Task Start and Finish dates not in synch with Assignments view

When I allocate hours per task and resource in the Assignments view, the Start and Finish date of the task are set according to hour allocation - but only in the Assignments view!

When I go back to the Grid view and look at the start and finish dates for the tasks, they do not correspond to the start and finish dates which I see in the Assignments view.

Is there a way to fix this? I think the Assignments view is a great feature and I would love to use it for my project planning, but if the start and finish dates are not synchronized to the actual work allocation, this is a major drawback.

Dale_HowardMVP
Sep 11, 2024
PaulaH95 --

I duplicated the steps you exactly as you described them, and following is what I see. The Start date of the task as 09/16/24 is correct, since that is the date on which you entered 0h of work. If you Zoom the Assignments view to the Daily level, you will note that there are blank entries for each of the work days during the week of September 15; however, those dates actually contain 0h for each day, even though the zeroes are not displayed. This means that the Start date of the task is 09/16/24.

Also, during the following two weeks, Project for the Web timephased the work hours as .8h per day for each work day. This means that the Finish date of 10/04/24 is also correct. So, what I see in Project for the Web is CORRECT in both the Grid view and the Assignments view.

My question for you is why you followed this totally convoluted process of timephasing the work on the task. If the work does not start until 09/23/24, why didn't you enter that date in the Start field for the task? So, based on what I see in your project and my experimental project, the Start dates and Finish dates ARE correct. Hope this helps.

malshayeb
Brass Contributor
Sep 10, 2024
Hi ,

which version of MS project are you using ? are you using manual scheduling for the tasks, what is the task type also can you confirm the view you are using, i tried to perform the same actions using the resource usage view and the dates did move to cover the dates of the work
- PaulaH95
  Copper Contributor
  Sep 11, 2024
  malshayeb
  Hi Malek,
  
  thanks for your reply. I am using MS project for the web (via project.microsoft.com as well as via the new Planner app in MS Teams, both look the same for premium plans).
  
  I'll describe the steps to reproduce the issue (see also attached screenshots):
  
  1. Create new task in Grid view. Set start date to 09/16. Finish date will be automatically set to 09/16 and effort to 8h.
  (I have to enter some start date or an effort, otherwise the task will not show up in the Assignments view.)
  
  2. Go to Assignments view, set view to Weekly. Assign
  - 0 hours in week starting Sun 9/15,
  - 4 hours in week starting Sun 9/22
  - 4 hours in week starting Sun 9/29
  (I have not figured out why the week starts on Sunday in this view even though I have configured a Mon-Fri calendar)
  
  In Assignments view, start and finish date now display Mon 9/23 and Fri 10/4 which is correct.
  
  3. Go back to Grid view. Start and finish date now display Mon 9/16 (false, old start date) and Fri 10/16 (correct, new finish date). Same dates are set in the task details.
  
  I have been playing around with this and trying different combinations of modifying the dates, but always something is off, the dates in the task don't reflect the dates in the Assignments view (which they should).
  
  Best regards,
  Paula
  - Dale_HowardMVP
    MVP
    Sep 11, 2024
    PaulaH95 --
    
    I duplicated the steps you exactly as you described them, and following is what I see. The Start date of the task as 09/16/24 is correct, since that is the date on which you entered 0h of work. If you Zoom the Assignments view to the Daily level, you will note that there are blank entries for each of the work days during the week of September 15; however, those dates actually contain 0h for each day, even though the zeroes are not displayed. This means that the Start date of the task is 09/16/24.
    
    Also, during the following two weeks, Project for the Web timephased the work hours as .8h per day for each work day. This means that the Finish date of 10/04/24 is also correct. So, what I see in Project for the Web is CORRECT in both the Grid view and the Assignments view.
    
    My question for you is why you followed this totally convoluted process of timephasing the work on the task. If the work does not start until 09/23/24, why didn't you enter that date in the Start field for the task? So, based on what I see in your project and my experimental project, the Start dates and Finish dates ARE correct. Hope this helps.

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Task Start and Finish dates not in synch with Assignments view