missing 'enforced predecessor' check box

[LeeCh1]

Hi, I am a WF noobie, so please excuse this question if it's super obvious. I'm trying to have a successor task not start until after the predecessor task has been completed i.e. i would like the start date on the successor task to automagically update when the predecessor end date has been adjusted. Make sense? My suspicion is that our template is not setup that way, and/or that feature has not been enabled on our account (and unfortunately I'm not the admin - whom is away from the office just now). Below is what i'm after (the screen grab is from the WF help files). After that, is my actual screen capture of what I see in my project. What am i doing wrong? Thanks for your help. BTW I imported this project from my .mpp into WF (don't know if that is perhaps the reason). Here's what my task looks like... - some guy in a basement flickering grey cubicle

[VicAl]

Hi Lee, Welcome to Workfront and the Community! It's your Task Constraint that is likely the culprit. In your example it says Must Start On, which locks the date of the task to whatever Start Date you have entered (and ignore Predecessors). Typically I use that Task Constraint rarely of use it for the first task of a project. The Enforced checkbox that was circled just prevents the person assigned to the Successor task from changing that Status of that Successor Task if the predecessor isn't complete. So it's not part of the problem here and importing from mpp shouldn't be either. To make it a little easier to see and update, I would add a view to your Task Views that included the Predecessor field and the Task Constraint field. The preds will be easier to enter (just enter the task number of the pred – the default is what you've asked for– next task doesn't start until the pred is finished (Finish to Start or fs). Then you can also see and change the Task Constraint to ensure it's what you want. In this case you want As Soon As Possible. Then it's driven off the predecessor. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions or need help with the Views.

[EXP_-_DustinMa]

Hi Lee, To add on to what Vic is saying, you'll need to go to the predecessors tab and add a new predecessor that way: You can also inline edit the predecessor via the predecessor column on your task view, and just add "e" after, such as "3e" for a predecessor of task 3. You can do the various dependency types such as 3sse for 3 - start-start - enforced. Thanks! Dustin Martin Tier 2 Assigned Support Engineer Workfront

[MikePe]

I'd like to chime in with a little view enhancement we use to help check this very issue, as any task constraint besides "As Soon As Possible" or "As Late As Possible" can really throw a wrench in the works when you are trying to let your dates be determined automatically through Duration + Predecessors. You can set your Task Constraint column up with conditional formatting to assist you in quickly recognizing when a task is set to a constraint that will interfere with Workfront's ability to cascade date changes down the task list by setting up an Advanced column rule in your View that looks something like this: This rule makes it so any task constraint that is not ASAP or ALAP will be highlighted yellow, and it can save a ton of hair pulling when trying to identify where things are awry in your workflow :) Of course, setting the task constraints as ASAP/ALAP in your templates helps, and this view rule can also help you audit your templates to ensure they are set to ASAP/ALAP as well. Mike Perez Tailored Brands

[DrewBa]

i came across this exact issue. You can't apply enforced after you create the initial predecessor link. Dont use the top level add predecessor as it doesnt give you the "enforced" option Click in the task name and go the the next screen. go to the drop down and find predecessors option Delete the predecessor if you have one. Add predecessor and chose enforce ... Now you'll see the "e" at the end of the predecessor icon example >8e Now someone can't start that task until the previous is finished... Took us 2 years to figure this out. Drew Baillie Loblaw Companies Limited

[VicAl]

You can also just type 'e' after the Predecessor number inline.

[DrewBa]

Really ? I'll have to try that tomorrow. Get "https://aka.ms/o0ukef" style="color: #40ACE8">Outlook for iOS

[DrewBa]

confirmed. Deleting the number and retyping the number and 'e' works :) Thanks for the tip Drew Baillie Loblaw Companies Limited