Hi,
today I will show you connection between Duration and Effort (known as work).
I will create simple Project
As you can see, I have two Tasks. Task 1 has no resource assigned, Task 2 has John as resource! Now, I will put three days in Duration, and I will get:
As you can see: No Resources – no effort. For John, since he is working from 09:00 AM to 05:00 PM (e.g. 8 hours per day) effort is 24 hours (3 days * 8 hours per day).
Now, let’s say that for Task 1, and Task 2 40 hours are needed. So I will put 40 hours in effort field for both Tasks, and I will get:
As you can see, Duration is unchanged, e.g. 3 days? Why? Because (as I explained in one of my previous posts), Tasks are Fixed Duration type! OK! Now I will change duration to 5 days, and I will get:
As you can see, nothing happens with Task 1, because no resource is assigned. And when now resource is assigned to the Task, there is no relation between Duration and Effort.
On the other hand Effort in Task 2 is 66,67 hours? How is that possible? Task had 40 hours Effort and 3 day Duration. When I changed Effort from 3 to 5 days, effort is calculated: 40 hours / 3 days = 13,33 hours per day. 5 days * 13,33 hour per day = 66,67 hours.
So, when I have Task with Resource assigned there are two things:
- change Effort – Duration is not affected
- Change Duration – Effort is affected
Be careful!
Regards.