Availability All Editions
Configure dependencies between milestones to see when projects are at risk due to dependencies on other projects.
Required User Rights
All users can see milestones and their dependencies in projects that they can access. To add, edit, or delete dependencies, your user group must have the following rights:
- Under Detailed Project and Program Rights, the Add, Change and Delete Milestones and Milestone Dependencies right
- To edit milestones in the Plan of Record, you need to have the Edit Plan of Record right; to edit them in a scenario, you need to have the edit rights for the respective scenario
Creating and Deleting Dependencies
In the Portfolio Designer
Dependencies between projects are defined via dependencies between milestones of different projects in Meisterplan.
Such a dependency is considered met when the milestone at the start of the displayed arrow lies before the milestone at the arrow tip on the timeline.
Dependencies between milestones of the same project cannot be defined in Meisterplan.
Proceed as follows to create a dependency between two milestones in the Portfolio Designer:
- Hover over a milestone. A little right arrow is displayed next to the milestone.
- Hover over the right arrow until the mouse pointer is displayed as a hand icon.
- Click the right arrow, press the mouse button and hold it. An arrow representing the new dependency will show up. All milestones available as targets for the new dependency will be highlighted.
- Holding the mouse button, drag the arrow to the milestone that is the desired target for the dependency.
- Release the mouse button to create the dependency. It will be displayed when you hover or select either of the two projects it connects.
- To delete a dependency, right-click the dependency line to open the associated context menu and select Delete Dependency.
In the Project Details
You can also add dependencies in the Project Details. To do so, click Add Dependency in the Dependencies section of the Project Details.
You can add Milestones that are targets (i.e. required by other milestones) or sources (require other milestones). The relationship to the other milestones and the related project or milestone will be displayed in the table.
You can also delete a milestone by hovering over it and selecting the trash can icon.
Displaying Milestones and Dependencies
In the Portfolio Designer
Hover over a project or select it to display all of its milestones and their dependencies.
The arrow indicating the dependency will turn red if the dependency is unmet. Some examples for this are:
- If a dependent milestone precedes the first milestone on the timeline. For example, a software development project that is building a component for another project gets delayed. The project that needs the component cannot begin until the initial development project has delivered the relevant component.
- If the first milestone in the dependency is below the Cut-Off Line. For example, your team does not have capacity to take on a corporate design project. This project is a requirement for a website refresh project and therefore, your team cannot progress with either project.
Any milestone with unfulfilled dependencies will always be displayed in red even when the project isn't selected or hovered over as long as the milestone is part of a project above the Cut-Off Line.
If a dependent milestone is below the Cut-Off Line, the arrow will never be displayed in red because its project is not part of the current plan.
Displaying Only Dependent Projects
Click the three dots after the project's name and select the Show Only Dependent Projects to hide all projects except for those that either depend on the selected project or that the selected project depends on.
All projects that are not connected to the selected project via inbound or outbound dependencies will be hidden:
Remove the selection or select the Show All Projects context menu option for the active project to show all projects again.
In a Program
Milestones belonging to projects in a program above the cut-off line will also be displayed in red when they have unfulfilled dependencies, even when the program is collapsed and not hovered over or selected.
Hover over a collapsed program or select it to display all of its milestones with dependencies pointing to or from projects outside the program.
Expand a program and select it to display all of its milestones and dependencies.
In the Roadmap View
Milestones and dependencies for individual projects can be seen in the Roadmap view by hovering or clicking on the corresponding bars. You can see milestones for all projects without or with milestone names and dates by selecting Display Milestones > All or Display Milestones > All Detailed, respectively. You can hide all milestones by selecting Display Milestones > None.
In the Roadmap, you also have the possibility to filter milestones based on if they contribute to unmet dependencies, are in a specific project phase, or happen within a specific period of time.
See the article Roadmap (View) for more details.