Assignment Units on the Resource Usage view

[bgriffwork]

I have a question about the Assignment Units column in the Resource Usage
view in Project Pro 2003. It seems that this field behaves as a resource
(future) allocation percentage until Actual Work is posted against a task,
then it behaves as a high-water mark resource (current) utilization
percentage. It seems that this field will go up but not down, and cannot
always be modified once Actual Work is entered.

I have the need to be able to either: 1) reset this column to reflected
adjusted allocation percentages, or 2) use this figure to predict future
resource allocations for each task.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[JulieS]

Hi bgriffwork,

You are correct. The assignment units field added to the usage table (left
side)in the Resource Usage shows the highest assignment for the resource for
the entire assignment. Even without Actual work values, if you have
contoured the assignment, the value will always show the highest assignment
value.

To be able to see changes in unit assignment over time (peaks and valleys)
add the % Allocation field to the timescaled portion of the view. (Right
side). For assignments without actual work, it will show you planned unit
assignments, for assignments with actual work, it will show you actual unit
assignments used.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie

 

[bgriffwork]

JulieS,

This was VERY helpful, thanks! One more related question...the Assignment
Units column is useful for allocating resources across multiple tasks when
total project allocation is known and you have a good idea of the proportion
of time spent on each task (ex. Task 1 - 50%, Task 2 - 25%, Task 3 - 25%,
total project allocation 100%). But it seems that once you begin recording
Actual Work against those tasks, the Assignment Units field isn't as useful.
Does it have other uses outside of initial assignments and "high water mark".

Also, what would the effect be of modifying Assignment Units after Actual
Work has been recorded? When I try to modify, sometimes it lets me,
sometimes it doesn’t. I guess I’m just trying to understand the “how’s†and
“why’s†of using this field after project execution begins. BTW, my tasks
are Fixed Duration/non-Effort driven.

Thanks again.

Also, what would the effect

 

[JulieS]

Hi bgriffwork,

You are most welcome and thanks for the feedback.

To answer your question about the Assignment Units field in the Resource
Usage view and how it behaves when Actual Work is recorded: You are
correct, it shows the highest assignment units of the resource to the
assignment.

For example: if I create a 3-day, fixed duration task and assign a resource
at 100%, the Assignment units field will show 100% and the work will be
spread at 8 hours per day for the 3 day duration. If I add 9 hours of
Actual Work on day 1, the assignment units increases to 113% - the highest
assignment unit for the 3-days based upon 9 hours of actual work. The work
for the remaining two days of the task drops to 7.5 hours -- less than 100%.

If I edit the assignment units back to 100%, the 9 hours of actual work
stays the same, the work for the remaining two days increases to 8 hours
(100% for the remaining work for the task) but the assignment units field
immediately reverts to 113%. So, changing the assignment units after actual
work has been recorded will increase assignment units on the remaining work
but still shows the highest value for the assignment.

If I record 8 hours of actual for the last two days, the task is complete
with zero remaining work. Editing the assignment units after the work is
complete, has no further affect on the task.

So, in summary: editing the assignment units on an assignment will only
affect remaining work -- it will never change the actual work recorded.
Attempting to change assignment units on a task with zero remaining work has
no affect at all.

I hope this helps to clarify a bit more. Let us know how you get along.

Julie

 

[bgriffwork]

Thanks, yes this is VERY helpful. I'm creating training material for my
employer, and there has been a lot of confusion surrounding this field. I
think I have a good understanding of how to explain this.

Thanks again!

 

[JulieS]

You are very welcome and thanks so much for the feedback. Do let us know if
we can assist again.

Julie

 

[Rob]

Julie,

I have somewhat of a similar question dealing with percentages for
resources. Is there any way on the resource usage to show the following:

1. What part of the project is assigned to the resource in percentage and
total numberof days/weeks/months etc.

2. What percentage of the the project does a specific task include. For
example if the project is ten days and a specific task is five days then that
task is fifty percent of the total projects' duration.

I am sure that there are fields that show this information in both the
resource usage and task usage but I can't find them. Any help would be
greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Rob

 

[John]

Julie,

I have somewhat of a similar question dealing with percentages for
resources. Is there any way on the resource usage to show the following:

1. What part of the project is assigned to the resource in percentage and
total numberof days/weeks/months etc.

2. What percentage of the the project does a specific task include. For
example if the project is ten days and a specific task is five days then that
task is fifty percent of the total projects' duration.

I am sure that there are fields that show this information in both the
resource usage and task usage but I can't find them. Any help would be
greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Rob

Note for Julie or others,
For some reason Rob posted this same question on the developer
newsgroup. I responded there.

John
Project MVP

 

[JulieS]

Thanks John -- I appreciate both your answer in the developer ng as
well as the heads-up here.

in message

For some reason Rob posted this same question on the developer
newsgroup. I responded there.

John
Project MVP

<snip>>

 

[Rob]

Julie,

Sorry that I posted this twice. I have had too many of my questions never
answered in the past from other MS forums and sometimes you really need and
answer. I did receive and answer from John and I will investigate creating
some macros to do what I want. Can you create custom views with your own
tables via vba? I was thinking of just downloading the data to Excel and
then customize it there via some macros. What would be the best views to
start with for both questions to download to Excel?

Thanks,

Rob

 

[JulieS]

Rob,

See John and Jan's answer in the Developer ng.

Julie

 

[Connie]

JulieS or others,

I'm using project 2003 and somehow the unit column doesn't show up on the
resource tab.

How do I add this field in?

Thanks,
Connie

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi Connie,

Welcome to this Microsoft Project newsgroup

I haven't seen that before. Have you installed Service Pack 3 (Sp3) - check
in Help/About. If you have, we need to discover whether your project is at
fault, whether it is Project at fault, or whether it's your PC. Does the
symptom occur with other projects on this PC? Does it occur with this
project on other PCs? Does it occur with other projects on other PCs?

FAQs, companion products and other useful Project information can be seen at
this web address: http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm

Hope this helps - please let us know how you get on

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP
See http://tinyurl.com/2xbhc for my free Project Tutorials

 

[JulieS]

Hi Connie,

Just to clarify -- what resource tab are you looking at -- in the
Task Information dialog box?

The assignment units in the Resource Usage view (the subject of this
message) will need to be added by you manually -- but it isn't on a
tab.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project