Hi Ladies and Gents,
I plan to use the critical path method (CPM) technique to manage a project I will begin working on soon. I therefore set up an Excel sheet with the following columns:
Column A: Activity Code (different activities represented by different letters)
B: Description of Activity
C: Immediate Predecessor Activity
D: Estimated Time required per activity (in days)
E: Earliest Start Time (EST)
F: Earliest Finish Time (EFT)
G: Latest Start Time (LST)
H: Latest Finish Time (LFT)
I: Slack
The formulas are all entered and work well, so I have numeric values for EST, EFT, LST, LFT, Slack.
For example: Activity A requires 3 days, its EST and LST are 0, its EFT and LFT are 3, Slack is thus 0.
Now I want to turn this numeric information into actual dates. EST '0' should represent August 22, 2011, the project starting date. Given that Activity A requires 3 days to finish, EFT (of A) =EST (of A) + 3 days, so EFT (of A)=August 22 2011 + 3 days = August 25 2011.
I have tried to do this, but have thus far not been able to figure out a way to convert my numeric into date info.
Goal is to allow my colleagues and me to take a quick look at the spreadsheet and see the date that an activity must start or finish, rather than us having to take a long look at the spreadsheet and do the math ourselves (e.g. what day does LFT=52 stand for when project starting date '0' was August 22, 2011).
Is this possible to achieve? How?
Note: for now I am not too worried about the additional challenge of differentiating between weekend and work days, as I work in China and we basically work 24/7 anyways, but I might ask a follow-up question in this regard later.
Thanks very much in advance for your consideration and help!
I plan to use the critical path method (CPM) technique to manage a project I will begin working on soon. I therefore set up an Excel sheet with the following columns:
Column A: Activity Code (different activities represented by different letters)
B: Description of Activity
C: Immediate Predecessor Activity
D: Estimated Time required per activity (in days)
E: Earliest Start Time (EST)
F: Earliest Finish Time (EFT)
G: Latest Start Time (LST)
H: Latest Finish Time (LFT)
I: Slack
The formulas are all entered and work well, so I have numeric values for EST, EFT, LST, LFT, Slack.
For example: Activity A requires 3 days, its EST and LST are 0, its EFT and LFT are 3, Slack is thus 0.
Now I want to turn this numeric information into actual dates. EST '0' should represent August 22, 2011, the project starting date. Given that Activity A requires 3 days to finish, EFT (of A) =EST (of A) + 3 days, so EFT (of A)=August 22 2011 + 3 days = August 25 2011.
I have tried to do this, but have thus far not been able to figure out a way to convert my numeric into date info.
Goal is to allow my colleagues and me to take a quick look at the spreadsheet and see the date that an activity must start or finish, rather than us having to take a long look at the spreadsheet and do the math ourselves (e.g. what day does LFT=52 stand for when project starting date '0' was August 22, 2011).
Is this possible to achieve? How?
Note: for now I am not too worried about the additional challenge of differentiating between weekend and work days, as I work in China and we basically work 24/7 anyways, but I might ask a follow-up question in this regard later.
Thanks very much in advance for your consideration and help!
