Setting Dependencies

Creating dependencies between projects and workitems

Finish-to-start dependencies can be added in the work detail pane between scheduled tasks with different owners. There are several instances where you can get a broken dependency, for example if you try to set a dependency between tasks with the same owner, or if you make two tasks dependent on one another, or if one or both tasks are unassigned (and therefore unscheduled). See the example below of good and bad dependencies.

Good dependency – this is what you want your dependencies to look like:

Bad dependency – a great example of what you don’t want:

Read the descriptions carefully to make sure you set the dependency on the right item; This item will not start until the following items finish is not the same thing as The following items will not start until this item finishes.

Once you have successfully created dependencies between two (or more) tasks, little icons will appear in your schedule. Click on the icon to open to the dependencies tab of the details pane.

The icons will look something like these, which are green for good:

Unless of course you have broken a Law of Dependency, in which case you will angry red icons that look like this:

And that would be bad indeed! So remember – dependencies must be:

• Finish-to-start
• Owned by different people
• Not dependent on each other
• Set between scheduled tasks
• Between projects and/or tasks (not categories)

Happy planning!