Levelling and task split

[Alfatcop]

Hello,

I have a project constituted of individual tasks (fixed work) with typical
dependencies (Finish to start) and worshops (fixed duration) with all
resources attending those last. I have set a high priority on the workshops
and perform levelling (priority, standard) with the task split option ON.
MS Project does a good job in splitting the individual tasks for the
workshops to occur.
The problem I have is that MS project also split the individual tasks to
allow for the best resource allocation ....resulting in very splitted tasks.
The only way I have found is to set "start no earlier" constraints on this
individual tasks to avoid this excessive split ..I am not quite sure this is
the best way !!!
Hope I have been clear enough

Thanks for your help,

 

[JulieS]

Hello Alfatcop,

I'm not sure I follow your scenario 100%, but I assume your comment
"MS Project also split the individual tasks..." means that your
workshops are being split into pieces for each resource.

You can affect individual tasks (like your workshops) by inserting the
field named Level Assignments into a task table and set the option to
"No" for the workshops. I assume you do not want the workshops moved
at all, so a priority of 1000 is most likely in order on those tasks.

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

 

[Alfatcop]

Thank you JulieS for your answer, unfortunately my explanation were not quite
clear enough.
Here are some more explanation
Drafting phase:
I have 15 individuals to prepare material for a large event. Each individual
is assigned at least one task "prepare document X" (the work effort is
varying from 40 hrs to 120 hrs). Beside preparing their own document, some
persons are also responsible for assisting others (15%).
Review phase:
All 15 members get together on a 4 hours workshop to review the draft
document. There is one workshop/review per draft document.
to prepare for levelling , I have set high priority on the workshop/review
to make sure they would occur soon with no split.
MSPRO split the "prepare document X" tasks accordingly when reviews are
occuring.
But they are some uncessary split on some "prepare document X" which are NOT
due to review/workshop occurence.

After levelling, some of these tasks are splitted a lot of time to
accommodate for the resource allocation which does not make much sense from a
practical point of view (I cannot asks for a person to work 3.5 hours, then
work on another tasks for 2 weeks and then work back on the first task for 2
days etc...)
To make the scheduling more "consistent" I introduced "start not earlier
dates" constraints ...but the more constraints the less flexibility to plan.
Thanks for your help, hoping it is clearer now.

 

[JulieS]

Hello Alfatcop,

Thanks for the clarification. I now understand better what is going
on. I agree with you, adding constraints can frequently introduce
very unusual results.

I usually couple Project's resource leveling results with some manual
methods. For example, if you don't like the manner in which Project
split a task, then remove the leveling from that task and go to the
Resource Usage view to fine tune the work on the individual task more
to your liking. You can always edit the work information in the
timescaled portion (right side) of the Resource Usage view to allow
the resource to work the 5.50 hours and complete the first task.

Bear in mind, Project does understand the "practical point of view" as
well as you do. It can only respond to settings you give it -- and
will still need some guidance from you, the project manager.

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

 

[Alfatcop]

Hello Julie,
Thanks again for your feedback, I am getting closer and closer to what I am
looking for.
When you say fine tune, you mean "moving" the task on the timeline while
looking at the resoure usage to avoid overallocation.
When doing so I have MS project introducing a "start no earlier than"
date....which means one more constraint on the schedule
I would rather have MS project considering this as a levelling (and display
dotted line). Is this possible?

Thanks a lot for your help and patience.

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

Instead of moving the task, in a Usage view, introduce leading zeros for
Work on the assignment.
Hope this helps,

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

 

[Alfatcop]

Hi Jan,
Could you please be more specific?
What do you mean by "introduce leading zeros for Work on the assignment"+
thanks for your help,

 

[JulieS]

Hello Alfatcop,

It looks like Jan has also given some valuable advice. To be more
specific about what I was referring to:

In both the Task Usage view and the Resource Usage view you can modify
both the amount of work as well as when the work occurs by changing
the data in the timescaled (right) portion of the view. You can zoom
in as needed (usually a daily view is detailed enough) and actually
type work values.

For example: You have a 5 day duration task, a resource assigned at
50% assignment units, and 20 hours of work -- 4 hours per day for 5
days. On the third day of the task you need the resource to work 5
hours on another task. If you assign the resource to the second task,
Project will flag the resource as overallocated. You could edit the
work to two hours on the third day on the first task and increase the
work to 5 hours per day on the second and fourth days to maintain the
total 20 hours of work.

You can also split a task by entering zeros for the work. As Jan
noted, you can also manually delay a task by entering zeros for work
at the beginning of the assignment. If you have multiple resources
assigned, you can delay the work for one, some, or all of the resource
assignments.

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