Best practices

B

Bunmi

Hello all,

Just a quick question (I hope)...I'm just starting out at
this, and I want to know what you guys recommend. My
team develops custom software. We will be using Project
2003 and PWA. My question is:
1.
I'm a little confused which one I want as default: fixed
units/work/duration. I understand what they mean though.
Right now, I'm thinking I want Fixed work, rather than
the default fixed units, because {most times}, a single
task will take x long regardless of number of people...at
the same time, I'm thinking fixed unit might be ok for me
also...except that when I have it on Fixed units, I am
unable to make the [Work] un-tied from [Duration] since
i'm using Work as the time I estimate the resource to
complete the task, and Duration as the timeframe in which
it will be completed...Is this the right use? am I
getting my terms right?

2. In general, should I just use Work (for time-fram
resource is expected to complete work), Duration for
timeframe in which it's expected to be completed, Never
touch Start and Finish - leave that to auto-update: when
I do resource leveling or when a successor task gets done
ahead of time, use Priority to somewhat control resource
leveling (I'm using Priority,Standard -is that ok?),

3. why is it that when I go back to tasks already
entered, and I want to change the Work and Duration
columns to fix to my newly adopted definitions as-in 2
above, it doesn't allow it...I first remove the resource
name (it turns Work to 0, not sure why)...then I put the
Work value back in...give it a Duration...then put a
Resource Name back...it seems to not act right when I do
it...I'm sure it's something simple...

I know that's a lot of questions, probably all newbie
too...responses to any of the items above will be
helpful...or direction to some URLs that can help.
Thanks a lot.
 
D

Dale Howard [MVP]

Bunmi --

1. The "fixed" value, whether it be Units, Work, or Duration, is the value
that you do not want Microsoft Project to recalculate for you in the
Duration Equation. Thus, on a Fixed Work task, if you change the Units then
the Duration is recalculated, and if you change the Duration then the Units
are recalculated, but the software won't recalculate the Work for you
because that value is fixed. You should set the "fixed" variable on a task
by task basis, based on the requirements of the task. For example, if a
task has a "window of opportunity" of 5 days to complete work on the task,
and the window will not change, then I would say that is a Fixed Duration
task with a Duration of 5 days.

2. You will need to supply two of the three values in the Duration equation
on each task and assignment. These values are Duration, Work, and Units.
In some situations, it is most helpful to enter a Units value and a Work
value for each resource assigned to a task, and then let the software
calculate the Duration of that task for you. In other cases, you may need
to set a Duration and then enter either a Work or Units value. It's all
based on your scheduling needs. The Task Type also comes into play as well
when you set assignments. Yes, you are correct that you should not enter a
Start or Finish date for any task, as this automatically sets a constraint
on the task. If you need to set a constraint on a task, then double click
the task, select the Advanced tab, manually set the constraint there, and
then add a task Note to document why you set the constraint. A Priority
number can be set at both the project level and the task level, and you are
correct that it is used only in leveling.

3. The software is behaving as it is meant to work. If you have a Fixed
Units task, and then you attempt to adjust both the Duration and the Work,
the software WILL NOT recalculate the Units value for you. Why? Because
the Units are fixed. If you have a Fixed Work task, you should adjust the
Work value first, and then let the software recaluclate the Duration, which
is its default behavior. Then adjust the Duration and the software will
recalculate the Units for you.

Those are good questions and get at the heart of how the software works.
Thanks for asking. Hope these answers help.




Bunmi said:
Hello all,

Just a quick question (I hope)...I'm just starting out at
this, and I want to know what you guys recommend. My
team develops custom software. We will be using Project
2003 and PWA. My question is:
1.
I'm a little confused which one I want as default: fixed
units/work/duration. I understand what they mean though.
Right now, I'm thinking I want Fixed work, rather than
the default fixed units, because {most times}, a single
task will take x long regardless of number of people...at
the same time, I'm thinking fixed unit might be ok for me
also...except that when I have it on Fixed units, I am
unable to make the [Work] un-tied from [Duration] since
i'm using Work as the time I estimate the resource to
complete the task, and Duration as the timeframe in which
it will be completed...Is this the right use? am I
getting my terms right?

2. In general, should I just use Work (for time-fram
resource is expected to complete work), Duration for
timeframe in which it's expected to be completed, Never
touch Start and Finish - leave that to auto-update: when
I do resource leveling or when a successor task gets done
ahead of time, use Priority to somewhat control resource
leveling (I'm using Priority,Standard -is that ok?),

3. why is it that when I go back to tasks already
entered, and I want to change the Work and Duration
columns to fix to my newly adopted definitions as-in 2
above, it doesn't allow it...I first remove the resource
name (it turns Work to 0, not sure why)...then I put the
Work value back in...give it a Duration...then put a
Resource Name back...it seems to not act right when I do
it...I'm sure it's something simple...

I know that's a lot of questions, probably all newbie
too...responses to any of the items above will be
helpful...or direction to some URLs that can help.
Thanks a lot.
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