Developing Projects |
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In This Section |
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Adding Activities to a Project ................................................................................. |
101 |
Linking Activities with Relationships ...................................................................... |
118 |
Assigning Resources and Roles to Activities ......................................................... |
123 |
Assigning Resource Curves .................................................................................. |
127 |
Budgeting .............................................................................................................. |
128 |
Manually Planning Future Period Assignments ..................................................... |
132 |
Adding Expenses and Entering Cost Information for Activities............................... |
138 |
Performing Top-down Estimation (P6 Professional Only) ...................................... |
142 |
Adding Activity Steps............................................................................................. |
145 |
Assigning Notebooks to Activities .......................................................................... |
149 |
Global Change ...................................................................................................... |
150 |
Adding Activities to a Project |
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Activities |
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Activities are the fundamental work elements of a project. They are the lowest level of a work breakdown structure (WBS) and, as such, are the smallest subdivision of a project that directly concerns the project manager. Although you can divide activities into steps, an activity's primary resource is typically responsible for managing and tracking the progress of an activity's steps, while the project manager is typically responsible for managing and tracking the progress of the overall activity.
You can define the following information for an activity:
Activity ID and name, which enables you to uniquely identify and describe the activity
Activity start and finish dates
Activity calendar
Activity type, duration type, and percent complete type, which are used to specify which calendar applies to an activity; whether an activity is a milestone; how to keep an activity's unit values, duration values, and resource units/time values synchronized; and how to calculate an activity's percent complete
Activity codes and values, which enable you to classify and categorize activities
Constraints on the activity's scheduled start and finish dates
Expenses
Predecessor and successor relationships, which are used to define relationships with other activities
Work products and documents and deliverables
Resources
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Notes, which are used to communicate with the resources working on an activity
When connected to a P6 Professional database: Feedback, which is used to communicate with the resources working on an activity
Roles, which enable you to identify skill requirements for staffing the activity
Steps, which divide the activity into smaller units
Work breakdown structure element
Activity types
Activity types control how an activity’s duration and dates are calculated. Choose from six activity types:
Task dependent activity
Resource dependent activity
Level of effort activity
Start milestone activity
Finish milestone activity
WBS summary activity
Each activity must be assigned an activity type.
Activity dates
The following table defines the types of activity dates available in the module and how they are used to plan and schedule your project.
Date Field |
Definition |
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Start |
For started activities, the Actual Start date. |
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For not started activities, set to the Project |
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Planned Start date until the project is |
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scheduled. When scheduled, set to the |
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Remaining Early Start date. |
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Finish |
For completed activities, the Actual Finish |
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date. For not started and in progress |
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activities, set to the Planned Finish date if |
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the project has not been scheduled. When |
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scheduled, set to the Remaining Early |
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Finish date. |
Actual Start |
The date on which the activity is actually |
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started. |
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Actual Finish |
The date on which the activity is actually |
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finished. |
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Date Field |
Definition |
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Early Start |
The earliest possible date the remaining |
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work for the activity can begin. This date is |
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calculated by the project scheduler based |
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on activity relationships, schedule |
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constraints, and resource availability. The |
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Early Start equals the Remaining Start |
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unless you preserve the scheduled early |
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dates during leveling. If you schedule a |
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project using Retained Logic this date will |
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always be visible, even if an activity is |
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completed. |
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Early Finish |
The earliest possible date the activity can |
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finish. This date is calculated by the project |
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scheduler based on activity relationships, |
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schedule constraints, and resource |
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availability. The Early Finish equals the |
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Remaining Finish unless you preserve the |
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scheduled early dates during leveling. If |
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you schedule a project using Retained |
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Logic this date will always be visible, even if |
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an activity is completed. |
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Late Start |
The latest possible date the remaining work |
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for the activity must begin without delaying |
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the project finish date. This date is |
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calculated by the project scheduler based |
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on activity relationships, schedule |
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constraints, and resource availability. The |
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Late Start equals the Remaining Late Start |
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unless you preserve the scheduled late |
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dates during leveling. If you schedule a |
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project using Retained Logic this date will |
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always be visible, even if an activity is |
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completed. |
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Late Finish |
The latest possible date the activity must |
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finish without delaying the project finish |
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date. This date is calculated by the project |
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scheduler based on activity relationships, |
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schedule constraints, and resource |
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availability. The Late Finish equals the |
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Remaining Late Finish unless you preserve |
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the scheduled late dates during leveling. If |
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you schedule a project using Retained |
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Logic this date will always be visible, even if |
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Date Field |
Definition |
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an activity is completed. |
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Project Planned Start |
For an activity that has not started, the date |
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the activity is scheduled to begin. This date |
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is set equal to the early start date by the |
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project scheduler but can be updated |
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manually by the project manager. This date |
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is not changed by the project scheduler |
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once you apply an Actual Start date. |
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Planned Finish |
For an activity that has not started, the date |
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the activity is scheduled to finish. This date |
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is set equal to the early finish date by the |
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project scheduler but can be updated |
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manually by the user. This date is not |
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changed by the project scheduler once you |
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apply an Actual Finish date. |
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Anticipated Start |
The expected start date of the project, EPS |
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node, or WBS level, used during the |
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planning phase. This date is manually |
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entered and is not affected by scheduling. |
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An anticipated start date cannot be entered |
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at the activity level. |
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Anticipated Finish |
The expected finish date of the project, |
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EPS node, or WBS level, used during the |
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planning phase. This date is manually |
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entered and is not affected by scheduling. |
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An anticipated finish date cannot be |
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entered at the activity level. |
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Remaining Start |
The earliest possible date the remaining |
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work for the activity is scheduled to begin. |
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This date is calculated by the project |
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scheduler but can be updated manually by |
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the user. Before the activity is started, the |
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Remaining Start is the same as the Project |
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Planned Start. Once the activity has |
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started, the Remaining Start is equal to the |
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Data Date. When the activity is complete, |
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the Remaining Start is blank. |
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Remaining Finish |
The earliest possible date the remaining |
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work for the activity is scheduled to finish. |
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This date is calculated by the project |
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scheduler but can be updated manually by |
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Developing Projects
Date Field |
Definition |
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the user. Before the activity is started, the |
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Remaining Finish is the same as the |
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Planned Finish. When the activity is |
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complete, the Remaining Finish is blank. |
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Remaining Late Start |
The latest possible date the remaining work |
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for the activity must begin without delaying |
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the project finish date. This date is |
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calculated by the project scheduler based |
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on activity relationships, schedule |
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constraints, and resource availability. When |
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the activity is complete, the Remaining Late |
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Start is blank. |
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Remaining Late Finish |
The latest possible date the activity must |
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finish without delaying the project finish |
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date. This date is calculated by the project |
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scheduler based on activity relationships, |
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schedule constraints, and resource |
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availability. When the activity is complete, |
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the Remaining Late Finish is blank. |
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Expected Finish |
The date the activity is expected to finish, |
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according to the primary resource. |
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Typically, the primary resource enters this |
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date. When scheduling your projects, you |
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can choose to use the Expected Finish |
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dates or not. |
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Constraint Date |
The constraint date for the activity is the |
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date for which the activity's constraint |
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applies. You can enter a primary and |
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secondary constraint. Depending on the |
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constraint type, this date could be a start |
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date or a finish date. For example, if the |
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constraint is a Finish On constraint, the |
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constraint date is the date on which the |
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activity must finish. |
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If the activity does not have a constraint, |
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this field will be empty. |
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Suspend Date |
The date on which an activity’s progress |
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was, or is planned to be, suspended. The |
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activity must have an actual start date |
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before you can enter a suspend date. The |
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amount of time an activity’s progress is |
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