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Reading the LiquidPlanner Schedule
Bars
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Reading the LP schedule bars (a.k.a. Uncertainty Gantt bars)
Only LiquidPlanner has a scheduling system that allows you to capture, view, and manage uncertainty in your project
schedule. This exibility is the result of estimating (/support/articles/estimating-in-ranges ) tasks in ranges (e.g., 5
15 days) instead of single, xed estimates (e.g. 10 days). Think of this as creating a best-case and a worst-case
scenario for completing a task. Once you enter your ranged estimates, LiquidPlanner does the hard math to create a
statistically correct schedule you can trust.
LiquidPlanner calculates probable start and nish dates for each of your tasks and displays this data to you in the
schedule bars:
(http://www.liquidplanner.com/)
(http://cdn.liquidplanner.com/wp-content/uploads/Reading-the-Schedule-Bar.png)
Knowing Your Dates
Work Started
The rst date that time was logged is referred to as Work Started. It is represented by the start of the grey tracking
bar. The length of the tracking bar corresponds with the amount of time a plan item has been in progress.
Earliest Start
The earliest start is the date you are 10% likely to start this particular task. The assumption is that you cant start a
task until the preceding task completes, so the actual start date of the task is uncertain.
Start [E] Expected Start (not shown)
You are 50% likely to start this task or container (project, sub-folder or package) on or before this date. This date can
be viewed in the The Schedule Bar Pop-Up.
Finish [10%] Best-Case Finish
This is the earliest you could conceivably nish this task or container (project, sub-folder or package). For a task, this
corresponds to the best-case (low) estimate. For a container, this corresponds to the date on which you are 10% likely
to nish all of the tasks, for all people, in that container.
Finish [E] Expected Finish
You are 50% likely to nish this task or container (project, sub-folder or package) on or before this date. This is the
date you should be shooting for. For a task, this corresponds to the mid-point of your ranged estimate. For a
container, this corresponds to the date on which you are 50% likely to nish all of the tasks, for all people, in that
container.
Finish [90%] Worst-Case Finish
This is the date you are 90% likely to nish this task or container (project, sub-folder or package). For a task, this
corresponds to the worst-case (high) estimate. For a container, this corresponds to the date on which you are 90%
likely to nish all of the tasks, for all people, in that container.
Taken together, the Best-Case Finish (10%) and Worst-Case Finish (90%) give you an 80% condence interval. Thats
a fancy-pants way of saying that youre 80% likely to get the work done somewhere between those two dates.
Finish [98%] 98% Finish
This is the latest you could conceivably nish this task or container (project, sub-folder or package). It is the date on
which you are 98% likely to have nished and it accounts for the inherent uncertainty in the project plan.

Customizing Your Schedule
Delay Until
Setting a delay (/support/articles/delay-until ) on a plan item ensures that it wont start before a specic date. Its
important to note that when the delay date arrives, your delayed item may not be scheduled to start that day if you
still have higher priority work on your plate at that time.
Dependencies
In LiquidPlanner, dependencies (/support/articles/dependencies ) are most often created between tasks owned by
different people. When two items are chained together, the dependent task will not be scheduled to start until the
predecessor is marked Done.
Deadline
Setting a deadline (/support/articles/deadline-dates-and-risk-alerts ) date on a plan item provides a visual marker of a
specic target date. It is important to note that a deadline date does not affect your schedule in any way it simply
drives alerting to let you know in advance if it looks like you wont be able to get the work done by that date. Once
you are alerted that a plan item is at-risk, you can then make decisions on what needs to change to get you back on
track with your deadline goal.

How to use expected dates and deadline dates
The LiquidPlanner visual system is designed to help you focus your attention on two things:
Work diligently towards the E, re-estimating as you go. Treat it as your target, and if you are doing it right, the
time you will be under, the time you will be over.
Treat the end of the bar as the safe promise/deadline date. This is the 98% condence date.
Use deadline dates (/support/articles/deadline-dates-and-risk-alerts ) to your advantage. You can set a deadline date
on any item in the plan and if the E gets too close to the deadline date the system will start alerting you with red on
re ags. Set a deadline date on a container and all of its children will inherit that deadline date.

The Schedule Bar Pop-Up
Click on a schedule bar to see the expected started and nish dates spelled out, along with other key metrics for that
plan item:
(http://cdn.liquidplanner.com/wp-
content/uploads/Schedule-Bar-Pop-up.png)
Note that you can click on the Remaining Trend graphic to go to the Remaining Trend Report
(/support/articles/remaining-trend-report/) for that item.

Seeing interruptions in the schedule bar
When a task is subject to a pending interruption, we show that interruption period in the schedule bar. In the sample
below, the Select Stock Photos task will get started, but before its nished, it will be interrupted when the Jill
Vacation event starts. It will resume after the event is nished:
(http://cdn.liquidplanner.com/wp-content/uploads/Schedule-Bar-Interruption.png)
An interruption can be caused by any of the following:
A scheduled Event, as seen above
A higher priority delayed task
A higher priority task that has an unsatised dependency
LPs scheduling logic assumes that you will always be working on your highest priority free task. (Meaning the task
has no start limitation on it its not delayed out and its not dependent on the nish of another task.)
If youre in the middle of working on a task (lets call it Task X) when a higher priority task becomes free (the delay
date arrives or the dependency is satised), the scheduling engine assumes that you will jump off Task X and go
complete the higher priority task until it is done. Then you will go back and nish out Task X. The interruption
graphic on Task X represents the time you will spend completing the higher priority task.
If its not obvious what is interrupting your task, just click on the interruption graphic, and the name of the
interrupting plan item will be spelled out for you below the schedule dates.

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Estimating in Ranges
(/support/articles/estimating-in-ranges/)Viewing Actual Start and Finish Dates (/support/articles/viewing-actual-
start-and-nish-dates/)
Delay Until (/support/articles/delay-until/)
Deadline Dates and Risk Alerts (/support/articles/deadline-dates-and-risk-alerts/)
Dependencies (/support/articles/dependencies/)
Plan with condence.
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