Project management header
products page

Detailed planning – Dependencies (schedule)

Schedule

The diagram below shows the 4 major dependencies as seen using the MS Project software.
These are:



Finish to start

Preceding task must finish before the succeeding one can start.

Start to start

Both tasks must start simultaneously.

Finish to finish

Both tasks must finish simultaneously

Finish to start plus 1 week lag

Preceding task must finish before the succeeding one can start.
In this case there is a lag of plus 1 week.
This would suggest that either task ‘B’ will not be able to begin for 1 week after task ‘A’ completes or conversely, task ‘A’ must finish 1 week before task ‘B’ can begin.

This might arise if 1 week of testing is needed prior to the start of task ‘B’.

Finish to start minus 1 week lag

This is more awkward to visualise.
In effect, we are saying that task ‘B’ can start 1 week before task ‘A’ actually completes.

This might apply if task ‘B’ needed a particular level of raw material or parts input from task ‘A’ and would only have enough to begin when task ‘A’ is 1 week from completion.

Start to finish

Preceding task must start before the succeeding one can finish

The simple Gantt chart, as shown in MS Project shows the durations and start and end dates.
It can also show the ‘owner’.
The owner is unlikely to be the one doing the task but the person who is responsible for it.

The format of the window can be modified to show any combination of data in the fields.
This , however, is not a subject for this training programme.

Dependencies scheduleDependencies schedule large