Add Lead Time to Tasks

Most likely, you’ve linked many of your tasks with a finish-to-start (FS) link, so that the successor task doesn’t start until its predecessor task finishes. In some cases, that dependency might be absolutely necessary and true to life. A clock can’t be hung before it’s built. But sometimes the work on a successor task can begin before its predecessor task is entirely finished. The work can overlap. If the museum crew prepares one gallery wall at a time, maybe they can start hanging clocks before all the walls are finished.

The way to make FS-linked tasks overlap is to add lead time to the link. By adding lead time, you cause the successor task to begin on an earlier date. If the successor task is a critical task, adding lead time allows the project to end on an earlier date. You might find that you can overlap tasks so much that they start at the same time. If that’s the case, you should consider changing the FS link to a start-to-start (SS) link, instead of adding lead time.

To add lead time

1. On the View Bar, click Gantt Chart .
2. In the Task Name field, select the successor task you want, and then click Task Information .
3. Click the Predecessors tab.
4. In the Lag field, type the lead time you want, as a duration (type a negative number) or as a percentage of the predecessor task duration (type the negative completion percentage).
   For example, if the predecessor task has a duration of 2 days and you want the successor task to begin 1 day before the predecessor task is completed, type –50% in the Lag field.
   Lead time units are minute, hour, day, and week. To specify elapsed duration, precede the time unit with the letter "e" (for example, edays for elapsed days). Elapsed days include weekends and other nonworking days.

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