Reduce unit after task start

[Shaun]

Here is my scenario. I have a task that was scheduled
for 50 hours. I have 2 engineers assigned to the task
(200% units). My calandar is set up for a 32 hour work
week (80% utilization) which makes my duration 6.02
days. The task is set as effort driven/fixed units. To
date, between the 2 engineers, they have worked 23 hours
on this task leaving me 27 hours remaining. One of my
engineers has been transfered off to a new job. I
changed my Max. Units in the Resource Sheet to 100%. I
then changed the number of units in the task to 100%.
This should have increased my duration on the task by
another day or so to account for 1 resource working the
remaining 27 hours, however my duration does not change
at all. Also when I click "Level Now" it returns the
resources to 200% and maintains the original 6.02 day
duration. Is this because we have started the task? Is
there a way I can get Project to calculate my new
duration correctly with out zeroing out the actual work?

Thank you,

Shaun Kenney

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi Shaun,

I don't understand your arithmetics (50 hours of work with 12.8 hours of
work per day even at 80% is still less that 5 days of duration) but I'm sure
I can help with this one.
Go tothe task usage view but instead of fiddling around with units change
remaining work for both engineers.

HTH

 

[Shaun]

Hi Jan,
Sorry for the confusion on the hours. We use an 80%
factor on an 8 hour day, not 12.5 per day. So all in all
it works out to 6.40 hours per day or 32 hours per week.
Also my resources are in groups, such as Engineering
Group 1, 2, 3, etc. We do not list them individually
otherwise I see where reducing the hours for the engineer
would correct my problem.
So engineering group 1 had 2 people. The 2 people were
assigned 100% each to the task (200% units x 50 hours =
6.02 days). After putting in a total of 23 hours of the
50, I am now left with 1 engineer to complete the
remaining 27 hours which should increase my duration.
And when I level my project it puts the engineer that was
reassigned back on the task again.

Follow me?

Shaun

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,
As you may see from the other post as well, the way you put it remains
somewhat confusing. You assign the engineering group OK, but then you tals
about "the other engineer" as if he were identified.
You mention a 50 hours task, but it seems now it is a 100 hours task in
terms of work.
That means that "the remaining 27 hours" do not exist, it looks to me you
are talking about "the remaining 54 hours of work".
Then you say "I put in 23 hours". Where? As what? Actual duration? Actual
Work?

If I put in actual duration as 23 hours, then change the units to 100%,
duration changes alright.
So you must be doing something different but I can't figure out why.
What do you exacltly mean by I put in the 23 hours?

HTH

 

[Shaun]

Hi Jan,
I took a deeper look into this task and I need to make
a correction to something I wrote earlier. The task was
not set as an effort driven task (though it should have
been). The 23 hours are Actual Work that I entered on
the task. So 50 hours of work minus the 23 hours of
Actual Work that have been performed leaves 27 hours.
As far as the engineers go, this particular group had
2 engineers in it. I originally assigned both engineers
to work on the task. As I stated above it should have
been marked as effort driven but it was not. Now one of
the engineers from this group has been reassigned to a
new project. So I only have 1 engineer left in this
group to finish the remaining 27 hours on the task. By
changing the units percentage from 200 to 100 (two people
to one) my duration should increase.
What I am thinking as I type this is, because I did
not have the box marked as effort driven, I have taken
credit for Actual Work, and because I have leveled the
project several times, that my duration may be correct.
The real issue I have is that after I change the units
from 200% to 100% and then level, Project puts the extra
unit back on the task.

Shaun

 

[Shaun]

I think I found one of my issues. I had mentioned in my
original posting that the task was marked as effor driven
and it was not. That's how I get 6.02 days of duration
on 50 hours of work.
I also think I may have corrected the problem. I went in
and cleared all the leveling that had been done on the
task, flagged it for effort driven, changed my Units to
100% and re-leveled and everything came out correct as
far as duration, remaining hours, etc.

Thanks,

Shaun

-----Original Message-----
Hello Shaun,
I may be missing all of the things that you are trying

to accomplish - so forgive me if this reply misses your
question.

From your numbers - it should take 2 E's to complete 50

hours 3.91 days. Then if 1 E was removed with 27 hours
left, it will take the 1 remaining E 4.22 days. You
didn't say how long it took the E's to work the 23 hours -
so I assume it took them 1.8 days. That gives you the
6.02 days.

 

[Shaun]

Jan,
I think I may have figured out my errors while writing
my previous response. What I did was to go in and clear
all the leveling that had been done to the task. I then
flagged the task to be effort driven (as it should have
been from the beginning), changed my units to 100%, re-
leveled it, and everything came out correctly; Units,
duration, work, remaining work, everything.
Thanks for your help. You helped me find my error
which enabled me figure out what was wrong and why it was
going wrong. I am very grateful.

Shaun

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

You're welcome, Shaun.