MS Project - University of Texas at Dallas

MS Project Terms Duration Fixed Duration Work

Fixed Units Resource Fixed Work Resource Units Over-allocation

Effort-Driven 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?