Question about the [ ] in the Resource Names column

[Jim Whiteford]

In the resource names column I am receiving brackets with a number like
[1.64]. I have my resource pool set up for groups like Wiring team with max
units of 4. My question is regarding the 1.64. Is this number of resources of
the 4 needed to complete the amount of work over the duration indicated or is
this telling me that I need 1.64 more people to complete the amount of work
in the duration allotted?

Mike G. replied
Try Window/Split, click on an appropriate task, and in the bottom pane you
will see the number of Units of a resource that have been assigned. This is
the number you see in the [].

Hope this helps.

I looked as indicated and see the units are showing 1.64. I don't understand
why it is showing 1.64 when I have set up the resource pool with units to be
4. When first created the task type was set as "fixed duration" since I am
using a template for steps and duration. I then updated the work....

Is this why the units are showing 1.64 because when I typed in the work
hours it modified the resources to complete the number of hours in the set
duration? If so, to prevent this in the future should I pull in the template
and change the task type to fixed units prior to inputting the work hours?

 

[Joe]

The 1.64 inside the brackets represents units and means 1.64 % of a full day
is allocated to the task each day. Basically, based on the “remaining workâ€
and the fixed duration you have, the resources only needs to work about 1
minute a day to complete the task.

Incidentally, I think you may have mistakenly assigned max units of 4
thinking it is a team of 4 people, when in fact; you have allocated a maximum
of 4% of a full day or 1.4 minutes of work per day to the task.

The reason the units changes is because you have a fixed duration task and
you changed the work, the only thing that can change now is the units.

For example, lets say you have started out with a task that is 20 days
(duration) and 160 hours of work at 100% allocation (the Max units has
nothing to do with this). If you change the work (which you said you did) to
say 2 hours, the duration must stay the same (since you said it was fixed
duration), you just changed the work, so the only thing that can change is
the units. In this case, the units will change to about 1%, which means I
only need to work a few minutes a day for 20 days to get the task done.

The key thing to understand is your max units has nothing to do with your
problem.

Joe

 

[Joe]

Correction. I mistakenly calculated the minutes. The 4% you assigned to the
team is about 20 minutes a day. And the 1.64% that you are now seeing for
the resource represents about 8 mintes of work a day.

The 1.64 inside the brackets represents units and means 1.64 % of a full day
is allocated to the task each day. Basically, based on the “remaining workâ€
and the fixed duration you have, the resources only needs to work about 1
minute a day to complete the task.

Incidentally, I think you may have mistakenly assigned max units of 4
thinking it is a team of 4 people, when in fact; you have allocated a maximum
of 4% of a full day or 1.4 minutes of work per day to the task.

The reason the units changes is because you have a fixed duration task and
you changed the work, the only thing that can change now is the units.

For example, lets say you have started out with a task that is 20 days
(duration) and 160 hours of work at 100% allocation (the Max units has
nothing to do with this). If you change the work (which you said you did) to
say 2 hours, the duration must stay the same (since you said it was fixed
duration), you just changed the work, so the only thing that can change is
the units. In this case, the units will change to about 1%, which means I
only need to work a few minutes a day for 20 days to get the task done.

The key thing to understand is your max units has nothing to do with your
problem.

Joe

In the resource names column I am receiving brackets with a number like
[1.64]. I have my resource pool set up for groups like Wiring team with max
units of 4. My question is regarding the 1.64. Is this number of resources of
the 4 needed to complete the amount of work over the duration indicated or is
this telling me that I need 1.64 more people to complete the amount of work
in the duration allotted?

Mike G. replied
Try Window/Split, click on an appropriate task, and in the bottom pane you
will see the number of Units of a resource that have been assigned. This is
the number you see in the [].

Hope this helps.

I looked as indicated and see the units are showing 1.64. I don't understand
why it is showing 1.64 when I have set up the resource pool with units to be
4. When first created the task type was set as "fixed duration" since I am
using a template for steps and duration. I then updated the work....

Is this why the units are showing 1.64 because when I typed in the work
hours it modified the resources to complete the number of hours in the set
duration? If so, to prevent this in the future should I pull in the template
and change the task type to fixed units prior to inputting the work hours?

 

[Joe]

Sorry the third post. But I should have provided a solution now that I read
exactly what you are doing.

Based on the steps you described, what you want to do is assign the "Group
Resource" to the task, set the units to 400 (400% represents 4 full time
people). Then using the split screen you talked about, set the task to
"fixed Units". Then change the work to be what you want it to be. Now you
will see the duration represent how long it will take to complete the work
you just entered with 4 full time resources.

Again, the max units have nothing to do with the allocation on the task. It
is used when you use resource leveling. If you have the max units set to
400% and you use resource leveling, project will not consider that "team" to
be over-allocated until there is over 32 hours of work in a day for the date
range you supplied where you set the max units.

Hopefully this all makes sense for you.

Joe

Correction. I mistakenly calculated the minutes. The 4% you assigned to the
team is about 20 minutes a day. And the 1.64% that you are now seeing for
the resource represents about 8 mintes of work a day.

The 1.64 inside the brackets represents units and means 1.64 % of a full day
is allocated to the task each day. Basically, based on the “remaining workâ€
and the fixed duration you have, the resources only needs to work about 1
minute a day to complete the task.

Incidentally, I think you may have mistakenly assigned max units of 4
thinking it is a team of 4 people, when in fact; you have allocated a maximum
of 4% of a full day or 1.4 minutes of work per day to the task.

The reason the units changes is because you have a fixed duration task and
you changed the work, the only thing that can change now is the units.

For example, lets say you have started out with a task that is 20 days
(duration) and 160 hours of work at 100% allocation (the Max units has
nothing to do with this). If you change the work (which you said you did) to
say 2 hours, the duration must stay the same (since you said it was fixed
duration), you just changed the work, so the only thing that can change is
the units. In this case, the units will change to about 1%, which means I
only need to work a few minutes a day for 20 days to get the task done.

The key thing to understand is your max units has nothing to do with your
problem.

Joe

In the resource names column I am receiving brackets with a number like
[1.64]. I have my resource pool set up for groups like Wiring team with max
units of 4. My question is regarding the 1.64. Is this number of resources of
the 4 needed to complete the amount of work over the duration indicated or is
this telling me that I need 1.64 more people to complete the amount of work
in the duration allotted?

Mike G. replied
Try Window/Split, click on an appropriate task, and in the bottom pane you
will see the number of Units of a resource that have been assigned. This is
the number you see in the [].

Hope this helps.

I looked as indicated and see the units are showing 1.64. I don't understand
why it is showing 1.64 when I have set up the resource pool with units to be
4. When first created the task type was set as "fixed duration" since I am
using a template for steps and duration. I then updated the work....

Is this why the units are showing 1.64 because when I typed in the work
hours it modified the resources to complete the number of hours in the set
duration? If so, to prevent this in the future should I pull in the template
and change the task type to fixed units prior to inputting the work hours?

 

[Mike Glen]

I repied to Jim as follows:
========================
Hi Jim,

Welcome to this Microsoft Project newsgroup

The 4 units in the pool are the Maximum units that you have, not the number
of units assigned to the individual task. Assignments follow the formula
Work = Duration X Units of resource. If you have fixed duration set, then
entering the work will cause Project to calculate the units. I suggest you
might like to have a look at my series on Microsoft Project in the TechTrax
ezine, particularly #5 - working with resources, at this site:
http://tinyurl.com/2xbhc or this:
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMFrame.asp?CMD=ArticleSearch&AUTH=23

=============================================
In view of Joe's subsequest comments, I originally made the assumption that
Jim was working in decimal Units rather than %Units - ie, he was talking
about 4 Units and 1.64 Units rather than 4% Units and 1.64% Units. This
representation can be set in Tools/Options.../Schedule tab - Show
assignments units as a:... Please correct me if I made an incorrect
assumption

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

 

[Jim Whiteford]

I do have the units set to decimals. Since I am looking at a group of
resources rather than an individual it is easier to deal with.

I read your "working with resources #5" article and see where it says "When
assigned, there will be a Tick in the cell next to the resource name, the
Units will register the default setting of 100%, and the resource name will
appear to the right of the Gantt bar. If more or less than 100% is wanted,
enter the number required before assigning the resource." I went back in to
reassign resources and changed the units to reflect the number of individuals
in the teams. I have the type set to fixed work. The durations changed as
expected. I have 131 hours of work with 4 resources and it gave me 4.09 days
duration. So if I am figuring correctly it is calculating 4 resources @ 8 hrs
= 32 hrs, 131/32 = 4.09 so it is taking my 4 resources into consideration
when figuring the duration.

Is the light finally turning on for me?

I repied to Jim as follows:
========================
Hi Jim,

Welcome to this Microsoft Project newsgroup

The 4 units in the pool are the Maximum units that you have, not the number
of units assigned to the individual task. Assignments follow the formula
Work = Duration X Units of resource. If you have fixed duration set, then
entering the work will cause Project to calculate the units. I suggest you
might like to have a look at my series on Microsoft Project in the TechTrax
ezine, particularly #5 - working with resources, at this site:
http://tinyurl.com/2xbhc or this:
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMFrame.asp?CMD=ArticleSearch&AUTH=23

=============================================
In view of Joe's subsequest comments, I originally made the assumption that
Jim was working in decimal Units rather than %Units - ie, he was talking
about 4 Units and 1.64 Units rather than 4% Units and 1.64% Units. This
representation can be set in Tools/Options.../Schedule tab - Show
assignments units as a:... Please correct me if I made an incorrect
assumption

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

In the resource names column I am receiving brackets with a number
like [1.64]. I have my resource pool set up for groups like Wiring
team with max units of 4. My question is regarding the 1.64. Is this
number of resources of the 4 needed to complete the amount of work
over the duration indicated or is this telling me that I need 1.64
more people to complete the amount of work in the duration allotted?

Mike G. replied
Try Window/Split, click on an appropriate task, and in the bottom
pane you will see the number of Units of a resource that have been
assigned. This is the number you see in the [].

Hope this helps.

I looked as indicated and see the units are showing 1.64. I don't
understand why it is showing 1.64 when I have set up the resource
pool with units to be
4. When first created the task type was set as "fixed duration" since
I am using a template for steps and duration. I then updated the
work....

Is this why the units are showing 1.64 because when I typed in the
work hours it modified the resources to complete the number of hours
in the set duration? If so, to prevent this in the future should I
pull in the template and change the task type to fixed units prior to
inputting the work hours?

 

[Mike Glen]

Yes, indeed, and keep it switched on

Mike Glen
Project MVP

I do have the units set to decimals. Since I am looking at a group of
resources rather than an individual it is easier to deal with.

I read your "working with resources #5" article and see where it says
"When assigned, there will be a Tick in the cell next to the resource
name, the Units will register the default setting of 100%, and the
resource name will appear to the right of the Gantt bar. If more or
less than 100% is wanted, enter the number required before assigning
the resource." I went back in to reassign resources and changed the
units to reflect the number of individuals in the teams. I have the
type set to fixed work. The durations changed as expected. I have 131
hours of work with 4 resources and it gave me 4.09 days duration. So
if I am figuring correctly it is calculating 4 resources @ 8 hrs = 32
hrs, 131/32 = 4.09 so it is taking my 4 resources into consideration
when figuring the duration.

Is the light finally turning on for me?

I repied to Jim as follows:
========================
Hi Jim,

Welcome to this Microsoft Project newsgroup

The 4 units in the pool are the Maximum units that you have, not the
number of units assigned to the individual task. Assignments follow
the formula Work = Duration X Units of resource. If you have fixed
duration set, then entering the work will cause Project to calculate
the units. I suggest you might like to have a look at my series on
Microsoft Project in the TechTrax ezine, particularly #5 - working
with resources, at this site: http://tinyurl.com/2xbhc or this:
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMFrame.asp?CMD=ArticleSearch&AUTH=23

=============================================
In view of Joe's subsequest comments, I originally made the
assumption that Jim was working in decimal Units rather than %Units
- ie, he was talking about 4 Units and 1.64 Units rather than 4%
Units and 1.64% Units. This representation can be set in
Tools/Options.../Schedule tab - Show assignments units as a:...
Please correct me if I made an incorrect assumption

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

In the resource names column I am receiving brackets with a number
like [1.64]. I have my resource pool set up for groups like Wiring
team with max units of 4. My question is regarding the 1.64. Is this
number of resources of the 4 needed to complete the amount of work
over the duration indicated or is this telling me that I need 1.64
more people to complete the amount of work in the duration allotted?

Mike G. replied
Try Window/Split, click on an appropriate task, and in the bottom
pane you will see the number of Units of a resource that have been
assigned. This is the number you see in the [].

Hope this helps.

I looked as indicated and see the units are showing 1.64. I don't
understand why it is showing 1.64 when I have set up the resource
pool with units to be
4. When first created the task type was set as "fixed duration"
since I am using a template for steps and duration. I then updated
the work....

Is this why the units are showing 1.64 because when I typed in the
work hours it modified the resources to complete the number of hours
in the set duration? If so, to prevent this in the future should I
pull in the template and change the task type to fixed units prior
to inputting the work hours?