Resource Planning Best Practice?

[Tom Godbold]

MSPS 2007 / MS Project Pro 2k7

In Dale and Gary's book, they describe what I interpret as two different
ways to plan for resource capacity:

1) Set the Resource Max Units to reflect the resource's capacity to work on
Projects (a.k.a. Working Time spent on Projects, some call it "Productive"
time; NOT Administrative time).

Example:
Max Units = 75%
Capacity = 30 hours/week

2) Set the Enterprise Calendars to reflect capacity to work on Projects.

Example:
Enterprise Standard Calendar Working Time: M-F 9A - 12P; 1P - 4P
Capacity = 30 hours/week

I've tested both and they both have the same effect on Capacity.

So the question is-- Which one is the Best Practice? Or, if both are good,
why would you use one over the other?

**
Unsolicited Endorsement: As an EPM implementor and PMO Director, my best
advice to you is this: If you are implementing MOPS 2007, buy Dale and
Gary's books! They are the most comprehensive and well-organized books
available for MSPS. They give you practical advice, not just an overview of
capabilities and options. And no, I am in no way affiliated with
MSProjectExperts, nor am I receiving any kind of compensation for this
endorsement. These books have saved us tons of time and rework!

Managing Enterprise Projects using MOPS 2007
Implementing and Administering MOPS 2007

http://projectserverbooks.com

 

[Mark Everett | PMP]

MSPS 2007 / MS Project Pro 2k7

In Dale and Gary's book, they describe what I interpret as two different
ways to plan for resource capacity:

1) Set the Resource Max Units to reflect the resource's capacity to work on
Projects (a.k.a. Working Time spent on Projects, some call it "Productive"
time; NOT Administrative time).

Example:
Max Units = 75%
Capacity = 30 hours/week

2) Set the Enterprise Calendars to reflect capacity to work on Projects.

Example:
Enterprise Standard Calendar Working Time: M-F 9A - 12P; 1P - 4P
Capacity = 30 hours/week

I've tested both and they both have the same effect on Capacity.

So the question is-- Which one is the Best Practice? Or, if both are good,
why would you use one over the other?

**
Unsolicited Endorsement: As an EPM implementor and PMO Director, my best
advice to you is this: If you are implementing MOPS 2007, buy Dale and
Gary's books! They are the most comprehensive and well-organized books
available for MSPS. They give you practical advice, not just an overview of
capabilities and options. And no, I am in no way affiliated with
MSProjectExperts, nor am I receiving any kind of compensation for this
endorsement. These books have saved us tons of time and rework!

Managing Enterprise Projects using MOPS 2007
Implementing and Administering MOPS 2007

http://projectserverbooks.com

From a Best Practices perspective, I think the best way is to record
non-project time effort on the Timesheet so that the enterprise can
get an idea of how many hours a day people are spending doing non-
procect type activities (downloading music, shopping, answering
personal e-mail, IM'ing with friends and family ). However, that
wasn't an option you presented, so I would go with Option 1k - setting
Max Units at 80%. Setting work hours seems more artificial.

Regarding the book: As an author on a couple of the books about
Project 2007 and Project Server 2007, I would agree with your
assessment. They do a great job telling it like it is, without a lot
of fluff. I will say that the Unleashed books are pretty good, but
from a "just the facts ma'am" perspective, the ProjectServerExperts
books are great.

Mark Everett, PMP
www.catapultsystems.com
(Helped to write some of the other books on Project Server...)

 

[Gary L. Chefetz [MVP]]

Tom:

Thank you so much for your kind words. If you're an Amazon customer, I'd
sure appreciate it if you posted your comments there! Thanks again.

--

Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
MSProjectExperts
For Project Server Consulting: http://www.msprojectexperts.com
For Project Server FAQS: http://www.projectserverexperts.com

 

[Crook]

Hi,

FWIW, during past research into capacity planning for industrial facilities,
we (my group) considered this question. We spent much time on it because we
were constructing simulation models of workforce capacity. The end result
was that the non-working time comes out in the initial forecasting and can
be ignored. Simply put, if resources are only 75% effective, 6 hours of
work in an 8 hour day, then the forecasters simply schedule a 30 hour job
for a 40 hour week. The point is that the estimators didn't think of the
job as a 30 hour job, they thought of it as a 40 hour job. That's much
simpler and proved out in our modeling. IMO, trying to measure and adjust
for workforce productivity is a low-return proposition.

HTH,
Crook