How can I freeze allocation %?

[Ben]

I posted a similar question before, but I still haven't
solved this maddening problem. Frequently when I update my
plan from project server the % allocation units change on
their own. So even though I have painstakingly set up
allocations showing how an individual should split his
time, after the update, these allocations change. Isn't
there some way to freeze the values I enter?

None of my tasks are effort driven and they are all set to
fixed units.

quickly loosing it...
Ben

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Ben --

Sorry, but there is no way to freeze the Units value on each resource
assignment. When you assign a Units value on an assignment, you are
entering your "planned Units" for the task. When you begin entering actuals
on your project, the Units value is actually the Peak Units field, which is
the largest % of effort the resource expended during any time period on the
task. For example, I assign Mickey Cobb at 50% Units on a task with 40
hours of work, which yields a 10 day Duration. At the end of the first
week, Mickey submits the following actuals for her work on that task:

M T W Th F
4 3 4 6 2

Based on the above numbers, the Peak Units for this assignment would be
calculated at 75% based on her 6 hours of work on Thursday. The Units value
for the assignment will now show 75% instead of my original 50% "planned
Units" value. So, don't lose your mind. It's the way the software is meant
to work and you can't change it. Hope this helps.

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi Ben,

Some more comments
Although Project will *show* a different assignment units number, it will go
on planning remaining work at the old units value.
Like you, I think this should not be the case (in my view, actuals should
not update units value at all) but it insists on showing this value.
Fortunately it doen't use it in calculation.

HTH

--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
Project Management Consultancy
Prom+ade BVBA
32-495-300 620

 

[Ben]

Dale - then how can I use allocation units effectively!?
If I allocate a resource 20% of their time to production
support for the next year, and when they send in their
time reprots this number jumps to 80% because they had to
spend more time on support one day, all of my other
allocations will be off - no?

Ben

-----Original Message-----
Ben --

Sorry, but there is no way to freeze the Units value on each resource
assignment. When you assign a Units value on an assignment, you are
entering your "planned Units" for the task. When you begin entering actuals
on your project, the Units value is actually the Peak Units field, which is
the largest % of effort the resource expended during any time period on the
task. For example, I assign Mickey Cobb at 50% Units on a task with 40
hours of work, which yields a 10 day Duration. At the end of the first
week, Mickey submits the following actuals for her work

 

[Ben]

Hi Dale. How come I can't duplicate what you're describing
below? I set up a new project just like you described
below, but when I report actual hours through project
server this doesn't happen. (That's been part of the
problem - I can't predict when the allocations will
change).

If what you're saying is true, how can I use Project to
plan and allocate resources? If I say that an individual
should spend 20% of their time on task x, and Project
resets that value to 38% then all of this persons other
assignments are going to be off - right?

Ben --

-----Original Message-----
Ben --

Sorry, but there is no way to freeze the Units value on each resource
assignment. When you assign a Units value on an assignment, you are
entering your "planned Units" for the task. When you begin entering actuals
on your project, the Units value is actually the Peak Units field, which is
the largest % of effort the resource expended during any time period on the
task. For example, I assign Mickey Cobb at 50% Units on a task with 40
hours of work, which yields a 10 day Duration. At the end of the first
week, Mickey submits the following actuals for her work

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Ben --

No, all of your allocations will not be off. The resource assigned at 20%
Units who then reports work on a task equalling 80% Units will STILL be
assigned at 20% Units for the remainder of the task. Hope this helps.

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Ben,

What makes you think so?
Project NEVER changes units on a task because of allocations to other tasks,
NEVER.
HTH

--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
Project Management Consultancy
Prom+ade BVBA
32-495-300 620

 

[Steve House]

Before devoting too much energy to this "problem" ask yourself "Does it
really matter?" Project is about scheduling and tracking project work,
not micro-managing a resource's workday or time schedule. It's a work
manager, not a time or people manager. As Dale has pointed out, the
allocation numbers you see represent peak activity, the highest
instantaneous value, not average activity. If Mary was allocated 25%
each day Monday thru Friday but posts extra work on Wednesday, her
*peak* allocation might change to 50% because that's what she did 4
hours, not 2, on task X that day. However the rest of her week is still
scheduled at 25% per day. If she was scheduled 25% on task X, 25% on
task Y, and 50% on task Z on Wednesday and posts an actual of 4 hours,
50%, against task X, tasks Y & Z will still show allocated at 25% and
50% respectively. Duration on X may change because you're getting it
done at a faster rate than expected and so will finish earlier.

 

[Steve House]

Perhaps you're trying to use Project in a manner other than what it's
intended. It is designed to manage the work on tasks in order to complete a
project, not to manage the hours in a resource's work schedule and schedule
them into a labour budget.

You're allocating a resource to production support for a year. "Tasks" are
specific quantifiable activities with defined start and finish points that
produce a specific deliverable required to complete the project. You're
describing an ongoing activity with no clearly defined time parameters and
no recognizable deliverable whose completion or lack of it can be observer
and measured. Is there ever going to be a point in time when all the
support activity that will ever be required will have been completed and the
support person can be dismissed?. Plus the general rule of thumb is that
tasks should lie somewhere between 8 and 80 hours of work in order to be
manageable - a year-long task falls well outside that.

If your resource reports more work on a task than originally planned,
Project is simply telling you what they did on those tasks. It does not
change their overall allocation on the task, though it may change the
duration or the total work required if they are working faster or slower
than estimated, nor will it change the assignments on any concurrent tasks.

I am scheduled 4 hours per day each, 50% assignment, on tasks A and B over a
period of 5 days. On day 1 I report that I worked 6 hours on A, but make no
report on B.

Case A: Task A is fixed duration. Project shows a new allocation of 75% on
A but reduces the work on each remaining day to 3.5 hours so the overall
*average* allocation over the week-long task remains at 50% of the 40 hours
duration, ie, a total of 20 hours of work. Task B is unchanged.

Case B: Task A is fixed units or fixed work. Project shows a new
allocation of 75% on A but reduces the *duration* by 2 hours, indicating
some of the work has been done earlier than planned. The overall amount of
work on the task still hasn't changed and the average allocation (day by day
75%, 50%, 50%, 50%, 25% averaged out) remains the same 50%. Again, task B
does not change.

Your focus has to be on managing the work on the tasks, not the hours in the
resource's workdays. The only time that becomes a concern of the PM is when
the total scheduled allocation exceeds the maximum the resource is allowed
to work - that impacts your project because you're asking him to do the
impossible, to be in two different places at once. Other than that, he's
perfectly capable of managing his own daily calendar.

Hope this helps...


--
Steve House [MVP]
MS Project Trainer/Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs