Gasping task durations and constraints

[tonyj90775617]

I am still quite a newbie here with Workfront but I wanted to point out a concept that many new users (including project managers) are having a hard time grasping. That is the simple, but all important, task. Let's just take a newbie new, I feel like sometimes this is their experience: 1. Okay I need to add 4 tasks on this new project. Clicks on Add Task, puts in the description and done. Easily adds 3 other tasks below that - boom! (mood: excited) Task 1 - Gather specs info | 1 Days | 0 Hours | Start On 2/6/17 | Due On 2/6/17 Task 2 - Draft specs doc | 1 Days | 0 Hours | Start On 2/6/17 | Due On 2/6/17 Task 3 - Get specs feedback | 1 Days | 0 Hours | Start On 2/6/17 | Due On 2/6/17 Task 4 - Finalize specs doc | 1 Days | 0 Hours | Start On 2/6/17 | Due On 2/6/17 (all tasks are default Calculated Assignment & As Soon As Possible) 2. Neat it auto calculated the end date! But this will take longer than 1 day so I better add Hrs to each task. Each will take about 4 Hrs so I'll add to all 4 tasks. (mood: excited) All Tasks 1-4 | 1 Days | 4 Hours | Start On 2/6/17 | Due On 2/6/17 Okay I refreshed and it still only says it will take 1 Day even though I have 16 hours of work in Hrs. (mood: confused ) > Often new users don't understand if each task duration is 1 day (meaning 4 days total) or if they all take 1 day total (impossible when think about 4 tasks x 4 hours) 3. I'll just try and just change the due date to what my deadline is for Task 3 (2/8/17). Oh that didn't work! (mood: worried). Why did it change the date back and give this error: "[task] has a constraint date of 2/8/17, which is after the completion date of the 2/6/17 planned completion. Please adjust the date accordingly." 4. It seems like that error says I need to change the completion date to after 2/8 (which makes sense). But isn't this supposed to auto-calculate the due date so I don't have to enter it in manually? (mood: confused, unsure ) 5. Okay I know this project has to be done by 2/9/17 so I'll change go to Edit Project > Planned Completion. Done. What what happen? Now all due dates are on 2/9. All Tasks 1-4 | 1 Days | 4 Hours | Start On 2/6/17 | Due On 2/9/17 6. Okay let's try changing that Task 3 to Due 2/8/17 because that's it's deadline. What happen? I just changed Task 3 due date and they all changed to 2/8/17 now. (mood: frustrated ) All Tasks 1-4 | 1 Days | 4 Hours | Start On 2/6/17 | Due On 2/8/17 Project Planned Completion | 2/9/17 7. This is still not right as the work takes 2 days (4hrs x 4) but it says Planned Completion 2/9/17 which is 1 day. Grrr. Since that Due date can't be used for deadlines I'll change all tasks Durations to 0.5 days so they match the Pln Hrs to fix it. Oh I can't do that in Tasks > Edit because it's Calculated. I can only change Pln Hrs - which are correct. (mood: frustrated and stuck ) > Users often try to change the Due On date to a Deadline and it's distrusting when that doesn't work for them. Also, they are not used to knowing thinking about Start On dates because they are always in flux. 8. I just need to put a deadline on Task 3 for 2/9 and make sure Task 4 is done by the project deadline of 2/20/17. Why is this so difficult? (mood: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) 9. Wait let's see what happens if I change Tasks > Edit > Task Constraint > Fixed Dates Nope just got that error because the project completion date is still 2/9/17. Hmmmmm... Oh lets fix the Completion date to 2/10/17 like the deadline and try again. That worked! Woohoo: Task 3 - Get specs feedback | 2 Days | 4 Hours | Start On 2/8/17 | Due On 2/9/17 Task 4 - Finalize specs doc | 1 Days | 4 Hours | Start On 2/8/17 | Due On 2/8/17 Project Planned Completion (manual edit) | 2/10/17 10. Now it says 2 Days duration for Task 3 that's confustion because it only takes 4 hours. (mood: ,confused ) Hey wait why is the start date for tasks 2/8 not 2/6 (today)?. Oh it looks like it automatically change from Schedule From : Project Started to Schedule From : Project Completed I hope that doesn't mess anything up (mood: unsure , confused ). 11. Okay I'm just going to set all tasks to Duration to Simple and Constrain to Fixed Date except Task 3 which will be No Later than 2/9 This can cause issues with Templates etc. Anyway just throwing this out there as a possible new user experience.

[DavidCo3]

Hi Tony, My first thought from reading your summary is that Plan users must be equipped with a basic understanding of the following before they are let loose on the system. Otherwise as you say, they will end up as seething balls of frustration: What is the difference between Duration and Planned Hours? Overview of task constraints and how they are set What are predecessors (including different types of predecessors) Relationship between parent and child tasks and the impacts of converting one to the other. I would suggest you don't let them play with the project "Schedule From" and Task Duration Types settings - at least at the beginning until they are comfortable with the above basics. There's lots of great training available online too, which the users can login and do on their own. Just click on the Training link at support.workfront.com Regards, David

[DavidCo3]

One more thing though - regarding Task Duration Types, a while ago I put together this summary (colour coded for user-input vs system-calculated). This is a condensed version of what the documentation says, in a way that makes sense to me.

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Very nice summary, David. Thanks for sharing. That reminds me: there is a gotcha , for those considering using Simple as their global default. Once you set it (e.g. Settings > Tasks and Issues > New Task Defaults > Duration Type = Simple), the screen will refresh and show you only the Simple and Effort Driven options (but hiding the other two). To my knowledge, you cannot reverse that decision without Workfront back-door intervention. Consequently, for maximum flexibility, I recommend leaving the defaults alone and instead controlling the Duration Types via Templates. Regards, Doug

[LauraRa1]

Lol, this is great Tony. I can totally relate to this as our early experience with Workfront. We are lucky enough to have a lot of experiences Project Managers on hand who are used to playing with MS Project. I may share your post below, I know I’ll get some laughs here too…. ☺ Laura Ray Junior Project Manager Bakkavor Information Systems Bakkavor Group West Marsh Road, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE11 2BB, UK Direct: +44 (0)1775 763 010 www.Bakkavor.com // Laura.Ray@Bakkavor.com<

[EricLu2]

Ha. Gasping is right! Like nearly every work management tool, WorkFront does separate the concept of labor hours from calendar hours. It is an infinite capacity planning system, which means it will allow any number of labor hours to take place within a given set of calendar hours. Everything unravels in your description as the person tries to balance the two. Argh. I can imagine it is a common frustration. Thanks! Eric

[tonyj90775617]

Thanks David (and others!) for the replies. Those are helpful suggestions indeed and I like the duration type color code. Experienced project managers certainly help, I just wanted to illustrate the experience I see. I also am a big advocate of leaving the defaults and customizing templates. If anyone has had success changing systemwide defaults (like in the Simple example) please share. I have also seen email notification overload (too many emails) which seems to be another new user hurdle. Sometimes I think the approach of 'turn on when needed' vs the 'turn off when overwhelmed' might work better.