How to configure task with fixed durration and fixed work?

[BG_SAABer]

Today quiz is related to MS Project 2003. Problem is simple.
Let's say we have 1000$ budget for security protection.
Let's say we rented a castle for 1 month.
Let's say regular cost for guardsman is 10$/hour.

What I like to do is to create a single task that will have a fixe
start date and fixed end date (duration of 30 calendar days will b
enclosed between start and end date), where a single resource will b
allocated, with cost of resource to be 10$/hour, so that the total Cos
to be exactly 1000$. The only flexible components we have is hours pe
day worked. So what I like Project to calculate for me is what my
allocation is suppose to be to match these numbers. In other words, ho
many hours per day I have to work so that end up spending 1000$ wit
rate of 10$/hour over 30 calendar days? Project has integer numbe
increment and does not accept values with fractional. So if I like t
assign a resource with 3.75%, Project 2003 rejects the fraction an
rounds.

One might say the answer is 3.33h/day. However I can not find an
combination of settings that will enable me to fix the start day, en
day, total work/cost, and use a resource with fixed hourly rate.
always get start and end day that I do not like, or my total work valu
gets out of control. Work hours for the entire task is what I associate
with Cost. Since Cost is not directly changeable, only work can b
manipulated. In our case the work is 100 hours.

What could be the solution

 

[Jim Aksel]

Interesting problem. I see a logic problem... the task is not fiixed work.
The task is apparentlly fixed cost. What you are saying is the guard is paid
$10/hr and letr's assume no overtime pay just $10/hr regardless of hours
worked.

In your scenario, roughly 3.333 hours/day will do the job. However, the
Castle remains unprotected for the other 20.66 hours. Additionally, if the
guard is asked to work more than 3.33 hours in any one day, this will mean
less than 3.33 hours on another day to keep within your budget. This may
mean the castle will be totally unprotected on the last days of the month if
the available $1000 is already consumed.

It would be better, IMO, to select one of the task types and stick to it.
If budget is your overriding concern, then establish the fixed budget of
$1000 and duration. The guard will have to determine how many hours to work
as the statement of work is "Guard the Castle for 1 month at $1000." If you
have to pay the guard hourly then your created your own crisis by limiting
his hours to 100 to stay within that budget.

This is essentially a level of effort task. Given the money and duration,
the guard is going to go home at the end of the budget, not the end of the
duration. If he works less than 100 hours over the course of the duration,
then you saved some money.
--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim Aksel, MVP

Check out my blog for more information:
http://www.msprojectblog.com

 

[BG_SAABer]

Trevor,

Proposed solution is straight forward. If I understand correctly, you
method requires manual adjustment on each day of work until desired cost
for guardsman meets the budget. This is time consiming for MSP user.

Why did I made this silly question this way, one might ask? The reasons
is very solid. Let us assume you are the PM on large project. Let us
also assume that you have a very unique technical skills that enable you
to serve multiple function on the project. Finally let us assume that
your unique technical expertise is REQUIRED in some of the tasks of the
project, while in the same time you need to do you ongoing PM work. In
this situation, if you are given a project for which you are creating a
schedule and assigning resources you have a dilemma - using yourself
with dual purpose and balancing between PM and technical work OR taking
other resource for the specialty tasks you are proficient and assign
them to a resource that has lower expertise and will bring large risk in
task he/she is assigned.

Now let us imagine that you dedicated about 7% of the project budget
for continuous monitoring and control. In the same time you like to
start juggling with your assignment on several unique tasks where
technically you can do work as actual skilled workers. What you like to
do is without returning and readjusting your first assignment to set up
a task that has fixed duration, fixed budget, and fixed cost for
operation on the resources AND let MSP tell you for that amount of money
you have (7% of your project budget), for that amount of labor cost for
yourself, and for that project fixed time duration, how much hours per
day you can spent on average to do continuous monitoring and control.
Even more, if you decided to anchor that start moment of the proper and
you continue building it, your entire project duration will start to
grow or shrink. So this should cause a shift of your time/day you can
assign for continuous monitoring and control, while your budget and cost
for unit if time work are fixed.
You need to be able to assign tasks with fixed start and anchored end
where the resource is having fixed cost per unit of time, so that his
time worked per day to adjust automatically.
Does this sound logical?

 

[Rod Gill]

Hi,

I agree with Trevor and Jim, you have things a little around the wrong way.
Firstly you aren't guarding (implies full time) you're providing security
services to the tune of 100h ($1000/$10/h)

I created a Task called Castle and assigned it a duration of 30ed
I showed the Assign Resources dialog (click icon on tool bar or Alt+F10)

I made sure the Task was NOT effort driven (so the next bit works) and I
entered 100h in the units column of the Assign Resources dialog then pressed
Enter.

Looking at a Usage View I then see 3.33h per calendar day assigned to the
task.

Project calculates costs, but doesn't recognize costs as an assignment
value, but it does use hours of work.

--

Rod Gill
Microsoft MVP for Project

Author of the only book on Project VBA, see:
http://www.projectvbabook.com

Today quiz is related to MS Project 2003. Problem is simple.
Let's say we have 1000$ budget for security protection.
Let's say we rented a castle for 1 month.
Let's say regular cost for guardsman is 10$/hour.

What I like to do is to create a single task that will have a fixed
start date and fixed end date (duration of 30 calendar days will be
enclosed between start and end date), where a single resource will be
allocated, with cost of resource to be 10$/hour, so that the total Cost
to be exactly 1000$. The only flexible components we have is hours per
day worked. So what I like Project to calculate for me is what my %
allocation is suppose to be to match these numbers. In other words, how
many hours per day I have to work so that end up spending 1000$ with
rate of 10$/hour over 30 calendar days? Project has integer number
increment and does not accept values with fractional. So if I like to
assign a resource with 3.75%, Project 2003 rejects the fraction and
rounds.

One might say the answer is 3.33h/day. However I can not find any
combination of settings that will enable me to fix the start day, end
day, total work/cost, and use a resource with fixed hourly rate. I
always get start and end day that I do not like, or my total work value
gets out of control. Work hours for the entire task is what I associated
with Cost. Since Cost is not directly changeable, only work can be
manipulated. In our case the work is 100 hours.

What could be the solution?


--
BG_SAABer
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[Steve House]

Pardon for jumping in, but you're thinking of "budget" in terms of a
top-down allocation of money allowed to be spent for various components of
the project. MS Project, OTOH, and many aspects of PM in general such as
Earned Value methods, use a very different definition where the "budget" is
a bottom-up estimate of projected internal costs required to create the
project's deliverable. Hopefully the money you're allocated exceeds the
money that will be required but the proect's working budget is what is
required to do the work, not what you've been allowed to spend. It's up to
you to figure out where to get the money to cover the bills. (This, by the
way, is why scheduling with Project should be done far earlier in the
process than it often happens. One should know the dates that are
physically possible BEFORE negotiating with the client regarding
contractually agreed delivery dates. One should know the cash requirements
to actually complete the project BEFORE negotiating the allowable budget
with whoever is paying for it. Unfortunately sales people often negotiate
such parameters without having a clue whether they are realistic, promising
whatever is required to close the deal, then they expect the PM to sort out
the mess they've made.)

What's complicating your example is you're jumping back and forth between
calendar time and working time. Project schedules deal typically with
working time required, not calendar days, and duration measurements are in
WORKING TIME units accoring to the working time calendar, not 24 hour per
day clock time. Let's guard the castle for 4 weeks. Your guard will come
and go during that time, guarding both your castle and the neighbors around
you. Further, guards only work 8 to 5 Monday through Friday - if your castle
is attacked at night or on the weekend, you're on your own. Since he get's
$10 an hour and you have $1000 in the treasury, over the course of the 4
weeks you're in residence you can afford for him devote 100 hours out of his
full working schedule to YOUR castle specifically. The calculation is then
easy. 4 weeks is 160 possible hours he can be at your castle. You want him
there 100 hours out of the total 160 possible. You task is 4 weeks duration
with the guard assigned at 100/160 or 62.5%, doing 100 man-hours of work
over that time period and costing you $1000.

 

[BG_SAABer]

Rob,

Your answer not only simple, but actually a correct solution for the
problem. It was my original impression that the units column in the
Assign Resources dialog can accept only % as units. Entering 100h got
accepted and immedeately replaced by the correct corresponding % (14% in
my case). This means that MSP accepts inputs there in units of time not
only in %, but always displays back to me %. If I enter 50h in the input
field for units, the value of 14% gets immediately replaced by 7%. It
assigns the proper distributed time along the project - 3.33h/day (for
the case of 100h) or 1.67h/day (when I enter 50h).
Solution is simple and elegant.
Thank you so much!

 

[BG_SAABer]

Mike,

The second paragraph of your response provides the process of findin
the solution. I agree that in proper practice of project management
will always think of amount of labor required to complete a wor
package. However, Rita Mulcahy teaches, once original estimate is done
during the project detailed planning phase an iterative back-fort
analysis is done in attempt to align your already know contractua
budget with actual detailed project requirements for schedule and scope

Let me exemplify this. Imagine you are a network systems integrator
One day a major supermarket chain approaches you and asks you to give
quote for configuring a new server data center yet to be build next yea
near your town. You know that there are two more local companie
competing for same job so you do your best initial project desig
assuming that schedule will be completely under your control. In you
proposal you place project duration of 1 year. Because the client is bi
and you are small, you are forced to accept unusually long proposa
validity duration - up to 3 years. You win the project. So far all look
prefect. The year passes, so does next one. During that time the econom
recovers and the store chain finally finds enough cash to build th
center. The major cost of the data center apparently is divided i
following way - 75% for building construction, 15% for computers, an
10% for software configuration (your part). In order to get more valu
for their dollars, the store chain decides to place the entire projec
on public bid where lowest bid wins. The cost of your service i
excluded, however the rules are such that whoever wins it will have t
hire you for the configuration work on the previously agreed price
Eventually you are working not for the national store chain but fo
local construction company. Since your scope is only 10% of the cost
your schedule ends up to be dictated by the construction compan
schedule. They are coming to you with their own schedule insisting yo
have to meet their schedule - build and make up and running the cente
for only 41 weeks (+/- 2 weeks). And here comes the problem. Th
construction company schedule requires you to do the work for 15
(+/-4%) shorter time in order to capture financial incentives for faste
construction time. Your team is small and highly specialized. With tha
much less time required it does not justify hiring new employee that i
very hard to find anyways. So you have to pay overtime for you
employees in order to meet the schedule. Even worse - inflation force
you to make two salary raises during past two year, so the cost of you
resources now is higher than the one originally anticipated when yo
made original project schedule. Now you are scrambling how to meet th
project schedule with budget that can not be changed. So what yo
decided to do is to fix the cash you like to invest for projec
monitoring and control, while fine tuning the time efforts for al
technical tasks. While doing iterations back-forth you like to leave MS
to calculate how many hours per day you will have available for projec
monitoring and control, while the schedule for completion shifts. Fro
past experience you know that per week you will need about 10 hours fo
continuous monitoring and control. The budget for this task is fixed s
does the budged of the entire project.

If you make the task with fixed budget and just let end date to mov
(being anchored to date when the product if your project is formall
accepted by client) you should let MSP to recalculate for you how man
hours per day you can invest in this task. Similar problem will resid
on front of your if you rent an equipment with fixed cost for day used
your total budget will get affected once you start changing other task
duration (assuming you are labor resource limited and can not multitas
with the tool). The solution provided earlier by Rob.