RPAX Risk Items: Illogical Status

What it is:  A SmartTask has been marked complete prior to its predecessor. In the example below, the Develop Bid Package task must be completed before the Internal Review task can begin, however the Internal Review task has been marked complete.

Why it matters: Illogical status within a project plan can indicate an incorrectly structured plan making the timeline and forecast inaccurate. 

If the dependencies are correctly defined, this would indicate that tasks have been completed out of order. In the example above, the Internal Review was completed without the Bid Package having been developed. This would mean that the Bid Package has not actually been reviewed as it would be if these tasks were performed in the correct order.

It's also possible that a SmartTask has been accidentally marked complete, or that a completed SmartTask has not been updated. This would mean that the status of tasks within the project is not accurate, and therefore the forecast for project completion is not accurate either.

What's next: Check in with task owners to confirm that the status is accurate, or review SmartTask dependencies to ensure the project is correctly planned and structured.