Set task start date as an offset from Project Completion date without using duration?

[TimWa]

Our projects are set to schedule from completion date due to hard event dates. I have a need to start initial task 45 days prior to the Project Completion date in a template. Is there a way to do this without a 45 day duration for that task?

[MartyGa]

Hmmmm..... About the only way I can think would be to have a final task, "completion" or "Event Name", then set the previous task with a predecessor relationship with a -45d start to start relationship.

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Nice solution, Marty; that 45 day "kickoff" task effectively drives the MFO Project's Start Date. Tim, I'm curious about the 45 day rule. If there is indeed some action that must happen (such as booking a venue) with 45 days notice, Marty's technnique would fit neatly. However, assuming there are many real tasks with predecessor relationships between them as preparations are made, I would expect "full template" of tasks, which -- if so -- would then "drive out" the 45 day lead time naturally. Regards, Doug

[TimWa]

Thanks for the negative lag time idea. That works well. I used a scheduled-start dependency type without enforcing so the predecessor task which actually occurs first can start before the event date. There are other tasks in this template which can start after these timed kickoff tasks happen. There are other tasks closer to event date that have to remain closer to event date so I have them set to as late as possible.

[TimWa]

I'm still having problems getting this template to work exactly as I want. We have an event date and some tasks at the top of the template that must trigger so many days before event date and other tasks that need to happen closer in to event date. I have this working ok if the user manually adds the must finish on date as the event date in that last task. What I would prefer to do though is have it set to as late as possible and have it automatically schedule the planned dates to the event date. One screen shot shows template, the other shows as a project using template. You can see that last task is way up on 7/10 however when I need it to be 8/1 based on project completion date.

[SusanPf]

Wouldn't the last task need to be a hard deadline (must be completed by)?

[TimWa]

Well that is my temporary setting right now and having the user enter that date on the task but using Schedule from Completion I was hoping a task with as late as possible would have a due on automatically align with the Project Completion Date. Make sense?

[SusanPf]

Doesn't task #10 need to either be told or have some sort of predecessor? Right now (second image) it's a stand alone.

[TimWa]

In the current setup that would create a circular reference as the tasks above reference task 10 as a predecessor.

[ShellyLo]

Tim - You really don't want to use the negative lag time. If you put the lag time on the later task and have the task constraints set to As Late As Possible it should calculate correctly. We do this in all of our templates as we have hard end dates as well. Shelly Long, PMP, CSSGB Marketing Traffic Manager Pier 1 Imports Accelerate to Excellence