Dealing with uncertain dependencies

Anish -

Can you clarify what you mean by an uncertain dependency? Is it:

1. I don't know if two activities have a dependency or not?
2. I don't know what type of dependency it is - mandatory, discretionary, external?
3. I don't know what the dependency itself is - FS/SF/SS/FF, leads/lags?

If it is #1, the safest choice is to assume the dependency exists and validate that assumption. Till then, the potential that the assumption is wrong will be a risk.

With #2 and #3, again, the safest choice in the absence of information is to take the most conservative path, but log the assumptions made and validate them as soon as possible.

Kiron

Anish
I hope your are not mixing schedulling and risk together. As per as my understanding, you have to sequence the activities( During Sequence Activities) which will reveal the dependencies between the activities, whereas risk is uncertain events or happening which may effect negatively or positively on attaing at least one objectives of projects

Kiron,
Dependency could be mandatory or external. Many times I may not be able to know the requirements until I face the real issues, like lack of resources or more tasks added during the project. In this case the initial estimate may no longer be valid. So, there is always an uncertainty especially in large scale projects. I hope you understood what I was talking about.

Anish, your reply to Kiron (sorry Kiron for intervene) is about risk but not about dependencies uncertainty. What you stated is about risk on project which is general, not dependecy specifc.