one resource working on several projects at the same time

[Zazoo]

Hi,

I would like to schedule several projects at the same time for one resource.
Actually, the first project consists in preparing calculations on a computer,
so it takes maybe 2 or 3 hours every 3 days. Once a calculation is launched,
the resource can do the second project. As soon as a calculation is finished,
my resource needs to post-process the results and prepare the following
calculation. Then the resource can go back to the second project. My problem
is when I have a 2 hours task for the project 1 on one day, Microsoft Project
does not schedule anything else for the same day. So there are some days when
my resource is supposed to work 2 hours instead of 8...

Thank you

 

[John]

Hi,

I would like to schedule several projects at the same time for one resource.
Actually, the first project consists in preparing calculations on a computer,
so it takes maybe 2 or 3 hours every 3 days. Once a calculation is launched,
the resource can do the second project. As soon as a calculation is finished,
my resource needs to post-process the results and prepare the following
calculation. Then the resource can go back to the second project. My problem
is when I have a 2 hours task for the project 1 on one day, Microsoft Project
does not schedule anything else for the same day. So there are some days when
my resource is supposed to work 2 hours instead of 8...

Thank you

Zazoo,
There are potentially several ways to plan your scenario but let's step
back and take a look at some things.

It seems to me the time the resource is going to spend preparing the
calculation is somewhat variable. Also, the time it takes the "whatever"
to run the calculation is probably also variable. In that case perhaps
it doesn't make sense to try and "schedule" the parts of the overall
activity nor to necessarily try and guestimate when the resource will
be working on project 1 versus project 2 and so forth. Maybe the best
approach is to simply say that project 1 will take 2 weeks and the
resource will be working on it 8% of the time (approx. 2 hours every 3
days). That same resource then may spend 46% of his time during that
same 2 week period working on project 2 and another 46% on project 3.
His timecard will capture the actual hours worked on any given project
and on any given day for that matter.

OK, that was one approach. If you really want to schedule out the
details, you will probably need to plan out each part of each project
and link the tasks together. For example, the first task is a 2 hour
task to set up the calculation for project 1. The second task, is the
calculation time and has a finish-to-start link to task 1. The third
task might be the first task of project 2. It has the same duration as
task 2 (i.e. calculation time) and has a start-to-start link to task 2.
The fourth task is the second calculation setup for project 1 and it has
a finish-to-start link to tasks 2 & 3. See how this is getting kind of
complex?

There are probably other ways to set up the plan but I think the bottom
line is that you need to address the complexity/benefit ratio. How much
detail do you want in your plan versus how much effort can you afford to
set it up and maintain it.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP