resources & tasks 1

[kpizza]

Hi! I've never touched project before and i was wondering...I have about 30 people per category and they are a part of a task, a conference call for example. SO do i add all teh people in as a resource and then add a task and assign all them to the task? I know it porlly sounds like a really easy question i just want to make sure I go about it the right way!

Thanks,
Krista

 

[johnherman]

Yes. Make the task FIXED DURATION so that everyone gets assigned 100%.

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The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was - Steven Wright

 

[PDQBach]

The first question is: why are you putting a conference call in a project schedule? If this is just a "status update" then I wouldn't even bother -- there's no deliverable and the absence of a resource will not prevent the task from completing.

OTOH, if this is a "sign off" call where there is a deliverable (documentation that a particular deliverable has been approved) then it should be there.

You have to be careful, too, about simply creating the task as Fixed duration and then assigning resources. If you create the task as Fixed Duration then the default duration and default work are 8hr. If you then come along and assign 24esources then each resource will get 20 minutes of work. Is that what you want?

Me? If I *had* to put it in then I'd create it, set the duration to 1 hr (or however long the meeting will take) and then I'd make certain that the "Type" was "Fixed Duration" and the "Effort Driven" flag was set to "No".

Now, I'd press Alt+F10 and assign the resources to the task. The duration will remain fixed at 1 hr ("Fixed Duration") and each resource will be assigned an hour ("Effort Driven" = "no") instead of the work (1hr) being divided up among the participants. It's also best to use the "Effort Driven = No" setting in case you will be adding or removing resources and you don't want to adjust the amount of work that each resource is doing during this meeting.

Note that the settings of "Type" and "Effort Driven" will vary from task to task depending on what you are trying to accomplish at the time you are updating it.

 

[kpizza]

Heres the thing. There is an initial conf call with 9 diff depts to kickstart the whole project. From those calls there will be tasks asigned in order to get to teh final goal. but im having a hard tiem how enter it all should i put the task as initial call and all the dept under that as a subtask and then anything coming out of those meeting a sub sub task ? All the meetings will be conf calls anad all should result in a next action. some meeting will be done in person but we are working on it as a region.

 

[PDQBach]

If a department can put its deliverables together without any assistance from other departments then choose a schedule like this:


Dep1
deliverable1
deliverable2
deliverable3

Dep2
deliverable4
deliverable5


If departments have to cooperate for some/most deliverables then (and I'm inventing items here -- you can choose your own):

Documentation
As-Is diagram
To-Be diagram
Transition plan
Training plan
User documentation
Systems documentation
Budget proposal
Hardware costing
Software costing
Non-computer Equipment costing
Office Desks and chairs
Purchasing
Purchase requisitions
Supplier contracts and delivery schedules


Notice how things like "purchase requisitions" will come from several departments and several departments (end users, legal, accounting) will be part of approving the supplier contracts and delivery schedules.

If I were you (somebody who is clearly new to all this), I would start by making a hierarchical list (such as the one above) in Excel (use the cell indent function to build the hierarchy).

 

[kpizza]

Thank you!

Does it make sense to have it like this?

Initial Conference Calls
Training
Set up shared drive
MidSouth for Policy & Procedures
Setup Next Call
Reporting
Get canned reports from Paul DeMille
Webinar
Setup Next Call
Construction (not comeplete yet)
Setup Next Call
the Source (not comeplete yet)
Setup Next Call

 

[PDQBach]

Well ... at the end of the day will you have identified all deliverables and tracked them successfully to completion?

If that format will enable you to do that then it's just fine.

As a *general* rule of thumb: every detail line in your schedule should refer to a physical deliverable (document, signed acceptance, email approval, etc.).

Each of those lines needs 4 pieces of information:

when it will start (usually be referring to another deliverable that has been completed; on rare occasions, a specific date);

how many elapsed calendar days of duration it will take (on rare occasions, the date when it will finish);

how many days of work are involved in the deliverable;

who is involved (and how many days each person will be working on the deliverable).

Never confuse work with duration. Never ask for percent complete. Never say never.

 

[kpizza]

haha! thx