adding Resource Pool on existing plan

[Amy]

I have a master project plan with mostly strawman plans for future releases
and a few inserted, detailed project plans. After having this plan for a
while, I decided I need to go to a resource pool so I could see which
projects they were assigned to (could only see summary tasks) in resource
usage view.

I created a resource pool by making a copy of the master plan and deleting
the tasks. I told everyone to connect to it for their subplans. Today when
I opened my master plan, all the resource assignments were gone from the
tasks. If I look at the resource pool file, you still see them assigned to
the tasks in that plan in the usage view (as there are no native tasks in the
resource pool file).

What did I do wrong? What happened to my resources on invidviudal tasks in
the master file? Was it becuase I switched to a resource pool mid-plan? I
did not delete the master plan resources, I just changed the option to point
it to the resource pool file.

I am using Office 2007.

 

[Amy]

Also, I cannot seem to change a resource pool. I deleted a local copy and
tried to point to a shared directory and that seems to have been a mistake!
So I selected use local resources intending to then go back and select a new
resource pool file. No dice! It grays out the resource pool option entirely
now. You get one shot to define a resource pool then you are committed for
life? Is that right??!

 

[Dave]

No, you don't get a single shot at creating a resource pool.

In your master plan, are your component projects linked dynamically to
the actual sub-projects or are they copies?

When you opened the master plan, did you expand all of the component
projects?

Moving/deleting a resource pool is dangerous and I think you may well
find you have to start again by disconnecting the individual projects
from the pool and then reconnecting to it.

Is the network connection on which the resource pool lies reliable?

 

[Amy]

At present, the sub plans are inserted as sub projects and they did not all
have the resource pool specfiied since I introduced it mid-stream. They are
not he original files though, they are copies sent to me by the project
managers.

I did not expand all the component plans prior to attempting to change the
resource pool. I did so no and there are no resources under any task in any
plan- native tasks or inserted subprojects.

I dont understand why the option to connect to a resource pool is grayed
out. Im trying to see if I can use an earlier version that I did not
unconnect from to try to fix it.


Is it a problem not to have the subprojects all on the same folder/drive?
They usually email me them.

 

[Dave]

There is no problem having the plans all in the same directory.

The problem may well be due to the fact that you have them emailed to
you. Can you see the folder in which the plans reside? If so, why are
they being emailed to you as you can create a dynamic master directly
with the plans in that location? If you want to take snapshots then you
can use the many baseline fields.

If you cannot see the plans directly, then the problem is probably
because the path to the resource pool as seen by the project managers is
different to the path you are using.

The option to use the resource pool is normally greyed out if the
application can't see a file to use as a resource pool. Try opening
another file (a new empty one will do) and see if the option becomes
available.

In short, I think that by having the plans emailed to you, the path to
the resource pool they are using in their original location has become
invalid.

 

[Rod Gill]

Emailing copies which I assume you use to over-write the older versions is
dangerous. Every time you do so you roll the dice and the wrong numbers will
corrupt one or more files. Adding a Resource pool simply means rolling the
dice twice every time you over-write a file. I strongly recommend you always
insert projects into a new blank project each week and DESELECT the Link
option. This creates a snapshot of all files for posterity and consolidates
Resource data (no need for a pool).

To speed this process, simply record a macro of you inserting all projects.
Make sure the first recorded action is creating a new master project!

If you want to continue the current process then I recommend you unattach
all files from the master and resource pool then create a new master and
resource pool each week. This is the only safe way, anything else rolls the
dice again and its when not if one or more files corrupts. It's the old
Windows DDE technology that causes this.

--

Rod Gill
Microsoft MVP for Project

Author of the only book on Project VBA, see:
http://www.projectvbabook.com

 

[Amy]

I believe my problem was that the resource pool file was not in the same
directory as the plans I was opening. I created a workaround by storing the
master, resource, and any emailed plans all in the same network directory.

Then I realized that in my saving versions of the master plan (my habit is
to just append a number at the end of each major update), somehow my resource
plan got loaded up with phantom plans (old versions I had since actually
DELETED). I went in to the Resource Pool and "Broke" the link to the old
plans, but in my master, which is still connected to the resource pool, those
old plans are showing up under my resource usage tab.

Now each resource appears to have several duplicate assignments each from a
different version of the master. I'm going crazy.

I had hope of abandoning the resource pool if the UNLINK on project insert
worked so that the resources were not duplicated in my plan, but the problem
with that is that it seems to be essentially the same as a cut and paste. So
in resource usage view, where I do all my resource planning, I cannot tell
which plan the task assignment is from which hinders my ability to work.
That is the whole reason I went down the path of a resource pool.

Any ideas on how to get out of this mess? I have wasted soooo many hours,
I'm getting really behind with my actual work!

 

[Dave]

The resource pool absolutely does not have to be in the same directory
as the plans.

If you want to create archives, then you need to disconnect the plans
from the pool first otherwise they will simply accumulate resources and
give distorted information. What happens to the archived masters if you
set them to use local resources only as part of the archive process?

Have you disconnected the archived plans from the pool? If so, they
cannot be contributing to the resource allocations in the current
master, unless I have misunderstood something.

 

[Amy]

Ok, this was partly user error, if you havent guessed. The plan was pointing
to the original resource plan that was on my harddrive before I moved it to
the network. The lack of a path when selecting resource plans obscured this.

With that sorted out, I have duplicate resources. My purpose in this
resource pool was to take my master plan which has a forecast of projects for
2 years, insert the actual in-progress projects as subplans and level
resources (manually) against all projects using the resource usage view. I
knew I could not change the assignments for the inserted plans- only for my
native master plan tasks. When I used to copy and paste the in-progress
plans, I couldnt tell which projet the tasks were for in the resource usage
view.

Now, I have a resource pool and I have in-progress plans both inserted and
inserted with broken link. Those that are inserted are duplicating my
resources and those that are inserted with the link removed do not list the
project they are from (same as my original problem).

How do the get the result I need? Is the problem that not all of the
inserted plans are using the resource pool the issue?

 

[Dave]

I think that if you are getting duplicate resources then somewhere along
the line those resources are being sourced from different places. Do
the resources differ in any way (spelling, hyphenation, capitalisation,
initials etc.)?

I am a bit confused by your set-up. As I understand it, you receive
copies of plans which you convert into a consolidated master. This
master is then levelled, but insofar as I can tell, the changes
resulting from levelling are not fed back into the original plans.

Additionally, if you are creating a consolidated master with *copies* of
plans, then what is the point of using a resource pool. Every time you
insert a plan, the resources in the consolidated master should be
augmented by any new resources you bring in (note comments above about
ensuring uniqueness of resource descriptions).

If you simply create a master as described above and don't worry about a
resource pool then you can level that master. If you really want a
resource pool (and as I say I don't understand yet why you do because
the levelled changes are not fed back to the original plans) then save a
copy of your master with a different name, delete all the activities
from it and connect your original master to it.

 

[Amy]

My master plan has lets say 100 projects on it.

15 of those projects are active, the rest pending or general support tasks.
The project managers give me their plans to incorporate in the Master plan.

I look at all the active plans and all the pending plans to figure out what
work can start when and how many resource hours I have for various efforts.

I do not update the project managers plans directly. If i see a conflict, I
talk to them and have them update their own plan with the resolution.

So, I moved to a resource pool so everyone had the same calendar and so I
could insert the plans in hopes that I could see on the resource usage form
what tasks of what projects people were doing at specific time. I edit the
forecast of my native plan pending projects but not the inserted projects.
My battle has been with 1. making sure resources arent duplicated and 2.
making sure i can see what project the task is associated wtih since the
default only goes to summary task.

Is what I am trying to do clear? Is there some other way I should do this?
Can it not be done in Project?

 

[Dave]

What you are trying to do is finally clear. The mechanism by which you
go about it hasn't been so clear or why you are doing it that way.
There is no doubt that Project can do this but I suspect there may be
better ways.

Why don't you do the following:
- Open the resource pool (read-only if others have to have simultaneous
access to it).
- Go to the Resource Usage View.
- Apply grouping (Project/Group by/Customise Group By:
- For the first grouping line, tick "Group assignments not tasks", enter
"Name" in the "Group By" line and select "Resource" in the "Field Type"
column.
- For the second grouping line, enter "Project" in the first "Then By"
line and select "Assignment" in the "Field Type" column.

This will then give you a structured view where:
- The top-level is a list of the resources
- Under each resource is a list of the projects they are assigned to
- Under each project name is a list of the tasks the resource is assigned to

The time-phased part of the display shows the resource commitment over
time and you can select the timescale to suit you (and add fields to
suit you as well for that matter).

Hope this helps.

Dave

 

[Amy]

Dave, thank you for sticking with me, this led to my final resolution. I was
able to use grouping to sort by projects with the inserted projects in the
master plan resource usage view. That is the core of what I needed. The
resource pool seems to confuse things so I am giving that up. Thanks!