Hi, I am Perri…

while playing around with the various possibilities of Merlin I see that I do not really need to fix the start or end dates for the activities. I can set a project start date, enter the activities in the outline, specify the needed approximate work or duration and define dependencies between them. This second approach keeps the project planing flexible and could be in handy, when I need to shift activities to a future date or want my project to react on the actual amount of work on my activities.

So when defining dependencies, or link them as Merlin names this action, I can use the following linkage kinds: finish to start, start to start, finish to finish, and start to finish.

If I like to have a delay or an earlier start for the linked activities I can define a lead or lag on the linkage. Merlin checks the project calendar, calculates the starting or ending dates accordingly and skips non working days.

Surely flexibility is great, and fits my Greek mentality, but what about activities which cannot be possibly moved? I mean, if you plan a concert, you cannot move it to another date simply because you had some problems waiting for the electricians to come 😉

Such activities need of course a fixed date,  and Merlin can cope with it. You can do it, but do not forget to link it to the predecessor and successor activities. Merlin will bring up scheduling conflicts if needed and inform you in case you get in critical situations.

Ok, I think I understand the principle here:

Keep your project as flexible as possible by linking activities and define no more fixed dates than absolutely needed.

Great! I have to send an email to my previous boss and tell him all about it 🙂