Resource < 100%

[Thomas]

I have an MSP2000 schedule with many tasks, all for one resource, but
none are 100% of that resource.

The tasks are all meant to run concurrently with the use of the resource
from 5% to 49%.

Four questions.

1. The single most intensive task I like to set at 100% and somehow
inform MSP that it should supply as much of the leftover resource to
that task. Can I do that?

2. What I have done is to figure add the total resource use of the less
intensive tasks. That comes to 51%. So I allocated 49% to the most
intensive task, and that seemed to work, but strikes me as being
intensively manual.

3. I changed some of the details on the intensive task and upon leveling
there were some days when the resource was used only 75% total. I had
to remove and reassign the resource, at 49%, to the intensive task in
order for MSP to schedule the single resource at 100% on every working
day. Again, this strikes me as being intensively manual. Is there
another way?

4. Finally, if I left the intensive task as nominally requiring 100% is
there a way to inform MSP to allocate resource capacity left over, even
if not 100%, to that task? What it appears to be doing now is simply
delaying the start of the task until 100% of the resource is available,
scheduling days where the resource is used 40%.

Thanks.

Thomas

--

Three stages of truth for scientists:
(1) It's not true.
(2) If it is true, it's not very important.
(3) We knew it all along.
Leo Szilard, (1898-1964, Key figure in the Manhattan Project)

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi Thomas,

I'm afraid you are asking a way of calculating that is contrary to Project's
approach.
Project will never change assignment units based on other tasks.
So the answer to all 4 questions is no, sorry.

Project's philosophy is that only you know how many resources are needed to
do a task (it takes 2 people to carry a long ladder, one can't, three is
ridiculous) and leveling will sequence those tasks such that there is no
overallocation.

So instea of having a one week task with 5% resource, put in a 2 hrs task
with 100% and Project will give you a realistic schedule.
HTH

 

[Thomas]

Jan,

Thanks for your response. I understand all that you have written, but
still have one problem.

This particular resource has routine tasks that take, e.g., 5% of his
time every week for a long time. What I was trying to get MSP to do was
recognize that he was going to be spending 2 hours a week, every week,
for, say, 100 hours of work so that it would span 50 weeks.

I have tried using the "Recurring Task" feature of MSP, and that does
work for scheduling. However, when linking that to the tracking of
recourse time, i.e., a reporting at day's end on how time was actually
spent, the number of individual tasks that the "Recurring Task" feature
displays makes using the reporting application unmanageable.

Any further thoughts?

Thanks.

Thomas

Hi Thomas,

I'm afraid you are asking a way of calculating that is contrary to Project's
approach.
Project will never change assignment units based on other tasks.
So the answer to all 4 questions is no, sorry.

Project's philosophy is that only you know how many resources are needed to
do a task (it takes 2 people to carry a long ladder, one can't, three is
ridiculous) and leveling will sequence those tasks such that there is no
overallocation.

So instea of having a one week task with 5% resource, put in a 2 hrs task
with 100% and Project will give you a realistic schedule.
HTH

--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/
+32-495-300 620

--

Three stages of truth for scientists:
(1) It's not true.
(2) If it is true, it's not very important.
(3) We knew it all along.
Leo Szilard, (1898-1964, Key figure in the Manhattan Project)

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi Thomas,

One can't be everything to all people...
As you say, the 100% approach works for scheduling, and it makes optimum use
of resource leveling.
I heard the remark about reporting before... a partial solution is to only
show for time registratiuon the tasks planned to start say within next
fortnight.

A customer of mine had an other solution... All "permanent" tasks were
entered with percentages
(f.i. 5% administration, 7% meeting) but then ALL other tasks (the
productive taks) were entered with an 88% load (never 25 or 6 or 49) - that
makes a lot of sense!

Greetings,