Find out here how to organize your project schedules in Tabsters with dependencies & the critical path.
During the planning phase of your projects, relationships between your different tasks will emerge, because, for example, task B cannot start without the deliverable of task A.
These relationships between tasks are called dependencies.
A dependency indicates how the execution or completion of one task influences another. Dependencies are therefore logical links, essential for establishing the order in which different activities must be carried out in order to complete your project.
Defining these various dependencies enables you to identify a common thread running through your project, which is called the critical path.
The critical path therefore essentially corresponds to the longest time needed for your project to be successfully completed.
Any delay in delivery on a task on the critical path results in a delay in the final delivery of the project
Visualizing this path in a Gantt chart, for example, enables you to identify the various key points in your project, with a view to optimizing your various resources so that the project is delivered on time.
Tabsters provides you with different types of dependencies for your schedules:
An End to Start dependency is one that stipulates that element A cannot start until element B has finished. For example, the "Test Code" task cannot start until the "Write Code" task has finished, so this is an End to Start dependency.
An End to End dependency is a dependency which stipulates that element A cannot be completed until element B has been completed. For example, when installing a computer system for a customer, the tasks "System connection" and "Program configuration" are two tasks that run in parallel, but the "Program configuration" task can only really finish once the "System connection" task has also finished.
A Start to Start dependency is a dependency that stipulates that element A cannot start until element B has started. For example, a "Prototype Development" task cannot start until the "Requirements Gathering" task has started.
Creating dependencies in Tabsters is only available on the planning and table screens.
To create a dependency from the planning screen, position your mouse on the element on which you wish to start your dependency (here, element A).
The display of element A's bar (representing its temporality) will then change.
The two black dots at the ends are particularly noticeable.
Click and hold on the black dot of your choice, depending on the type of dependency you wish to set up (the one on the left for a Start to Start dependency, and the one on the right for an End to Start or End to End dependency).
Then drag your mouse to the end of element B with which you wish to create a dependency on element A (Left end for a Start to Start or End to Start dependency, and right end for an End to End dependency).
Once positioned on the desired end, the black dot will then turn grey, indicating that you are well positioned for your addiction.
Release your mouse click to set up the dependency.
A validation pop-up will ask you to confirm that the dependency has been set up, so click on " OK".
Your dependency then appears.
Please note: You will notice that the schedule does not undergo any date modification on the dependent element; this is normal.
The application does not automatically recalculate the schedule according to dependencies, in order to avoid any unintentional schedule shifts in the event of an error.
You can still choose to recalculate your schedule according to your dependencies if you wish, by clicking on the icon for the level where you are located, and selecting the " Recalculate schedule (based on dependencies) ".
This option will therefore recalculate your schedule according to the dependencies you've set up. In this case, the dates of element B have been moved because of the End to Start dependency with element A.
Note that you can also add your dependencies at the planning screen level by right-clicking on the element on which you wish to create a dependency, and selecting the "Dependencies" option.
Dependency settings at this level are the same as on the table screen, and are detailed below.
To create a dependency from the table screen, position yourself on the line of the desired element and right-click on it.
A pop-up menu will appear. Select the "Dependencies" option.
This will open the pop-up of the selected element's dependencies.
In this pop-up, you will find two different sections:
To add a dependency, simply click on the blue "+"button next to the label(select the "+" button according to the dependency you wish to apply, either taking the selected element as the start or end point).
Once you've clicked on the blue "+"button, a line corresponding to the dependency will appear.
To select the dependent element, fill in the object key column with the element key.
Your dependency line will then be updated with information relating to the dependency path created, with the "Name" column taking the name of the dependent element, the "Offset" column taking the delay in days between the two elements and the "Next / previous constraint" column taking the start / end date of the dependent element.
N.B. Dependency path information is not automatically updated when the object key of the dependent element is added. For the data to update, you must close the pop-up and reopen it.
You can also modify various dependency information.
This allows you to modify the type of dependency chosen, as well as the desired delay required between your two elements, in order to add a delay between them. This will have the effect of modifying the value of the Offset column.
To modify these columns, simply click on the dependency type to open the selection drop-down menu, or double-click on the required delay to open the text entry box.
What's more, in table view, you can display dependency information in various columns.
There are 8 fields:
These fields are not editable, and retrieve their data automatically from the dependencies that are set by the user.
However, if you click on one of the fields Previous / next dependencies, Previous / next delay or Previous / next constraint, this will open the dependencies pop-up to allow you to make the desired changes.
As explained above, the critical path corresponds to the longest period of time needed to complete your project.
In order to display a critical path in Tabsters, you must highlight the final element of your project, placed on your dependency path, using the "Highlighted" column.
To highlight an element, add the "Highlighted" column from the column selection.
This column takes the form of a light bulb icon, which is empty by default, with a blue outline.
Click on the light bulb icon of the line you wish to highlight, and the icon will turn orange, indicating that your element has been highlighted.
As previously mentioned, the critical path is visible in the table view, with the Critical path column being a Boolean indicator informing you of the element's presence in the critical path.
For a more visual representation of your critical path, switch to the planning view.
By default, the critical path is not displayed in the planning view.
The critical path display setting can be activated in the Gantt options and saved in your view.
To access the critical path display setting, click on the cogwheel icon at the top of the display, next to the column selection icon.
This will take you to the Gantt setting options.
Then select the "Show critical path" option, and click on "Validate".
Your critical path will then appear on your schedule.
The critical path is represented by the various red elements of the schedule.
If your critical path does not appear, or if you wish to make changes to your dependencies and the critical path needs to be recalculated, you can update it by left-clicking on the icon for the level you are at, and selecting the "Update dependency & critical paths" option.
This will cause a recalculation of the various dependency & critical paths displayed on your schedule.
In Tabsters, you also have the option of exporting your schedules with dependencies and critical paths to Powerpoint communications using Roadmap webviews.
To do this, simply set up your schedule view at Roadmap level with your dependencies and critical path.
If you want your critical path to appear in your communication, remember to check the "Show critical path" option in the Gantt options.
Once your view has been set up, go to the Communication tab, and create or edit an existing presentation.
Then click on the blue "+"button at the top of the page, next to the Slides label.
Then select the slide level you want. In this example, we'll use a slide at project portfolio level.
In the "Add from webApp view" section (the choice of available slides opens by default in this section), scroll down until you find the Roadmap view slide.
To select it, click on it and then on the blue Validate button.
Once you've selected your Roadmap webview slide, go to slide settings in the right-hand side panel.
Click on the leaf and pencil icon next to the Roadmap label to select your pre-set planning view.
Once you have selected your view, click on the blue Validate button.
By default, dependencies are not displayed in the Roadmap planning webview.
If you wish to display them in your communication, click on the "Add a setting" button in the right-hand side panel of the slide settings.
A pop-up with various setting options will then appear.
Click on the yellow text to display the settings drop-down menu, and select the "Planning display dependencies" setting.
Also ensure that the setting is equal to "True", then click on the blue Validate button.
You can then save your presentation and click on Build.
Your schedule with dependencies and critical paths will then be generated.
