Multiple resources w/diff planned task work(hrs)

[Mark T]

I have multiple resources working/assigned to the same
task. Each resource has a different amount of assigned
(planned) task hours of work effort. I do not want Proj
Pro 2003 to redistribute those planned/remaining hours
differently across those resources,
1. as actuals are posted against the task, and/or
2. the user performs a recalc operation such
as "Reschedule uncompleted work to start xx/xx/xx" under
UpdateProject.

Projects wants to distribute the total task work evenly
between the resources or by their percentage of
utilization.

Basically I want MS Project to work like Niku(ABT)
Workbench does in their Repository system. No I can't
switch products, besides every scheduling tool has it's
issues.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Mark T --

When you assign a resource to a task in Microsoft Project, the software
assigns the work evenly across the task using a flat pattern based on the
Units value. For example, if you assign me to 30 hours of work at 75%
Units, the software will assign me to 6 hours of work per day for 5 days.
When actuals are entered by the resource, if the Actual Work is less than
the Work for any given day, the uncompleted work will usually be rescheduled
to the end of the task using the original Units value when the assignment
was made (the exception is Fixed Duration tasks). So, if I was assigned to
6 hours of work per day for five days actually was only able to perform 4
hours of Actual Work per day, then my assignment would appear as follows:

M T W Th F S S M T
4 4 4 4 4 6 4

You cannot change this, as this is the default behavior of the tool. On the
other hand, if you wish to have the hours distributed in a different manner,
then you can apply a Work Contour to the assignment work in either the Task
Usage or Resource Usage view. You have your choice of 8 preformatted Work
Contours, plus the option to hand contour your own Work pattern, called a
Contoured pattern. To create a Contoured pattern of Work, type the planned
Work hours in the timephased grid for each assignment according to the
manner in which you believe they will perform the work. Basically, these
are your choices. Not knowing how Niku does the Repository system, I can't
comment on whether what I have detailed is any help to you at all. At the
least, it should explain what you can expect from Microsoft Project.

 

[Mark T]

Dale,
The issue is having "multiple" resources on the "same"
task, with "different" work amounts and Project always
wanting to re-distribute the "total" remaining "task" work
among those resources. I want Project to continue using
the original work I assigned to each resource on a task as
the basis for updating the task attributes as time elapses
and actual work is posted by each resource. Currently we
only assign one resource per task to avoid the issue.

You mentioned the use of the "Contoured" resource work
pattern. You do not see this designation as a option in
the list. It only appears in the resource "Work contour"
window if you make a manual entry or adjustment to a
resource's daily amount of work. Can you clarify for me
how Project deals with these types of resource hour
assignments? For instance when Project, either
automatically or manually, reschedules "Uncompleted work",
will Project try to over ride the hours assignments the
user manually assigned the resource?

I will do some testing myself, but was wondering if you
had experience with this. Thanks for your time and help.
Mark




---Original Message-----

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Mark T --

I'm not sure where my explanation failed, but suffice it to say that
Microsoft Project reschedules Remaining Work from past time periods into
future times periods when people enter their Actual Work values. This can
result in the Duration of the task being changed unless you are using a
Fixed Duration task. Even a Fixed Duration task can have its Duration
changed if the planned work is not completed during the Duration of the
task. This is the default behavior of the tool and cannot be changed.