3. Interrupting Work on a Task
When initially planning project tasks, you might know
that work on a certain task will be interrupted. Rather than listing a
task twice to account for a known interruption in work, you can
split
the task into two or more segments. The following are some reasons why
you might want to split a task:
-
You anticipate an interruption in a task. For example, a
resource might be assigned to a weeklong task, but she needs to
attend an event on Wednesday that is unrelated to the task. -
A task is unexpectedly interrupted. After a task is under
way, a resource might have to stop work on the task because
another task has taken priority. After the second task is
completed, the resource can resume work on the first task.
In this exercise, you split a task to account for a planned
interruption of work on that task.
-
Select the name of task 3, Content
edit. -
On the Task tab, in the
Editing group, click Scroll to Task.
You have been informed that work on this task will be
interrupted for three days starting Monday, April 9. -
On the Task tab, in the
Schedule group, click Split Task.
A ScreenTip appears, and the mouse pointer changes. -
Move the mouse pointer over the Gantt bar of task 3.
This ScreenTip is essential for accurately splitting a task
because it contains the date at which you would start the second
segment of the task if you dragged the mouse pointer from its
current location on the Gantt bar. As you move the mouse pointer
along the Gantt bar, you will see the start date in the ScreenTip
change. -
Move (but don’t click) the mouse pointer over the Gantt bar
of task 3 until the start date of Monday, April 9, appears in the
ScreenTip.
-
Click and drag the mouse pointer to the right until
the start date of Thursday, April 12, appears in the ScreenTip,
and then release the mouse button.
Project inserts a task split, represented in the Gantt chart
as a dotted line, between the two segments of the task.
Tip
Splitting tasks with the mouse might take a little
practice. In step 6, if you didn’t split task 3 so that the
second segment starts on April 12, just point to the second
segment again. When the mouse pointer changes to a four-headed
arrow, drag the segment to the correct start date.
Here are a few other things to keep in mind when splitting
tasks:
-
You can split a task into multiple segments. -
You can drag a segment of a split task either left or
right to reschedule the split. -
To rejoin two segments of a split task, drag one segment
of the task until it touches the other segment. -
The time of the task split, represented by the dotted
line, is not counted in the duration of the task. No work
occurs during the split. -
If the duration of a split task changes, the last
segment of the task is increased or decreased. -
If a split task is rescheduled (for example, if its
start date changes), the entire task is rescheduled, splits
and all. The task keeps the same pattern of segments and
splits. -
Resource leveling or manually contouring assignments
over time can cause tasks to split.
-
If you do not want to display splits as a dotted line,
you can remove the dotted lines. On the Format tab, in the
Format group, click Layout. In the Layout dialog box, clear
the Show Bar Splits check box.
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