Project 2007: Setting Task Deadlines

When you simply need to be reminded of a target completion date but do not want these dates to affect the project schedule, a simple solution is to set task deadlines. Task deadlines are target dates you set in the project schedule that do not actually affect the project schedule. This way you can still see reminders of whether your tasks are on schedule but you do not limit Office Project's ability to create the project schedule.

Deadlines are displayed on the Gantt Chart as small, downward-pointing arrows at the end of the affected Gantt bar, as shown in above figure.

To set a task deadline, follow these steps:

1. Double-click the task to which you are assigning the deadline.
2. In the Task Information dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
3. Enter the deadline date in the Deadline box.
4. In the Calendar drop-down list select a calendar.
5. Click OK.

Resting your mouse on top of that small arrow on a Gantt bar displays a tooltip with the deadline information and, as the project schedule changes, the deadline arrow remains constant at its assigned date. Deadlines can also be seen as a red indicator in the Indicators column.

With permission from Microsoft Press, this article content was excerpted from the book, Managing Projects with Microsoft Office Project 2007 (Self-Paced Training Kit for Exam 70-632).