MS Project

Terms

Duration Work Resource Resource Units Effort-Driven

Fixed Duration Fixed Units Fixed Work Over-allocation Leveling

Duration & Work

Duration - The total span of working time or elapsed time required to complete a task. Work - The total effort required to complete a task.

Resources

Resources are the people, equipment and supplies

used to complete tasks in a project.

Resources that are assigned to tasks but do not create work are known as material resources.

Resource Units indicate how much of a resource's

available time, according to the resource calendar, is being used to work on a particular task. In a project schedule, resource effort is expressed as assignment units or sometimes just as units.

Scheduling Formula
Duration = Work Resource Units

Fixed Units

As the task's assigned units remain constant, an increase / decrease in assigned work will result in a corresponding increase / decrease in task duration. Fixed Units is the default task type for new tasks.

Fixed Work

If assigned work should remain constant, then as a task's duration goes up assigned units will go down (and vice versa). If assigned units are greater than max units, a resource over-allocation will arise.

Duration = Work Resource Units or Duration = 1 Resource Units

Fixed Duration

For a constant task duration, as assigned work is increased so will assigned units. Decrease the units and the work will correspondingly reduce.

Duration = Work Resource Units

If assigned units are greater than max units, a resource over-allocation will arise.

Effort-Driven

Only comes into play after the initial resource assignments have been made Work stays constant When resources (manpower) are assigned or removed from a task, Microsoft Project will extend or shorten the duration of the task to accommodate change in resources This is the default option for new tasks

Over-allocation

Situation when more hours of a resource are allocated than are available Identifying Over-allocated Resources

Special leveling indicator Resource Usage View over-allocated resources are red

Over-allocation can be resolved by leveling project

Leveling

Resolving resource conflicts or overallocations by delaying or splitting certain tasks. During leveling, assignments are rescheduled according to the resource availability profiles, assigned units, and resource calendars, as well as the task's duration and constraints. It is instigated either automatically or (more commonly) by the command level now. Tools | Level Resources . . . (hour by hour)

Questions?