Add or Edit WBS Elements and Task Items

The schedule interface allows you to add your WBS elements, including phases, deliverables, tasks, sub-tasks, and activities,  as line items, in a hierarchical structure and schedule them according to their timelines.

• General contractors - The Master Schedule - Add high-level elements like phases, deliverables, etc., in the required hierarchy, specify start/end dates, and assign them to subcontractors. The start days, durations, and end days of the items in the parent levels are auto-calculated. You can also add tasks/subtasks for the items that your company can undertake and assign them to your own company. 
• Subcontractors - The Contractor Schedule - Receive the work items assigned to you. Add subtasks, work packages, and activities in the required hierarchy to the tasks assigned to you, and schedule them according to the timeline of the parent tasks. You can link the items you include to your project estimate for effective cost tracking. The leaf-level items can be pushed to the field for the foreman to create a field schedule, execute them, and report their progress. 

Configure task items in a schedule

• Navigate to the scheduler grid screen. To do so:
  • Open the management console for the project
  • Click the app launcher  , then select 'Schedule'
  • The scheduler opens on the grid view by default. To return to the grid view from any other screen:
  • Click 'Planner' on the top and select 'Grid' on the left.

The example shown below is the master schedule accessed by the GC. The subcontractors access the contractor schedule interface.

Columns:

By default, the scheduler table opens with selected columns. You can add or remove columns as required. Click here for more details on the columns.

Add a New Row  

Include a row at the end of the list 

• Click '+ Add New Row' at the bottom of the table.

Include a row at a specific position inside the list

• Right-click on the item below the position where you want to add a row and choose 'Insert Above' from the options.

Note: You can add only one row at a time using either of these methods, add the details, then go to the next one.

Enter the Task Details

• Add the line-items one-by-one to the schedule table. You can also use the cut/copy and paste options to clone rows and edit them as necessary.
• Press the 'Enter' or 'Tab' key on your keyboard to save the value and move to the next cell
• Use the left arrow/right arrow and Tab keys on your keyboard to move between cells in the table.
• Use the formatting options at the top to apply styles to text and the cells and rows in the schedule table. See to Apply Formatting to Rows and Cells learn more.
• You can also use the copy/paste options to clone a row, a group o rows or a branch of the WBS tree structure to create new rows with similar values then edit them as required. See Clone Rows and WBS branches to learn more. 
• Optionally, you can assign a unique color to each task for use in the Gantt view, creating a distinct visual representation for every task in the chart. See Apply Gantt Chart Color to learn more.

Note: The auto-save feature of the scheduler saves the values you enter for each item.

• Outline - The serial number of the task item in the outline numbering system as per the hierarchical structure. This field is auto-populated.
• Task Name - A label to identify the item. Contractors can add custom names for the phases and deliverables they add. If you are adding an item from the estimate, the task name is auto-populated from it. You can edit the name as desired.

Tip: You can add URL links in the task name field. This is useful if you want add reference to project-related documents, like drawings, specs, etc, stored in cloud-based storages, or any code compliances, government regulations, etc., which are necessary for task completion. Once a URL is added, the system identifies the text and renders it as a clickable link automatically.

• Task code- (Optional) The task code for the item. The task code also doubles as the cost code for tracking the budget and expenses with respect to the item. You can view the available Task Codes by clicking 'Company' > 'Task Codes' on your project portfolio console. See View Company Task Codesfor more details. 
  • Double-click inside the 'Task Code' cell and select the code from the drop-down
  • The task code gets auto-filled when importing the task item from the estimate.
• Planned Days - The number of days required for completion of the item. You can enter the duration only for the items at the lowest level in each leg of the hierarchy. The durations for the parent-level items are auto-computed from those of the child items and auto-filled.
• Planned Hours - The estimated manhours required for completion of the item within the duration. You can enter the manhours only to the items at the lowest level in each leg of the hierarchy. The total manhours for the parent items are auto-computed from those of the child items and auto-filled.
• Predecessors - The tasks to which the current item is connected and their relationship. Some of the tasks can be started/completed only after the commencement/completion of their antecedent tasks. This is important to calculate the critical path of the schedule that identifies high-priority tasks. Execution of these critical tasks on time ensures the timely completion of the project. See Add Dependencies for more details on this.
• Plan Start- The commencement date of the task. You can specify only the start date for the items at the lowest level in each leg of the hierarchy. The start dates of the parent-level tasks are auto-populated from those of the children of each. The weekends cannot be chosen as the plan start date.
  • Start dates for dependent tasks are auto-filled once you specify the predecessors and the dependency relationships. You can also change the date as required.
• Plan End- Auto-computed from the start date and duration values. Please note that the weekends are excluded from calculating the end date. You can also set the due date manually by clicking inside the cell and choosing a date from the date picker.
  • You can also set the start and end dates for tasks in the Gantt view. Just drag and drop the bar representing an item near the required date range and drag the left and right edges of the bar to particular dates as required. The dates are automatically updated in the list view.

Set dates using the Gantt chart:
You can set start and due dates for last-level child tasks using the Gantt chart too. See 'Set task timelines using the Gantt chart' below for more details.

• Planned Quantity - (Optional) The expected total amount of work done/deliverables from the task item with its unit of measurement. This is useful for tracking the realized yield at any time during the task's life cycle.  See Add planned quantities to tasks for more details. If you are adding a quantity, enter the units by which the work is measured in the 'Unit of Work' column.
• Progress - Applies only to published tasks. See Update task progress for more details.
• Assigned to - The GC can assign the lowest level items to subcontractors already associated with the project. See Assign Contractorsfor more details.
  • Subcontractors - The subcontractors should assign the sub-tasks created by them to themselves for pushing to the field.

Set the hierarchy level of an item

You can use the indent options to move an item to parent level or child level in the WBS structure

• Right-click on the item to be moved to open the context-sensitive menu.
• Use the indent options to move an item to the required hierarchy level in the parent-child relationship.
  • Right Indent  - Move right to make the task as a child to the previous task.
  • Left Indent - Move left to move the task to one step higher in the hierarchy level.

Note: You cannot use the indent option to add children to a published task. A published task cannot be edited.
Subcontractors cannot use the indent options on the tasks received from the general contractor. They can only change the hierarchy levels for the items that they add.

Add a sub-task

• Right-click on the parent task and choose 'Add' > 'Add Sub-task' .

A new row gets added with the WBS code at one level lower than the parent task.

• Enter the details for the subtask as shown above.
• Repeat the process to add task items of successive levels.
• Estimates - Contractors can add tasks, subtasks, and activity items for which the labor and cost (material cost, labor cost, equipment cost, external subcontractor cost, overheads, etc.) are to be tracked from their project estimate. The task code, task name, and man-hours are auto-filled when adding an item from the estimate. You can edit the task name and the manhours for the item. The allotted man-hours are deducted from the total man-hours specified for the item in the estimate. The remaining hours will be available for adding the same task/activity for different parent-level items. See Add tasks from estimates for more details.

Set task timelines using the Gantt chart

The Gantt view shows the scheduled items as a Gantt chart comprising the horizontal bars for each task item on their timelines. You can also view the dependencies and progress percentages for each item.

• Use the drop-down at the top left to switch to 'Gantt view' or 'Grid and Gantt' view.
• Alternatively, click the 'Gantt' option on the left to view the schedule as a Gantt chart.

The Gantt view allows you to set and modify the start and end dates of the items by simple drag and drop actions.

• You can directly modify the dates only for last-level child tasks, that is, the items that do not have any children. The dates for the parent tasks adjust automatically, depending on the change in the child tasks. 
• The start and end dates are shifted for the dependent tasks based on changes in the predecessor tasks and their dependency relationship.
• You cannot modify dates for published tasks.

To set or change the start and end dates for a task

• Drag and drop the bar representing a task item to the required start date.
• Drag the left and right edges of the bar to particular start and end dates as required.

 The dates are updated in the schedule automatically.