Generate Project Schedules Using the Schedule Assistant with Dela™ AI

Use the Schedule Assistant with Dela™ AI to create a project schedule without creating individual tasks manually.

To use the Schedule Assistant, you must be a System Administrator as defined in User Access under Settings.

To generate a project schedule using the Schedule Assistant:

1. Navigate to Jobs > Jobs List.
2. Click Open Job Card to the right of the name of the job for which you are generating the schedule.
3. Click Schedule Assistant in the top toolbar of the job card. The Schedule Assistant dialog box opens.
4. Use the calendar icon in the Start Date field to select a start date (optional).
5. Enter the number of days for the duration of the schedule in the Suggested Number of Days field (optional).
6. Select a template from the drop-down list in the Base on Template field if you want the Schedule Assistant to use a template as the basis for the new schedule (optional). This list is populated with the names of any schedules that you designated via the Save Current Schedule as Template option on the context menu on the Settings tab for jobs or tasks.
7. Select Yes or No in the Include Briefing field to indicate whether the Schedule Assistant should use any briefing that exists for the job as additional context for the new schedule.
8. In the chat box below the example prompt section, enter a prompt that clearly describes your project. Be as specific as possible; the more details that you provide the more effective the Schedule Assistant is at generating results that meet your requirements in fewer iterations.
9. Click Generate Schedule to start the Schedule Assistant's generation process.

   Alternatively, you can click Reset to clear all of the information that you entered in the dialog box and start over. You can click Cancel to discard all of the information and close the dialog box.

   After you click Generate Schedule, the Schedule Assistant indicates that it is processing the information that you provided by displaying an animated Thinking message with the icon, which is also animated.

   Next, the Schedule Assistant displays the first draft schedule. In the Scheduling Parameters pane on the left side, it describes in natural language what it did. In the right pane, it lists the tasks, their start and end dates, and durations (in work days), with the total project duration at the bottom of the first column. The Gantt chart at the right shows the distribution and duration of tasks across the project and their relationships and flow.

10. At the bottom of the Scheduling Parameters pane, you can enter another prompt to provide additional parameters or change values to refine the project requirements if the first draft schedule did not meet your requirements.
11. Click Regenerate to create another iteration of the schedule if you want to change or refine the initial version.

    The Schedule Assistant generates another draft schedule according to your revised prompt, displays it in the right pane, and again describes what it did in the Scheduling Parameters pane.

12. Continue revising your prompt and regenerating draft schedules until you achieve a version that meets your requirements.
13. Click Load Schedule to make the final iteration become your project schedule. The schedule is flagged with the icon, which is displayed wherever the schedule name is displayed and remains with the it, even if you change the schedule manually.

Important Considerations

Schedules that you create with the Schedule Assistant can only start on today's date or in the future.

You can set specific dates for tasks in your prompt. For example, if your schedule includes a pre-launch meeting for a campaign on a certain date, you can specify that date for the meeting in your prompt.

After you finalize and load an AI-generated schedule, you interact with it in the same ways that you do with a schedule that you created manually.

Tips for More Effective Prompts

• You can include dates or date ranges in your prompts; the AI tries to adjust the plan accordingly. You can use terms like Tomorrow, Next Month, For Two Months, Next Quarter, In December, and other similar terms. However, using specific calendar dates can sometimes help the AI to understand you better.
• If you want tasks to occur at the same time, using the terms Concurrent, Parallel, or Simultaneous can help.
• Weekend dates are handled as follows:
  • If the start date falls on a weekend, the AI prompts you to adjust it.
  • If other dates that you specify in your prompt end up falling on a weekend, the AI automatically moves them to the next work day.
• The AI might try to place the start of the plan on an off—that is, non-work—day, which is not allowed. Adjusting the prompt to target a specific valid date should avoid this issue.
• If the AI does a certain task out of order, reminding it what the correct order is works. The same applies if a link is missing between two tasks.
• If the AI responds that something does not have anything to do with planning, it might be thinking that you want it to actually perform the action that you are planning for. If you enter Make a plan for... instead, that clarifies that you actually want the AI to create a schedule, not perform the action.
• The AL considers some terms inappropriate, and that can have unintended consequences. The classic example is cherry bombs. If you run into this situation, try using quotation marks—enter “cherry bombs” instead. This helps to provide the context that the AI needs to get around this issue.
• Note that the AI can have difficulty doing seemingly basic math. You might need to do some manual adjustment if the AI has difficulty moving a task to the correct day.
• If you think that a task is too generic, you can ask the AI to be more detailed. Asking the AI to expand a particular task into its own phase can yield good results.