Assigning Resources in Project Server 2007

[Lonnie Bowling]

Assigning Resources in Project Server 2007

I am trying to come up with a way to allow a resource manager to assign his
resources from the enterprise resource pool to a various project tasks (that
come for all the current active projects). I would like the manager to be
able to view all tasks assigned to his group (using generic resources) and be
able to adjust a task start/stop dates and assign a real resource to it. It
appears that in the resource center you can see resource assignments and
availability but there is no ability to actually change these items. Any
ideas on how to set this up would be very helpful.

Lonnie Bowling

 

[Redneck David]

Lonnie,

I don't think its a good thing to allow the resource manager to change the
schedule.

How would you know what you are going to end up with?

 

[Lonnie Bowling]

There would be an approval process where the change would not take place
without the PM's approval. The PM can also set constraints to prevent a hard
date from moving. I the idea is to give the RM some flexiblitly in setting
his resource assignments. Most likely the dates would not be adjusted much,
at least that is the idea. Even with the date aspect set side, how could the
RM just reassign tasks with out going into each project. He needs a way to
see what is required from all the PMs and then assign the necessay resources.

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

David,

You'd be surprised with which questions some customers come up.
I'm in discussion with a company who will most prbably not adapt Project
because it cannot FORBID the project manager to create or change
assignments..

--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
+32 495 300 620
For availability check:
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/Calendar.pdf

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Lonnie --

In case you haven't figured this out from the responses so far, what you
want RMs to do cannot be done in Project Server 2007, at least not with all
of the requirements you state. If the RM has a copy of Project Professional
2007, he/she can definitely add resources to the project team using the
Build Team dialog. The RM CANNOT see a resource's availability across all
projects by looking at Generic resources. He/she needs to use the View
Availability feature in the Resource Center, and look at the availability
for specific human resources during future time periods. After the RM
determines availability, he/she can also assign resources to tasks and even
change the task's Start date using an SNET contraint, or change the task's
Finish date by adjusting the Duration. Why you would even consider giving
an RM this much power is beyond me.

Also, in the future, please post your Project Server questions in the
microsoft.public.project.server newsgroup, as this newsgroup is dedicated to
the Microsoft Project desktop application only. Hope this helps.

 

[Redneck David]

Jan,

I know you are exactly correct. I know a company (I used to work for) that
has been arguing about Project Server for 4 years and cannot agree on how to
use it.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Redneck David --

Thanks for your sage comments. The story you describe is so sad. So much
time, money, and opportunity lost. This only confirms what we already know:
implementing Project Server is about people and process, and not technology.
If you don't get the people and process issues addressed and worked out, the
technology won't do much good.

 

[Lonnie Bowling]

Thanks for the help guys. You have given me some food for thought. I am
planning on having some meetings to get these kinds of issues out in the open
and hopefully some agreement. I just want to make sure that things are
going to be workable from a technical perspective. The RM/PM duties and
responsiblities need to work together in some way to allow everyone be able
to effectivly use this tool.

Thanks again!

Lonnie

 

[Steve House]

You're missing a basic point here. Neither the PM not the functional
manager should be entering task dates into Project. You don't tell it when
tasks will start and stop, it tells you when tasks CAN start and stop. It's
up to the functional manager to take that information and assign the
resources accordingly. Project's job is to compute the optimal schedule for
you so you can tell the functional manager how he ought to manage the
resources, how he NEEDS to manage the resources, in order to insure the
project gets done on time and within budget. The PM sees the big picture,
the functional manager likely does not. It's not a tool intended to merely
document a schedule that the functional manager (or the PM for that matter)
has come up with on his own (and that may or may not be workable).