Order and Group Related Tasks in Your Task List

After you create your task list, you want to be sure that the tasks are in the order in which they’ll actually be performed. Putting your tasks in a realistic order is necessary for creating an accurate project schedule. Without order, for instance, the task start and finish dates calculated by Microsoft Project would be meaningless. You couldn’t accurately predict when a particular task should be completed.

Putting tasks in a realistic order is essential but not sufficient for creating a project plan that’s as useful as it can be. A straight list of tasks doesn’t tell you, for instance, where one phase ends and another begins. When you group related tasks, however, you begin to create an outline that mirrors both the task flow and the major steps in your project. Although you can use any criteria for grouping tasks (such as shortest tasks and longest tasks, required tasks and optional tasks, and fun tasks and grunt work), the following two grouping criteria are the most common:

• Tasks that are part of the same process. Digging a hole and pouring concrete are part of the larger process of laying a foundation.
• Tasks that are completed in the same time period. All the tasks required to lay a foundation must be completed before construction of the ground floor begins.

Once you decide on the best order for your tasks and determine your grouping criteria, move tasks around within the task list to group each set of related tasks. As you analyze your task list, you may want to move a task to a group to which it’s more closely related. Or, you may want to reorder tasks within a group.

To move a task

1. On the View Bar, click Gantt Chart .
2. Click the ID number of the task you want to move.
3. Click Cut Task .
4. Select the row above which you want to insert the task.
5. Click Paste .

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