Creating Activities – Phases, Tasks & Deliverables (v8.xx)

Creating Activities – Phases, Tasks & Deliverables (v8.xx)

An item in Geniusproject can either become a phase, a task or a deliverable. To create and schedule tasks and deliverables in the Gantt chart, click on the item in the table that you would like the new item to be after, and click on the "Insert task" icon (or "Insert milestone" icon ) on the toolbar. You can also press "Insert" (or "ALT-Insert") on the keyboard. A new task (Milestone) will be added to the table and chart.



To move an item, click on the "Move up" or "Move down" icons or simply move the item by drag and drop in the items section (Multiple selection for drag and drop possible).


Click on the icon to indent and the icon outdent an item. Once an item has items indented beneath it, it automatically becomes a phase.


Any items with a duration of one day or more is a task. An item with a duration of 0 days is a deliverable. The duration of a phase is the result of the durations of all items beneath it (not necessarily the sum as some items may occur in parallel); a phase cannot have a duration applied to it directly.


To schedule a task or deliverable, simply click on the task bar or deliverable diamond and drag it to the desired date.




To increase the duration for a task, click on the end of the task and drag it out to its new start or end date.





Task or deliverable dates can also be defined in the "Item Properties" dialog box.


  1. ItemProperties


The "Item Properties" dialog box displays all parameters of the selected item, as well as its assignments. The dialog box is composed of three tabs, the [General] tab, the [Dates] tab and the [Resources] tab. Depending on how you open the window, either one of the tabs may be active.

Navigate to the [Items] menu and select "Item Properties" The Item Properties dialog box will open to the [General] tab

Note: It is also possible to open the dialog box by double-clicking in the Resources column of the Item table in the Gantt chart.


  1. [General] Tab



The [General] tab contains the following item properties:


Name

The name of the task or milestone.






Duration

The sum of all calendar days between the start and end dates. When the Deliverable checkbox is checked, the duration is set to '0'. This value is always expressed in days.

When the duration is changed, the Actual Start Date and Actual End Date are automatically updated.


Work Progress

The project’s percentage of progress, computed using the progress of all tasks in the project. This data is updated when the agent "Update the project dates" runs.

For a milestone, this value is always "0". Once the milestone is completed the value is set to "100%".


Physical Progress

The project’s percentage of physical progress, computed using the cost of all tasks in the project (as the physical progress may not be in the same unit for all tasks). This data is updated when the agent "Update the project dates" runs.

For a milestone, this value is always "0". Once the milestone is completed the value is set to "100%".


Deliverable

When selected, the item is a deliverable. The duration is set to "0" and all date fields, except the Actual Start Date, are no longer editable.

When an item is a Deliverable, only the first row on the [Resources] tab is available as only a single person can be responsible for a Deliverable.


Enable on weekend

When selected, the tasks can be scheduled on weekends (Saturday and Sunday).

Checking the "Enable on weekend" checkbox has an impact on the task Duration.

Current Start Date


Please see [Dates] section.

Current End Date


Please see [Dates] section.


Type


The Activity Type of the task, not visible for Milestones.


Priority


The Priority of the task, not visible for Milestones.


Status


The Status of the task, not visible for Milestones.


Description


Text field that can be entered.



  1. [Dates] Tab



The [Dates] tab contains the following item properties:




The date the task or milestone is scheduled to begin. This value can only be



changed until the task is in progress.



Can be update from the menu for all planned start dates based on a more



accurate forecast taking into account all actual dates already known in the



project:


Planned Date


Start




When the Planned Start Date is changed, the duration is automatically updated.

Planned Date

End

The date when the task or milestone is scheduled to end. This value can be changed until the task is completed or cancelled.

When the Planned End Date is changed, the duration is automatically updated.



This is a computed start date taking into account all actual dates already known in the project as well as task dependencies.


Current Date


Start

At the beginning of the project, all current start dates are the same as planned start date.

When the project is completed, all current start dates are the same as actual start dates.



When the project is in progress, current start dates represent the most probable forecast based on actual dates where they are available and on planned dates where actual dates are not yet known.




Current Date

End

This is a computed end date taking into account all actual dates already known in the project as well as tasks dependencies.

Equals to Current Start Date.

Actual Date

Start

The date work on the activity actually began. This value cannot be modified.

Actual date

End

The date the task was marked completed. This value cannot be modified.





Initial Date





Start

The start date of the last saved initial baseline. This value can only be modified from the menu:



Initial Date


End

The end date of the last saved current baseline. This value can only be changed from the menu "Plan > Initial baseline > Accept selected current dates as initial baseline" and "Plan > Initial baseline > Accept all current dates as initial baseline".


  1. [Resource] Tab


The [Resource] tab contains the following item properties:


Planned Load

The sum of all planned assignments to individuals in the Planned column of the [Resources] tab.

Actual Load

The sum of all actual assignments to individuals in the Planned column of the [Resources] tab.

Remaining

Difference between Planned-Actual.




EAC Load

The EAC (Estimated at Completion) load is the sum of all individual EAC loads computed in the EAC column of the [Resources] tab.

Delta

Difference between Actual-Planned.

Initial Load

The sum of all initial assignments to resources in the Initial column of the [Resources] tab

Unit

The Unit of the assignment


  1. Assigning Resources to an Activity


Once a task or deliverable has been created, resources can be assigned directly to them. In Geniusproject, multiple resources can be assigned to a single task but only one resource can be assigned to a deliverable.


To assign a resource to a task or deliverable, double-click in the cell in the resources column for that particular item, and the Item Properties dialog box will open to the [Resources] tab.


  1. [Resources] Tab

This section contains all assignment information for the selected activity. To assign a resource to the item:


Click on a line in the resources column

Select the desired resource from the drop down list of resources included in the project




If the item is a deliverable, users will only be able to add an assignment to the first row, no further row can be added.



The [Resources] tab captures the following information:



Delete

This button is used to delete the resource from the list of assignees.

The button is active only if the "Resources" column contains a name and if the Actual workload value is "0.000".



Resources

A dropdown list of resources available from the current plan. The cell is only editable if the Actual workload value is "0.000".

Only resources included in the Participants section of the "Project Description" document AND who have a unique "External ID" will be available in the drop down list.



Planned

The planned workload for the given resource. This value can only be modified as long as the task is not completed or cancelled.

It is possible for an individual user’s assignment (workload) to exceed the duration of the task. An alert will warn the user that the planned workload is greater than the duration and will offer the option to cancel or proceed.

Actual

The actual amount of time the resource has already spent on the task.

Remaining

The remaining workload for the resource.

EAC

Estimate At Completion is the sum of the Actual and Remaining workload.

Delta

Difference between Actual-Planned

Initial

The initial workload is the amount saved with the initial baseline.

Unit

The unit of measure for the assignments. It can be hours or days and is defined in the setup.


Once assignments have been made, they can be seen in the Schedule chart at the bottom of the window.


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