Datasheet

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Chapter 1: Project Management: What It Is, and Why You Should Care
Figure 1-2:
This sched-
ule includes
tasks with
timing but
no depen-
dencies.
Here are some examples of dependencies:
✓ You can’t begin to use a new piece of equipment until you install it.
✓ You must wait for a freshly poured concrete foundation to dry before
you can begin to build on it.
✓ You can’t start to ship a new drug product until the FDA approves it.
Figure 1-3 shows a project plan where each task’s duration and the depen-
dencies among tasks have been established, enabling Project to calculate the
resulting overall timing of the project.
One other brief note about the timing of tasks: In addition to applying depen-
dencies to tasks, you can apply constraints. For example, say that you don’t
want to start shipping your new cake flavor until you get the ad for it in your
holiday catalog, so you set a dependency between those two events. You can
also set a constraint that says that you must start producing the cakes no
later than November 3. In this case, if you don’t make the catalog deadline,
the product will still ship on November 3; that task will not be allowed to slip
its constraint because of this dependency relationship.
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