Duration Problems

[barrymoss]

The company I work for operates on a 9/80 work schedule. Monday through
Thursday of every week we work 9 hrs. and alternating Fridays we are off work
and the other Friday we work 8 hrs. I incorporated this into every resource
in our resource pool and then into the shared calendar amongst all of the
projects. One of the questions I have is that when I go into options and then
the calendar view it asks for the number of hours a week. I need to this to
be 44 one week and 36 the other, how do I bypass this? This seems to
override what I set forth in the calendars. Here is what I think is
happening on the weeks we work 36 hours project calculates that when we work
9hr. days it is actual only utilizing 87% of the resource for the week and
then when the resource works the 44 hour week is utilizing 113% of allocation
which shows an overallocation of the resource. Also, on the 36 hour weeks
when you the duration seems to be off. For instance this week is a 36 hour
week and we have a task for 4/28 with a one day duration, but is does not
finish until 4/29. I went into the resource usage and found that 8 hours
have been spread against 4/28 and 1 hr. against 4/29 and when I move the one
hour back to 4/28 it over allocates the resources for the day. I went back
and check the calendars and everything is on order. Is Project trying to
pull my resource against the set 40 hrs? week to shrink it 87% utilization?
When I initially add the resource it tells they are working 9 hrs. for one
day, but it spreads it out over 2 calendar days. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Barry

 

[JulieS]

Hello barrymoss,

My comments are inline.

Julie

The company I work for operates on a 9/80 work schedule. Monday
through
Thursday of every week we work 9 hrs. and alternating Fridays we are
off work
and the other Friday we work 8 hrs. I incorporated this into every
resource
in our resource pool and then into the shared calendar amongst all
of the
projects. One of the questions I have is that when I go into options
and then
the calendar view it asks for the number of hours a week. I need to
this to
be 44 one week and 36 the other, how do I bypass this?

[Julie] The hours per week setting in Tools > Options, Calendar serves
to convert a "week" duration to a number of hours. Because your weeks
vary, I'd suggest staying away from using week as a duration for tasks
and use only "day" duration measures.

This seems to
override what I set forth in the calendars. Here is what I think is
happening on the weeks we work 36 hours project calculates that when
we work
9hr. days it is actual only utilizing 87% of the resource for the
week and
then when the resource works the 44 hour week is utilizing 113% of
allocation
which shows an overallocation of the resource.

[Julie] Are you using fixed duration tasks? If your tasks are fixed
duration and you enter work when you assign resources, Project will
calculate assignment units. You might want to view the task form at
the bottom of the Gantt chart when you work with resource assignments.
From the Gantt view, choose Window > Split.

Also, on the 36 hour weeks
when you the duration seems to be off. For instance this week is a
36 hour
week and we have a task for 4/28 with a one day duration, but is
does not
finish until 4/29. I went into the resource usage and found that 8
hours
have been spread against 4/28 and 1 hr. against 4/29 and when I move
the one
hour back to 4/28 it over allocates the resources for the day.

[Julie] When does the task start? Try showing time as well as date by
going to Tools > Options, View tab and selecting a date & time
setting. Even if the calendar has 9 hours per day in working time
defined, if the task doesn't begin at the start of the working day,
its finish will be the next working day.