Leveling question

[Bob]

Perhaps this is a simple question:
I have a project with a single task, T1, and resources, R1 and R2. T1 is 10
days work.

If I simply assign R1 and R2 to T1, then both resources work 5 days to
complete the task.

I want to examine what will happen if I have one of the resources work
longer on the task. In order to do this without having to modify the
resource units (since this project could have hundreds of tasks rather than
one), I modify the resource's working time so that R1 now works a 12 hour
day. Project still divides the work evenly between the resources: 5 days
for R1 and 5 days for R2. (For some reason this shows a duration of 6.5
days, which does not seem to corroberate with the scheduling that I see, but
that's not my issue today.)

I'd like to have project schedule the resources so that the time is
distributed so that the task is finished as fast as possible. The only way
that I've found to do that is to:
1. change the duration to 0 days.
2. change the duration to 10 days.
3. modify the work to desired amount - in this case 10 days.

Obviously, this solution doesn't work well for a larger project. Does
anyone have a better way to do this?

Thanks.

 

[Steve House]

Is T1 10 days work or 10 days duration? Hours of work and hours of duration
do not measure the same thing.

Your 2nd para may or may not be true. If I have the task set with 10 days
duration and assign both R1 and R2 in the same operation, they'll each do 10
days work and the duration will stay at 10 days. If I assign R1 first and
then assign R2, what happens depends on whether the task is et to be
effort-driven or non-effort driven. If it is effort-driven, the total work
remains at 10 days, diistributed as 5 days to each and the duration drops
to 5 days. If it not effort-driven, the total work increases to 20 days, 10
days to each, and the duration remains at 10 days.

When you increase R1's calendar to 12 hour work days, it does not mean he
works longer on the task. It means each day between when he comes to work
and when he goes home, he gets 1.5 workdays worth of work accomplished,
hence he finishes his 40 hours of work sooner than the other guy.

And finally, none of this is in any way effected by or an issue around
resource leveling. That's a whole different ballgame entirely.

Steve House [MS Project MVP]

 

[Bob]

The task is 10 days of work. In general, I determine the effort required to
complete a task and then allocate resources in a manner to complete it in
the duration required.

I understand that Project is not making R1 work more on the task, as you
point out, but that's my goal. For instance, if I have two guys painting my
house and it's a 10 day (work) job. If the first guy works more hours than
the second guy, I want my whole house to be completed faster. I don't want
the first painter to leave after he's finished his half of the house. I
want him to start helping painter two on his half.

Isn't this an issue of leveling because Project must redistribute the work
across resources?

Thanks.

Is T1 10 days work or 10 days duration? Hours of work and hours of
duration do not measure the same thing.

Your 2nd para may or may not be true. If I have the task set with 10 days
duration and assign both R1 and R2 in the same operation, they'll each do
10 days work and the duration will stay at 10 days. If I assign R1 first
and then assign R2, what happens depends on whether the task is et to be
effort-driven or non-effort driven. If it is effort-driven, the total
work remains at 10 days, diistributed as 5 days to each and the duration
drops to 5 days. If it not effort-driven, the total work increases to 20
days, 10 days to each, and the duration remains at 10 days.

When you increase R1's calendar to 12 hour work days, it does not mean he
works longer on the task. It means each day between when he comes to work
and when he goes home, he gets 1.5 workdays worth of work accomplished,
hence he finishes his 40 hours of work sooner than the other guy.

And finally, none of this is in any way effected by or an issue around
resource leveling. That's a whole different ballgame entirely.

Steve House [MS Project MVP]

Perhaps this is a simple question:
I have a project with a single task, T1, and resources, R1 and R2. T1 is
10 days work.

If I simply assign R1 and R2 to T1, then both resources work 5 days to
complete the task.

I want to examine what will happen if I have one of the resources work
longer on the task. In order to do this without having to modify the
resource units (since this project could have hundreds of tasks rather
than one), I modify the resource's working time so that R1 now works a 12
hour day. Project still divides the work evenly between the resources: 5
days for R1 and 5 days for R2. (For some reason this shows a duration of
6.5 days, which does not seem to corroberate with the scheduling that I
see, but that's not my issue today.)

I'd like to have project schedule the resources so that the time is
distributed so that the task is finished as fast as possible. The only
way that I've found to do that is to:
1. change the duration to 0 days.
2. change the duration to 10 days.
3. modify the work to desired amount - in this case 10 days.

Obviously, this solution doesn't work well for a larger project. Does
anyone have a better way to do this?

Thanks.

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

Sorry to bump in.
In order to avoid misunderstandings, this is a completely different problem
from what Project calls "Leveling". This is work (re)distribution.
But by all means, however you call it, Project doesn't do that.

HTH

--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/
+32-495-300 620

The task is 10 days of work. In general, I determine the effort required to
complete a task and then allocate resources in a manner to complete it in
the duration required.

I understand that Project is not making R1 work more on the task, as you
point out, but that's my goal. For instance, if I have two guys painting my
house and it's a 10 day (work) job. If the first guy works more hours than
the second guy, I want my whole house to be completed faster. I don't want
the first painter to leave after he's finished his half of the house. I
want him to start helping painter two on his half.

Isn't this an issue of leveling because Project must redistribute the work
across resources?

Thanks.

Is T1 10 days work or 10 days duration? Hours of work and hours of
duration do not measure the same thing.

Your 2nd para may or may not be true. If I have the task set with 10 days
duration and assign both R1 and R2 in the same operation, they'll each do
10 days work and the duration will stay at 10 days. If I assign R1 first
and then assign R2, what happens depends on whether the task is et to be
effort-driven or non-effort driven. If it is effort-driven, the total
work remains at 10 days, diistributed as 5 days to each and the duration
drops to 5 days. If it not effort-driven, the total work increases to 20
days, 10 days to each, and the duration remains at 10 days.

When you increase R1's calendar to 12 hour work days, it does not mean he
works longer on the task. It means each day between when he comes to work
and when he goes home, he gets 1.5 workdays worth of work accomplished,
hence he finishes his 40 hours of work sooner than the other guy.

And finally, none of this is in any way effected by or an issue around
resource leveling. That's a whole different ballgame entirely.

Steve House [MS Project MVP]

Perhaps this is a simple question:
I have a project with a single task, T1, and resources, R1 and R2. T1 is
10 days work.

If I simply assign R1 and R2 to T1, then both resources work 5 days to
complete the task.

I want to examine what will happen if I have one of the resources work
longer on the task. In order to do this without having to modify the
resource units (since this project could have hundreds of tasks rather
than one), I modify the resource's working time so that R1 now works a 12
hour day. Project still divides the work evenly between the resources: 5
days for R1 and 5 days for R2. (For some reason this shows a duration of
6.5 days, which does not seem to corroberate with the scheduling that I
see, but that's not my issue today.)

I'd like to have project schedule the resources so that the time is
distributed so that the task is finished as fast as possible. The only
way that I've found to do that is to:
1. change the duration to 0 days.
2. change the duration to 10 days.
3. modify the work to desired amount - in this case 10 days.

Obviously, this solution doesn't work well for a larger project. Does
anyone have a better way to do this?

Thanks.

 

[Cynthia]

Here's how to do it:
1. Cut your Work column from your plan and paste it into Excel
2. Create a corresponding column in Excel with 0's and paste it into your
duration column.
3 Repeat step 2, using 10.
4. Now cut the work column from Excel and paste it back into your project
plan.

Hi,

Sorry to bump in.
In order to avoid misunderstandings, this is a completely different
problem
from what Project calls "Leveling". This is work (re)distribution.
But by all means, however you call it, Project doesn't do that.

HTH

--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/
+32-495-300 620

The task is 10 days of work. In general, I determine the effort required to
complete a task and then allocate resources in a manner to complete it in
the duration required.

I understand that Project is not making R1 work more on the task, as you
point out, but that's my goal. For instance, if I have two guys painting my
house and it's a 10 day (work) job. If the first guy works more hours than
the second guy, I want my whole house to be completed faster. I don't want
the first painter to leave after he's finished his half of the house. I
want him to start helping painter two on his half.

Isn't this an issue of leveling because Project must redistribute the
work
across resources?

Thanks.

Is T1 10 days work or 10 days duration? Hours of work and hours of
duration do not measure the same thing.

Your 2nd para may or may not be true. If I have the task set with 10 days
duration and assign both R1 and R2 in the same operation, they'll each do
10 days work and the duration will stay at 10 days. If I assign R1 first
and then assign R2, what happens depends on whether the task is et to
be
effort-driven or non-effort driven. If it is effort-driven, the total
work remains at 10 days, diistributed as 5 days to each and the duration
drops to 5 days. If it not effort-driven, the total work increases to 20
days, 10 days to each, and the duration remains at 10 days.

When you increase R1's calendar to 12 hour work days, it does not mean he
works longer on the task. It means each day between when he comes to work
and when he goes home, he gets 1.5 workdays worth of work accomplished,
hence he finishes his 40 hours of work sooner than the other guy.

And finally, none of this is in any way effected by or an issue around
resource leveling. That's a whole different ballgame entirely.

Steve House [MS Project MVP]

Perhaps this is a simple question:
I have a project with a single task, T1, and resources, R1 and R2. T1 is
10 days work.

If I simply assign R1 and R2 to T1, then both resources work 5 days to
complete the task.

I want to examine what will happen if I have one of the resources work
longer on the task. In order to do this without having to modify the
resource units (since this project could have hundreds of tasks rather
than one), I modify the resource's working time so that R1 now works a 12
hour day. Project still divides the work evenly between the
resources: 5
days for R1 and 5 days for R2. (For some reason this shows a duration of
6.5 days, which does not seem to corroberate with the scheduling that
I
see, but that's not my issue today.)

I'd like to have project schedule the resources so that the time is
distributed so that the task is finished as fast as possible. The
only
way that I've found to do that is to:
1. change the duration to 0 days.
2. change the duration to 10 days.
3. modify the work to desired amount - in this case 10 days.

Obviously, this solution doesn't work well for a larger project. Does
anyone have a better way to do this?

Thanks.