Why doesn't levelling prevent 101%+ resource utilization?

[Richard Smith]

I have a project that is part way through where I want
leveling to intelligently assign incomplete tasks to
resources but using time in the future such that no
resource can be allocated over 100%. I believe I have all
tasks set to finish "as soon as possible" (e.g. not by a
deadline) so I assume leveliing should push the project out
to ensure no resource is used over 100%.

When I level I am still getting resource utilizations over
100%. What might I be I missing that may be preventing
levelling from resolving the overallocated resources?

I have set all the tasks to be fixed work, finish as soon
as possible,not fixed duration.

Many thanks, any pointers greatly appreciated,

Rihallix

 

[Bill Zeiher]

make sure most or all of your task types are set to fixed work instead of fixed units. that might help

 

[Dale Howard]

Richard --

If you use the built-in leveling capabilities of Microsoft Project, the
software is capable of only two actions to level overallocated resources:

1. Delay tasks
2. Split tasks

That's all the software can do. If I assign a single resource to work 200%
on a single task, obviously this resource is overallocated. If I attempt to
level the project, Microsoft Project will do nothing about his
overallocation. It won't reduce the Units to 100% and double the Duration
of the task. It won't find an available resource and give the overallocated
resource a helper. The software simply is not capable of doing that. Nor
can the software "intelligently assign incomplete tasks to resources" as you
state in your question.

On the other hand, if I assign a single resource at 100% Units on Task A and
the same resource on Task B at 100% Units, and both tasks occur during the
same time period, then the software will level this overallocation by
delaying one of the two tasks, depending on a number of leveling factors it
considers in the process. There is an option in the Resource Leveling dialog
box that might prevent the software from leveling this overallocation. The
option is called "Level only within available slack" and is used to prevent
the leveling process from moving the finish date of the project. You will
want to make sure this option is deselected in your situation.

Another situation that Project needs some help with leveling is when a
resource is overallocated in a time period that is less than a day. For
example, the same resource is assigned to two four-hour tasks that occur
during the same time period. The default leveling order is to level
overallocations on a Day by Day basis, which means that the software only
looks for overallocations that exceed 8 hours in a one day time period. The
overallocation engine will miss the overallocation on the two four-hour
tasks. To handle this kind of overallocation, you would need to change the
leveling order to Hour by Hour and then level the project.

These are a couple of ideas for you. Hope this helps.

 

[Richard Smith]

Thanks - this did the trick perfectly. Exactly what I was
after.

Richard Smith

-----Original Message-----
Richard --

If you use the built-in leveling capabilities of Microsoft Project, the
software is capable of only two actions to level overallocated resources:

1. Delay tasks
2. Split tasks

That's all the software can do. If I assign a single resource to work 200%
on a single task, obviously this resource is

overallocated. If I attempt to