Resources vs. Skills

[Boomer]

As I have worked with Project, I have found it lacking in one major regard.
This may be because the program is deficient, or I am just not using it to
it's capability. It seems to me that there is a fundamental problem with the
way resources are assigned to tasks. In the type of project that i am working
on, aircraft repair and overhaul, I have a group of skilled workers. Each
worker can have one or multiple skill sets. The tasks that I have created
need resources to work them, but more importantly, they need the correct
skill set.

An example is as follows:

I have 3 tasks, one is cleaning the shop, one is repairing an engine, and
one is fixing some sheet metal. Lets say I have 4 workers. One is a new guy,
who can't do much but clean the shop, 2 are sheet metal workers, and one is a
journeyman artisan who can do all three jobs. Any of the 4 guys could sweep
the floor, 3 of the 4 could do the sheet metal, and only one could repair the
engine.

It does not seem like there is any way to assign all 4 guys, or more
importantly, have all 4 available for the sweeping, 3 available for the sheet
metal and one for the engine. I can manually assign individuals to tasks, but
that is time consuming, and i feel like it defeats the purpose of having an
automated tool like resource leveling in project.

I have given thought to setting my resources, not as individuals, but as
skills. That matches up with the tasks, since the tasks require a certain
skill set, but in doing this, the resources are limited to only one skill,
and you can't get the efficiency of a "hybrid" worker.

I feel like i am stuck either manually assigning and leveling all of my
tasks, to get the proper efficiencies i am looking for, or having project
assign and level without utilizing all of the capabilities my workers have.

Is there a different way to tackle this? Thanks for the help and let me know
if there are any additional questions.

 

[Jim Aksel [MVP]]

Project has no intelligence to evaluate the text of a task name "Sweep
Floor" and determing who can do it from the resource pool. Since it cannot
interpret tasks, it also cannot automatically assign the cheapest available
resource.

In addition to worker names, you can also assign the same worker to a group
in the group field of the resource sheet. You can track availability, etc.

If you like, you could write some code with a skill set dictionary
databasebase married to the group and resource names. The program could
then parse the task names (perhaps the parent summary task as well) and run
it through this inference engine and database. So, "some code" becomes the
same type of software they use in the automated call routing systems such as
for the airlines "Say your flight number." While we are there, it would be
wise to understand that "Journeyman" can "Sweep Floor" in 2 hours, but "New
Guy" needs 2.5 hours to do the same task.

All things said, I think you are approaching the issues correctly if you
assign names and groups to everyone.

HTH

Jim

 

[Boomer]

Thanks for the response. I think i am starting to get you. With that being
said, can members be assigned to multiple groups? In my example, could all 4
be part of a "General Task" group, the 3 be part of the "Sheet Metal
Mechanic" group, and only the journeyman be part of the "Engine Mechanic"
group? In doing this, now, can I resource tasks based on the group, instead
of on the specific resource? If this is possible, it seems like it may be a
simple way to work around the problem.

More generally, how are resource groups best utilized?

Thanks for the help,

 

[Jim Aksel [MVP]]

Yes, but it gets complicated. Here's an approach. You could make up some
type of separate sheet that says "Group3" consists of skill sets A, B, C.
THen assign "Journeyman" to Group1. Same with Group2, it all just becomes
a matter of the group names because to Project they are simply literal text
strings with no meaning associated to them.

Another way to do this is to use the custom text fields on the Resource
Sheet. You can list multiple groups, one for each skill set. Keep in mind
that you can only have one group per column. That is, Project believes:
GroupA, GroupB, and "GroupA, Group B" are 3 distinct and unrelated groups.
Bummer. Again, the group name is just a literal text string ... the comma
means nothing to project in that field.

But it gets more twisted than that. Custom fields on the Resource Sheets
such as Text1 and Custom Text1 on the Gantt chart are actually two different
fields with the same name: Resource.Text1 and Task.Text1 so to speak. So,
as long as you keep that in mind you will be ok. Project stores this data
in separate tables (essentially, the Project.mpp file is a database).

That means, how do I show Resource.Text1 on the Gantt Chart or other view
like the resource usage view or that task usage view? Ah, you need a macro.
Read FAQ#37 and FAQ#51 here: http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm It got more
interesting in Project2007, although Project2003 is pretty straight forward.

After thinking about it, I think the manual methods are the best at this
time.

 

[Steve House]

Project doesn't manage the project, you do. That includes the decision
making part of resource assignments. Who is on what task should always be a
decision made by a human. All Project does is help out with the math.

Instead of listing the resources individually, you could create a generic
resource "Shop Workers" with an availability of 400%. When you assign
resources, set the percentage to the number of workers required to do the
particular task and let the shop foreman decide who he'll actually put on
the job.

 

[Boomer]

Steve,

I agree with you to a certain extent, but I think what I am trying to get
Project to do is not too unreasonable. I am mainly trying to use Project as a
resource management tool. Hopefully, it will help me project shortfalls in
manning, or production delays due to understaffing. The scenario I presented,
in my opinion, is a resource management issue. And I believe, your solution
of setting the resource to 400% and letting the the foreman manage the work
force only reinforces my argument. The nature of my tasks require specific
skills, and not all of the work force posesses the skills, so to say that I
have 400% available is not really a true statement. I do have 4 workers, but
for the task assigned, I may have only 1 who is qualified for the job.

On the flip side of the coin, if I create 3 types of worker, (general, sheet
metal, and engine) then that is not really a true indicator either. If I
constrain myself this way, then I may have more resources available than what
Project shows. For example, if my engine mechanic is idle, and there is a
bunch of general work to do, my engine mechanic could do the tasks. Project
will still show an overallocation of engine mechanic resources, and a
shortage on general laborers, when, in actuality, the engine mechanic could
fill the shortfall.

As I have said, I am relatively new to Project, and I may not be utilizing
it correctly, but this does seem like a problem that more people than just I
might come across.

Again, thanks for the help,

Boomer