Default Resource Calendar 3

[GPM4663]

Hi Everyone,
For some reason whenever I create a new resource it automatically defaults to the standard Calendar instead of a custom calendar I have. I have changed the default calendar in the options etc. but can't see where else I should be altering the default calendar for resources?

Many thanks

GPM

 

[PDQBach]

View | Resource sheet

Click on the column header "Resource Name" to select the entire column.

Press the <Insert> key

In the popup window next to the "Field name" identifier select "Base Calendar"

Click on "OK"

For each resource select the appropriate Base Calendar.

 

[GPM4663]

Thanks for that PDQBach,
That makes life a lot quicker but I was wondering if I could go one step further. How do I get the base calendar to default to one of my choosing? The reason I ask this is because I add new resources on the task page and it would save me a great deal of time not to have to go back and forth to the resource page in order to keep changing the base calendar. Any ideas?

many thanks in advance

GPM

 

[PDQBach]

Sorry ... to the best of my knowledge there isn't any way to change the default base calendar for a resource to be automatically changed to a different default calendar. You have to do this on a case-by-case basis.

You might think that changing the project calendar (Project | Project Information ... and changing the Calendar field) would do it but it does not.

Here's a workaround that isn't too cumbersome:

Tools | Options | General-tab, "Automatically add new resources and tasks" should be checked.

View | Gantt
Window | Split, RightMouseButton on the bottom pane and set it to Resource Work

This is, by the way, the way I look at a schedule most of the time.

Now you can add a new resource in this display and then double-click on the resource name to bring up a display of the resource information -- and on the Working Time tab you can set the calendar to the one you want.

On a previous project schedule, staff from literally around the world were involved in deliverables. I had to create country calendars (each with its own holidays) for a half-dozen countries and then assign them as appropriate to the various staff -- so I feel your pain.

 

[GPM4663]

Ah well,
Thanks anyway for all the help. That's a pretty neat workaround.

Cheers,

GPM

 

[AdamTJ]

I believe that you can also right click on the top of a column and select "Insert Column". Then you would insert the "Task Calendar". If your calendars are set up correctly, this should allow you to select the calendar that you are looking for......

 

[PDQBach]

Yup! That'll work, too.

The only constraint is that your approach cannot handle multiple resources on a single task where those resources have different baseline calendars.

For 99% ... heck, 99.99% ... of the time, your approach will work just fine. On those rare international occasions (as happened on a project I was on) resources from two countries were working on a particular task and each resource had a different baseline calendar to handle the local stat holidays.

There is a philosophical viewpoint to consider, too: how big do you make your tasks. Ours are *generally* 1 to 2 weeks in length so the likelihood (because the tasks/deliverables are "higher up the food chain") of assigning multiple resources to a deliverable package is quite high. If you formulate your schedule so that you only ever assign a single resource then the multiple calendar issue fades away.

 

[PDQBach]

I should have added one further note:

If you use AdamTJ's approach, you'll have to set the base calendar for every task. Since the idea was to set a default base calendar for each resource, the approach I suggested will create the base calendar for the resource and every subsequent time you use that resource then the base calendar will already be set.

If you use AdamTJ's approach you'll have to remember to set a base calendar on every task. The net effect, in the end, (as long as there is only one resource on every task or as long as all resources on the task can use the same base calendar) is the same.

Since there are usually many more tasks than there are resources it will probably be best to use my approach. But, as I said, at the end of the day, both approaches can be used to deliver the same schedule.