Abbreviations

Turn long task descriptions to more relevant and concise task names.

Creating a schedule in a Gantt User Interface like P6 or MS Project is much different than creating a schedule in a tool like Visio.

Tasks names in Gantt

Generally, task or activity descriptions tend to be longer and even contain redundant information. Here are some example of real activity names from real CPM schedules.

• REINFORCE-P1 - (COL. LINE 1-4.05)

• INWALL ELECTRICAL LOW VOLTAGE-L7

• OVERHEAD

In the context of a gantt chart, there's nothing wrong with these task descriptions. In fact, they are good task descriptions because when you have 100 pages of a gantt printed out, you want to know which level you're looking at without have to flip back and forth a few pages. So the "L7" at the end of the second task name is helpful.

Can anyone tell us why ALL CAPS is always used in construction schedules?

Task names in Visio

We've made it easy to rename tasks with TimeTable. Just double-click on the task and start typing, and hit enter.

However, when you have hundreds or even thousands of tasks, this can take tens of hours. Thankfully, we've introduced a tool called Abbreviations.