Common questions about Consequent and project scheduling.
Consequent recommends using explicit wait tasks instead of lag. Instead of 'Task A + 3 days lag → Task B', create three tasks: 'Task A' → 'Curing wait (3d)' → 'Task B'. The wait task has a 3-day duration and no assigned resources. This makes the delay visible, discussable, and auditable — everyone can see and understand it.
When a group is a successor, it's ambiguous: does the predecessor need to finish before the first child starts, or before all children start? To avoid this ambiguity, Consequent requires you to link to specific child tasks. Groups can still be predecessors — that clearly means 'all children must complete.'
SNET (Start No Earlier Than) constrains when a task can begin — the task won't be scheduled before this date even if dependencies allow it. FNLT (Finish No Later Than) is a deadline — if the calculated finish exceeds this date, Consequent flags a warning. SNET controls scheduling; FNLT monitors for problems.
Set both SNET and FNLT to the same date. The task can't start before that date (SNET) and must finish by that date (FNLT). If it's a zero-duration milestone, it will be pinned exactly. This is explicit and auditable — anyone reviewing the schedule sees exactly what you constrained.
Minute-level precision creates false accuracy. In practice, project work rarely needs finer granularity than hours. Hours are the sweet spot: precise enough for real planning, not so granular that estimates become theater. For instant-in-time events, use milestones (zero duration).
The task and its FNLT are highlighted in red in the grid view. The schedule is NOT blocked — it still shows the calculated dates. This flag tells you: 'This task will finish after its deadline based on current inputs.' You can then decide how to address it: shorten durations, add resources, adjust dependencies, or renegotiate the deadline.
The critical path is the chain of tasks with zero float — tasks that, if delayed, delay the entire project. In Consequent, critical path tasks are highlighted in the Gantt chart. You can also sort or filter by float to identify critical and near-critical tasks.
Yes. If two or more independent chains have the same total duration (and are the longest), they're all critical. Delaying any task on either path delays the project. This is common in projects with parallel workstreams.
Duration is how long a task takes in calendar time (work days/hours). Effort is the total person-hours required. A 40-hour effort task might have a 5-day duration with one person, or a 1-day duration with five people working in parallel.
Create a milestone for the external event ('Permit issued') and set an SNET on it for the expected date. Link dependent work as successors to this milestone. You can also add an FNLT if there's a deadline by which the permit must arrive to keep the project on track.
Check three things: (1) Predecessors — are all predecessor tasks complete? (2) SNET — does the task have a Start No Earlier Than date? (3) Resource constraints — if resources are limited, the scheduler may delay the task. In Consequent, you can click on the task to see what's driving its start date.
Daily progress updates (5-10 minutes) keep the schedule accurate. Weekly deep reviews (30 minutes) catch emerging issues. The schedule is only useful if it reflects current reality — an outdated schedule hides problems instead of surfacing them.