Can I recut a project by common sub-task? E.g. Design on 3 projects

[eddie101]

Hi,

Project Plan re-cut question.

I need to work with an MS project plan as supplied by our programme office. It has a series of projects, and each of these has several things to deliver. Teams will carry tasks in each delivery. These are common across deliveries and projects.

For for example, a design task "Task 1" appears many times, e.g.:

Delivery A
----Task 1
---------Task 2
--------------Task 3
------------------Task 4
Delivery B
----Task 1
---------Task 2
--------------Task 3
------------------Task 4
Delivery C
----Task 1
---------Task 2
--------------Task 3
------------------Task 4

Also deliveries are staged (not shown). Task 1 is carried out by the same team in each case, and so on. What I would like to do is re-cut the plan so that it is useful for the teams as a task based schedule

Task 1 (Summary)
----Delivery A
-------------Delivery B
------------------------Delivery C

Task 2 (Summary)
--------Delivery A
-----------------Delivery B
----------------------------Delivery C

Task 3 (Summary)
--------Delivery A
-----------------Delivery B
----------------------------Delivery C

I could do this manually but there are 9000 lines on the project plans, with probably 100 design tasks that I have to deliver, over 1000 lines.
So if there is a way to cut the plan to show this, that would be great.

 

[PDQBach]

It's not clear to me: Are Task1, Task2, Task3, Task4 at increasing outline levels

1. Delivery A
1.1 Task1
1.1.1 Task2
1.1.1.1 Task3
1.1.1.1.1 Task4

2. Delivery B
2.1 Task1
2.1.1 Task2
etc.

Or are they are at the same level ... in other words, more like this:

1. Delivery A
1.1 Task1
1.2 Task2
1.3 Task3
1.4 Task4

2. Delivery B
2.1 Task1
2.2 Task2
etc.

I'm asking because, in the first example I show, it makes Task1, Task2, and Task3 summary tasks and your requested display is probably impossible. In the second, it might be do-able.

 

[eddie101]

They are the same level, but I was trying to show that the tasks don't happen in parallel (they're linked). I did use spaces at first to show this , but the forum software crops all extra spaces out and I had to use - to get spacing, so I apologise if this confused.

So the need is based on:

1. Delivery A
1.1 Task1
1.2 Task2
1.3 Task3
1.4 Task4

Thanks.

 

[jblack34]

If the task names are in fact exactly the same, it could be as easy as this:
1. Insert a Text Field
2. Code all tasks under the Delivery A phase as "Delivery A", all tasks under Delivery B phase as "Delivery B", etc. (inputting into the Text field).
3. Group by Name

JBlack

http://www.pmconnection.com

 

[eddie101]

No, they are not all the same. There are 9000 lines and my example is deliberately simplified.

I can't post actual extracts as the information is owner by the client and is confidential.

I will try and create a more meaningful sample and post an attachment.

 

[eddie101]

I've uploaded an (hugely simplified) example.

http://www.abssorb.com/MISC/Example_Ref_re-cutting_by_Outline.mpp

Thanks.

 

[eddie101]

No-one?

 

[PDQBach]

Well, I'm playing around (so far, quite unsuccessfully) with several approaches. I expect that JBlack34 is also trying out a few options.

And I'm sure you've tried several different possible solutions. You aren't, by the way, being billed for this. <grin>

 

[eddie101]

Hi,
I'm very grateful for any help. Sorry if my above post sounds like a nag, that wasn't my intention, I was worried about the readability of the file.

 

[PDQBach]

File is just fine -- better than "find", actually, since it's got a good explanation as well as a good example.

I'm down to two possible solutions. Neither, actually, is a solution but, rather, a "do-able" workaround. If I get the time later today I'll post my answer.

 

[PDQBach]

I could not come up with an easy, effective way to migrate from one schedule to another. The problem is centered on what you are trying to do: you want to make Summary Tasks (which don't have resources, work, duration, etc. since each of these items/values is derived from information in the underlying tasks) into Tasks (which DO have resources, work, start, finish, etc.).

Additionally, your "What we are given" shows predecessors and successors while the "How we want to display" example shows the tasks without any. Although it (probably) wouldn't be impossible to preserve them, it will be a challenge because, once again, we're taking information from detail tasks on one project and trying to apply them to Summary tasks that have been converted to detail tasks in the new project.

I suppose I *could* write some VBA code to go whipping on through the project file to summarize, taking (in turn) all the detail tasks that have the same name, determine each time what the Summary task the next level up is, invert that relationship, and create new detail tasks in a new schedule. But there are just too many issues (minor typos, differences in levels of indent/outdent, etc.) to make this a reasonable approach.

So here's my workaround. You'll have to decide if it works for you.

1. All detail tasks (not the Summary tasks, just the detail tasks) must have a resource. If you haven't assigned one then use a generic resource.

View > Resource Usage
If you see any tasks with the "Unassigned" resource then you must go back assign a generic resource to them.

2. Put the following VBA in the project and run it. This gets the task name and the next level up Summary task name and stores them with the assignments.

Sub PDQBach()
Dim tsk As Task
Dim asgn As Assignment

For Each tsk In ActiveProject.Tasks
If Not tsk Is Nothing Then
If Not tsk.Summary Then
If tsk.Assignments.Count > 0 Then
For Each asgn In tsk.Assignments
asgn.Text1 = tsk.Name
asgn.Text2 = tsk.OutlineParent.Name
Next
End If
End If
End If
Next
End Sub

3. Create a special Group By
View > Resource Usage
Project > Group By > More Groups... and click on the New button

In the "Group Definition" popup:
Name: PDQBach
Group assignments, not resources: put a check mark in the box

Now you can create the conditions:

Group by: Text1, Assignment, Ascending
Then by: Text2, Assignment, Ascending
Then by: Name, Resource, Ascending

Click on OK

4. Display the data
Project > Group By > More Groups..., click on PDQBach, click on Apply
On the Formatting toolbar click on "Show" and select "Outline level 2"


Note that this does not display the info in a Gantt chart (you can already see that). It also doesn't show any overallocations (that's not immediately obvious).

But it does let you see when each group is involved and, if you set "Show" to "Outline level 3" then you can see the actual resources doing the work.

It's not the optimum solution but the alternative involves a lot of work that is prone to error.

 

[eddie101]

Many thanks for the comprehensive answer PDQBach, this is greatly appreciated. I'm out of the office at the moment using my handheld to reply. I'll be back in on Wednesday and can give this a go on project.

 

[eddie101]

Thanks again PDQBach, I've had time to delve into this and your suggestions have proved useful.

As you say, it doesn't produce a gantt chart, so the people I'm trying to satisfy are still in need, but for the project office it will be very useful.