Allocating resources by percentage

[tonyennis]

Sorry if this is covered elsewhere, I don't even know what to search on.

So, I have a resource who is working 20% of his time on some task. because of the way things work out, this is for the entire month of April.

So, for this task, I added a [20%] behind his name in the Gantt chart resource names column.

What I want is for his other tasks to adjust automatically. For example, if he's working for 10 days in April on Project X - I'd like to see the duration extend to about 12 days. Instead, Project X is being delayed until May 1st since 100% of his time isn't available. I can make it work if I slam a [80%] on him for that task, but that stinks when tasks get reorganized and Project X now starts in March - he'd still be on the task at 80% when in March he has 100% of his time available.

What I would like is a resource loading that basically means, "Use whatever time is available and extend the duration to make it make sense."

Does this exist?

 

[procygnus]

By 20%, I assume you want this resource working 20%*8=1.6h per day through April, ie, 1h 36 minutes a day. Since this arrangement is for April alone, the answer lies in the resource calendar for this April part-timer.
See plan attached for (a) full-timer and (b) part-timer. Both work 408h. But while the full-timer finishes on 5/23, the April part-timer takes up until 6/15 for the same set of tasks.
Switch to resource view to see how the part-timers calendar has been developed.

 

[tonyennis]

Ok, I realize I can change the loading for April. But now, same situation, and my resource's task shifts from April to the last week of March through the 3rd week of April. Same work, but one week sooner. Let's call this work task A.

Now, if I have changed April's resource calendar, my Gantt chart is incorrect - I want to associate task A with the 20% load, not the month.

I want project X to get 80% of the resource's time whenever it overlaps with project A.

Basically, someone just dumped a maintenance task on one of my guys. I would like this to be reflected in my Gantt chart without having to change a bunch of loading values. These become invalid as tasks slide around.

 

[procygnus]

The statement - "I want to associate task A with the 20% load" - offers the solution. Have you tried assigning a separate Task Calendar for Task A?

 

[PDQBach]

To begin: don't add "[20%}" - let Project calculate that.

To accomplish what I think you're trying to accomplish, set the resource's Max Units to 20% and then Level your project. (You'll never do that again after you see what happens, by the way.)

The bottom line: You'll have to manually level.

The one thing I tell all PMs: you are always assuming your estimates are accurate. I work in software development and estimates can often by off by +/- 25% so the big thing to remember is that you need to constantly check progress, check estimated work to complete, check estimated time to complete and update your scheduled accordingly.

 

[tonyennis]

Ok, first, let me thank you all for your efforts so far. I appreciate it.

"To begin: don't add "[20%}" - let Project calculate that."

Somewhere I have to tell project that my resource is going to spend about 1.5 hours each day to the project. I don't know how else to do this.

Then, I want project to allocate the resource's remaining time to the next most important project, whatever it may be. Currently, if I don't put a [x%] qualifier behind the resource's name, it defaults to 100%. This hoses the Gantt chart. I can set it to 80% but this is weak.

People tend to have on-going responsibilities, like maintenance, that consumes time, as well as project tasks that consume the left-overs.

It's hard to believe my need can be that 'out there.'

Thus there is something I don't understand about project and I am too ignorant to ask the right question. :-/

 

[PDQBach]

I told you: set the resource max units (for that resource) to 20%.

 

[procygnus]

Tony - the question is whether it is possible to do what you ask using MSP? Nope. Resource loading in MSP is static, ie, you specify the workload or adjust the calendar and other assignment settings to reflect a balanced workload.

What you are asking for is called finite scheduling.
Here is a neat article that explains the difference: