Budgets

[Robert Posma]

I have a budget of work hours for my engineers and technicians for every task
in my project. This is usually generated on a spreadsheet and would like to
be able to use a similar format for entering these same resources in MP. Is
there a task or resource view which I can use to enter this directly. Having
to use the resource dialog box on every task is quite a pain. Something
along the lines of the following would be fantastic:
Resource Designations
Task EE6 EE5 EE4 T4 T3
65% Design 5 40 40 20 10
95% Design 5 20 80 40 20

I could then use this to determine task durations and efforts by resource
type on the project.

 

[Jim Aksel]

MIght this help?
Window Split...
What appears on the bottom of the screen are the details of the task
information dialog box. If you want to see differnt resources then you can
click the drop down to get their name.

You could fake it a little by naming your resource something like this:
E6: 65-5 95-5
E5: 65-40 95-20
etc.
Caution - a resource name may not contain a delimeter such as a ","

This way, you can remind yourself of how much work would be required for
each resource each time you use the dropdown. Once you are all done, rename
the resources.

You could also write (record) a brief Macro that would make these
assignments for you and assign a hot key such as ALT+Q. Then you are only a
key stroke or two away. Or run the Macro directly (Tools/Macro...)
--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for FAQs and more information
about Microsoft Project

 

[Robert Posma]

Thanks. The windows split option comes a long way towards getting there. I
don't think renaming the resource will work. Eventually, all the projects in
the office would be using the same resource names so that we can determine
who is overloaded.

 

[Steve House]

IMHO, that's an approach fraught with danger. In MS Project terms a
"budget" is not the amount you're allowed to spend, rather it as estimate of
the amount that will be needed in order to achieve the results desired. So
the budget for a task is whatever is required to achieve the task's
objectives, a level of effort that is most often driven by the actual
physical process involved. If I have a painter who can paint 10 square feet
an hour when working at capacity and my task is to paint 400 square feet,
the work required for that task is 40 man-hours, full stop. If my allowed
expenditure is 30 man-hours, it is physically impossible to complete
painting the wall and the project fails. If my allowed work expenditure is
60 man-hours and I schedule the task to use the full 60 hours of work, I'm
throwing away half of my resources paying for work that's not needed. IMHO,
a project schedule should be based on what is required to achieve the
project's objectives and as PM it's not my job to figure out how to pay for
it. I'd compute an estimated cost to do the actual work, communicate that
to the project sponsor/comptroller and let them figure out where to find the
money.

 

[Robert Posma]

Thank you, I am fortunately the pm who is establishing that cost to complete
the the project using the tools of Microsoft Project. I can do it in excel
as I would usually do, but wanted the ability to establish budgets as part of
the setup process. I see your points though.
--
Robert Posma

IMHO, that's an approach fraught with danger. In MS Project terms a
"budget" is not the amount you're allowed to spend, rather it as estimate of
the amount that will be needed in order to achieve the results desired. So
the budget for a task is whatever is required to achieve the task's
objectives, a level of effort that is most often driven by the actual
physical process involved. If I have a painter who can paint 10 square feet
an hour when working at capacity and my task is to paint 400 square feet,
the work required for that task is 40 man-hours, full stop. If my allowed
expenditure is 30 man-hours, it is physically impossible to complete
painting the wall and the project fails. If my allowed work expenditure is
60 man-hours and I schedule the task to use the full 60 hours of work, I'm
throwing away half of my resources paying for work that's not needed. IMHO,
a project schedule should be based on what is required to achieve the
project's objectives and as PM it's not my job to figure out how to pay for
it. I'd compute an estimated cost to do the actual work, communicate that
to the project sponsor/comptroller and let them figure out where to find the
money.


--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have a budget of work hours for my engineers and technicians for every
task
in my project. This is usually generated on a spreadsheet and would like
to
be able to use a similar format for entering these same resources in MP.
Is
there a task or resource view which I can use to enter this directly.
Having
to use the resource dialog box on every task is quite a pain. Something
along the lines of the following would be fantastic:
Resource Designations
Task EE6 EE5 EE4 T4 T3
65% Design 5 40 40 20 10
95% Design 5 20 80 40 20

I could then use this to determine task durations and efforts by resource
type on the project.

 

[Steve House [MVP]]

Project will do that easliy. When you assign resources to the tasks, it
will compute the man-hours of work based on the task's duation and the
resource assignment level you choose. If you need that expressed in
dollars, entering the resource's cost in the resource sheet definition will
allow Project to compute an effective hourly rate which is then multiplied
by the man-hours the resource will spend on the task and thus the budgeted
cost of the task. I don't recall you mentioning which version of Project
you are using, but if it's 2007 you can establish budget resources to be
associated with the Project Summary task that allow you to track budgeted
work/cost (ie, bottom-up estimates) versus allowable work/cost (top-down
maximums allowed).

Steve House [MVP]

Thank you, I am fortunately the pm who is establishing that cost to
complete
the the project using the tools of Microsoft Project. I can do it in
excel
as I would usually do, but wanted the ability to establish budgets as part
of
the setup process. I see your points though.
--
Robert Posma

IMHO, that's an approach fraught with danger. In MS Project terms a
"budget" is not the amount you're allowed to spend, rather it as estimate
of
the amount that will be needed in order to achieve the results desired.
So
the budget for a task is whatever is required to achieve the task's
objectives, a level of effort that is most often driven by the actual
physical process involved. If I have a painter who can paint 10 square
feet
an hour when working at capacity and my task is to paint 400 square feet,
the work required for that task is 40 man-hours, full stop. If my
allowed
expenditure is 30 man-hours, it is physically impossible to complete
painting the wall and the project fails. If my allowed work expenditure
is
60 man-hours and I schedule the task to use the full 60 hours of work,
I'm
throwing away half of my resources paying for work that's not needed.
IMHO,
a project schedule should be based on what is required to achieve the
project's objectives and as PM it's not my job to figure out how to pay
for
it. I'd compute an estimated cost to do the actual work, communicate
that
to the project sponsor/comptroller and let them figure out where to find
the
money.


--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have a budget of work hours for my engineers and technicians for every
task
in my project. This is usually generated on a spreadsheet and would
like
to
be able to use a similar format for entering these same resources in
MP.
Is
there a task or resource view which I can use to enter this directly.
Having
to use the resource dialog box on every task is quite a pain.
Something
along the lines of the following would be fantastic:
Resource Designations
Task EE6 EE5 EE4 T4 T3
65% Design 5 40 40 20 10
95% Design 5 20 80 40 20

I could then use this to determine task durations and efforts by
resource
type on the project.