Task Lifecycle

At any point in time, the status of a task is determined based on its dependencies, on the state of completion of its predecessors, and on the state of completion of the task itself. Task status is important because it assists you in determining which tasks to schedule and complete during a given Planning Horizon. By assigning each task a status, SPS|PM identifies those tasks which are ready to begin and those which require additional inputs. Those inputs can take the form of prerequisite work, information, directives, materials, etc. Task status also allows distributed individuals across the project to be aware of the state of completion or readiness of any task at any point in time.

Each task will always be classified as one of the following: Constrained, Released, Released-At-Risk, Planned, Completed, or Completed Not Planned. A task status filter is part of the Lookahead as shown in the image below.