Releasing a project

Summary: Release a planned project so its tasks reach the people who will do them.

Applies to

Before you start

• The project is Not started and its plan is ready: tasks, dependencies and the skills or resources that will do the work. See Adding tasks to a project plan.
• You may release projects. Project managers can release them when Project managers can release projects is ticked in Space properties, on the Turn features on/off tab. When it is cleared, only the space owners can release projects.

• If you plan with critical chain, check the plan first. Open the project and select Check project for CCPM compliance, the last button of the CCPM group. When every check shows Success, the plan is ready to release. See Setting up critical chain scheduling.

Procedure

Releasing a project is a change of its status, from Not started to Released. You do not need to reschedule the project first. There are two routes; both end with the project released.

From the project window

1. Open the project. A project that is Not started shows a green Release project button at the top right.

   

2. Select Release project. A dialog explains that the project goes into the work pipeline: it shows under the released projects, and its tasks reach My activities.

   

3. Select Release.

From the Project list

1. In the top bar, select Portfolio, then Project list.
2. Select the Not started filter, then select the project.

3. In the left rail, select Properties.

   

4. On the General tab, open the Status list and select Released.

   

   A banner at the top of the dialog warns that some fields cannot be changed once the project is released. Hours per day and the duration options on the Critical chain tab are now greyed out. The buffer sizes stay editable.

   

5. Select OK.

Expected outcome

The project leaves the Not started list. Select the Released filter to find it there, with its status shown as Released. A project with buffers shows its buffer use in the Performance column, at 0 % right after the release.

The project's tasks now reach the people who work on them: they appear in Active tasks and, for their task managers and resources, in My activities. If you do not see them in Active tasks yet, press F5 to refresh the screen.

Additional information

• The first time you release a project, LYNX-X saves its plan as the baseline and fills in its Actual start with the release date. LYNX-X uses the actual start to calculate lead times and throughput. Releasing the project again later does not create a new baseline.
• A released project opens in Schedule view, with a Buffers column. The view list adds views for following the work, such as Baseline view and Active + baseline combined.
• The project's statistics (Project Statistic, Statistics tab) show the date of the latest release under Released at. The Actual start keeps the date of the first release.
• Once the project is released, the order in which its tasks appear in My activities follows their CCPM priority. See Working from My activities.

Troubleshooting

See also

• Setting up critical chain scheduling
• Working from My activities
• Creating a project from a template

Revision history