Resource % calculations on fixed duration tasks

[Andy]

I have a project in which I need to assign multiple resources to tasks with a
fixed duration. On some of the tasks when I assign 2 people it just shows
their names which is what I am looking for. On other tasks when I assign 2
people it shows a percentage next to their names and I'm not sure what is
being calculated. On one task that I assigned 2 resources ( SR & SL ) it has
SR (133%) and SL ( 67%). Yet on another task on which I assigned 3 resources
it has a 67% next to each of the resources assigned. I have turned effort
driven on and off and it does not appear to make a difference. Any insight
into what project is calculating and why would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Andy

 

[JulieD]

Hi Andy

when doing multiple resource assignment (and remembering to avoid this
whenever possible by defining tasks so that one resource is doing each task)
... the trick is to realise that there is a difference between the "first
assignment" and "subsequent changes" and IMHO if you have a task and you
want 2 people working on it at 100% each
i.e. Duration = 8hrs, Resources = 2 then Work = 16hrs
and when you assigned the first person, you forgot to assign the second then
take the resources off, reset the duration to what it should be and the put
ALL of the resources back on as a single assignment. This will give you
what you want without having to play with task type & effort driven.

Effort driven comes into play when you are assigning named resources (Bill &
Fred, or Plumber & Electrician) .. if it is ticked that the work calculated
at the first assignment is spread between them when you add the second
resource. If it is unticked, the work for the resource added at the first
assignment remains unchanged and additional work is added for the second.
if you want to see this work, create a mini project with two tasks - both
10hrs long, make the 2nd one non-effort driven (also a good idea to display
the work column -right mouse click on duration, choose insert column, choose
work). Now add "Bill" to both - first assignment, work is calculated, no
problems. Now add Fred to the first ... as it is effort driven the amount
of work is split between the two of them. Now add Fred to the second as it
is non-effort driven, Bill keeps his "work" and Fred gets some.

But as i said, when assigning resources in Project, if you make a mistake
take them off - check the duration is correct and put them back on again ...
IMHO it saves brain strain! (or, alternatively, make sure for every task
you've only got one person (one resource type) working on it!).

Cheers
JulieD

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi ,

Welcome to this Microsoft Project newsgroup

You might like to have a look at my series on Microsoft Project in the
TechTrax ezine, particularly #10-Multiple Resource Assignments, at this
site: http://tinyurl.com/2xbhc or this:
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMFrame.asp?CMD=ArticleSearch&AUTH=23
(Perhaps you'd care to rate the article before leaving the site,
Thanks.)

FAQs, companion products and other useful Project information can be seen at
this web address: <http://www.mvps.org/project/>

Hope this helps - please let us know how you get on

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

 

[Steve House [MS Project MVP]]

The percentage is NOT the portion of the task's work the resource is doing.
It is the percentage of his workday that resource will devote to that task.
I could have a 1 day task, 8 hours duration, with 4 resources assigned 50%
each. That means that over the course of the 8 hour day the task takes,
each resources contributes 4 man-hours of work.