2/5/2020 Understanding Task Dependencies in Project Management

Understanding Task Dependencies in Project Management

Dependencies are the relationships among tasks which determine the order in
which activities need to be performed. There are four (4) types of dependency
relationships.

Types of dependencies

Finish Predecessor must finish before Successor can start.

to [Land must be purchased before road building can
Start start]

Start to Predecessor must start before Successor can start.

Start [Road excavating must start before Asphalt can be
laid]

Finish Predecessor must finish before Successor can

to finish. [Laying Asphalt must be complete before line
Finish painting can be completed]

Start to Predecessor must start before Successor can finish.

Finish [Road excavating must start before line painting can
be completed]

Dependencies are the relationships of the preceding tasks to the succeeding

tasks. Tasks may have multiple preceding tasks and multiple succeeding tasks.
The most common dependency relationship is a finish-to-start relationship.
Task P (predecessor) must be finished before task S (successor) can start. The
least common relationship is the start-to-finish relationship. Project Insight,
project management software, supports all four dependency relationships.

Product Development Activity List

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The chart above shows how a Product Development Activity List may look after
the project team determines the task relationships. In our example, only finish-
to-start relationships were used.

It is always easier to arrange all tasks in terms of a finish-to-start relationship

and an 'as soon as possible' constraint. This dependency type is the easiest
relationship for others to understand and will usually result in a longer than
normal schedule. This gives the schedule more 'slack.' You may then utilize the
other relationships as ways to shrink the duration of the overall schedule. If you
use finish-to-start and as soon as possible, you will be able to change the
schedule in Project Insight, project management software, with just a couple of
mouse clicks.

<< Previous | Next >> Project resource allocation and resource management

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Prepared by Metafuse, Inc. in conjuction with Core Performance Concepts, a PMI registered education partner.
PMI is a registered mark of Project Management Institute, Inc.

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