Dependencies & critical path
Find out here how to organize your project’s plannings in Tabsters with the dependencies & the critical path.
During the planning phase of your projects, links between your different tasks will emerge: For example, task B can not start without the deliverable from task A.
These links between tasks are called dependencies.
A dependency indicates how the execution or completion of one task influences another. Dependencies are therefore logical links, essential for establishing the order in which different activities must be carried out in order to complete your project.
By defining these various dependencies, you'll be able to identify a common thread running through your project, the critical path.
The critical path is therefore essentially the longest time needed to bring your project to a successful conclusion.
Any delay in the delivery of a critical path task results in a delay in the final project delivery.
Visualizing this path in a Gantt chart, for example, allows you to identify the various key points in your project, thus allowing you to optimize your various resources to ensure that the project is delivered on time.
The different types of dependencies
Tabsters offers different types of dependencies for your plannings :
The End to Start dependency :
An End to Start dependency is a dependency that stipulates that the A element can not begin until the B element is not done.
For example, the “02. Test code” task can not start until the “01. Write code” task has been completed, so this is an End to Start dependency.
The End to End dependency :
An End to End dependency is a dependency that stipulates that the A element can not be completed until the B element is not done.
For example, when setting up a computer system for a customer, the “01'. System connection” and “01. Program configuration” tasks run in parallel, but the “01. Program configuration” task can only really be completed once the “01'. System connection” task has also been completed.
The Start to Start dependency :
A Start to Start dependency is a dependency that stipulates that the A element can not start until the B element has not begun.
For example, a “01. Prototype development” task cannot start before the “02. Requirements gathering” task has begun.
Creating dependencies within Tabsters
Dependencies creation in Tabsters is only available on the planning and table screens.
Planning screen :
To create a dependency from the planning screen, position your mouse on the element on which you wish to start your dependency (here, element A).
The display of element A's bar (representing its temporality) will then change. In particular, two black dots at the ends of the bar will appear.
Click and hold on the black dot of your choice, depending on the type of dependency you wish to set up (the left one for a Start to Start dependency and the right one for an End to Start or End to End dependency).
Then drag your mouse to the end of element B with which you wish to create a dependency on element A (Left end for a Start to Start or End to Start dependency, and right end for an End to End dependency).
Once positioned on the desired end, the black dot will then turn grey, indicating that you are well positioned for your dependency.
Release your mouse click to set up the dependency. A validation pop-up will ask for confirmation that the dependency has been set up, simply press “OK”.
Your dependency is now visible.
Attention point : You will notice that the schedule does not undergo any date modification on the dependent element, which is normal.
The application does not automatically recalculate the schedule according to dependencies, to avoid any unintentional schedule shifts in the event of an unwanted modification.
You can still choose to recalculate your schedule according to your dependencies if you wish to, by clicking on the icon for the level that you are on, and selecting the option “ Recaltulate planing (from dependencies) “.
This option will therefore recalculate your schedule according to the dependencies that you have set up. In this case, the dates of element B have been shifted because of the End to Start dependency with element A.
Please note that you can also add your dependencies while on your planning screen by simply right-clicking on the element's line on which you wish to create a dependency, and selecting the option “Dependencies”.
Dependency settings at this level are the same as on the table screen, and are detailed below.
Table screen :
To create a dependency from the table screen, position yourself on the line of the desired element and right-click on it.
A pop-up menu will appear. Select the “Dependencies”.
This will open the pop-up of the selected element's dependencies.
In this pop-up, you will find two different sections :
Previous dependencies : In this section, you can add dependencies to the element, taking the selected element as the end point of your dependency. The number in brackets after the label indicates the number of previous dependencies applied to the element.
Next dependencies : In this section, you can add dependencies to the element, taking the selected element as the starting point for your dependency. The number in brackets after the label indicates the number of subsequent dependencies applied to the element.
To add a dependency, simply click on the blue “+” button next to the label. (Select the “+” button according to the dependency you wish to apply, either taking the selected element as the start or end point).
Once you have clicked on the blue “+” button, a line corresponding to the newly created dependency will appear.
To select the dependent element, fill in the object key column with the element's item ID.
Your dependency line will then be updated with the information relative to the dependency path created, with the “Name” column taking the name of the dependent element, the column “Lag”, which will take the delay in days between the 2 elements and the column “Previous / Next constraint” which will automatically fill in with the start / end date of the selected element.
N.B : Dependency path's informations are not automatically updated when the item ID of the dependent element is added. In order for the data to update, you must close the pop-up and reopen it.
You can also modify various informations relative to the dependency.
You can therefore modify the dependency type, as well as the required lag wanted between the two elements to add a delay between them. This will change the value in the Lag column.
To modify these columns, simply click on the dependency type to open the selection drop-down menu, or double-click on the required lag section to open the text entry box.
Furthermore, in table view, various columns allow you to display information relative to dependencies.
There are 8 fields :
Critical path, a Boolean indicating whether or not an element is on the critical path.
Dependencies path, indicates the item ID of the two dependent elements.
Previous / Next constraint, indicates the date of the next/previous element according to the selected dependency.
Previous / Next lag, indicates the time lapse between the two interdependent elements as a numerical value.
Previous / Next dependencies, indicates the item ID of the interdependent element, according to the chosen dependency.
These fields are not editable and retrieve their data automatically from the dependencies set by the user. However, if you click on one of the fields Previous / next dependencies, Previous / next lag or Previous / next constraint, this will open the dependencies pop-up to allow you to make the desired changes.
The critical path
As explained above, the critical path is the longest period of time needed to successfully complete your project.
To display a critical path in Tabsters, you imperatively need to highlight the end element of your project, placed on your dependency path, with the “Highlighted” column.
To highlight an element, add the “Highlighted” column from the column selection.
By default, this column takes the form of an empty light bulb icon with a blue outline.
Click on the light bulb icon of the line you wish to highlight, and the icon will then turn orange, indicating that your item has been highlighted.
As mentioned above, the critical path is visible in the table display, with the Critical path column, which is a Boolean indicator informing you of the element's presence in the critical path.
For a more visual representation of your critical path, switch to planning view.
By default, the critical path is not displayed in the planning view.
The display of the critical path can be activated in the Gantt options and saved in your view.
To access the critical path display parameter, click on the cogwheel icon at the top of the display, next to the column selection icon.
This will take you to the Gantt setting options.
Then select the "Display critical path" option, and click on "Validate”.
Your critical path will then appear on your planning.
The critical path is represented by the various red-colored elements in the planning.
If your critical path does not appear, or if you wish to perform modifications to your dependencies and the critical path needs to be recalculated, you can update it by left-clicking on the icon of the current level you are at, and selecting the option “Refresh dependency paths & critical paths”.
This will cause a recalculation of the various dependencies & critical paths displayed on your planning.
Communications
In Tabsters, you can also export your plannings with dependencies and critical paths for Powerpoint communications, thanks to Roadmap webviews.
To do this, simply set up your planning view at Roadmap level, with your dependencies and critical path.
If you want your critical path to appear in your communication, remember to check the “Display critical path” option in the Gantt options.
Once your view has been set up, go to the Communication tab and create or edit an existing presentation.
Then click on the blue “+” button at the top next to the Slides label.
Then select the slide level you want. Here we will use a Business line-level slide for our example.
In the “Add from a webapp view” section (The available slides’ choice opens by default on this section), scroll down to the Roadmap view slide.
To select it, click on it and then on the blue “Validate” button.
Once your Roadmap webview selected, go to the right lateral setup pane of the slide.
Click on the pen and paper icon next to the Roadmap label to select your planning view, previously set-up.
Once your view selected, click on the blue “Validate” button.
By default, dependencies are not displayed in the Roadmap planning webview.
If you wish to display them in your communication, click on the “Add a parameter” button in the right lateral setup pane of the slide.
A pop-up with various setup options will then appear.
CLick on the yellow text in order to display the setup drop-down menu, and click on the “Planning display dependencies” parameter.
Also make sure that the parameter is set on “True”, then click on the blue “Validate” button.
You can then save your presentation and then click on Build.
Your planning with your dependencies and critical path will then be generated.
