Whose calendar is the real critical path?
The dependency arithmetic says two tasks can run in parallel. The owner column says they are the same person. Plans slip on that collision more often than on any estimate, and this analysis finds it before the commitment is made.
Words on this sheet
- Predecessors: The tasks that have to finish before this one can start. Put their IDs here, separated by commas, and leave it blank when nothing has to come first.
Work Starter Resource Load Pro engine
After you install, this is the model to open.
Is Anyone Double-Booked?
- In your spreadsheet, click the Sortia icon in the strip of icons down the right-hand edge. No strip? Click the arrow at the bottom-right to open it. You can also use Extensions, then Sortia, then Open Sortia.
- Click Start from a template and put that name in the search box.
- Pick the card with that name and click Load this template. It arrives on a new tab with real numbers already in it.
This one runs on a Pro engine, and every free install includes five full-quality runs on your own numbers, shared across all five Pro engines rather than five for each. After that, Pro is $199/year.
The answer
Load at the early-start schedule:
- Maya, peak
- 2 tasks at once
- Double-booked
- 7 days straight
- Maya, load
- 19 of 15 days
- Everyone else
- clear
Maya peaks at 2 parallel tasks for 7 straight days, with 19 days of work against a 15-day project. The date slips there before it slips anywhere else. Reassign the dashboard, or accept the serial schedule and move the date now, while it is still a planning decision instead of an apology.
The model
Five tasks. The pipeline and the dashboard can run in parallel by the dependencies, and both belong to Maya.
| Discovery | 4 days · Maya |
| Data pipeline | 8 days · Maya |
| Dashboard build | 7 days · Maya (parallel) |
| API integration | 6 days · Sam |
| Review and ship | 3 days · Priya |
Once it is in your sheet
- The model arrives with real numbers in it and runs as it stands, so you can press the button first and understand it second.
- Change the numbers to yours. The sheet marks which cells are inputs and which hold formulas, and most labels carry a note explaining the row.
- Press the run button at the bottom of the panel. It is labeled for the tool you are in, and the result lands on its own tab, with a written reading of it beside the figures.
Never used Google Sheets? Start here goes the whole way, in seven steps, and assumes nothing.
Next question
- Can the panel agree on an order, if not on scores?Rank the Candidates
- Does the plan need one person in two places?Agency Load: Who Is Overbooked?
- You are 43% done. When does the project actually finish?Will the Project Finish on Time?
- What should your day rate actually be?What Day Rate Does a Freelancer Need to Charge?
- Who should work on which project?Best-Fit Assignments
- What should you bid to win the job and still make money?Competitive Bid Optimizer
Every model like this one, and the method behind them: Schedule risk analysis.