How to calculate total lag betwween a set of linked tasks.

Question

Very simply, three tasks in succession with 2 days lag between each, where in the project interface does it show 4 days.

Answer 1

Hello,

If you asking where could it show the four days of lag, that would depend on which view you are looking at.  First, in the Gantt chart view, by default, it does not show lag specifically, meaning there is no "Lag" field in the table area (the left side of the view) but it does show up in the predecessor column.  The lag will display graphically (most often as a gap in work) in the chart area.  Since lag is a link-specific related variable it does not have its own task field.

In the Network Diagram View you can have the predecessors and any lags display by going to the layout options (right-click in the view and select Layout), then select the check box that says: Show Link Labels.

In the past I have used filters to show only those tasks which have lag in them.  Create a new filter and name it "Lag Filter".  Have it look in the field name of "Predecessor" to see if it "Contains" the value of "+".  (do not use the quotes in the filter fields - I used them here to display what would be entered in each field of the filter definition box.)

If you are looking to extract the lag amount from your schedule, I will defer this question to the VBA experts in the forum, as this is the only way I know of for getting such information.

Hope this helps.

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Gregg D. Richie, PMP, MCTS; Author, Microsoft Project 2010, Microsoft Official Academic Course Series

Answer 2

To my best knowledge, there is no field in Project displaying the total lag amount in a task sequence. IMO, you need to check the Predecessors field for this information. Relationship Diagram view displays lags just over the dependency lines between the tasks. 

Answer 3

Thank you both, I now now know more clearly what I want and indeed it is better defined as this.

"If you are looking to extract the lag amount from your schedule, I will defer this question to the VBA experts in the forum, as this is the only way I know of for getting such information."

Answer 4

See my answer in http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/project2010custprog/thread/5b5f72be-49c1-4bd2-ae7e-3fbf577dd3bb

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Brian Kennemer - Project MVP
DeltaBahn Senior Architect
endlessly obsessing about Project Server…so that you don’t have to.
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Answer 5

Thanks for the feedback.  Brian (one of those experts I was mentioning) has his answer for you in the other posting.

Regards,

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Gregg D. Richie, PMP, MCTS; Author, Microsoft Project 2010, Microsoft Official Academic Course Series