Task duration as maximum of resource units * work

[hh]

Resource A works 4 days 100%
Resource B works 4 days 60%
I would expect a task duration of 6 days? 60% means 3 days a week, so
resource B is determinent and has to work 1 day the next week. But it shows
6,67 days.

 

[Jim Aksel]

To see what is going on, look at the Task Usage View and set the timescale to
days.
You can manually adjust the hours to the days as you wish.
--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim

Check out my new blog for more information:
http://www.msprojectblog.com

 

[hh]

I see, it is calculating 60% per day. Timescale is set in midle tier to days
though. How can I force MSP to calculate in units per week?

 

[Gérard Ducouret]

Hello hh,
I jump in this thread because I don't understand why you expect another
result than 6,67:
4 / 0,6 = 6,6666...

Gérard Ducouret

 

[hh]

I expect that 60% means somebody is working 3 days a week. A task of 4 days
will take him 1 week plus 1 day = 6 working days, assuming that he can
distribute his working days freely.

 

[Jim Aksel]

60% means 60% of the time .... every day. This is not the same as 3 days per
week.

Fred: 4 days x 8 hours/day x 100% = 32 hours work (8 hr/day)
Barny: 4 days x 8 hours/day x 60% = 19.2 hours work (4.8 hr/day)

If Barny can only work 3 days/week, MS Project has no way to know which
three days are available and which 2 days are off. You will need to create a
unique calendar for Barny showing his availability. You can do that by
double clicking on Barny in the Resource Sheet and customizing his work
calendar.

I think what you want is:

Fred: as before 32 hours full time
Barny: 32 hours (4 days x 8 hours)

Try changing Barny's availabilty to 60% units on the resource sheet. If I
enter the work as these value Project calculates the duration as Gerard
indicates. So you first need to decide how much work is involved. Is it a 4
day task with 1.6 heads or a 64 hour task with 1.6 heads of availability on
any given day?

To answer your other question, the units for entering data can be changed
fromTools/Options then pull the Scheduling Tab. Keep in mind, this only
changes the display and the entry method, not the calculations. Project
actually does everything in minutes.

--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim

Check out my new blog for more information:
http://www.msprojectblog.com

 

[hh]

Yes, that's it: have to adjust the working days per resource. Thanks.

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

To be precise, 60% is calculated by Project as 36 secs every minute.
I try to avoid % allocation like hell.
When peomle work I want them to work 60 secs every minute )

--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
+32 495 300 620
For availability check:
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/Calendar.pdf

 

[Steve House]

You can't - In fact, it doesn't calculate in days either. Project ONLY
calculates in units of working time minutes. To be precise, a resource
allocation of 60% means that for each minute of duration that has passed
since the task began, the resource has only got 36 seconds worth of full
time equivalent work accomplished. Unit % is actually a rate measurement.
A resource who is allocated to a 1 week task at 60% does not spend 3
continuous days on it and then go somewhere else. He still spends the full
5 days but because of other unknown things on his plate going on at the same
time he only gets done the equivalent of what he would have been able to do
in 3 days without the distractions.