Setting the Schedule Options

     

The Schedule tab contains options that control many aspects of how Project operates its scheduling engine on your projects. It sets many defaults and specifies several actions, such as how Project handles in-progress tasks and how it deals with constraints when scheduling.

Understanding Scheduling Options

This option sets whether Project displays a dialog notifying you of inconsistencies it finds in your project. Leaving this option checked will let Project give you valuable advice about how it schedules.

By default, Resource Assignment Units are shown as a percentage. This option allows you to show this number as a decimal.

This option lets you change the default start time for new tasks so that new tasks start on the current date. Otherwise, the default start time is the start of the project itself.

This option lets you define the units in which Duration fields are entered. Days is the default value.

Work fields are entered in hours by default, but this option lets you change this to minutes, weeks, months, or years .

This option lets you define the Default Task Type for new tasks.

For Your Information

The Work Formula Task type is a task setting that controls how Project adjusts Work, Duration, or Units values when one of these three values is edited. Project has a basic formula for tasks that it ALWAYS makes true:

Duration = Work/Units.

This is the fundamental formula in the Project scheduling engine. If you edit one of these values for a task, Project must change one of the other values to make the equation true. Task Type allows you to have some influence on the process by defining which value in the equation should not be changed during a recalculation of the formula. Fixed Units tasks keep the units constant (fixed), and Fixed Work or Fixed Duration tasks keep the Work or Duration constant. The table printed here shows how Project adjusts this formula in various situations.

Work Formula ”Task Type Adjustments

For a task of type:	Edit Units	Edit Duration	Edit Work
Fixed Units	Duration is adjusted	Work is adjusted	Duration is adjusted
Fixed Work	Duration is adjusted	Units are adjusted	Duration is adjusted
Fixed Duration	Work is adjusted	Work is adjusted	Units are adjusted

Setting the Schedule Check Box Options

This option defines whether new tasks are effort driven by default. When new resources are assigned to an effort-driven task, Project does not increase the number of hours or work, but instead divides the hours of work between resources.

With this option checked, a task inserted between two linked tasks becomes linked to both tasks.

This option allows Project to create splits in the remaining work of tasks that are in progress if linked tasks slip behind schedule.

If this box is checked, tasks will honor any constraints they have even if doing so violates the preceding or following links on the task.

This option controls whether Project displays a question mark after the Duration Units value for estimated values.

This option sets durations for new tasks to be estimated by default.

Did You Know?

Constraints are added to tasks if you enter a start date or finish date . Be careful when entering dates for a task. Let the links between tasks drive the dates whenever possible.

For Your Information

Setting Constraints

Constraints set limits on when a task can either start or finish. They can be useful when a task must start or finish on a certain date, or when tasks should not start before or after a given date. However, because they limit the start or finish date of a task, they also place limits on the scheduling engine inside Project. Functions such as resource leveling might not give the desired results if tasks have constraints on them because Project might enforce these constraints rather then adjust the task start date. For this reason, constraints should be used only when absolutely required.