Cross-Referencing Task Dependencies for Large Projects using MS Project Macros

Introduction: Problem Statement

Handling a large project may significantly complicate your life as a Project Manager. You are the one taking responsibility for the outcome, and hence the one who has to keep a lot of things handy in your memory. One of these things is the need to follow up project progress and risks (obviously!) and hence to understand the interrelations of tasks and activities in the project schedule. For larger projects with complex and long schedules, answering question “which tasks will be affected if I change duration of activity # NNN?” is tricky, especially if you rely on your memory only.

Running mental what-if tests is definitely helpful in answering this type of question. However, for a project with schedule consisting of more then 1000 lines, most likely you would keep only an abbreviated “logical model” of WBS or critical path in your memory, so probability to miss an important task dependency in course of a mental test is pretty high. The situation may be aggravated when you don’t have intimate knowledge of certain areas. So, mental tests will be not as beneficial and precise. Of course, if you keep the schedule in a tool of choice, such as Microsoft Project, you can just scroll down to see which tasks get highlighted when you make a change to the properties of the specific one. This works just fine for smaller projects; for large projects most likely you will miss something since the test is based on observation only. Sometimes, you may consider a work-around, such as dividing the project into smaller – more manageable – sub-projects. This approach may complicate task of figuring out the cross-dependencies even more, because in addition you would need to handle cross-project dependencies.

In this article, the relatively simple and intuitive way of project tasks cross-referencing will be presented. This method provides 100% correct and consistent answer to the question mentioned above in the first paragraph – under the condition that you keep your project schedule in MS Projects as a Gantt chart. Another important thing about this method is that it can be used as-is, following instructions from this paper, since it was designed to be utilized by Project Management practitioners having limited to no knowledge of information technology.

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About the Author Larissa Gourevtich, PhD, PMP Author Larissa Gourevich, PhD, PMP is an IT professional with 15+ years of extensive experience and knowledge in IT analysis, research, and project management. She is a PMP with PhD in Mathematical Modeling; and also she has Bachelor of Commerce degree from Ryerson University in Toronto. She has worked for Financial Industry and provincial Government, and was teaching at Ryerson University in Toronto. Currently, she is employed by CIBC, one of the “big five” Canadian banks, as IT Project Manager within PMO. Larissa closely follows current and emerging Project Management and IT trends and issues. As PMO member, she has the responsibility to set up precise standards and guidance for IT staff, providing greater success through quality and innovative approach to IT services. Based in Toronto, Dr. Gourevitch can be contacted at lgourevi@ryerson.ca.