Step 1: Configure MS-Project Options
Step 2: Identify Resources and Skill Sets
Step 3: Identify Projects
Step 4: Identify Project Team Assignments
Step 5: Enter Project Team Assignments
Step 6: Review Resource Management Graph
Step 1: Configure MS-Project Options
Before building the model, several project options need to be set. Each project is represented as a fixed duration task in the resource model instead of the default fixed units. Resources will be added to the projects as appropriate and MS-Project likes to modify the start and finish dates based on the remaining work and available resources. Configuring the model for fixed duration tasks assumes the project duration is fixed and the amount of actual work may change.
The tasks should not be effort-driven. Adding new resources to fixed-duration, effort-driven tasks conflicts with MS-Project business rules. The model is configured to adjust resources while maintaining the planned project start and end dates.
The final configuration option is the assignment units. Resources and the assigned work can be expressed as a percentage or decimal unit. If the organization reviews resources at a headcount level, the decimal unit is preferred. The resource graph in Step 6 will display the organization capacity using headcount instead of percentages. Figure 1 displays the MS-Project Options for the resource model. Use the following steps to configure the MS-Project options:
Select Tools – Options
The Options dialog box appears
Click on the Schedule tab
Select Show Assignment Units as: Decimal
Change Default Task Type to Fixed Duration
Uncheck New Tasks are effort driven
Click Ok
Figure 1 – MS-Project Options
Step 2: Identify Resources and Skill Sets
Identify all the resources working on the project and their specific roles. If the project manager wants to track the resource availability by role, skill or other attribute, the additional Text columns need to be added to the Resource Sheet View. Figure 2 includes all the resources in the organization, program or project. The additional resource columns have been hidden as needed.
Figure 2: Resource Sheet View
To insert a new Text column in the Resource Sheet view:
Click on any column header in the Resource Sheet.
The Column Definition dialog box appears
Select Insert – Column from the menu bar
Select any of the 30 custom text fields support in MS-Project (Text1, Text2, etc)
Enter Role or Skill into the Title text box as appropriate.
Click Ok.
After the custom text columns have been added, assign a role or skill group as appropriate for the resource. Multiple text columns can be created to filter resources based on role, skill group or other custom criteria.
Step 3: Identify Projects
Once the organization or program has identified all the resources and roles, the next step is to identify all the projects in the organization. Resources may work on formal and informal projects within the organization. These projects may have their own individual project schedules or represent informal “chunks of work” that cover a wide range of administrative and operational tasks. By identifying all the work being performed in the portfolio, managers will have better insight into the pipeline’s resource capacity.
Identifying the official list of formal projects depends on how each portfolio tracks official projects. Some organizations track active projects in spreadsheets, local databases or central project management systems. The project list should contain the project name, start date and end date.
When entering projects into the resource model, it is recommended to separate the formal projects from the short-term assignments and year-long operations activities. Grouping the work into formal projects, operations and support activities provides clarity across the portfolio. Once projects have been identified for the organization, use the default Gantt Chart View to enter projects as tasks into the model. Enter the projects into the Gantt Chart using the following steps:
Enter the project under the Task Name field
Select Fixed Duration for the task type.
Enter the project start date in the Start column
Enter the expected duration of the project in the Duration column.
The Finish date will be automatically calculated based on the duration estimate.
Adjust the duration to align with the finish date identified in the project inventory list.
Step 4: Identify Project Team Assignments
The next step is to match the people in the resource pool with their respective assignments. During this step, additional informal projects and short-term assignments will be identified. Team members may be 100 percent allocated to a project according to the budget; however, team members often have additional unrelated assignments that impact their availability.
A software developer may be allocated 100 percent to building a new application, but the developer may spend five hours per week participating as a subject matter expert and advising other developers on unrelated project work. These five hours can be binned under an ongoing “advice and support” activity and should be included in the resource model. The developer may have additional activities that need to be estimated before concluding the resource is allocated 100 percent to a project. Reviewing the project team assignments on a monthly basis provides a tune-up to the resource management model.
A simple matrix is used to identify the team members’ assignments. A spreadsheet identifying the project, start/finish dates, assigned resources and estimated weekly allocation is needed to build the matrix. Refer to Figure 3 for a snapshot of the resource matrix template.
Figure 3 – Project Resource Assignment Matrix
The matrix uses a weekly 40-hour allocation for the month instead of a monthly allocation across multiple time periods. It is easier for a team member to forecast their work week for a month than forecasting their work week for multiple months. The data quality is more realistic, reflects true working conditions and identifies new work to be reflected in the model.
Step 5: Enter Project Team Assignments
Entering the project team assignments from the Project Resource Assignment Matrix provides multiple viewpoints into the resource capacity for a project, program or organization. The resource manager needs to enter these assignments against the tasks in MS-Project from Step 2.
MS-Project allows users to create task assignments in several ways. If this is a new resource management model, the most straightforward approach is to use the Assign Resource Dialog box and the Task Usage View.
Switch to the Task Usage view
Click on the task in the resource management model
Select Tools – Assign Resources or ALT-F10 shortcut
The Assign Resources dialog box is displayed (Figure 4)
Refer to the Project Resource Assignment matrix and find the weekly hour estimate for the month.
Divide the hour estimate by 40
Enter the decimal into the Units column (i.e. .50 for 50 percent)
Click Assign
Click Close
Review the allocation in the right window pane of the Task Usage window and confirm the weekly hours match the estimates from the Project Resource Assignment matrix
Adjust resource hours accordingly in the right Task Usage window pane
Figure 4 – Assign Resources
MS-Project also assumes the resource will be assigned to the task from the date in the Start column and will allocate the same amount of time until the date in the Finish column. Some resources may work more than 40 hours in a week or the resource start and finish dates may vary throughout the project duration. The steps to address these issues are discussed in the next article.
Step 6: Review Resource Management Graph
The resource management graph displays the model’s resource capacity based on the task assignments. MS-Project displays resource graphs as histograms although the resource capacity is best viewed as an area curve. Follow these steps to configure the resource management graph.
Split the MS-Project view into two window panes by selecting Window – Split
Click on the top window pane and select View – Resource Sheet or click on the Resource Sheet icon in the View bar.
Click on the bottom window pane and select View – Resource Graph.
Right click on the Resource Graph and select the Peak Units graph
Right click on the Resource Graph and select Bar Styles
Under the Selected Resources section (left-side), change the Overallocated and Allocated Resources Show As options to Area.
Under the Resource section (right-side), change the Overallocated and Allocated Resources Show As options to Don’t Show.
Confirm the options are the same as in Figure 5 and click OK
Figure 5 – Bar Styles
Selecting a resource or multiple resources in the top pane will display the resource graph and any over allocations. The resource sheet can be filtered by group, role, skill or other columns. Examining the resource curves based on skill, role or resource will help determine when resources are available to support new project requests or additional work. Figure 6 depicts the completed resource model.
Figure 6 – Resource Graph
Organizations can use the model to provide insight into common resource management questions. Who is available to implement project XYZ? What is the impact of adding two new projects in June? What is my organization’s resource capacity? These questions are answered by filtering the resource pool and adding addition projects to assess the impact. By tracking resources on a monthly basis, organization can use objective data for resource management decisions. The next article will provide steps to update the resource management model.
