In a Primavera P6 training class last week, one attendee asked how to switch the relationship arrows from connecting the baseline bars to connecting the current progressing schedule activity bars. Once the project has been baselined and progress has been entered, you will notice that the relationship arrows are connecting your baseline bars and not the current schedule bars. How do you correct this so you can clearly see the relationships between tasks on your progressing schedule? Well, there is a simple way to make the relationship arrows connect the bars or tasks on your progressing schedule instead of the baseline bars.
Here we describe how to switch the relationship arrows from connecting the baseline bars to connecting the current progressing schedule activity bars.
Relationship Arrow Problem
Figure 1 clearly displays this problem in the Gantt chart. The relationship arrows connect the baseline bars and not the current schedule bars. To correct this and make your schedule Gantt chart clearer to read, select the Bars icon at the top of the screen, Figure 1.
Figure 1
Relationship Arrow Solution
This brings up the Bars dialog, Figure 2.
Figure 2
The Bars dialog displays a list of all the different types of Bars that are defined for the project. You can also view this list as a stack, where Bars higher in the stack take precedence over Bars lower in the stack. For our example move the yellow Primary Baseline Bar lower in the stack by using the down arrow key on the right side of the dialog, Figure 2.
Move the Primary Baseline Bar lower in the stack until it falls below the red Critical Remaining Bar, Figure 3. So the Primary Baseline Bar is now lower in the stack than Actual Work, Remaining Work, and Critical Remaining Work, Figure 3. Select Apply and your Gantt chart arrows will connect the current schedule Bars and not the baseline Bars, Figure 3.
Figure 3
Summary
It is important to note the location in the Bars stack, where your particular Gantt chart Bar of interest falls. Primavera P6 provides the Shift up and Shift down buttons in the Bar types in the Gantt chart. The Bars dialog allows the ability to define whether the arrows on your Gantt chart connect the baseline Bars or connect the progressing schedule activity Bars.
Experiment with the Shift up and down buttons to see the effect on your defined Bars. If you are having difficulty displaying a defined Gantt chart bar it may be due to its location in the stack. Interestingly in Primavera P6, Bars placed lower in the stack overlay on top of Bars higher in the Bar stack.