Creating a project schedule

After creating a project and project WBS, create the planned schedule by specifying approximate dates and duration for each activity.
Ensure the WBS Schedule Gantt viewlet is available in your view:
  • If you are using the default dashboard, click the Schedule tab. The Schedule Gantt viewlet is available in this view.
  • If you are using a customized dashboard, ensure the Schedule Gantt viewlet is added to your view. Select a tab, click Add viewlet, and add the Schedule Gantt viewlet.

To perform this task, you must have the required security permission. For more information about security permissions, see User security settings.

To specify the schedule:
  1. In the WBS tree, select a program or project to nest the project under. If you want to create the project as a root element, the selection in the WBS tree is not relevant, even though, by default, an element is always selected in the tree.
  2. Optional: To enter the project planned dates and duration, ensure the WBS Schedule Gantt viewlet is available in your view. By default, the project start date and finish date are the program start date, and the duration is one day. You can opt to leave the default dates and duration, and allow the project schedule to be determined by the schedule of the project WBS. For more information on how project schedules are determined, see Schedule calculation.
    Note: You can enter the planned project dates and duration as long as the project does not contain any child elements. After you add child elements to a project, the project dates and duration fields are disabled, and are aggregated from the dates and duration of the child elements.
    Double-click the following fields and enter the details (if you enter any two of these fields, the third field is calculated and displayed based on the available working days as defined in the project calendar):
    • Start Date: start date for the program; must be earlier than the finish date. By default, the start date is the current date. If you enter the Finish date and Duration, the Start date is calculated and displayed.
    • Finish Date: finish date for the program, must be later than the start date. By default, the finish date is the same as the start date. If you enter the Start date and Duration, the Finish date is calculated and displayed.
    • Duration: duration in number of days for the program; calculated as the number of days between the Finish date and the Start date. By default, the duration is one day. When you specify the Start date and Finish date, the Duration is calculated and displayed. If you modify the duration, the project finish date is adjusted to match the duration.
    Note: The Effort field is non-editable. By default, the effort is 8 hours. The planned effort for the project is calculated based on the project duration, and the working hours specified in the project calendar. You cannot modify the planned effort. After you create the WBS and its schedule, the project effort is calculated from the effort of the project activities.
  3. To save the schedule information, in the WBS Schedule Gantt viewlet, click Save.
After adding the project, create the project WBS. For more information about creating the WBS, see Creating the WBS.

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