Priority based levelling for split tasks having actuals

[proj12]

Hi,

I have seen below behaviour:
- A task A got split as there were some actuals before the start date followed by a work done on a different task
-Later there was a changing in project priorities with other project tasks getting higher priorities
- To make sure that half worked task A gets finished before any other task I set its priority to 1000
-Still pending part (after the split) of task A is prioritised after all the tasks having priority less to it! (I use Priority/Standard levelling; no splits allowed)

Why is that? To get around I had to delete actuals for Task A and then re-level.

thanks

 

[JulieInMaine]

What are the priorities for the other tasks? Project is not particularly good at fine gradations of priority. What are your settings for Critical in the Leveling dialog? Is the remaining part of Task A critical?

 

[proj12]

Do you mean the setting for Critical in Options-> Calculation?. The setting identifies tasks with 0 slack as critical. I dont think the pending part of the split task A was critical - I was just relying on priority to have it done earlier.

Do you reckon setting number of days of slack something as <=5 days to identify as critical to solve the issue?

regards

 

[JulieInMaine]

No, I was referring to the settings in the Resource Leveling command "delay tasks only within available slack". If the remaining part of Task A was not critical (it had slack) and the other tasks were critical (no slack) then the zero slack tasks will not be delayed by the resource leveling command.

 

[JulieInMaine]

On the other forum

http://www.msofficeforums.com/proje...ing-split-tasks-having-actuals.html#post29949

Uncheck the option in Tools > Options, Schedule "Allow splits in remaining work". Then remove leveling, increase the priority of Task A to 700 and level.

Does that work?

 

[proj12]

Hi Julie,

Well, yes if turning splits off is possible temporarily to solve this issue (and then I should be able to keep splits on again without disturbing it).
I need splits on because:
- we have some recurring support tasks which should split reguler work
- To ensure optimal resource utlitisation. Due to dependencies, certain high priority tasks may take time to start. In this duration I need low priority starts to be worked on and later split over to high priority ones once the dependency is sorted out.

In this example, seems I can keep split on later on without inpact so its good news!

Thanks.

 

[JulieInMaine]

You're welcome and thanks for the feedback.

You may also want to have further separation in the priorities. In the sample file you attached in the other forum, you had priorities ranging from 500 to 540 I believe. Leave gaps of atleast 100 points and remember the higher the number, the higher the priority. A priority of 1000 means "Do not Level". You may also find adding the priority field and the "Leveling Can Split" fields to a view gives you a much easier way of working with Resource Leveling.