Specific Resource overallocation during the day using MS PROJECT 2019

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi,

I have a question from my Blog reader: “I want to solve overallocation of R1, since it is assigned to Task1 and Task2. I want to divide the work of R1 between  Task 1 and Task 2 to solve overallocation. For example: R1 will be assigned to Task 1 from 08h to 12h and he will be assigned to Task 2 from 13h to 17h. How can I do this please, I need that.”

I will use MS PROJECT 2019. Here is the Project:

image

Obviously Resource 1 is overallocated because it should be assigned 50% and not 100%.

If I do that , I will get:

image Now Resource 1 is not overallocated. But let’s see work distribution during the day:

image

As you can see, Resource 1 is going to work during the day in a way that he/she will work 0,5 hours on one, and then 0,5 hours on the other Task! And in real life this is a rare case (I didn’t see it in my career). How to solve this? Well, hard!

I can manually assign work.

image

and:

image

I will get:

image

Finally, I will adjust assignment:

image

I will return to “standard” Timescale:

image

Regards!

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Estimation in hours and Resource Assignments with Fixed work Tasks in MS Project 2019

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi,

very often Tasks are estimated by effort, not duration. And Tasks are fixed work type. Now the question is: “How many hours will each resource spend at the Task?”

I will show that in MS PROJECT 2019.¸

Let’s say that I have a Project with one Task which need effort 24 hour (I will show that in Task Usage View):

image

and that we have four Resources:

image

John is available 100%, Mary 50%, Peter 75%, and Paula 20% to work per day. So John can work max. 8 hours per day, Mary 4 hours, Peter 6 hours, and Paula 2 hours.

Now I will assign them to the Task:

image

So, Duration is 3 days, and each Resource will work 6 hours in Total. Let me explain the calculation:

  • Since total work is 24 hours, and we have four Resources, each Resource will have to work 24 hours / 4 Resources = 6 hours
  • John is 100% assigned. So according to formula Work = Duration * Units he will work 6 hours at first day, and he is done
  • Mary is 50% assigned. So according to formula Work = Duration * Units she will work 4 hours at first day, and remining 2 hours at second day
  • Peter is 75% assigned. So according to formula Work = Duration * Units he will work 6 hours at first day, and he is done
  • Paula is 25% assigned. So according to formula Work = Duration * Units she will work 2 hours at first day, 2 hours at second day, and remining 2 hours at third day.

No, suppose that only John and Paula will work on Task:

image

So, Duration is 6 days, and each Resource will work 12 hours in Total. Let me explain the calculation:

  • Since total work is 24 hours, and we have two Resources, each Resource will have to work 24 hours / 2 Resources = 12 hours
  • John is 100% assigned. So according to formula Work = Duration * Units he will work 8 hours at first day, and remaining 4 hours at second day
  • Paula is 25% assigned. So according to formula Work = Duration * Units she will work 2 hours each day, and it will take her 6 days to fulfill those 12 hours.

This might seem complicated, but once you got it, you will see it is not!

Hope this helps.

Regards

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Actual duration and Actual start “problem” in MS PROJECT 2019

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi,

I have a question from blog reader:

“Hi Nenad,
I would like to track the progress in the following scenario:
Task A: 3,5 d duration
Task B: 3 d duration with a constraint FS with task A
Progress: Say that Task A is on track (Actual start date: 11/02; Actual duration: 3,5 d; Rem. duration:0 d)
Task B starts 14/02 actual duration 1 d; Rem. duration:2 d
What I get is not what I want because Task B starts when Task A isn’t yet finished.
Then it is necessary to enter in the actual start date of Task B also the time.
In this case it is easy  but in more complex projects it could be more difficult and above all more boring.
Is there a tip to avoid this?”

Here is the Project:

image

Since Task A is finished on time, and it was started on time I will mark it as 100% completed;

imageand I will get:

image

Now, Task B has started on time, and Actual duration is 1 day, with Remaining duration 2 days.

image and:

image

and I will get:

image

The Problem is that Actual start of Task B is 14.02.2019 at 08:00, but Task A, has finished at 12:00 same day, so it seems that Task B has been started before Task A has been finished. Why? Because if I put Actual start date, it will take start time from Calendar. To avoid that just DON’T put anything in Actual start field like this:

image

Final result is, as expected:

image

So when Task has been started immediately after predecessor is finished, leave Actual start field empty.

Hope this helps! 

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How to apply same filter on different tables in MS PROJECT 2019

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi,

today I will show you how to apply same filter only once, and use different tables in MS PROJECT 2019.

First, I’m going to create a simple Project:

image

and I will create Resources needed for the Project:

image

Finally I will assign Resources to Tasks:

image

Finally I will save the Baseline:

image

and:

image

Now I want to see some information for all John’s Tasks.

I will apply filter:

image

and I will get:

image

Now let’s say that I want to see Cost, and Work Tables for John. I have two possibilities.

First one is to leave this filter on, and just jump to the Cost and Work Table:

image

and the result is:

image

For the Work Table, the result is:

image

Advantage of this approach is that you have to set filter only once, and no matter which table will you choose, the result will be shown for that file which was applied on another table. Disadvantage is that you do not see filter on other tables (in my example, Cost and Work), and when you want to switch this filter off, you should go to the original table like this:

image

Second possibility is to add a column on each table on which you want to apply filter like this:

image

Now you can apply filter like I did (shown on few pictures above).

Advantage of this approach is that you see filters on each and every table. Disadvantage is that you have to put column on the screen for every table you want to see, and apply filter, and than apply that filter.

BUT! No matter which approach you will take, when you apply filter on one Table it will be shown on any other table which you will look at. And, if you save your project with filter turned on, when you, ore someone else open the same Project again, the filter remains applied.

Regards!

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Actual duration vs. Actual Start and Actual Finish in MS PROJECT 2019

Posted on January 28, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi,

today I will show you a short tip about tracking progress in MS PROJECT 2019!

Suppose this scenario:

image

The Task has 0,5 days duration, and is supposed to be started and finished at 28.01.2019. Now let’s suppose that it started and finished one day later, e.g. at 29.01.2019. I can track this by putting start and finish date as:

image

and:

image

I will get:

image

And this is not what I wanted, because actual duration is 0,5 days. To get that, do not put Actual finish date, but instead of that, follow this steps:

image

and the result is:

image

To conclude, when you want to have exact number of actual days (3,5 for example), put this value in Actual duration, and Remaining duration should be zero. And if task has started at different date then planned put this Actual start date, and Actual finish should be left empty. Since remaining duration is zero, Actual finish will be calculated.

Regards!

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Changing Resource Calendars and Task Progress–Microsoft Project 2019

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi,

today I will show you what happens if you change Resource Calendar AFTER Task is in progress with MS PROJECT 2019.

First I will create two simple Tasks:

image

and two Resources:

image

Now I will assign John to Task 1, and Mary to Task 2:

image

Finally, I will put 100% Completed for Task 1, and 50% Completed for Task 2:

image

Now, let’s say that I forgot that John and Mary are on education from Wednesday 21.01.2019 to Friday 25.01.2019, and they are not available for my Project:

image

When I do same thing for Mary, finally I will get:

image

As you can see, nothing has been changed for John, and Mary the Finish date is postponed to Tuesday 29.01.2019. Now, the question is: “Why the Task for John didn’t move as it did for Mary?”. And the answer is very simple: “Because it is marked as Done!” In MS PROJECT if Task is done (or just a part of it), you can change Calendar as you want but those dates (periods) in which Task is done will not be affected. If, for example, I put Education exception from 21.01.2019 to 24.01.2019 (the whole period), the result will be the same, e.g. since Task 1 is completed nothing will be changed, and Since Task 2 is only 50% complete (work is done at Monday and Tuesday), only remaining part will be affected. If you forgot to put Exception before Task is completed you should first mark this Task as 0% completed, then change the Calendar, and then mark it completed.

Regards.

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When to use Task Calendar in MS Project 2019

Posted on January 12, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi, I have very good question form one Blog reader: “Hello Nenad. I found your website while trying to solve a very particular problem in MS Project. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a solution and was hoping that you could help. I have a task that is 18 days in duration called Lab Testing. This task is automatically scheduled so that any delay’s to the previous task will push this task out. The Lab will be shut down for 1 month in September, but our task is currently scheduled to finish before then. However, if we encounter delays to our schedule, it is possible that we will have 8 days prior to the lab shutting down and then will have to complete the 10 days after it opens back up. Is there anyway to schedule this such that the Lab Testing schedule will “float” or “adjust” itself around the fixed Lab Shutdown dates, so that the total amount of testing time (18 days) is the same?”

I will show the solution, using MS PROJECT 2019.

In this solution I will NOT use Lab as resource, and I will use Task Calendar.

Here is Scenario:

image

Now, let’s say that in March 2019, Lab is going to be shutdown, and Task need Lab cannot be done in this period.

First I will going to create Lab shutdown Calendar:

image

and:

image

Now I will apply this new calendar to the Task:

image

Now, lets say that Task 1 is 100% completed, and Task need Lab has 8 days actual work:

image

and:

image

and:

image

and I will get:

image

Let’s say that this is all work done until 28.02.2019 (end of February). I will move uncompleted part after that date like this:

image

and:

image

and I will get:

image

The rest of Task need Lab is here:

image

Of course, another way is to create Lab as Resource, and put in it’s calendar March as exceptions. but in that case that Resource should be assigned to that Task, and work is calculated in hours as well.

Hop this helps.

Regards!

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How to Delay Project in MS PROJECT 2019

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi all,

I have a question from one of my Blog readers: “The project I am involve in  is using only material resources and the unit rate for each resource did not change through time. Currently the project has more than 4 years of delay . Depending on the current status how am I going to forecast the project end date using Microsoft Project.”

I will show how to do it with MS PROJECT 2019. First of all since only Material Resources are used in Project, I will now use them in my example, because cost remain the same.

Here is on simple Project which starts at 01.01.2019:

image

Now, let’s say that Task 1, and Task 2 are finished 100%, and Task 3 is finished 75%:

image

As you can see Project end date is 21.01.2019. Now, let’s say that for some reasons Project has ben postponed, and it will be restarted  01.01.2023. It is easy to put in MS PROJECT:

image

After I click OK button I will get:

image

BUT, if I use Move Button, I will get different results:

image

and:

image

and I will get:

image

As you can see, the whole Project is moved (finished, and unfinished Tasks).

So be careful what will you use.

Regards!

Posted in MICROSOFT PROJECT, MICROSOFT PROJECT 2019, Micsrosoft Project 2016 | Tagged | Leave a comment

My upcoming webinar

Posted on January 3, 2019 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi all,

first of all I wish you a happy New Year.

In this post I will not write about MS PROJECT, but I will invite you to join my webinar at MPUG: https://www.mpug.com/event/different-ways-to-track-project-progress-with-microsoft-project/

In this webinar I will explain different ways of Project Tracking, so it will be from Zero to Hero session. You are all kindly invited Smile

Best regards,

Nenad

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Duration and Resource with 0% units assigned–how are they connected

Posted on December 17, 2018 by Nenad Trajkovski

Hi,

in April this year I wrote a blog post about Resource with assignment 0%–what is it?. Now I have a question  Blog reader: “I am trying to use Resources with a 0% Max as a placeholder/generic resource allocation. When I assign the resource, it defaults the assignment unit to [0] and makes the task act like a milestone (no duration). I would like for the task duration to remain unchanged and for the resource to automatically assign 1 unit.”

OK! I explain that using MS PROJECT 2019! First I will create simple project:

image

As you can see, Duration is 5 days. Now I will create resource with 0% Max Units:

image

and I will assign that resource to the Task, and I will get:

image

As you can see, Duration is now 0%! Why? Because of the magic formula which is Work = Duration * Units. So, Units is 0%, and it means that there is no work to do. And since there is no work to do on the Task, it is obvious that it will be no duration, so it is milestone.

BUT. If I make a Task as Fixed Duration type like this:

image and then assign John with 0%, I will get:

image As you can see, the Magic formula, Work = Duration * Units still works, e.g. 0 (Work) = 5 days (duration) * 0% (Units). But Duration is unchanged because it is fixed. In previous example, Task was fixed Units, so Duration and Work was calculated as zero.

Regards!

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