PRJ: Adding New Tasks to a Project Already in Progress (75674)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Project 98 for Windows
  • Microsoft Project for Windows 95 4.1
  • Microsoft Project for Windows 95 4.1a
  • Microsoft Project for Windows 1.0
  • Microsoft Project for Windows 3.0
  • Microsoft Project for Windows 3.0a
  • Microsoft Project for Windows 4.0
  • Microsoft Project for the Macintosh 1.1
  • Microsoft Project for the Macintosh 3.0
This article was previously published under Q75674

SUMMARY

When adding new tasks to projects that have already started, certain adjustments must be made to cause these tasks to be scheduled as soon as possible with respect to the current date, rather than the original project start date. Making these adjustments will aid you in avoiding possible scheduling or resource conflicts with tasks already in progress.

MORE INFORMATION

When a new task is added to a project in Microsoft Project, by default it will be scheduled with respect to the project start date shown in the dialog box that appears when you choose Project Info from the Options menu. For example, Any task that has an As Soon As Possible constraint and no predecessors will be scheduled to start on the project start date.

If you want a task to be scheduled with respect to the date it is added to the project, you can do either of the following:

  • Put a constraint of Start No Earlier Than, with a constraint date equal to the current date, on the task. This will cause the task to start as close to this constraint date as possible.

    A limitation of this method is that a task can have only one constraint. If you want a task to start as close as possible to the current date, and yet also put a different constraint such as Finish No Later Than <some later date> on the task, this method will not work. However, you can use the next method. -or-

  • An alternative to the Start No Earlier Than constraint is to add enough delay to a task to force it to start no earlier than the current date. To do this, you must first add the Delay field to one of your task tables. For example, to add the Delay field to your Entry table in the Gantt Chart view, do the following:

    1. From the Table menu, choose Define Tables.
    2. Select the Entry table and choose the Edit button.
    3. Select the Scheduled Start line under Field Name, and then choose the Insert button.
    4. Click the blank line created in the Field Name column, and then type "Delay".
    5. Press the ENTER key, and then choose OK. Choose Set.
    You should now see the Delay field in your table between Duration and Scheduled Start. After adding a new task to your project, you can enter an amount of delay equal to the difference between the project start date and the current date to each new task. To find the amount of delay necessary, do the following:

    1. Create a dummy task in your project.
    2. Select this task from your Gantt Chart view.
    3. From the Edit menu, choose Form.
    4. Under the Dates section, enter a Scheduled Start equal to the project start date, and enter a Scheduled Finish equal to the current date (include the start time of the current date). For example, if the start date for your project is 1/1/91 8:00 AM, and the current date is 3/4/91, enter a Scheduled Start of 1/1/91 8:00 AM and a Scheduled Finish of 3/4/91 8:00 AM.
    5. Choose the OK button.
    Project calculates the duration of this dummy task using elapsed duration; this elapsed duration is equal to the amount of delay you will want to add to new tasks. Entering this value in the Delay field for any new tasks will force them to be scheduled no earlier than the current date and still allow Project to add more delay to them when leveling resources, if necessary.

    After calculating this delay value, the dummy task can be deleted.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Project for Windows Reference Guide":

  • "To slip tasks to start on the current date," page 504
  • "Editing an Existing Table," page 443
  • Delay field, page 137
  • Constraint Type/Constraint Date, page 136
"Microsoft Project Reference":

  • "To slip tasks to start on the current date," page 488
  • "Editing an Existing Table," page 430
  • Delay field, page 139
  • Constraint Type/Constraint Date, page 138
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/25/2003
Keywords:kbhowto kbusage KB75674
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.