Summarize project task assignments by resource

[Robert]

Greetings All;

Background.
I have a resource pool with many resources from many different groups.
I have 9 projects, with tasks, with resources from the resource pool
assigned to the tasks.
Many of the resources have been assigned to multiple tasks on multiple
projects.
A Master Project has been established to view all 9 projects.
With the Master Project open, in resource usage view, I can see all of the
tasks, and projects a resource is assigned to. And, fortunatley MSP will
provide a roll up of the resource allocation, by task, by project for the
period of time selected.

Now the challenge. I need to be able to see (and graph) how much a specific
resource is allocated to a specific project. In the Master Project resource
usage view, the allocation rollup is by resource, not by project.

For example, lets say "Andy" is assigned to 4 tasks on Project A, 5 tasks on
Project B, and 3 taks on Project C. In the Master Project resource usage
view, I can see all of Andy's allocations to the 12 tasks over three
projects. Is is possible to have MSP insert a summary to show the allocation
by project instead of task?

I've tried various groupings but somehow can't find a way to summarize
allocations by project.

MSP2003 pro sp2.

All suggestions are appreciated.

 

[JulieS]

Hi Robert,

Try adding the Project field to the Resource Usage view. Create a
custom group to group first by Name - Resource field
Then by Project - assignment field

This should give you a group which summarizes by each resource and
then by project assignments per resource.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[Robert]

Hi Julie;

Thanks for your help. This is a step in the right direction. However, when
I do this some strange things happen. For example:

a) if a resource is assigned to more than one task in a project, the
allocation for the project is not displayed????

b) if a resource is assigned to more than one task on a project, the rollup
of all of the task allocations do not display at the project level.

c) only resources assigned to a single task, on a single project roll up to
a total for the resource.

d) If a resource is assinged to only one task on two different projects, and
the tasks do not overlap timewise, the roll up does not appear either.

hmmmmmmmm

 

[JulieS]

Hi Robert,

When you added the Project field to the Resource Usage view, what
file were you in? If you add the field to the Resource Usage view
in the Resource Pool file, do you see the project names for each
assignment?

I just did another quick test with the following Group definition in
the Resource Usage View in the pool file:

First Row:
Group By:
Field Name: Name
Field Type: Resource
Order: Ascending

Second Row:
Then By:
Field Name: Project
Field Type: Assignment
Order: Ascending

I see two summary lines: at the Name line I see the total work for
all assignments for that resource. Underneath the Name row I see a
summary row for each Project with total work and each assignment is
grouped under that project row.

I did the test with Project 2003 SP-3, but I believe it should work
exactly the same way using Project 2003 SP-2.

Julie

 

[Robert]

Hi Julie;

The Project field was added into the Master Project Resource Usage view, not
the Reource Pool file. This likely explains the problem. I'll try this out
this afternoon.

Thanks.

 

[Robert]

Hi Julie.

Did as you suggested and it worked like a charm. It occurred to me however
that I am trying to roll up "% allocation" and you are rolling up "work" I
beleive. For some reason % allocation" isn't as friendly and is truly what
I'm after.

 

[JulieS]

Hi Robert,

I'm glad to hear that adding the grouping to the Resource Usage view
in the pool is showing the summarized information in the table (left
side). Unfortunately, Percent Allocation is not a field that is
available in a table view therefore the Percent allocation which is
available in the timescaled (right side) doesn't summarize to the
project level when the grouping is applied.

So, our options look to be to see Percent Allocation on the left at
the Resource Line without the group applied or see the grouping
applied on the left with total work per project and per assignment
summarized.

Sorry, the "perfect" answer doesn't appear possible. It may be
possible to export the data out to Excel (through VBA) and then
manipulate through Excel.

If that idea sounds interesting, you can try posting to the
developer newsgroup, state what you'd like to do and someone may be
able to get you started in the right direction.

I hope this helps.

Julie
Project MVP

 

[Buxy]

Dear

I'm struggling to get the expected result. If I group by the project,
get only one grouped result, ie the 'resource pool' project and it
resources. Do you have any suggestion on how to solve this?

Thank you in advance
Pete

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

In Task usage view (in the master), group ASSIGNMENTS by Project
(assignment field), then by Resource Names (assignment field)

HTH
--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
+32 495 300 620
For availability check:
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/Calendar.pdf