dependencies between groups of tasks

martin l. shared this question 18 months ago
Discussion Open

Referring picture, I have a bunch of tasks (1 a,b,c) that need to be finished before starting tasks (2 a,b,c) as shown in sub picture "4".

Sub-pictures 1-3 show my attempts to get what I'd like to achieve in sub-picture 4, however as soon as "roll up" is enabled, previous dependencies are automatically removed and attempts to create new ones are not possible.

Here's hoping someone can help, many thanks.

Best Answer
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Hello Martin

Dependencies between groups are not supported at the moment. There are a couple of workarounds, and you might get better suggestions from others.

  • Create dependencies between the tasks within each group, which should identify the first and last tasks. You can then create dependencies from the last task in each group to the first task in the next. Or,
  • Manually schedule groups by dragging the group bar (the back bracket) in the Gantt Chart. This will move all the tasks in a group together, generally preserving their relative dates unless correction for the working week is needed.

Replies (4)

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2

Hello Martin

Dependencies between groups are not supported at the moment. There are a couple of workarounds, and you might get better suggestions from others.

  • Create dependencies between the tasks within each group, which should identify the first and last tasks. You can then create dependencies from the last task in each group to the first task in the next. Or,
  • Manually schedule groups by dragging the group bar (the back bracket) in the Gantt Chart. This will move all the tasks in a group together, generally preserving their relative dates unless correction for the working week is needed.

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1

thanks Nick. Is there a way to find out if feature is planned or may be requested?

Appreciate the workarounds!

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2

I don't think planned changes are published but the suggestions submitted in this forum are reviewed and prioritised, so it is worth suggesting this by clicking "share an idea" at the top of the page.

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1

Done!

Hopefully I am not alone the idea can get some votes here!

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3

MindManager seems to adopt an all-or-nothing approach to roll-ups, which can also be frustrating if the tasks consist of a checklist rather than sub-tasks.

In your example I don't have anything to add to Nick's suggestions, except to note that when you create the dependencies within each group you can make them Start-to-Start if they are meant to run concurrently and not sequentially; ie, they are all starting on the same day.

If the tasks within the second group are also concurrent they would be set up the same way, but if the whole group is meant to start after the first is completed the dependency between the last task of the first group and the first of the second group would be Finish to Start.

The resulting Gantt would look something like this:

c2c970b635f6ce5da1a2239391ba0b19

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1

dear Alex, many thanks for your input and agreed it is most frustrating as I have tasks distributed with many different departments that require progressing and completing before other activities can kick-off..

to add to frustration my project has too much management attention and i need to show progress, so i may have to use M$ project or something else :(

if you feel the pain, I've requested this feature as an idea so please give it a like, thanks.

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2

I have already voted for it.

There don't appear to be any other workarounds if the subtopics have to be treated and monitored as tasks, which in your case they appear to be. However, if they can be treated just a checklist of things that have to be ticked off (ie, not as tasks) there are other options, as I describe in this post on my blog: https://sociamind.com/2021/09/30/setting-up-alternative-checklists-in-mindmanager/.

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