Is MS Project right for me?

[Becki Thurber]

Hello All,

Here's the situation:

I've been asked to keep track of, and of course report on, both the Planned
Resource Hours and Reported Resource Hours for a large number of projects -
at this point about 75 with a large list of shared resources as well. We are
looking to see where resource overallocations occur and also use this tool in
the planning process to avert potential resource clashes.

In terms of the projects, I do not need to go into depth with their specific
tasks -- I only need to look at the multiple projects and what resources have
been tasked and if there are conflicts. I will not be going into depth with
these projects as far as specific tasks/milestones. Although it certianly is
a part of Project Management, this challenge is much more about Resource
Management.

In terms of reported/actual hours, these will be coming from two different
sources. During the Project process and at the end of the project I'll want
to be able to see how the Planned Resource Usage stacks up against Actual
Resource usage with Costs, percentage completed, Planned vs. Reported Hours,
etc.

It has been suggested that I tackle this challenge with Microsoft Project.
I have taken a short Introductory seminar in Project and know some of the
basic functions; however, I definitely lack the expertise and experience to
know whether MS Project is the ideal tool.

So...given this brief and non-specific information...does it sound like MS
Project is the right tool to use? Also, can anyone suggest a company that
does good, more than just point-n-click, MS Project Training?

Thanks in advanced for any suggestions and help you can give.

Becki Thurber

 

[davegb]

Becky,

From your description, I'd say you're in a quandary. They want you to

accurately track resource usage, without tracking the tasks those
resources are working on. I guess it might be theoretically possible,
but I can't imagine how I'd do it. It might even be possible somehow in
Project, but I wouldn't know how. Someone else might have a suggestion.

You could track the tasks in Project at a relatively high level, with
as little detail as possible, and the resources on those tasks. But a
common rule of thumb is that tasks should not exceed 5 working days, 10
at the most. Otherwise, you lose control of the project because lengthy
tasks slip, and you don't know they've slipped until they've slipped by
weeks.
If you want to optimize your resource usage, you're going to have to
track the tasks, not just the resources. I don't know of any other way
to do it. What you're being asked to do seems to me like being asked to
tell management how many apple cores are in the basket, but don't count
the apples!
As for good trainers who dont' teach this software in a "point-n-click"
style, the only ones I know of are some of us who contribute in this
NG. They are hard to find. One of the tests I use to determine if an
instructor really understands Project is if s/he knows what feature to
turn off to get Project to work right. That would be "Autolink inserted
or Moved Tasks" under Tools, Options, Schedule.
Hope this helps.

 

[texasroy]

Becky:

I agree with Dave that you cannot really track resources without tracking
the tasks that the resource perform. The PMO I lead was trying to do just
that but were not getting even ball park accurate data.

Here's an example. If you track on the high level, you assign resources at
percentages. Jane is working 4 projects at 25%. But it is very possible
that several times in the specific projects she must work full time on
specific tasks - maybe all 4 project at once (you have no way of knowing if
you do not track to the task level). Without task scheduling in each
project, you cannot see this conflict and you think all 4 projects can finish
when planned.

You will need some type of enterprise project management software to do what
your management wants - and you will need to plan each project down to a
fairly low level of detail to ensure you do not have major overallocation of
resources.

While Project Server is a good tool to do all this, if does require at least
one high level of expert (your guru) and the PMs working in the environment
need to be fairly proficient in the tool.

texasroy

 

[RKT]

Hey Becky,

We use MS Proj in exactly that way. Resource Management. We essentially
just book chunks of time for resources against projects. We also have a list
of milestones in the projects which we manage on a % completion basis.

This system can create some great reports. It has really added a lot of
value to my company.

I have looked around for what you are looking for and couldn't find anything
that would really fit except MS Proj Server.

All that said this app is fairly complex/ flexible. If i could do it all
over again I would put in MS Proj but I would hire a guru. I spent a lot of
evenings and weekends trying to do it myself.

RRR

 

[davegb]

RKT wrote:

We use MS Proj in exactly that way. Resource Management. We
essentially
just book chunks of time for resources against projects. We also have
a list
of milestones in the projects which we manage on a % completion basis.

Interesting. What I am hearing is that you don't break your projects
down into tasks, just major milestones, with durations (non-zero) and
the assign resources to these milestones? Can you elucidate with more
detail on how you're using Project to manage your resources?
Thanks!

 

[Kel]

Dave could you send me a sample of the MPP File you are using for resource
planning? I too would like to see what others are doing as I have the exact
same delima.