Auto update of % of resource usage

[Michael]

When I put in work, duration, and the resource Project rightfully assigns say
10% of that resource to the task.
But when I put in another task specifying work, duration, and the resource
it will do the same for the second task 10% but then the resource is
overallocated because it didnt recalculate the first task % when I level it.
It seems that the % assigned to the first task would need to change because
of the new commitment.
Maybe I am just not thinking of it right?

 

[JulieS]

Hi Michael,

Resource leveling will never change assignment units, it will only delay
a task to resolve resource overallocations. If in the scenario you
describe the resource's maximum units are 10%, Project will delay the
second task not change the resource assignment units.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie

 

[Steve House [Project MVP]]

Project does not automatically take into account other resource assignments
when you make a new one except that it alerts you if the new assignment
causes an overallocation.

It's a common misconception that an assigment of, say, 25% means that 25% of
the resource's workday is spent on that task. It doesn't quite mean that.
What it really means that out of any arbitrary block of time the resource
will spend 25% on that task and 75% on other things, thus taking 4 times as
long to complete the required work as he would if he wasn't being
distracted. In other words the assignment percentage is the percent of the
total time involved on the task that is converted into useful work output.
It relates to the maximum allocation level in that the max is the "never
exceed" limit at any given time. A person that works an 8 hour workday and
has a max allocation of 100% can be over-allocated even if he's only working
an hour or two a day on your project IF two of the tasks he's assigned 100%
to happen to overlap. Create a test project with 1 resource and 2 1-hour
tasks. Don't link the tasks. Make sure automatic leveling is turned off.
Assign the resource 100% to each and look at the the resource sheet. You'll
see he's in red - he works 8 hours that day, is assigned to work only 2
hours. You'd think the would mean he's assigned 2/8 or 25% total but it
doesn't work that way. He's actually assigned at 200% because if those 2
tasks happen to be going on at the same time he's scheduled to be in two
places at once. Leveling fixes it by delaying one of them until he's
finished the other one.