Slack

There is already a built-in View called the Detail Gantt which shows the slack.

See View, More Views, select the View, Apply.

If you go to Format, Bar Styles you can see how the slack bar is made.

If you switch to the Schedule Table (View, Table, Schedule) you will see all of the applicable columns including ES, LS, EF, LF, Free Slack and Total Slack.

Darren all brown nosing aside you are excellent at explaining things!!



Faisal,



In addition to what Darren said you can also look to see what tasks are slipping/have slipped by using the same method as Darren suggested for float but for 6 & 7 use baseline start and baseline finish instead of Early/Late finish. I suggest using a Red bar to show the baseline as it’s easy to identify.

Faisal,



Back to your original question, you can also show Slack / Float on your Gantt Chart if you like.



Format > Bar Styles



1.     Insert a row

2.     In the ‘Name’ cell, type in Slack / Float (or whatever you like).

3.     In the ‘Appearance’ cell, change the shape / pattern / colour of the bars to suit (I tend to use a narrow green bar for obvious reasons).

4.     In the ‘Show For ... Tasks’ cell, select Normal (so it only applies to sub-tasks not summary tasks etc.) from the drop-down menu.

5.     In the ‘Row’ cell, select 1 from the drop-down menu.

6.     In the ‘From’ cell, select Early Finish from the drop-down menu.

7.     In the ‘To’ cell, select Late Finish from the drop-down menu.



Once you click OK you should see Slack / Float on the activities in the Gantt Chart.



Regards,



Darren

Faisal,



In MS Project a progress line can have a symbiotic relationship with the status date and % Complete. In this case it needs to use both of these reference points to determine progress.



Using the status date as a starting point, if your Actual % Complete is less than your Planned % Complete the progress line will reflect this by adding a vertical line graph on the Gantt Chart.



You can then easily see if you have any tasks that MS Project thinks are behind schedule and act accordingly.



Regards,



Darren

Faisal,



Only helping people out on the easy questions :o)



You need to set a status date which you use to track progress against (in fact you can probably include that as another option in your other question).



Project > Project Information > Status Date



You then need to show a progress line on the Gantt Chart.



Tools > Tracking > Progress Lines



Make sure ‘Always display current progress line’ and ‘At project status date’ options are selected.



Each time you update the schedule, change the status date and you can then use the progress line to gauge whether your project is on track or not.



Regards,



Darren

Hi Faisal,



Slack = Float



Free Slack / Float is the time available in a project network before a preceding task(s) delays the start date of succeeding task(s).



Total Slack / Float is the time available in a project network before a task delays the project end date.



Insert > Column > and then select either Free Slack or Total Slack from the drop-down menu, depending on your requirements.



Regards,



Darren