Creating dependencies

If you have multiple people in your project, you’ll probably need to set a dependency.  There is no need to set dependencies between tasks that are owned by the same person because they are implied by the tasklist order, and re-prioritizing (re-ordering) is the best way to solve that scheduling issue.

It is recommended that you use dependencies sparingly as they complicate plans. You should use them on tasklists when possible.  There are four tricks you’ll want to learn if you are using dependencies.

Trick 1 – If you have a set of tasks that need to occur in order and they are assigned to different people, you’ll need more than prioritization, you’ll need to chain them together. For example:

To do this, multi-select the tasks (shift+click or ctrl+click) and choose Chain from the actions menu.

Bingo, everything is in order:

Trick 2 – In trick 1 you saw how we did a multi-selection. You can also multi-select and clear dependencies from the actions menu.

Trick 3 – Follow or edit dependencies by clicking on the green arrows next to the schedule bars. You’ll get a pop-up menu that lets you move the selection to the dependency.

Trick 4 – Filter by dependent tasks. If you have a large plan it can be hard to see the dependencies. The last button on the filter bar has many useful filters and way down at the bottom is a great one that shows only tasks that are in one way or another dependent.

You can also create or edit a dependency via the dependencies tab in the edit pane:

Broken Dependencies

There are several ways to break dependencies. You’ll know at a glance if you have a broken dependency because the icon will turn red and a status message will appear under the dependency tab of the work detail pane.

same owner

You simply don’t need to make items owned by the same person dependent on one another. Tasks owned by the same person are scheduled according to how the items are prioritized (listed), with the first item in the list scheduled first. All successor tasks to the first work item will be scheduled after the first item is expected to complete, creating an implicit dependency.

circular

Two tasks cannot be dependent on the other task finishing or starting. This would mean neither could ever start, or finish, or start…you get the idea. It’s broken.

on inactive

You could be waiting a very long time if you put a dependency on an unscheduled task.

on deleted

You’ll be waiting even longer if your task or project is waiting on something that’s been deleted. Like, maybe forever.

on later project

Adding a dependency to a project that is scheduled after the project you’re working on will cause a broken dependency. That would imply the later project needs to get done first. If that’s the case, re-prioritize it by dragging and dropping it where it belongs and you’ll be good to go.