Auto update Start and End date of successor tasks

Question

In my team I bulk update tasks into Jira. An Epic may contain anything between 50 to 1000 tasks. We set the start date of a task to the first day of month and end date to last day of month. The start and end date of tasks is governed by the project schedule. Projects may run for a few months or a few years. During the course of the projects some tasks may delay which means we have to update the start and end date of those tasks plus the tasks that are due in the following months.

My question is, is there a way of auto updating the proceeding tasks? Do I have to link the tasks or set precedence and how? Appreciate your help.

Jamal.Hallajian · Answer

Hi Curt,

Thanks for getting back to me. To respond to your questions

If there is a slippage, will the new due date be the last day of the next month, or could/would a slippage of a week, or 2 days be a reality? The new due date will be the last day of next month although we may get the task doe earlier and change it status to done ealier.

If so, Do all tasks with a Due date greater or equal to the new "slipped date" get updated and move out by the same amount? Not all tasks need to be moved out. Only those that are dependent on the slipped tasks

What about the start dates? Do they all move by that same amount as well?
Every time there is a change to either a start or due date, does the automation kick into gear, unconditionally? Start dates also move by the same amount. Start and end dates always shift together. There needs to be a condition so that only dependent tasks get shifted. There are tasks for same documents that need to be prepared at different stages of the project.

as long as they are linked to an epic and all future dated tasks within that epic are to be moved out whenever one task's Due date slips, then that will do as the linking and precedence. 
But is that logic sound? Is that simple conditioning always going to make sense, in Avery slippage scenario???? No unfortunately it is not that simple. some tasks need to be moved out some don't. Some tasks are on critical path and impact the project completion if they delay.

Thanks again,

Jamal

Curt Holley · Answer

Hi @Jamal.Hallajian

This sounds like a nightmare scenario and one I can't help but question the value of.

* I would not have a single Epic with anywhere near 1000 tasks. break the work down into smaller (confirmed dependent on each other) chunks. This way, if there is a slippage of time you can be certain all work contained within is directly related and likely will also slip.
* Even under the conditions of point 1, there is still the chance that not all the work will slip by the same measure as the one task that has (especially when all tasks have a month to complete). Unless all tasks are completed one at a time and always take the full month to complete, then there will likely be variables that need curation (and replanning) rather than just automation.

In an attempt to automate this, I have questions:

If there is a slippage, will the new due date be the last day of the next month, or could/would a slippage of a week, or 2 days be a reality?
If so, Do all tasks with a Due date greater or equal to the new "slipped date" get updated and move out by the same amount?
What about the start dates? Do they all move by that same amount as well?
Every time there is a change to either a start or due date, does the automation kick into gear, unconditionally?

To answer your question about "Do I have to link the tasks or set precedence and how?" as long as they are linked to an epic and all future dated tasks within that epic are to be moved out whenever one task's Due date slips, then that will do as the linking and precedence. 
But is that logic sound? Is that simple conditioning always going to make sense, in every slippage scenario????