Plan the deal timetable

The client wants to see the road to closing on Project Alpha: due diligence, signing, the conditions precedent, merger clearance and the long-stop date. And when clearance slips by a week, every deadline that hangs on it has to move with it, without anyone recounting days by hand.

The board does both. A Gantt view lays the phases and milestones out against the calendar for the client. Date offset ties each dependent deadline to the task it follows, so it moves when that task moves.

Add the Gantt view

1. On the deal's board, click the plus beside the views (Add view) and choose Gantt. Adding views is for board managers.

2. Under Select a date range column, choose the column that holds each task's start and end, or Create new date range column if the board has none. Give the view a Title, such as Timetable, and click Create.

   

Add the view early. Add view is not available once a board has more than 200 tasks.

Lay out the phases and milestones

1. Each task group is a row on the chart with its tasks under it. To give a task dates, drag across its row from the start date to the end date.

2. Drag a bar to move it, or drag either end to change the start or the end.

3. Double-click a bar to open Edit task and type the Start date and End date, or a Duration (days). A duration of 0 makes the task a milestone: use it for signing, closing and the long-stop date. Convert to milestone in the menu you get by right-clicking a task does the same.

4. To put tasks under a phase, right-click a task and choose Indent: it moves under the task above it, so the individual conditions sit under "Conditions precedent". Outdent lifts it out again. Tasks nest one level deep.

5. Switch between Day, Week and Month to zoom, and click Today to bring today's date into view.

   

The view opens in the new Gantt, marked New (beta). Classic at the top of the view switches to the earlier version, and your browser remembers which one you chose.

Make deadlines follow the task they depend on

A date offset works on a date column, such as the deadline column, in a Table view of the board.

1. Click the deadline cell of the task that depends on another, for example "Completion accounts delivered", and choose Date offset.

2. Under Select the task you wish to associate with the date, keep Tasks and click the task it depends on, such as "Closing". Choose Columns instead to count from another date column on the same task.

3. Type the number of days under Date offset. A negative number counts back, so -5 is five days before. The line underneath gives the date it comes to. Click Save.

   

When the earlier date moves, the dependent deadline moves with it. Open the cell again and it tells you which task it is connected to and by how many days.

Count working days only

Whether an offset skips weekends and public holidays is set for the whole board. A board manager clicks Board, then Board settings:

• Include holidays, with the country chosen, makes offsets skip that country's public holidays.
• Include weekends makes them skip Saturdays and Sundays.

When you set an offset, the line under it says how many holiday and weekend days it skipped.

Tips from practice

• Plan back from closing. Put closing in first, then give each earlier deadline a negative offset from it. If closing moves, the whole run-up moves with it.
• Two kinds of date, two jobs. The Gantt bars come from the date range column; offsets work on date columns. Keep the phases in the date range for the client's picture, and the hard deadlines in a date column with offsets.
• Show the client the shape, not every task. A timetable for the client usually needs the phases and three or four milestones. Filters apply in the Gantt view too, so filter the board down before you show it: see find what is outstanding before closing.

To see the same deadlines by month, see see the deal's deadlines in a calendar. To have the team warned before a date arrives, see get reminded before a deadline.