Schedule Projects › Manually Schedule Projects

Manually Schedule Projects

Use the Scheduling tab on the Project Properties dialog box to define the project's scheduling attributes, such as the project's start and finish dates. This data is used when scheduling the project. You should schedule all project tasks to begin and end during the project period.

Note: If you use Autoschedule, these dates may change according to resource assignments, task dependencies, and constraints.

To manually schedule a project

1. Select Project Properties from the application menu at the top left corner of the window.

   The Description tab on the Project Properties dialog box opens.

2. Click the Scheduling tab.

   The scheduling properties display.

3. In the Project section, complete the following:

   Start

   Defines the project's start date.

   Default: The current system date.

   Imposed (Start)

   Specifies whether or not you want to impose a start date for the project.

   Note: You must select this field if you later autoschedule your project from its start date. When selected, Autoschedule cannot change the project's start date to accommodate any changes it makes to the start and end dates of the project's tasks, no matter when the first task starts.

   Finish

   Defines the anticipated project completion date. The project's finish date must equal or be beyond the finish date of the last task. This date is used as the finish date for the last task in the CPM Network.

   Imposed (Finish)

   Specifies whether or not you want to impose a finish date for the project.

   Note: You must select this field if you later autoschedule your project from its finish date. When selected, Autoschedule cannot change the project's end date to accommodate any changes it makes to the start and end dates of the project's tasks, no matter when the last task finishes.

   As-of

   Defines the date that is used as a reference point when performing Earned Value Analysis (EVA) calculations. If you do not enter an as-of date, zero (0) displays in earned value fields such as Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) and Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP).

   Priority

   Defines the order in which subprojects are scheduled within a master project. The priority amount you enter here is used as the default priority for summary tasks; any lower-level WBS tasks that have been marked as inheriting the priority of its parent assumes this priority amount.

   Default: 10

   Values: 0 through 36 (A lower number indicates a higher priority)

   Example: If the project has a priority of 0 through 9, its tasks are given the highest priority during scheduling. If the project has a priority of 11 through 36, its tasks are given the lowest priority during scheduling.

4. In the Critical Path section, complete the following, and click OK:

   Type

   Defines on which dates to base the critical path during CPM calculations.

   Default: Current

   Values:

   • Current. Open Workbench uses the project task's current start and end dates to determine the critical path.
   • Baseline. Open Workbench uses the start and finish dates and durations from the current baseline to determine the critical path.

   Subnets (All Projects)

   Specifies whether you want CPM to calculate the project's critical path separately for each subnet. When cleared, one critical path is calculated for the entire project.

   Default: Cleared

   The Project Properties dialog box closes.

More information:

Schedule Subnets

Schedule Projects

Define Project Scheduling Properties

Define Task General Properties

Calculate Critical Path