Scheduling Resource Vacations

B

bauer172uw

I am trying to enter the times when my resources will be unavailable to work. I tried using the RESOURCE SHEET view, double clicking on the resource, and setting the days in the Calendar tab to NON DEFAULT WORKING TIME. This does show that a resource is unavailable during these days, in this certain view. The problem is that I want my managers to be prompted or something when they assign a resource to a task and the resource will be unavailable at any time during the task. I tried using the filtering view when ASSIGNING RESOURCES using "is available from START" and "is available to FINISH" but it still did not work. Does anyone know how to schedule resource time off so that managers can easily see that the person is unavailable when assigning resources (either project pro or PWA)?

I thought of creating a special project and tasks that would represent time unavailable for each resource. Then assigning the resource to these task. Then when a manager looks at the Work Assignment graphs they will see the resource is at least busy for a few days. The problem with this if the manager still chooses to assign the resource to the task then the resource is simply allocated. At least in the first mentioned calendar method, the resource is not sceduled for that task. Instead they will merely stretch out a task's duration.

Thank You for any and all help
bauer172uw
 
D

Dale Howard [MVP]

bauer172uw --

Assuming that you are using Project Server 2002 or 2003, open the Enterprise
Resource Pool, check out the desired resource, then double-click the
resource and enter the nonworking time on the Working Time page for the
selected resource. I presume this is the approach that you have taken.
Doing so will block out the nonworking time for the resource and will
automatically reschedule tasks in any project to which the resource is
assigned during the nonworking time period.

This is the default behavior of the software, however, the software WILL NOT
warn project managers that the resource is not available during the
nonworking time period. Furthermore, there is no way to force the software
to issue a warning as you desire. Instead, your project managers need to be
responsible for determining whether a given resource is available during a
given time period before assigning the resource during that time period. In
Project Server 2002 or 2003, the Resource Usage view of any project will
show a resource's allocation and availibility across the portfolio of
projects. In addition, project managers can also determine a resource's
availability using the Assign Resources dialog in Project Professional, and
by using the Resource Center in PWA.

Therefore, I would recommend that you make this a training and performance
issue. Teach your project managers how to determine a resource's
availability before assigning the resource to a task, and then expect them
not to assign a resource without checking availability first. Hope this
helps.




bauer172uw said:
I am trying to enter the times when my resources will be unavailable to
Click to expand...
work. I tried using the RESOURCE SHEET view, double clicking on the
resource, and setting the days in the Calendar tab to NON DEFAULT WORKING
TIME. This does show that a resource is unavailable during these days, in
this certain view. The problem is that I want my managers to be prompted or
something when they assign a resource to a task and the resource will be
unavailable at any time during the task. I tried using the filtering view
when ASSIGNING RESOURCES using "is available from START" and "is available
to FINISH" but it still did not work. Does anyone know how to schedule
resource time off so that managers can easily see that the person is
unavailable when assigning resources (either project pro or PWA)?
I thought of creating a special project and tasks that would represent
Click to expand...
time unavailable for each resource. Then assigning the resource to these
task. Then when a manager looks at the Work Assignment graphs they will see
the resource is at least busy for a few days. The problem with this if the
manager still chooses to assign the resource to the task then the resource
is simply allocated. At least in the first mentioned calendar method, the
resource is not sceduled for that task. Instead they will merely stretch
out a task's duration.
 
D

Dean Beckley

I had a long argument with myself on the best way to do this and I ended up
creating an Administrative Project where I keep all non-project, but
schedule worthy time (vacations, sick days, jury duty, etc.).

My thinking is that instead of reducing the recources working time, I'm
filling it up with a scheduled task. This gives me more information about
what the resource is doing rather than knowing only that the user is not
available to be scheduled.

Do you have any opinions about which way is best? Do I lose anything by
entering this time in an Administrative Project?

Thanks,
Dean Beckley
 
D

Dale Howard [MVP]

Dean --

The limitation of using an administrative project for your purpose is that
tasks are not automatically rescheduled due to an assigned resource's
nonworking time. Administrative projects are useful, however, for tracking
the amount and cost of nonworking time, such as vacation and sick leave. I
think most people would like to have the software automatically reschedule
work due to vacation and sick leave, therefore, I personally recommend
entering nonworking time on each resource's calendar in the Enterprise
Resource Pool, and then adding a Note to the resource to document the reason
for the nonworking time. Hope this helps.
 
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