D
dwolf
We have created Overhead projects using the Gary Chefetz instructions
from this NewsGroup (1 per SBU) exactly as described.
1) Using fixed-duration tasks, with effort-driven turned off
2) Resources assigned to the tasks so that the total of the assignments
equals the percentage we've estimating to be discounted.
3) Kept it simple, keep the buckets fairly general. In our case
following Accounting's prescribed buckets.
The one frustration that we have observed is that as people charge into
these Fixed Duration tasks the end date of the tasks keep moving out
into the future. Since the objective is to maintain these projects as
annual budgets this becomes difficult to understand and explain to
upper management. The idea was to model these budgets as level loaded
capacity drains against which actuals would draw.
This year we thought we had discovered a solution using a constraint of
"Finish No Later Than" with a date of 12/23/2005. The concept was that
the level loaded budgets would pile up towards the end of the year
until used. We figured this modelled the probability of reality quite
nicely. However, when the first week's hours were recieved, the dates
did not hold as expected. When a group did not charge until the
Thursday or Friday, the entire task moved that many days into the
following year.
Any ideas how to constrain these "buckets" so that they do not do this?
The only other thought we've had was to hammock each task between two
milestones.
--DWolf
from this NewsGroup (1 per SBU) exactly as described.
1) Using fixed-duration tasks, with effort-driven turned off
2) Resources assigned to the tasks so that the total of the assignments
equals the percentage we've estimating to be discounted.
3) Kept it simple, keep the buckets fairly general. In our case
following Accounting's prescribed buckets.
The one frustration that we have observed is that as people charge into
these Fixed Duration tasks the end date of the tasks keep moving out
into the future. Since the objective is to maintain these projects as
annual budgets this becomes difficult to understand and explain to
upper management. The idea was to model these budgets as level loaded
capacity drains against which actuals would draw.
This year we thought we had discovered a solution using a constraint of
"Finish No Later Than" with a date of 12/23/2005. The concept was that
the level loaded budgets would pile up towards the end of the year
until used. We figured this modelled the probability of reality quite
nicely. However, when the first week's hours were recieved, the dates
did not hold as expected. When a group did not charge until the
Thursday or Friday, the entire task moved that many days into the
following year.
Any ideas how to constrain these "buckets" so that they do not do this?
The only other thought we've had was to hammock each task between two
milestones.
--DWolf