Resource Unit set to 800% & task parent finish date is not shortening 2

[NimblePM]

My project contains individual resources and teams set up as resources. Individuals have 80% max unit and teams have 800% max unit allocation.

Here's what I am having a problem with. I have a team (Blue 800%) that has (20+)tasks. Each task has a 1 day duration. Project is showing me that it is going to take the team 20+ days to complete the task. I would expect that of a resource with 100% max unit. For the team with 800% max unit, I expect the finish date to be shorter.

What am I missing? I have attached my project plan for review,if that helps.

Thanks all!

 

[Lilliabeth]

Project doesn't recalculate anything the first time you assign resources. It figures that when you entered a duration, you took into account how many resources you planned to assign.

If you want to specify that it would take one guy one day, and have Project calculate how long it will take a team...
Create a task where the task type is Fixed Work, duration= 1 day, resources= 1 guy or 100%. Save this, and then change the resource to your team of 800%.

--Lilliabeth

 

[JulieInMaine]

Just one quick clarification -- you need to make sure the task is Effort Driven in order to have Project make adjustments if you add or subtract resources. The task can be either fixed units (default) or fixed work as Lillibeth suggests and in both circumstances, adding more resources will drop the task duration.

Julie

 

[Lilliabeth]

While Fixed Work and Fixed Units Effort-driven behave the same when resources are added or removed (the duration will change), this is not the case when units are changed, and this question is all about varied units.

> If you change from a 80% resource to a 800% resource on a Fixed Units Effort-driven task, duration does not change.

> If you change from a 80% resource to a 800% resource on a Fixed Work task, duration changes... a lot.

This is why I recommended Fixed Work.

Fixed Work is of course always Effort-driven; no need to check the box.









--Lilliabeth

 

[NimblePM]

Lilliabeth,

So that I clearly understand, in the sample I provided, I should create a brand new task, with a brand new user and assign that task Fixed Work, Resource Unit = 100%. Then Save.

Then, do I need to go and update every resource in the gantt chart to have the calculation pick up? Or just in the resource sheet?

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Lilliabeth]

I'm not sure I know what you want to do, but maybe this will help:

I like Task Form View because it forces me to focus on the equation for each task, without distraction.

Have a look at Task Form View where you can clearly see the manhours (Work) that each task is estimated to take. They look awfully high to me. (For each task that you said would take a 800% resource 1 day to do, there are 64 manhours of work.)

For one task, change the Work (manhours) to something more likely, perhaps 1h (one hour), then click the OK button and see what that does to your Duration. If that is what you are after, change the Task Type to Fixed Work, click OK and click Next to move to the next task.

>>You could leave the task type as Fixed Units, but it seems to me that either a task is Fixed Duration (driving a truck to Memphis to pick up a sofa... if I send one person, it takes one day. Adding a second person doesn't shorten the time it takes, but it does use twice as many manhours; 8 hours per guy). Or, a task might be Fixed Work (painting a barn takes one guy 8 hours. If I add a second guy, it takes only 4 hours, but the manhours is still 8 hours; 4 for each guy).

Be sure to change the Work before you change the task type to Fixed Work. best practice is to avoid changing the part of the equation that is Fixed.

--Lilliabeth

 

[JulieInMaine]

Hi Lillabeth,

Re:

If you change from a 80% resource to a 800% resource on a Fixed Units Effort-driven task, duration does not change.

Unless we are using different versions of Project, increasing assignment units from 80% to 800% will certainly decrease the duration of the task.

You suggestion to use the Task Form is a good one -- but again, I think you may be muddying the Effort Driven piece with Task type a bit.

Your example of driving a truck to Memphis as fixed duration. I would say it is a non-effort driven tasks -- not fixed duration. If I add another resource to the non-effort driven task, the work increases. Each resource is still taking a day to drive -- two people the task still takes a day -- but its now 16 hours of work.

If you add additional resources to a Fixed Duration, effort driven task, the duration stays the same (Fixed Duration), the total work stays the same (Effort Driven), but the assignment units drop.

 

[Lilliabeth]

Re:

If you change from a 80% resource to a 800% resource on a Fixed Units Effort-driven task, duration does not change.

I stand by that. (If you change from Byron, a person resource that's available 80% to the Blue Team at 800%, duration does not change. Swapping resources does not trigger effort-driven, even if the resources have different units.) But in the same post, when I stated "when units are changed", I should have specified the job of changing from the Blue Team to Byron & vice versa.

Effort-driven is assuring that Work is fixed if you add or subtract resources. The examples were those where you would want work to be fixed and when you would not. The method employed to fix work was not stated. When resources are added, Fixed Units effort-driven offers the same thing that Fixed Work does... both fix work.
Microsoft defines a fixed-work task: A task in which the amount of work is a fixed value and any changes to the task's duration or the number of assigned units [or resources] do not affect the task's work.
Microsoft defines a fixed-duration task: A task in which the duration is a fixed value and any changes to the work or the assigned units [that is, resources] don't affect the task's duration.

--Lilliabeth

 

[NimblePM]

Thanks for both of your replies, Lillabeth and JulieinMaine. What I'm trying to account for is tasks that aren't owned by one person, but a team.

Each team is made up of 9 people, but only one will do the task. I just don't know which one. I also know that whoever does the task will take the time provided in the duration. So, I have the team in the resource name, i.e. Brown Team is the resource and unit is 900%. (100% for each of the 9 resources).

Now, I have 20 tasks for the Brown team and each tasks has a predeccessor of the task above it. I'm doing this because I'm saying that a resource can only work on one task at a time. That way I know if a team is overbooked.

So if the first 5 tasks are 1 day each and the Brown Team is assigned to all of the tasks, I want the start date of task 2 not to just be 1 day after task 1. I have 9 people on the Brown team, they should be able to finish 9 (1) day tasks on the same day.

What I'm running into is that project is showing Brown team of 900%, they're assigned to the task, but the start date for a 1 day task is 1 day after the predeccsor task of 1 day.

If there is an easier way to do this with Teams as the resource please let me know.

The whole reason I'm doing this is to find the critical path among several teams.

Thanks again!

 

[NimblePM]

Please see sample attachment for above narrative.

 

[JulieInMaine]

Hi Lillibeth,

Ah, now I understand what you are saying. I misunderstood your point and thought you meant if you change the assignment units for a resource from 80% to 800% the duration would not change.

Julie

 

[JulieInMaine]

Hi NimblePM,

I think you may be slightly on the wrong track. If you define the "Brown Team" as 9 people all available at 100% of their calendar, then yes, you should define the max. units at 900%.

However, if you wish to say that one of the members of the Brown Team will perform each task -- the assignment unit should be 100% not 900%. If you assign a the Brown Team at 900%, you are assigning all 9 of the team members -- you are not saying "any one can do this task." If you have 9 people then 9 tasks can be done at the same time, without running out of people.

In your sample file, tasks 24, 25, 56, 58, 63, 64, 73, 74, and 80 can all happen on the same day if the only restriction is resources. Remove the link relationships unless the demands of the task require links.

The 900% resource team will not be overallocated unless you have all 9 team members assigned to tasks which overlap in time.

I hope this helps.

Julie

 

[NimblePM]

Thank you, Julie. I greatly appreciate your help. You are correct, I am trying to say that any one of the members on the Brown team can perform the task. If I set the Brown Team units to 100% rather than 900%, how do I say that resource has 9 people on it? How is the Brown Team (9 people) at 100% resource unit different from John Smith (1 person) at 100%? Am I missing a place where I can define a team maybe?

Thanks again. Also, in the meantime, I have removed the link relationships and used manual leveling on the project. I think I am much closer if I can just figure out how to differentiate the team units from an individual unit.

Best Regards,
Jamie

 

[JulieInMaine]

Hi Jamie,

Set the Brown Teams Maximum units to 900%. This means you have a total of 9 people. When you assign the resource, you should set the assignment units at 100% to indicate one of the 9 resources is going to perform the work. You may now have 9 tasks which occur at the same time, each with 100% (1) of the Brown team assigned. If you assign another task at the same time, you are now calling for more than 9 resources and the resources are overallocated.

As far as "differentiate the team units from an individual unit" there is no direct way of doing this. Max units above 100% implies that you have multiple interchangeable resources but you cannot say which specific individual is working that task. You could add an additional text field to the Task Sheet and use that to capture which of the Brown Team is going to do the task -- but at that point named resources likely makes more sense.

Another option is to define each of the 9 as separate named resources and then assign an individual to each task. You could use the "Group" field to enter "Brown Team" and then you could use the "Resource Group" filter to see all task assigned to any named resource from the team.

I hope this helps.
Julie

 

[NimblePM]

Thank you, Julie. Pointing out the difference in Max Units vs. Assigned Units was all the difference!

 

[JulieInMaine]

You're welcome Jamie and thanks for the feedback.
Julie