Infinite Capacity/Resource Reporting

[bfkesq]

Per user requirements we have set all of our personnel resources in our
master resource project file to "infinite capacity" (i.e. 24/7 work schedule
with a 100,000% max units tag) so that we can get load resources with
multiple assignments and then, using a report of resource assigning, the
individual project managers can see if their resources are "overbooked" that
week/month/etc... The problem I am facing is that now, the users are looking
to generate a report (either in Excel or Project) that shows resources usage
and availability based on their availability to do projects outside of their
department (in a red light/green light format). I'm stuck. Any suggestions
on how to better show resource availability and use the capabilities of
Project 2007 to assign and trask resources?

 

[JulieS]

Hello bfkseq,

I suggest starting with the Resource Usage view. The right side
(timescaled portion) will show the number of work hours per day or
week or month based upon existing assignments in projects.
Unfortunately because of such a high max. unit, it's tough to get
any sort of accurate measure of what a resource's remaining
availability is. I would advocate for setting up resources with
accurate schedules -- creating 24/7 work schedules and max. units of
hundreds of thousands of percent is creating an expectation that you
have that sort of resource capacity. Unless you truly do have
infinite skilled resources, why show that in project?

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

Julie
Project MVP

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

 

[bfkesq]

Julie,
Thanks for the advice, after reading some other threads and your advice I
think I was able to come up with a good solution that better utilizes
Project's capabilities as well as meets our user requirements. Thanks!

 

[JulieS]

You're most welcome and thanks for the feedback.

Julie