Hi all. I have the following scenario, and wondering if someone can tell me if there is a way to set this in project...



I have 2 tasks. One is Programming, and one is Testing. Testing is linked to Programming, as we cannot start testing until programming is complete (obviously ).

For Programming, I can start as soon as we have approval to do so. Approval is expected to be received on May 30th, therefore, Programming can begin ASAP on 6/2, and we have 20 days to complete (Jun 27th). Then Testing starts ASAP from the day programming is complete (Jun 30th). While we have 20 days to complete programming, when we set these days, we baked in some 'fluff', as we truly only need 10 days to complete (Start No Later Than Jun 16th).

I have set this constraint in Project, that the task cannot start any later than the 16th. If approval is delayed, I have a 10 day cushion before it becomes an issue.

My question is- is there a way to have Project know about the cushion? Right now, with the constraint, if I try to change the start date (currently 6/2), Project yells at me and says "Cancel. keep the constraint" or "Continue. Remove the constraint." - even if I try to tell it to start 1 day later, on 6/3. Which, if we started on 6/3, is fine- we'd still have plenty of time to complete. I would rather it automatically recalculate the duration if I change the date to be between 6/3 and 6/13, as these are acceptable start dates.

Let me know if there is anything I can do!!

Thank you!
E