Resource Scheduling Across Multiple Projects

B

Bob

I am new to MS Project and in particular the newer
versions. Does MS Project (what version) allow me to
have a shared pool of resources (say enterprise level)
that can be assigned to department projects on a non-
exclusive basis. For example, Bob may be assigned 50% to
Project A and 50% to Project B, both being run by two
different PM's. They each build their schedule in a
their own Project file. Do you have to merge those two
projects into a single project and run the resource
leveller? If one of them asked for Bob at 60% how does
it let you know about the overload.

Sorry for the detailed questions but I want to figure out
if this is a good tool for our needs
 
D

Dale Howard [MVP]

Bob --

Microsoft Project Server 2002 and 2003 each contain a feature known as the
Enterprise Resource Pool. Project managers can build a team for each
project using resources in the Enterprise Resource Pool, and can then assign
resources to tasks after the team is built. When a resource is
overallocated across projects, as in the scenario you state, the name of the
resource will be formatted in red in any Resource view. In your scenario,
if either project is opened, the Resource Usage view will show each
individual task assignment for the overallocated resource for each task in
the active project, plus a single line summarizing the assignments in the
other project. This single assignment line will display the name of the
other project. To level across projects, someone would still need to open
both projects if you wish to use the Microsoft Project's built-in leveling
capabilities. Hope this helps.
 
B

Bob

Thanks Dale. This seems to be exactly what I was looking
for. Let me restate to be sure I understand. Wihin the
Server 2002 and 2003 products, I can use an enterprise
resource pool to assign to my tasks. When I generate a
report on resource utilization, the enterprise pool is
linked to all the projects that utilize its resources and
posts a notification, effectively, by changing the color
of the resource to red and identifying the projects that
are competing for the limited resource. Once you have
that info, you can do one of several things. You can
simply collaborate with the other PM's to work out a
change in plan or resources, or you can use Project's
internal resource scheduler to resource level. If you
want to do the latter, however, you have to create a
single master project file that has the data from both
projects and then let it schedule things out. Once its
scheduled out, you can copy out the leveled schedules
into their own project files again. Do I have that about
right? Bob
 
D

Dale Howard [MVP]

Bob --

You are pretty much on the mark, except for your description about leveling
across multiple projects. Although you can create a master project
consisting of projects in which one or more resources are overallocated, you
are not required to level using a master project. You can simply open the
impacted projects and level the overallocated resources, but then you will
have to examine each project individually to determine the results of the
leveling process. Personally, I think you had a much better idea of having
the managers of the overallocated resources to collaborate together and
figure out how to solve the problem by adjusting the project or adjusting
the resources manually. But, yes, your are understanding pretty well how an
enterprise environment functions concerning resource management. Well done,
my friend! Hope this helps.
 
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