Dependencies are the relationships among Tasks which determine the order that activities need to be performed. In Ganttic, this is represented by a connecting red arrow pointing in the direction that the Tasks should occur, while also establishing connections between them. Discover how to enable, create, and use Task Dependencies in your Resource planning.
Must Know
- This feature can only be enabled or disabled for the entire account and all Users.
- Only Owners and Admins can enable or disable Task Dependencies for the account.
- Multiple connections with a single Task are allowed.
- Ganttic only supports Finish-to-Start dependencies - Task A (predecessor) must be finished before Task B (successor) can start, but various Lag/Lead options are available that make it possible to have connections between overlapping Tasks.
- Dependency lines connecting the Tasks can be hidden or shown for each Custom and Single Project View via View Visibility settings. However, "hiding" will not remove the actual Dependencies.
Dependencies Overview
A dependency is a visual relationship between Tasks that helps tell you the order things should happen.
For example, you have 2 tasks – Task A and Task B. If Task B requires the completion of Task A, then Task B is dependent on Task A. The dependency between the 2 will be illustrated on the Gantt chart.
In order to establish dependencies, it’s important to define which tasks are dependent on which, and which need to happen first. This means identifying the predecessors and successors.
Predecessor (P) – A task, whose start and end dates control the start and end times of subsequent tasks.
Successor (S) – The subsequent task, the start and end dates are controlled by the predecessor.
Before You Begin
Enabling Dependencies in General Settings
Before you begin, make sure that Dependencies are enabled for your Ganttic account. Owners and Admins can do this from Settings > Dependencies.
Enabling Dependencies for the View
In the View you’re at, ensure that the Show dependency lines option is enabled via View's Visibility Settings.
See and manage your Task Dependencies from the Task Edit Dialog toolbar. The green indicators will be displayed if any Task Dependencies are established. From here you can also edit or remove them.
NB! A Task can have an unlimited number of dependencies.
Creating Dependencies
- In a Custom or Single Project View, click on a Task to open the Task Edit Dialog.
- Mark the check box of any Successor or Predecessor Tasks you’d like the initial Task to be linked with. At this point the 2 Tasks cannot overlap. When you set the Lag/Lead to Maximum Lead or Fixed Lead (step 4), you can have the Tasks overlap.
NB! Make sure that the succeeding and preceding Tasks are inside the visible time period of the View, and that the Tasks you want to connect aren't overlapping. The checkbox appears on all other Taskbars once you open the Task Edit Dialog you want to connect. - Click Save when done. The two Tasks are now connected. Successor and predecessor connections are listed in the Task Dependencies section of the Task Edit Dialog.
- Define Lead or Lag Time. Select from the options in the Lag/Lead box, and include the amount of time in days or hours. Hit Save when finished.
- Fixed Lag – the specified lag (delay) between dependencies will remain the same whether you move the successor or predecessor up or push it back.
- Minimal Lag – the lag (delay) between tasks cannot be less than the specified time, but there is no cutoff to how much of a delay can be added to the successor task.
- Fixed Lead – the lead (overlap) between dependencies will remain the same whether you move the successor or predecessor up or push it back. Use this option to manually fix the overlap period.
- Maximum Lead – the maximum amount of time a predecessor can be advanced and in which the tasks can overlap.
NB! All leads and lags are positive numbers.
- Click Save and hit the Back-Arrow to return to the main Task Edit Dialog In your View’s Gantt chart, the arrows will direct the path.
Remove Dependencies
Open the Task Dialog, click on the Task dependencies icon, then on the X. You'll find it on the right from the Dependencies you have set.
Task Dependencies in Action
Fixed Lag example
If you are a windows manufacturing company and you know that the delivery will always be planned 4h after the patch is ready. You can fix the lag between the patch and the delivery time.
Minimal Lag example
If your construction project requires pouring concrete on the base, you know you need to wait a week for it to cure, before you can start with the framing phase. That gives a lag time of 7 days.
Fixed Lead example
If your green energy outfit requires permits to officially wrap up your work, you can start applying for the permits before the job’s done. Set the lead for when you’re a week out and avoid any delays at the end of the project.
Max Lead example
Your voiceover actors need the video footage to be complete before recording. But if some of the clips are ready, the actors can get started earlier. That means some of the successor Tasks may overlap with the predecessor Task.
Next steps
In project management dependencies can occur within the same project or amongst different projects in the portfolio. These are known as internal and external dependencies. Internal dependencies occur within the same project. While external dependencies are between two tasks within different projects. Easily spot external dependencies via different taskbar coloring options for swift management.