proposed resources

[Bob]

Project 2003 has the field 'booking type' which allows you to indicate a
resource as being committed or proposed on a project, which helps in
budgeting and planning ahead. It seems that the booking type works against
the entire resource within a project, rather than a resource assignment to a
task. Unfortunately the latter is what I'm after. So for example, I'd like
to assign Fred to task A as a commited resource to that task, I'd also like
to assign him to task B but here he can only be proposed because I don't yet
know whether or not I will actually be able to use him for task B. Ideally I
would then like the resource graph for Fred to show both his committed and
proposed allocation, in the same way as it would his allocatin and
overallocation.

Does anyone have any ideas how to do something like this?

Bob

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Bob --

Are you using Project Server with Microsoft Project? If you are using
Project Server, the Booking value affects the use of the resource in the
entire project, and you cannot set the Booking value on a task by task
basis. Also, if you are using Project Server, then in the future please
post your Project Server questions in the microsoft.public.project.server
newsgroup, as this newsgroup is devoted to the Microsoft Project desktop
application only.

If you are not using Project Server, you might consider using the
Request/Demand field for this purpose, as it allows you to set a value on
every resource assignment. You could use the Request value for tentative
booking, and the Demand value for confirmed booking. To use this field, you
can specify a value from the Assign Resources dialog in the R/D column, or
you can apply the Task Usage view and temporarily insert the Request/Demand
field. From there you could filter or group on Request and Demand
assignments, but I do not believe you can use the Resource Graph view as you
wish. Just a thought. Hope this helps.

 

[Bob]

Dale,

I'm not using Project Server.

I've had a look at the request/demand field and it looks like it may be a
useful option to show tasks which are not actually resourced. Only thing is
I can't get the field to show up in the Gantt view, only the task usage view,
is that intentional?

I've looked at Proposed resources a little more and I think that the only
way I can show the information I want on the resource graph is to duplicate
my resource i.e. have a "fred" and a "fred proposed" resource and assign them
to tasks accordingly. Then using a split window with resource sheet view in
the top and resource graph in the bottom, if I select "fred" and "fred
proposed" resources I see them both in the resource graph below which is what
I want.

Bob

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Bob --

The R/D field is an assignment field, which is why it shows up in the Task
Usage view but not in the Gantt Chart view. You can see it indirectly by
using the Task Entry view by completing the following steps:

1. Apply the Gantt Chart view
2. Click Window - Split
3. In the lower pane, right-click anywhere in the gray
4. Select the Resource Schedule details from the shortcut menu

From there you can set the R/D value for each resource assigned to each
task. Hope this helps.

 

[Bob]

Dale,

Yes, I can see the request/demand field in the task entry view, but that's
still not reflected in the request/demand column in column in the Gantt,
which is what I'd expect. I'm obviously getting confused with the views!

No worries, I think I now have a roundabout solution to distinguish tasks
with real comitted resources from those which are TBC by defininnig duplicate
resources and using the proposed flag.

Many thanks for your help!

Bob

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Bob --

You are more than welcome, my friend!