- Plan in the Draft, talk, then Apply
- Prepare the data first
- Find what matters: the critical path
- Use the float, do not waste it
- Baselines: before and after
- Keep a big plan readable
- A project manager's week
- If you know Jira or Microsoft Project
- Related articles
Practical ways to plan with Planner. They apply the ideas of critical path scheduling: know what is critical, protect it, and do not touch what has slack.
Plan in the Draft, talk, then Apply
- Move bars and add dependencies freely. Everything is yellow and nothing is published.
- Show the chart in a meeting. Undo (Ctrl+Z) costs nothing.
- Open Review changes and check the list line by line with the team.
- Apply. The issue history has the entries and the result is the same for everybody.
Several planners share one Draft. Agree who edits which part of the project to avoid overwriting each other: the last write wins.
Prepare the data first
- Every issue that takes part in a dependency chain needs both dates. Planner stops the critical path and tells you which issues lack dates, see Critical path and float.
- Give estimates. Show Estimated time in the bar labels PRO and compare it with the width of the bar: a 40 hour task on a one-day bar is a question for the review.
- Create dependencies only for real constraints (the second task cannot start without the result of the first). Every extra arrow shortens the float and makes the critical path look longer than the real one.
Find what matters: the critical path
- Choose Critical path, Project end and look at the red chain. These issues need the best people and the least interruptions.
- Read the Float column: zero and negative values need action, a few days is tight, a week or more is comfortable.
- Choose a version as the end to answer "can we release on the date we promised?". Negative float on the path is the answer "no" and tells you by how many working days.
- When you have to cut time, shorten or split the critical issues. Shortening an issue that has float changes nothing for the end.
Use the float, do not waste it
Free float is what you can spend without disturbing anyone: give such issues to a person who is free only later, or let them wait for a vacation. Total float is what you can spend before the end moves, but successors then move.
Baselines: before and after
- Save a baseline when the plan is agreed.
- When a scope change is approved, re-plan in the Draft, apply, and save a new baseline with a clear name.
- Show the Baseline column and start the discussion with the largest variance. +5 on a critical issue deserves a conversation, +5 on an issue with a lot of float does not.
Keep a big plan readable
- Group by version PRO for a release view, by assignee for workloads and by project for a portfolio.
- Collapse parents you are not discussing: Collapse all, then expand one branch.
- Use the Months scale for the overview, Days for editing dates.
- Filter the query to what you are discussing. The critical path and the baseline keep the whole project regardless.
A project manager's week
| Moment | In Planner |
|---|---|
| Monday | Open the chart, show the critical path, look at negative float and red arrows. |
| During the week | Fix violations, move bars in the Draft with the team. |
| Friday | Review changes, Apply, write the status; look at the baseline variance. |
| Month end | Save a baseline if the plan was re-agreed. |
If you know Jira or Microsoft Project
The Draft with Review resembles the unsaved changes of a plan in Jira Plans (Advanced Roadmaps) before they are committed. The baseline is the saved plan you compare with, and total float is the slack of Microsoft Project. Planner has one shared Draft per issue and no separate scenarios.