned to be worked on in the specific order as well as with dependencies.

Alternatively, if it is possible to setup sub-tasks inside (not as child tasks but as a collection of checklist items), then the action plan can migrate inside the work package entry and that entry will no longer be a parent - duration problem solved.

However, it seems I cannot define the duration of that level unless I put some fake task "Working on action items of this group" child task or fake durations of action items.

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Accepted answers

Genevieve P.

Hi @Vadim K

I see - then yes! Creating a "fake" task is the way to be able to manually input a duration.

If you have feedback on Smartsheet's Project capabilities, please let the Product team know by filling in this form, here.

Cheers,

Genevieve

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Genevieve P.

Hi @Vadim K

It sounds like instead of a Parent-Child relationship (which would restrict your Parent Row to the Parent Rollup Functionality) you could have the rows simply below the Package Level row, perhaps with a duration of 0, dependent on the Package Level row, like so:

Screen Shot 2021-11-22 at 10.26.03 AM.png

This way you can set the duration for the Package Level and have all the tasks due by the end of that row.

Although you won't have the + and - ability of Hierarchy to minimize these tasks, you could use colouring in the sheet to identify that they are sub-tasks. You could also create a filter that would hide them, if needed.

If you don't want the tasks to all show at the end of the parent level, you can specify different relationships between each task using the Predecessor column (see Work with Duration and Predecessors):

Screen Shot 2021-11-22 at 10.27.24 AM.png

Cheers,

Genevieve

Vadim K

That was I referred as creating a "fake" task that represents working on a work package overall. I still cannot skip the parent row since I need to group an overall task with actual action plan items together.

I understand you suggested coloring or filtering - which defeats the multi-level WBS. The work package in question does not exist in isolation, it is part of the lengthy project plan with all WBS levels utilized. The work package in question has siblings, some of which have traditional tasks and milestones underneath and few others maintain their own action plan items (durationless tasks with done/not done states).

It is not only for me to have a creative way of putting a sheet together, but it is also for using it over the lifetime of the project, share with other team members, and exporting to Excel or PDF to share with a client.

Genevieve P.

Hi @Vadim K

I see - then yes! Creating a "fake" task is the way to be able to manually input a duration.

If you have feedback on Smartsheet's Project capabilities, please let the Product team know by filling in this form, here.

Cheers,

Genevieve

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