Resource Allocation Issue

[verossa]

Hi All



I am using MS Project 2000 to manage an IT implementation.



On the Resource Sheet, MS Project identifies resources / max. units as
either a % or a unit. I understand that one unit or 100% denotes one "man".



On my project I have the following information:



Network Services 250hrs

IIS 50hrs

Infrastructure 48hrs

User Acceptance Test 50hrs

Build 23hrs



Scenario: Network Services will undertake 250hrs of work across the life of
the project. Network Services is the resource, and 250hrs is the max.unit.
Network Services could be a team of 2, 4, 7 specialists - do not have
visibility of this.



At present when I am using the resource usage to populate the resource hours
I am activating all kinds of "reds" in my resource sheet. I've ascertained
this is because of the amount of max. units but why can't I just include the
total hrs per department (250hr) in my max. units?



Is there a method of doing this or am I missing something? What is the best
method in project to handle the above scenario? I would be grateful for any
guidance or a resource to explain this.



TIA - Verossa

 

[Rod Gill]

Hi,

Network Services 250hrs is the total work you have available, not the units.
Units is the ration of work to duration and effectively denotes the hours
per day a resource is available. 100% is therefore 8h per day maximum
availability. at 8h/day, 250h is going to take around 31 working days to
complete. 31d is the Duration.

If you have 5 people to do the Network Services work, then set the Max units
to 500%. This equates to 40h/day.

--
For VBA posts, please use the public.project.developer group.
For any version of Project use public.project
For any version of Project Server use public. project.server

Rod Gill
Project MVP
For Microsoft Project companion projects, best practices and Project VBA
development services
visit www.projectlearning.com/

 

[Gérard Ducouret]

Hello Verossa,

250hrs is *NOT* a max.unit ! I guess it is the total work load for a task or
of a summary task.
How many people have you in the Network Services ?
If you have 8 persons full time, the Max Units for that resource will be 8
or 800%.
If your calendar is set with 8hr/day, this Network Services resource can do
a max of work of 64hr/day.

Hope this helps,

Gérard Ducouret

 

[verossa]

Hi Gerard,

Thanks for responding. I simply do not know the total number of people
working on my project from Network Services because they service the global
community and we merely buy time from them.

All I know is the task being performed, the time it will take (hrs) and the
period (e.g. 1 week ). In this scenario, one task could be done by 7 people
all working 1 hr per day. All Network Service can tell me is the working
required in hrs to complete the task for that given period - the could
assign the work to 15 potential people and divide this however they please
amongst the Network Services department..

Can I use MS project to manage a scenario like this?

I'd appreciate any advise - Thanks again - Vers

 

[Gérard Ducouret]

Verossa,



What you know is the time period allocate for that task, and the Work load
needed to achieve it. You don't know how many resources (persons) the
Network Services will allocate on the task.

A simple way to manage this case is to define the task both by its Duration
and its Work :

Insert the Work column near the Duration column : Insert / Column...

Enter for ex : 2 weeks for the Duration and 160 hrs for the Work.

Set the task (at least temporarily) to Fixed duration : Task Type drop down
list in the Advanced tab of the Task Information dialog box.

Click the Assign resource button in the tool bar ( small figurine)

MS Project will assign 2 Units (or 200%) (2 persons full time) to that task

You'll not accurately manage the availability of the Network Services
resource, but you really know if 2 (or x) persons at the same time is
plausible or unrealistic.



Gérard Ducouret

 

[verossa]

Thanks for your guidance Gerrard... I really appreciate your input.

I will try this and report back.

Speak soon - Vers

 

[Steve House]

Think of the relationship between time, distance, and speed when you
drive your car. The time it takes you to get somewhere is related to
the distance you have to go and the speed at which you drive, D=T*S.
Project works exactly the same way. "Duration" is the time it takes to
complete a task once you start the journey. "Work" is the distance the
task has to travel. "Resource Allocation" represents the speed that the
work is getting done. "Max Units" represents the speed limit above
which you can't drive without getting into trouble or possibly blowing
the engine.

The general rule of thumb is to break the tasks down into units that can
be worked by and managed by ONE resource, a resource here being a skill
set. You don't necessarily need to break down the work done by Network
Services unless you need to manage each task (though if you're not doing
that I do wonder what is the point of plugging it into Project) but if
Project's calculations are going to make sense you do need to know how
fast they can get the work done. 100% is defined as 1 resource working
his entire workday on this task. Assuming the Project calendar reflects
an 8 hour work day, in one day you'll get 8 man-hours of work if you
assign the resource at 100%. If you assign a resource at 200% you'll
get 16 man-hours of work. If you assign at 300% you'll get 24 man-hours
etc etc etc. So to know how long it will take network services to get
their 250 man-hours of work done, you'll need to know how many resources
they're going to put on it and how many they have that they COULD put on
it if you held a gun to their head. If they have a total of 7 people
qualified to do the job, their maximum allocation is 700%. You may or
may not need to use all of them. If they can afford to put 4 on it, you
allocate the Network Services resource to the task at 400%. They're
only considered overallocated if the amount they're scheduled to work
exceeds the maximum designated for them in the Max Allocation field.

I don't understand what your problem is in finding out what resources
they're going to put onto their task(s) and how much and when they plan
to work on those tasks. That's what project management is all about -
you're the one in charge, proactively directing the work involved to
make sure your project comes in on time and under budget. Regardless of
the organization chart, at least in terms of the current project you're
the equal to the Network Services department head - call her up and meet
to work out the details of what her department needs to do when in order
to meet the company's objectives in doing the project you've been
assigned. Making sure the work gets scheduled at the right time and
right rate to meet the project's objectives is what your job as a
project manager is all about. You can't do that without detailed
information about the resources available and their committments to the
project.

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

 

[verossa]

"I don't understand what your problem is in finding out what resources
they're going to put onto their task(s) and how much and when they plan to
work on those tasks."

1) Its not a problem (as Gerard / Joe explained)

2) I don't know the number of resources but I know the total hours they plan
to work on the task, and when. I can then backwards engine the resource
required by MS Project, or I can allow it calculate this automatically
(Gerard).

3) I do not know the amount of resource. 2 guys might take 16 hours, or 4
guys may deliver the work in 8 hours. Either way, I still get billed the
same and the task gets done within the time scale ensuring all dependencies
are maintained. (My slow brain took a while to understand this)

4) You have some interesting ideas about setting up meetings - I'll give
them a go because I didn't realise meetings could help facilitate my project
or its progress. I'll also ask your well orchestrated questions. By the
by, I thought MS Project was all I ever needed to successfully deliver
projects and now I'm being advised to make human contact as well.

5) My organisation or the organisation delivering the IT must be peculiar.
Either way, all businesses are different and I tend never to assume 'one
best way' fits all. Tomorrow I will more than likely work on a project
where all the resource can be identify via a head count. Today I can't.
It's not about good/bad project management but rather working within the
confines of two global organisations with working practises that don't
complement certain project management techniques - they still deliver the IT
under this arrangement and will continue to do so. I want to bring MS
Projects ability to understand variations / report into the equation. I
cannot give sermons regarding this issue - it will consume far too much
resource and the project time scales will slip (that's a joke)

Thanks for responding - Vers

Good night - Vers

 

[Steve House]

I don't know if your points 4 and 5 were serious or facetious but the
managerial soft skills - organizational, political, requirements
identification, strategic and tactical planning, prognosticational,
etc - of project management are far more important than any software you
may choose to use. Everything that MS Project does can be done with
nothing more than paper and pencil, albeit far less efficiently. I just
finished teaching a 4 week project management course for candidates
interested in Comptia's IT Project Plus certification. Although we do 1
week with MS Project before moving into the specific Comptia exam
material, the class materials we use for the majority of the course
discusses PMIS software such as MSP exactly once, almost as a footnote,
and references Project files in only two exercises out of the dozens in
the book.

 

[verossa]

Hi Steve,

What is your point? I seriously do not understand but am willing to
consider your opinions.

TIA - Vers

 

[Steve House]

You said you didn't realize that project management might require
meetings and coordination with the functional managers of the
departments providing resources & services to the project and had been
under the impression that MS Project was going to do everything required
to manage the project. I don't know if you meant that as a joke or were
serious but assuming the latter I'm pointing out that if there's some
information you need in order to use the managerial tools effectively,
such as the resource assignment details which are fundamental to proper
scheduling, you need to go get it from the people that have it rather
than trying to find a work-around in the software for its absence. The
project manager has to take charge of the project and not just passively
accept what vendors and other departments say they're going to do. As
far as the project work is concerned, you're the boss (perhaps via the
authority of your project's sponsor), not them. They shouldn't be
telling you what they're doing - you should be telling them what they
need to do.

 

[verossa]

Steve,

I agree with your comments. This organisation has some odd methods, layers
of bureaucracy, time consuming politics and antiquated procedures / working
practises. This all transpires to make project management very difficult.



In addition, the organisation has recently outsourced its IT - many of the
people were transitioned over to the new IT provider (very reluctantly I
might add). This situation is not ideal and the project sponsors appreciate
the predicament.

Speak soon,
Hardip