Project Tasks › Create Project Tasks › Establishing Task and Resource Constraints

Establishing Task and Resource Constraints

During the planning process, you can establish and fine-tune task durations for all project tasks to obtain an acceptable total project duration. You can create tasks with either fixed or variable durations, sometimes referred to as time-constrained and resource-constrained tasks, respectively. For example, a meeting task is time-constrained rather than resource-constrained. Use the General tab on the Task Properties dialog to define duration of a task.

Autoschedule handles the following task duration types differently:

• Fixed Duration. A fixed duration task is a constrained task that must finish in a specific amount of time. Fixed-duration tasks are constant and are not driven by resource assignments. A fixed-duration task is also called a time-constrained task. When you autoschedule, the length of the task is not changed on the project.
• Variable Duration. A variable duration task is a constrained task that can change when you autoschedule your project. Variable-duration tasks depend on the availability and the number of assigned resources. A variable-duration task is also called a resource-constrained task. When you autoschedule, the length of the task is adjusted around the assigned resource's remaining availability, loading patterns, and maximum percent loading.