From this post I will start with “How to assign different type of resources to the Tasks”.

With assigning work resources to the Task, you are answering the question: “WHO WILL PERFORM THE WORK”. From my previous post you know that is Max units field in Resource sheet:

What does this figure means?

100% means that John Doe is 100% available for the Project, and Ann Smith is available only 50% for the Project.

Now I will create two Tasks:

and I will assign Ann Smith to the Read the Article Task:

and I will get:

As you can see default units for this task is 50% (the Max units form resource sheet).

I will now assign John Dow to the same task. WATCH OUT! After you have assigned Ann Smith to the Read the Article task, DO NOT CLOSE THE ASSIGN RESOURCES WINDOW! Why? Because, that will mean that you have already finish assignment to the Read the Article Task, and that you want to ASSIGN ADDITIONAL RESOURCE, because you have forgot something. I will explain additional resource assigning in my next posts, but for now DO NOT CLOSE ASSIGN RESOURCES.

I will now close the Assignment window and I will get:

I will now open the Resource Usage window:

As you can see Ann Smith will work 4 hours per day (50%), and John Dow 8 hours per day (100%).

Now I will add same resources to the Task Pain the wall but in the Units field in Assignment window I will say that Ann Smith will work 25%, and John Dow 50%:

I will open the Resource Usage View again an I will get:

Ann and John are RED, because they are over allocated, but that is now the Subject of this post. For the Paint the wall Task Ann will work 2 hours per day (because I told that she will work only 25%, instead of 50%, and this half of her capacity), and John will work 4 hours per day (because I told that she will work only 50%, instead of 100%, and this half of his capacity).

Now I will change the Resource Calendar for Ann and John.

When I do the same thing for the John I will get (in the Resource Usage view):

Ann Smith will work 2 hours per day for the Read the article Task. Why? Because for that task she has 50% units assigned, and that will be 4 hours if I didn’t say in Resource Calendar that the working time is from 08:00 to 12:00. But, because working time is only 4 hours per day (from 08:00 to 12:00), 50% means 2 hours per day!

For the Paint the wall Task Ann Smith will work 1 hour per day! Why? Because for that task she has 25% units assigned, and that will be 2 hours if I didn’t say in Resource Calendar that the working time is from 08:00 to 12:00. But, because working time is only 4 hours per day (from 08:00 to 12:00), 25% means 1 hour per day!

John Dow will work 4 hours per day for the Read the article Task. Why? Because for that task he has 100% units assigned, and that will be 8 hours if I didn’t say in Resource Calendar that the working time is from 08:00 to 12:00. But, because working time is only 4 hours per day (from 08:00 to 12:00), 100% means 4 hours per day!

For the Paint the wall Task Ann Smith will work 2 hours per day! Why? Because for that task he has 50% units assigned, and that will be 4 hours if I didn’t say in Resource Calendar that the working time is from 08:00 to 12:00. But, because working time is only 4 hours per day (from 08:00 to 12:00), 50% means 1 hours per day!

Is it complicated? Of course it is! Can it be more complicated? Yes it can! Continue to read my next posts and you will have a headache! But you can also find some further interesting information.

Best Regards