A Finish-to-Start dependency where the successor started and the predecessor is not complete.
A Finish-to-Finish dependency where the successor's finish is earlier than predecessor's finish.
A Start-to-Start dependency where the successor's start is earlier than predecessor's start.
Why does it matter if items in the project have progress posted out of sequence?
First of all, performing tasks out of sequence may result in the need to perform rework, and/or greater exposure to cost, technical and schedule risk on a project. Of course, working on tasks out of sequence may be part of a work around plan with known, but acceptable risks. This report may be informative only if work is performed out of sequence intentionally.
Resolving Progress Posted Out of Sequence
Perform the Audit and Click on each item in the resulting tasks list to go to the offending task. You can also click Filter for Items Below to display tasks with audit issues and record the offending condition in the Integrity Note log field.
Progress posted out of sequence may not be something the scheduler must “resolve” because it may be desirable to retain the original work logic and compare it to actual performance. SSI, however, recommends that you consider changing the dependencies to reflect actual performance rather than your original intention. If you do change dependencies, you should have a mechanism in place that captures and documents the change to the original plan.
What Else to Consider
Microsoft Project may "split" a task if progress is posted out of sequence. For example, if Task A is Task B's Predecessor and Tasks B started before Task A is complete, Microsoft Project may split the unfinished portion of Task B placing it after the finish of Task A regardless of how many days of duration are remaining for Task B
What Does Progress Posted Out of Sequence Looks Like in a Project?
Example 1 - Task B Started Before its Predecessor is complete
In this examples, Task B Started even though Task A (its predecessor) is not complete. The arrow points to the out-of-sequence dependency which bends backward from the finish of Task A to the start of Task B Notice that Microsoft Project has "split" the task into two parts with the first part showing the actual work amount performed and the second part showing that the unfinished part of the task still needs to wait until Task A is complete. Note - splitting tasks is an option in Microsoft Project that can be turned on or off.
