When you create a subtask, the task above it will turn into a summary task. Summary tasks are usually used to group similar tasks or they can represent phases of the project. For engineering projects that I manage, I always use summary tasks to create phases of the project.
Summary task are great when you have a few phases with a lot of tasks under it. Once all the tasks have been completed, you can roll-up the summary task to hide all the subtasks. This makes it easier to manage the schedule. TIP — Once you create a summary task, format the summary task with a color to make it easily identifiable as a phase. In the example below, I start with a list of tasks. Click on the task that you would like to turn into a subtask. To speed up the process, you can highlight all the tasks that you would like to turn into subtasks.
See Figure 2. Click on the Task tab, then under the Schedule ribbon section, click on the Indent button. See Figure 3. In Figure 4, you will see that General Conditions is now a summary task. The text is bold and has an arrow to the left which can be clicked on to roll-up the subtasks. Note that in the Gantt chart the summary task bar is formatted differently to the subtasks. The bars can be formatted differently if you prefer. In Figure 5, I have selected the summary task and highlighted it orange.
This is a personal preference of mine to distinguish phases. You can get creative and have different colours for different phases, use a different font, larger font, etc. Figure 6 shows the Long Lead Procurement summary task that I created next. It has also been formatted orange to show that it is a summary task. In Figure 7 below, the summary tasks have been rolled-up and the tasks below it are now visible without having to scroll down to see them.
This can also help when you need to print a project. You can also turn the entire project into a summary task. The entire project can now be rolled up. Note that the default title will be used to name the project summary task. You can change the default title by going File then clicking on Info and clicking on Project Information. Another great way to add structure to your schedule is by adding outline numbers. Sequential numbers will be added to the summary tasks and subtasks.
See Figure 10 below for an example. When you delete a summary task, all the subtasks below it will be deleted too. If you do not want to delete the subtasks, make sure you outdent the subtasks first. You can then delete the summary task without deleting the subtasks. For further help, always visit the Microsoft support website — Basic tasks in Project. How to show the critical path in Microsoft Project.
How to set a baseline in Microsoft Project. How to Make Subtasks in Microsoft Project. But be careful — changing the duration of the summary task does not necessarily change the durations of the subtasks.
Avoid assigning resources to summary tasks. Assign them to the subtasks instead, or you might not be able to resolve overallocations. Create and work with subtasks and summary tasks in Project desktop. Need more help? Expand your skills. Get new features first. Was this information helpful? Yes No. Thank you! Any more feedback? The more you tell us the more we can help.
Can you help us improve? Resolved my issue. Clear instructions. Easy to follow. No jargon. Pictures helped. Didn't match my screen. Incorrect instructions. Too technical.
0コメント