How to set a Resources Max Units across multiple projects

[Mark Keller]

when working with Project Server 2007 I have resources that are working multiple projects at the same time.

On a per project basis I want to define that a resource is working on Project A 60% of the time and Project B 40% of the time.

Since the Max. Units defined on the Resource Sheet reflects what the resource is set to on the server and cannot be changed at the project level, what is the easiest way to define allocations on a per project basis?


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[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Mark --

Simply stated, there is no way to set the Max. Units value on a project by
project basis. The Max. Units value is specified for each resource in the
Enterprise Resource Pool and each enterprise project gets this information
from the Enterprise Resource Pool every time a PM opens a project. Even if
the PM manually changes the Max. Units value for a resource in an enterprise
project, the system will overwrite the value when the PM reopens the project
the next time. Hope this helps.




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[Mark Keller]

I was afraid of that. Setting allocations at the task level is not realistic in this situation.





Dale Howard [MVP] wrote:

Mark --Simply stated, there is no way to set the Max.
03-Feb-10

Mark --

Simply stated, there is no way to set the Max. Units value on a project by
project basis. The Max. Units value is specified for each resource in the
Enterprise Resource Pool and each enterprise project gets this information
from the Enterprise Resource Pool every time a PM opens a project. Even if
the PM manually changes the Max. Units value for a resource in an enterprise
project, the system will overwrite the value when the PM reopens the project
the next time. Hope this helps.



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[Mark Keller]

With a lot of our resources assigned to 3 - 4 different projects at a time that are all in different phases, can you point me to any good documentation on how to accurately level resources at an enterprise level across all of these different projects? Also how to ensure that it's being maintained and up to date on a regular basis.

Besides viewing assignments and availability in the resource center as well as manually reviewed and leveled by each PM, how can this be more streamlined?

It just seems there should be an easier way to manage this.

Thanks again..

Mark



Dale Howard [MVP] wrote:

Mark --Simply stated, there is no way to set the Max.
03-Feb-10

Mark --

Simply stated, there is no way to set the Max. Units value on a project by
project basis. The Max. Units value is specified for each resource in the
Enterprise Resource Pool and each enterprise project gets this information
from the Enterprise Resource Pool every time a PM opens a project. Even if
the PM manually changes the Max. Units value for a resource in an enterprise
project, the system will overwrite the value when the PM reopens the project
the next time. Hope this helps.



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[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Mark --

The only way to level an overallocated resource across multiple projects is
to actually open all of the projects to the resource is assigned tasks and
then to level in the Resource Usage view. The beauty of leveling in this
View is that you can see the tasks to which the resource is assigned in ALL
of the open projects.

Regarding your second question, there is no way other than a company
methodology to enforce that projects are being updated on a timely basis by
your project managers. Therefore, make this a training and performance
issue with your PMs; train them how to update their projects on a regular
cycle (such as weekly) and then make sure they follow the process.

Regarding your final question, there is no way to make the process go any
more quickly. There is no "magic pill" to make resource management any
easier in Project Server 2007. Your PMs need to practice with the View
Availability page and the View Assignments page in PWA to determine a
resource's current availability for their own projects, and then assign
resources according to this information. If your PMs choose to ignore this
information (or choose not to look at the information at all), then they
will create overallocations that will eventually delay their own projects,
or the projects of their fellow PMs. Hope this helps.

 

[Gary Chefetz]

Mark:

You can work around this in a variety of ways. Your PMs can set the Max unit
values in the resource sheet (which doesn't get saved to the Enterprise) and
then copy them into a local field. Each time they do resource assignments,
they simply copy the local field column back the Max units column. Taking
this one step further, you can write a macro to copy these values each time
the PM opens the project.



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