PS2007: Resource capacity management?

[jpa]

Hi
(PS2007, SP1, PIU)
let's consider following scenario
- I have a task t1 (fixed work) where users A & B have been allocated 50%
(total t1 work = 40d, 20d for A + 20d for B, t1 duration ~2 months)
=> project pro shows t1: A[50%], B[50%]
- in their timesheets (week granularity) A & B are expected to work 2,5d /week
(lets assume there are 4 weeks for said month, each week having 5 days)
- when filling the timesheet A may report for instance 1d, 4d, 2d, 3d for
each of the 4 weeks of the month (A actually worked 10d as expected for this
month). B is reporting time spent in the timesheet as expected (for the sake
of sample simplicity).
- after updating tasks and accepting tasks updates, when opening Project Pro
I can see t1: A[80%], B[50%], A is in time (10d worked, 10d remaining work)

1) Can you confirm that the 80% comes from the fact that at one moment A has
reported he has worked at 80% (ie the week where he reported 4d)

2) Is this new capacity of 80% used to re-calculate A contribution to task
t1 (& duration) ? (seems not since "AssignmentWork" for this task and
resource is not changed, when looking at Reporting database)

3) My purpose is then to re-consider task scheduling: A is still expected to
contribute 50% to task t1.
So I change A capacity from 80% to 50% (ie t1: A[50%], B[50%]). Modification
is accepted by Project Pro.
I save and close the file.
If I open the file in the follwing minutes, modification still is present
(ie t1: A[50%], B[50%]).
But If I open the file the day after, modification has disapperead and I
still have t1: A[80%], B[50%].
How can this be explained?

Thanks for your help
jpa

 

[Dominik Chrzanowski]

1. Unfortunately yes ïŒ. If you look to the MS Project documentation you will
find an information, according to witch duration = work * units (+ calendar
dependencies). Unfortunately if you try to do a scenario:
a. Create a task, leave default duration. Task type – default fixed units
b. Assign a resource to the task
c. Go to Task Usage view, insert Units column
d. Assume that task will take 4 days, but for those four days work will be:
i. Day 1 – 2h
ii. Day 2 – 4h
iii. Day 3 – 6h
iv. Day 4 – 4h
When entering work for every day watch how units value changes. It will
be calculated based on the maximum daily assignment work – in our example for
day 3 you have 6h (work) / 8h (day maximum work allowed) = 75% units for
hole assignment.
This scenario is task type independent. In My Tasks it should be the same
behavior.

2. The contribution / duration calculation is quite complicated. It uses new
units, task type and assignment work decomposition schema.

3. I’m not sure what is causing this problem. You wrote: “But If I open the
file the day after, modification has disapperead and I still have t1: A[80%],
B[50%]. †- where exactly are you checking this information?

Best,

---------------------
Dominik Chrzanowski
Project & Portfolio Management Consultant
http://www.strictwise.com

Hi
(PS2007, SP1, PIU)
let's consider following scenario
- I have a task t1 (fixed work) where users A & B have been allocated 50%
(total t1 work = 40d, 20d for A + 20d for B, t1 duration ~2 months)
=> project pro shows t1: A[50%], B[50%]
- in their timesheets (week granularity) A & B are expected to work 2,5d /week
(lets assume there are 4 weeks for said month, each week having 5 days)
- when filling the timesheet A may report for instance 1d, 4d, 2d, 3d for
each of the 4 weeks of the month (A actually worked 10d as expected for this
month). B is reporting time spent in the timesheet as expected (for the sake
of sample simplicity).
- after updating tasks and accepting tasks updates, when opening Project Pro
I can see t1: A[80%], B[50%], A is in time (10d worked, 10d remaining work)

1) Can you confirm that the 80% comes from the fact that at one moment A has
reported he has worked at 80% (ie the week where he reported 4d)

2) Is this new capacity of 80% used to re-calculate A contribution to task
t1 (& duration) ? (seems not since "AssignmentWork" for this task and
resource is not changed, when looking at Reporting database)

3) My purpose is then to re-consider task scheduling: A is still expected to
contribute 50% to task t1.
So I change A capacity from 80% to 50% (ie t1: A[50%], B[50%]). Modification
is accepted by Project Pro.
I save and close the file.
If I open the file in the follwing minutes, modification still is present
(ie t1: A[50%], B[50%]).
But If I open the file the day after, modification has disapperead and I
still have t1: A[80%], B[50%].
How can this be explained?

Thanks for your help
jpa

 

[jpa]

Thanks Dominik for your quick reply

1) it's a pity to keep displaying the "peak" unit instead of "estimated"
which meaningful info when consolidating project schedule. Hope Microsoft
will do improvement on that topic...

2) I mainly work with "fixed work", after each schedule update (coming from
timesheets) I study with project team how to keep the target dates: one way
is to modify resource units... So you can understand that "peak" units is
non-sense for estimation...

3) I read A[80%] in project pro, Gantt Chart view, right side of the task
bar within graphic area.
When I modify resources units actually I change "peak" unit value with a new
value unit value in order to recover and to reach task target in time (in my
example from 80% to 50%). Project Pro accepts the modifications... I noticed
that whan I re-open the file some while later I can still see the value of
50% (probably due to cache mechanism) but when I open same file again still
some time later the value is then 80% again...

Any explaination is welcome
Thanks again
jpa