Juggling a single resource against "old" and current projects

S

smreilly

I am a relatively new user of Project Server. We use Project Pro &
Server 2007 to manage tasks across multiple software releases - so a
separate .mpp for Release X, Release Y, and so on, with resources
shared across the projects.

Scenario - Person A completes his tasks in Release X and moves on to
his tasks in Release Y. Some time later, a customer issue arises in
Release X that Product Management claims cannot wait until Release Y,
it needs to be fixed in a patch or new build of Release X. So Person A
goes back to Release X, makes the changes and then comes back to
Release Y and picks up where he left off.

Here are some ideas and questions that I have, but I would like to
have some outside validation to know if I'm on the right track or
not...

Build "dummy" tasks into Release X for post release customer issues,
but these need to start after the software is released (we might
release ~5 builds of Release X over the course of a few months,
containing bug fixes, features that missed the initial deadlines, etc.
and they are all tracked in a single .mpp).

We are discouraged from linking tasks together across .mpps - should I
up the priority of the new Release X task to put it at the front of
Person A's Release Y task queue then re-level?

What is the best way to show (pictues) Product Management the impact
adding the new tasks into Release X has on Release Y, especially if
Person A is on the critical path? Maybe they will decide that it would
be better to appease the customer with a phone call rather than
interrupt Release Y for a Release X fire drill...

Do I need to build slack into Release Y to accommodate interruptions
to Release X or is this covered with the dummy tasks and releveling
across both projects?

Any words of wisdom that can be shared would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
 

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