MS Project Task Dependencies

Question

Can anyone recommend a "clean" way to set up these three tasks? Thanks!

Task A Task B Task C - Both Task A and Task B are predecessors of Task C as follows:

• Task C to start when Task A finishes (FS)
• Task C cannot finish before Task B finishes

Answer 1

The predecessors for Task C are:

• Task A Finish-to-Start
• Task B Finish-to-Finish

If Task A is ID 1 and Task B is ID 2, the Predecessor field for Task C should be 1,2FF. Note that finish-to-start relationships are the default so the FS is not needed unless there is a lag (e.g. 1FS+2d would indicate start the task 2 days after task 1 finishes).

Update

Based on the comment below, what is desired is called a hammock task--a task whose start and finish dates are determined by other tasks.

This can be achieved by Paste Linking Task C's dates to the other tasks' dates.

1. Set the date format to show times (File->Options->General).
2. Copy the finish date from Task A (right-click, Copy Cell), select the start date for Task C and paste link (right-click Paste Special, Paste Link).
3. Do the same to link the finish date of Task B to Task C.

The result is that both the start and finish of Task C are fixed:

For details, see How to Build a Hammock Task.