Create a Task Link

Once you’ve decided which type of link best reflects the dependency between two tasks, you’re ready to link those tasks.

You can also create an FS link between summary tasks: the start of one group of tasks depends on the end of another.

The most commonly used task link in a typical project schedule is FS. Because you’ll be applying this link often, Microsoft Project enables you to link tasks in an FS dependency quickly. However, FS links don’t always mirror the dependencies that exist between tasks.

To link tasks in an FS dependency

On the View Bar, click Gantt Chart .

Select nonadjacent tasks by holding down CTRL while you select the task.
In the Task Name field, select two or more tasks you want to link.
Click Link Tasks .
A link line appears on the Gantt Chart, connecting the two tasks.

Avoid Entering Start and Finish Dates - Link Your Tasks

When you enter start and finish dates for tasks, you force those tasks to begin and end no earlier than the dates you have entered. Changes elsewhere in the schedule might not affect the start and finish dates of these tasks. As a result, your schedule can’t accurately reflect the real-life fluidity of your project and its tasks.

Linking tasks saves you time because Microsoft Project will calculate start and finish dates for tasks, as well as the project finish date, so you don’t have to. Task linking also lets you see exactly how a slip in the project schedule changes the start and finish dates of individual tasks and the project’s finish date. If one element of the schedule shifts, the overall task time frame remains flexible. Microsoft Project automatically moves tasks forward or backward in time in a logical way, while maintaining the links between tasks.

Your best strategy is to enter just the duration for each task and leave start and finish date calculations to Microsoft Project. (Specify a start or finish date only for a task that doesn’t depend on another task and therefore shouldn’t be linked.)