Merlin Project: Use Dependencies, Remove Static Dates, Stay flexible
With Merlin Project you are free to plan your project in any way you find it more suitable. You can plan in Work breakdown with Gantt, as a Mind Map, a Kanban board. Just pick the view you need and customize it to your needs.
While Mind Map is not focusing on time constrains, when viewing the Gantt of your project, you are interested in its scheduling. So you might already intuitively dragged the activity's bar on the Gantt to fix it to a specific time frame, or entered dates in the Given Start column or the Plan inspector.
And we have to admit, there is nothing wrong about that, other than the manual work you are putting into these actions of setting static date constrains and loosing flexibility.
How to stay flexible for scheduling changes in the future?
The answer is easy; use Dependencies
- Merlin Project offers following Dependency types: End to Start, Start to Start, End to End, Start to End
- Dependencies can be combined with a lead or a lag.
- You can define Dependencies graphically, enter the Predecessor's (or Successor's) number in the according outline column, use the inspector, or the Link toolbar icon. Read here more…
Converting a static scheduling into a flexible one
Let's consider following sample project.
En savoir plus...Merlin Project: Report With Project Objective
We received following question just recently:
I’m using the latest version of Merlin Project. I have created a draft project file for a client who has requested regular status report. When I generate a report there’s a field with a heading “Objective” which shows blank on my reports, but is filled-in on the reports from your built-in templates and the help guide. Where can I edit the field in my project as this would be useful to have?
Summer reading tip for Project Managers
Summertime and a summer leave offers professionals much-deserved time to think and grow. It's when many of you have the breathing room to reflect on your work methodes. You can now catch up with all that you've set aside for "when I have time" and it is available to you in the internet, blogs, books or other resources.
As a PM, if you start to plan your professional learning for the summer, take a look at this recommended reading list we have assembled for you. For the talented in leaning languages among you, we include book tips in English and German that cover a wide range of Project Management topics. But we have to admit, some books work just as well in winter time.
Our special summer reading tip?
A casual sentence of a supervisor leads to a project that should be planned, documented, and realized in time without exceeding the budget. A difficult task, no doubt, but a clever project manager knows how to help himself. With the right tools he can make the project planning easier, reduce risks and ensure the success of the project.
This book illustrates how this all works smoothly and easily with Merlin Project.
More summer reading for PMs
En savoir plus...Understanding and Resolving Scheduling Conflict: Dependency order is violated
From time to time we receive in support following question:
Why does Merlin show some text or dependency lines in red?
These are rows with scheduling conflicts.
En savoir plus...Merlin Project: Split an activity?
From time to time we receive in support following question:
I have scheduled my activity and already recorded actual progress. Now however, I need to push the remaining work to a later date, or to assign it to another resource. Can I split the activity? And how do I set this up in Merlin Project?
There is no explicit function in Merlin Project splitting activities, but…
En savoir plus...