Guest Resource

[Chris]

Hello,

I have a resource who has booked time to a job that they are not resourced
to. This task was not forseen, but is required.

Short of going through an involved process of creating the task, resourcing,
then getting the 'worker' to acknowledge and update their timesheet, can the
timesheet approver simple link the timesheet activity to a project?? And
have the task autopopulate itself into a porject?

Another example would be a manager who is not resourced to a project, but
has mentored a worker and wants to book his time to that job. When the
manager creates his timesheet that project is not on the automatic list, so
becomes an "unverified" line item. How can the timesheet approver apply that
time to the top level of that project - so as to capture the cost?

Thanks for the help
Chris

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Chris --

No, you are definitely barking up the wrong tree on both questions. You
willl need to create the task, assign the resource to it, baseline it, and
then save and publish your project. To simplify things a bit, since the
task is already underway, why don't you enter the estimated % Complete on
the task so far and then publish the latest changes? That will allow your
team member to status the work that is left.

If the mentor is part of the project team for the project in question,
he/she can use the New Task functionality to assign himself/herself to the
existing task. But there is no way for the mentor to apply time to the top
level of the project. Hope this helps.

 

[Chris]

Dale --

Thanks for the feedback..

For the first case, I was hoping for a quick solution, but if this is the
case, this is the case.
The second case (mentoring) was also helpful.

However, my next question is now - what is the point of an Unverified Task??
When would this be used, and what happens to it if it is approved?

Also, for the mentoring case - lets assume the manager was NOT a resource
on the project. Does this mean the project manager must add this resource to
the project before the manager can create the task?

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Chris --

First of all, the correct term is Unverified Lines rather than Unverified
Tasks. Assume that our Project Server administrator has included only three
Administrative time categories: Administrative, Sick Leave, and Vacation.
I spend all day in a training class. I could add an Unverified Line to my
timesheet, and name the new line Training. The system adds the new line
into the Administrative section of the page (the bottom half), and does not
associate the new line with any project.

To answer your second question, yes, you would need to add the mentor to the
project team. On the other hand, if you knew the mentor was going to be
involved with the project and mentoring a resource on one or more tasks, why
wouldn't you add the mentor to the project initially, and assign him/her to
tasks on which he/she would mentor? Just a thought. Hope this helps.