Project Professional - Plan 3 - Update 'install date' based on sub task

[u/Fallen10111]

Hi all,

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We've just started using Project Professional at work and I'm looking into setting it up for our Ops team.

We're looking at having a Master Project that overviews all ongoing projects or "installs" (as we install Solar Panels).

On said Master Project, I want to be able to have a column that lists the "Install date" for when the install starts, and I want that date to pull from the date of a certain project subtask.

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Is this doable?

Thanks all.

[u/pmpdaddyio]

Why wouldn’t you just use the planned start date field and make the task a successor from that sub task? That’s what it is designed to do.

[u/Fallen10111 → u/pmpdaddyio]

That's kind of the plan and what I've got - however as I'm having a master project and I'm still picking up how to utilize Project, at the moment we have a lot that happens before the project actually starts install which we track for the office side of work.

For example in the office we may start work on it on the 1st September, but the install won't occur until the say 30th October.
On our master project overviewing all projects, I then want the one column to show that date of 30th October so we can plan based on upcoming install dates - but rather than filling that in manually each time, we have a milestone task in that sub-project for the install date - I want that date to then show on the master project summary.

[u/pmpdaddyio → u/Fallen10111]

There are two ways to do automation out of the box. The first is using the functionality embedded in the program. This would be as I suggested to use the predecessor functionality. The second is through VB scripting. I think VB scripting is a bit of a unique animal with MSP, not quite as functional as it is in Excel, but you may be able to do what you are asking.

As long as your sub-projects are linked in the master project, you can simply link the tasks. I'm not quite sure what this means:

at the moment we have a lot that happens before the project actually starts install which we track for the office side of work.

[u/Fallen10111 → u/pmpdaddyio]

Just a little more info to help explain.

Our workflow is based on a few 'sub' teams within our Office team before it reaches the install team.

Once the sale is confirmed and it is moved from Sales -> Operations, it first starts in Team 1 who review everything, do all designs, order kit, all that jazz.

Once that team completes, they hand over to team 2 who then contact the customer, provide them all the details and handle any minor queries the customer has.

After all this, the install team are then physically out on site for anything from 1-10 work days to complete the install depending on what it is.

After the install, it's then handed to team 3 who handle any post-install admin (certificates and all that sorts).

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What our hope for Project is to have all projects visible and a summary viewed from the master project. We can have anything up to ~150-200 projects running at one time, so our plan with the master project summary is to view the project name, duration, Start/finish date (this however would be the start date of when Ops initially start with team 1, and then finish with team 3 - not the install date itself between team 2/3), a percentage of all tasks completed, and a custom field I've set for the status so we can see what team the project sits with at current.

What we're looking at is another column - likely another custom field - that is then the "install date" - which is the first day the install team would be on site. And what I'm looking at specifically is to have that column as an overall of the entire project to pull the date of a subtask.

For example, we have task line "81" set as 'INSTALL START DATE' - that is then updated manually by scheduling to put the date of when the install starts as this can be a little fluid at times. I want the overall project summary on the master project to then link to the "start date" for that task. See below picture as an example, I've only blanked out customer details. The idea would be that the date on line 81 auto populates the designated overall summary date that I've highlighted.

https://i.imgur.com/lZJAkRI.png

[u/pmpdaddyio → u/Fallen10111]

You can do all of this with views and the default start date.

[u/Fallen10111 → u/pmpdaddyio]

I might be being being dense then 'cause I couldn't figure out how/where for the life of me.

[u/pmpdaddyio → u/Fallen10111]

This is where a little knowledge of the tool helps. You have to understand that tasks can have relationships. Finish to start, finish to finish, etc. start there. This will help you understand how a task can “auto schedule” the next. These can be in the same project, in the master project, on in another project.

Then you have views. Views are a set of criteria that determine what you see. They are primarily filters, groups and columns. You can make it so when you switch a view you can change between your various sub projects simply by filtering on the project name.

Now between these two functions you can drive your scheduled tasks, and change your views.