Project tasks are the units of work that make up a project.
The size and number of tasks that comprise a project depends on the level of detail you want.
For example:
- Part of a task requires a specific skill.
- Other activities in the task do not require the specific skill.
Break down that task further.
Bottom-up Tasking
Bottom-up (tactical) tasking means that you plan small,
individual units of work that are required, then build a project up to include larger phases.
Take this approach when you know what individual tasks are required to be accomplished and you
are more flexible about overall project duration and estimated cost. Use this approach to see how
much a project costs and how long it takes if you include every task. Project management supports
tactical tasking by using rollup calculations on several project fields, such as project
duration, so that the project adjusts to the tasks it contains. It is the recommended approach
for the Project Management application.
Top-down Tasking
Top-down (strategic) tasking means that you plan
high-level tasks first, then break down the work into smaller units. Take this approach when you
want to build a project with fixed or inflexible time and budgetary constraints and well-defined
phases. Establish well-defined milestones and dependencies between tasks that you consider from
the beginning. Gradually add smaller tasks to the project later. This approach avoids including
all possible tasks in a project and stays flexible with what tasks are included.Note: When you
use this method, the Project Management application still rolls up several values, such as task duration.
Creating a task with a longer duration than the project, expands to cover the entire duration of
the task, and defeats the purpose of using this approach. Values are not rolled down from parent
tasks, nor are there any restrictions on creating child tasks that are longer than specified
duration of the parent.
