Build your Schedule by adding some Phases, which represent the high-level timeline for your project, and Tasks. Example phases include Demolition, Foundation, Framing, Electrical, etc. while the Tasks inside are the more granular to-do items.
Phases are not an exhaustive roadmap of every project detail, rather they are simply the big-picture steps that keep everyone (especially your client) on the same page about what to expect and what the current status of the project is. Tasks provide more information on what needs to happen within the Phase.
Creating and building your schedule is not only available in the Gantt Chart, although that's how most Pros manage their schedules. You can also create your Schedule including Phases and Tasks, in the Calendar View!
Never used a Gantt Chart? Need a bit of a refresher? Check out Gantt Charts 101.
The schedule is created using two sets of information typically: Phases and Tasks. You don't have to build your schedule as a combination of both, but that's typical for Gantt Charts. Feel free to create your Schedule using Phases and Tasks, just Phases or just Tasks.
Add Project Phases
Go to the Schedule tab and click "Add Phase" in the upper left drop down:
You'll be required to add a name and date range in order to save your Phase. You can add an optional description and attach relevant documents as well.
Phases can include the following optional information:
Status - we only provide complete or incomplete and they're not customizable. Use incomplete to reflect that your Phase is still in process. Use complete when all Tasks are completed, all activities are completed, or both!
Description - use this to provide detailed information about the Phase to those who can see them.
Schedule - This allows you to create your dependencies between Phases or Tasks. This will also allow you to add Tasks that are not already included in a Phase, to that particular Phase to create a Parent/Child relationship between the two. You are not able to create Tasks from this modal, only add already created ones to the Phase. You do not need to create or add dependencies if you don't want to, but if you don't, you won't have the option to move your entire schedule back and you'll have to move every item individually.
Activities - any Phase that has activities added and is not completed will show a percentage on the side bar of the Gantt Chart to denote how many of the activities in that Phase are completed:
Attachments - attach drawings or anything you need to present as additional information!
Add Activities to your Phase
Phases can (optionally) have Activities - which serve as a list of items that will be completed during the Phase.
Think of Activities as a checklist of what will take place during that Phase. Activities can be helpful for your team to ensure consistency and to make sure nothing slips through the cracks.
Activities also serve as a good communication tool for your client - helping them understand what will happen as the project progresses without being too specific about exact dates. 😎 REMINDER: Phases are automatically shared with Clients where Tasks are not.
When an activity is complete, select the check bubble next to it to complete it:
Add Project Tasks
Project Tasks can be added to the schedule in one of two ways:
Using the Tasks tab
Using the + Add New drop down in the top left corner of the schedule, similar to creating a Phase.
Only Tasks with due dates appear on the schedule. To see more about creating Tasks, check out our Create a Task article.
Add Tasks to Phases
Phases can also include a list of Tasks you want to complete within a desired timeline.
If you have a pre-existing Task List and want to tie them into a Phase of your Project Schedule, start creating a new Phase or open a pre-existing Phase and add Tasks to your Phase using the drop down menu from the "Schedule" section.
Please note: Your Phase must have a start date in order to start adding Tasks.
Working days are a great way to designate days of the week as non-working to reflect your team's weekly schedule.
Typically working days are Monday through Friday, but you can set any day of the week as a working day. Working days are set on a project-by-project basis, so different project schedules can have different working days.
Setting Working Days
New Projects
The easiest way to manage working days within a project is when you create a new project. You'll see the Working Days menu at the bottom of the New Project form.
If you're using a Project Template that needs different working days, you can set that here as well.
Existing Projects
For existing Projects, you can manage the Working Days by going to the Schedule within the Project then clicking the three dots •••, and then Schedule Options.
Working Days and Duration
Within the Project Gantt Chart Schedule, there is a column for Duration in addition to a column for Working Days.
The Working Days column allows you to track how many working days an item spans compared to the Duration column, which displays the total duration including the non-working days.
For instance, if you have a Task or Phase that has a duration of 5 days but is scheduled over the weekend and your working days are Monday-Friday, the Duration is 7 days but the Working Days remain at 5 days. You can also see this by hovering over the Phase or Task within the Gantt Chart.
If you had an existing schedule created prior to the release of this feature on 10/14/22, if you set up working days you won't see a change in your schedule. The Duration will show the full duration of items vs. the actual working days.
In order for the change to take effect and exclude non-working days from your schedule, you need to change the date of that item for it to recognize the working days. |
How working days are calculated
Suppose your working days are Monday-Friday and the duration of an item on your Schedule spans a non-working day, like a Saturday or Sunday. In that case, the duration of the working days will automatically adjust to extend into the next week.
In the example below you'll see that the Electrical Task was originally scheduled for 5 days, starting on a Monday and ending on a Friday, but this Task was delayed by 2 days, meaning that it would now end on Sunday.
In this case, the Task is automatically scheduled to keep the duration of 5 working days but is adjusted to end the following Tuesday, since the duration now includes the weekend.
If an item is adjusted and begins on a non-working day, it will automatically start on the next working day.
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