Project- allow me to choose how planned overtime affects duration

[Scott F]

The existing behaviour whereby duration is reduced when planning overtime
should be optional. The current behavoiur does not allow me to plan duration
if implementing planned overtime in this calculation scenario.
In my industry, scheduled maintenance turn arounds have resource usage peaks
because of the additional tasks. Planning allows us to solicit resources to
work overtime during these peak periods. Those that agree (to work) allow us
to firm up task scheduling. Unfortunately, the singular calculation method
used in Project means that the duration changes, when in fact it does not.
The only thing that changes is that the resource is being paid overtime
instead of straight time.

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...97be-1c881f5ee9b2&dg=microsoft.public.project

 

[JulieS]

Hi Scott F.,

You can assign overtime without having it change duration if you assign the
overtime as part of the initial resource assignment. If it is truly planned
overtime, (for example I need a 5 day duration task with 50 total hours of
work, 10 of which is overtime), split your screen and change the Task Form
format to Resource Work, put in 50 hours in work with 10 in overtime.

Hope this helps.
Julie

 

[Steve House [Project MVP]]

But duration IS changing when you do part of the work with overtime - what
is not changing is the work. Duration is defined as the working time units
DEFINED AS WORKING TIME ACCORDING TO THE CALENDAR between when the task
begins and when it is complete. If we have a task that requires 10 hours
start to finish, our normal working day is 8 hours and we work for 10 hours
straight thru, doing 8 hours straight time and 2 hours OT in the process,
that task's DURATION is 8 hours by definition but its WORK and ELAPSED TIME
is 10 hours. Only the hours worked during times when the calendar says it's
the resource's normal workday count for duration. Otoh, if we interrupt
that task at what would be our normal quitting time and resume it the next
morning, the duration would be 10 hours since now all work is being
performed during normal working hours. It is very easy to confuse work,
duration, and elapsed time since they all use hours as their units but in
reality those hours are entirely separate measures of entirely separate
concepts.