## Outline Your Task List

You’ve grouped related tasks and put them in the order you want. But because the task names all line up on the left, there’s no way to tell where one group ends and another begins. Also, a simple, undifferentiated list can’t show which tasks represent major steps or phases.

You’ll find it best to stick with either a top- down approach (summary tasks first) or a bottom-up approach (subtasks first) when building your schedule.

The way to visually distinguish one group of tasks from another, and to show which tasks belong to a specific project phase, is to outline your task list. With Microsoft Project, you can move a task to a level lower than the task above it by indenting it. Conversely, you can raise a task to a level higher in the outline hierarchy by outdenting it (unless it is already at the highest level).

When you indent a task with respect to the task above it, the task above becomes a summary task and the indented task becomes its subtask. You can also turn a task into a summary task by outdenting it to a level higher (if it’s not already at the highest level) than the tasks that follow it. Whichever method you use, you should assign at least two subtasks per summary task.

By outlining your task list, you make it easy to reorganize your project schedule. Whenever you move or delete a summary task, all of its subtasks go with it.

To indent or outdent a task

1. On the View Bar, click Gantt Chart .
2. In the Task Name field, select the task you want to indent or outdent.
3. Click Indent to indent the task or click Outdent to outdent the task.

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