Managing Dependencies on monday.com

Mar 186 min read

Most projects or tasks have a dependency factor—they're never simple. For example, dependencies on monday.com can help users monitor delays, visualise relationships, and ensure smooth project management or workflow.

But what do dependencies in project management really mean?

According to Indeed, any task that depends on other factors for optimal efficiency, stability, and timeline can be a dependency. It also refers to the relationship between projects or tasks and the order in which you complete them.

For instance, a project's quality can sometimes depend on the availability of skilled employees or certain raw materials. Similarly, app testing will depend on the completion of app programming.

In this blog post, we'll delve deeper into project or task dependencies on monday.com.

Why Manage Project Dependencies?

Did you know that properly managing project dependencies can ensure success? For instance, it can help with effective risk mitigation, timely completion, and resource allocation.

You can have better outcomes and a clearer project scope if you manage project or task dependency. Here's why:

It'll identify critical paths, optimise schedules, and prevent delays.
You can efficiently use resources and reduce operational costs.
Project managers can plan a contingency and identify proactive risks.
This can improve team performance and stakeholder communication.

You also need to identify task dependencies in project management. For that, you must analyse relationships between tasks to determine which ones must be completed before others can finish or start.

But how do you identify them? Review the project objectives and scope, create a work breakdown structure, analyse the project schedules, or use project management software like monday.com.

Can monday.com Help Manage Project Dependencies?

To achieve all that, you can use dependencies on monday.com. With this work management tool, users manage and visualise relationships between tasks.

The dependency feature in monday WorkOS can ensure your tasks stay within budget and on schedule. Example: You can automate updates to prevent delays.

With monday Work Management, you can manage dependencies in the following manner:

Define the order in which tasks are completed to ensure logical workflow and proper planning.
Improved project organisation to prevent tasks from starting before all their necessary prerequisites are met.
Visualised dependencies on monday.com can enhance time management by offering better project timeline estimates.
You can identify potential bottlenecks for accurate project execution and planning.
Automations in monday.com allow for automatic updates to timelines and status whenever a dependency is set up or a change occurs.
It helps allocate resources to the right people, ensuring seamless business operations.
The right dependency on monday can facilitate better collaboration and communication across departments, as it clearly outlines task responsibilities.

All in all, monday.com can help increase project success by effective dependency management. You can significantly increase on-time project completion within the specified budget and to the needed standards.

To know more about project dependencies on monday.com, feel free to schedule your time with an implementation consultant. Being a monday Silver Partner, our team at Fruition can help you understand the intricacies, set up the boards, and more.

Connect with a monday expert

How to Use Dependencies on monday.com?

Here are a few reasons you'll love using the dependency feature on monday.com:

You have items on your board with due dates dependent on one another.
One item cannot start until others are completed.

Dependencies on monday.com come in to ensure these work out without any hassle. It will help create connections between tasks or items on boards that are vital to one another.

But how can you create these dependencies for better and more efficient project management for business leaders? Read on!

The Dependency Column

In every monday.com board, you can add up to 500 columns. Among them, you'll find the Dependency Column.

Here's how you can add it to the board:

Click the + icon on the right (last column).
Select the More Columns option.
Type in and search for the term Dependency in the Column Centre.
Click on Add to Board.

Once done, you'll be able to define the relationships and dependencies between items. However, you can only add one column per board.

Note: This feature is only available to Pro and Enterprise members.

Setting Up the Dependency on monday.com

The moment you add the Dependency Column, you'll see a window pop up. It'll prompt you to choose the mode of dependency to help you work with and connect the time column and items.

Dependency Mode

Ideally, the dependency mode setting will have the following options:

Flexible: To ensure no overlapping between dates of items dependent on one another.
Strict: It will adjust an item's dates to showcase the exact time when you or your team made changes based on the item it's dependent on.
No action: No item will shift automatically. They'll only display dependency relationships without making changes, even during a clash.

The dependency mode on monday.com will affect how your items automatically move when the related ones are changed.

Setting Up Time

Next, you'll have to choose the column on which your items will be dependent from the drop-down menu.

Examples: Date Column and Timeline Column. Choose a time column (if you have more than one) from the drop-down menu and click Save once done.

This might seem complicated to set up. That's why it's best to collaborate with a monday expert at Fruition to help manage dependencies, columns, boards, and more.

Connect with a monday expert

Defining the Dependency Relationships

Once the Dependency Column gets added to the board, it's time to define the items that'll be dependent on other items. It's important because you can control how your items will shift when changes are made to the items they're dependent on.

The steps to follow include:

Click on the Cell in the Dependency Column on monday.com.
Select any item on your board from the drop-down menu.

Note: The Timeline and Date Columns will not auto-populate after you set your dependent items. You'll have to fill it in for each item for the dependency to work.

What's the Outcome?

Once you've chosen the dependency setting and set up the relationships, you can watch the dependencies on monday.com take action. Here's what will happen:

Change relevant dates or timelines on the board = the dates of the dependent items will shift according to the dependency mode.
Drag items on Gantt or Timeline View = you can see all your items move according to the ones they're dependent on.

The Dependency Types

When you set up relationships between items, you can also select the dependency type for individual relationships. They include the following:

Finish-to-Start (FS): Only when Task A gets done does Task B start. (default and most common type)
Start-to-Start (SS): Once Task A starts, Task B will start as well.
Finish-to-Finish (FF): When Task A is finished, Task B will also be done.

4 Tips to Manage Project Dependencies

With monday Work Management, you can easily use task dependencies with one column. For example, you must edit task durations on your project board to adjust resource data, visualise the impact, and set delay alerts.

This allows you to shift items around, maintain connections between the dependent tasks, and ensure flexibility throughout a project. Even then, you must follow a few tips to manage your project dependencies:

Assess, identify, and document the potential task dependencies. These include type, specifications, owner, profile, or timeline.
Categorise the dependencies on monday.com based on their type: These include external, cross-team, preferential, logical, or resource.
Reduce the number of dependencies to simplify project scope and break down the tasks into smaller items.
Establish clear communication with team members and stakeholders to ensure everyone knows about the dependencies.

Using monday.com can help you visually plan, track, and organise every task dependency with a few clicks. To get the best results, feel free to reach out to an implementation consultant at Fruition.

FAQs

What are the main types of task dependencies in project management?

The main types of task dependencies include finish-to-start (FS), start-to-start (SS), and finish-to-finish (FF). The first means you'll have to complete Task A to begin Task B. Similarly, the second dependency means that both Task A and Task B will start together. Lastly, FF dependency means Task A must be finished to mark Task B complete. You'll get all these options in the dependencies on the monday.com feature, but the FS one will be the default.

How can you manage project dependencies on monday.com?

You'll have to add the Dependency Column on the board. Choose the mode (flexible, strict, or no action) and Date/Timeline Columns. Once done, use the different dependency types to set up the relationships. To get the best results, feel free to collaborate with a consultant at Fruition to set up the dependencies on monday.com.

Can you skip weekends using dependencies on monday.com?

Yes, you can ensure weekends are skipped. For that, you'll have to set things up in the admin settings. Go to the General section and click on the Account tab in the Admin section. Select the Hide Weekends option under Timeline Weekend. You can skip weekends on the Timeline Column but not on the Date Column using dependencies on monday.com.