MS Project

Terms
Duration Fixed Duration
Work Fixed Units
Resource Fixed Work
Resource Units Over-allocation
Effort-Driven Leveling
 Duration & Work

Duration - The total span of working time

or elapsed time required to complete a
task.

Work - The total effort required to

complete a task.
 Resources
Resources are the people, equipment and supplies
used to complete tasks in a project.
Resources that are assigned to tasks but do not create work
are known as material resources.

Resource Units indicate how much of a resource's

available time, according to the resource calendar, is
being used to work on a particular task. In a project
schedule, resource effort is expressed as
assignment units or sometimes just as units.
 Scheduling Formula

Duration = Work Resource Units

 Fixed Units
As the task's assigned units remain
constant, an increase / decrease in
assigned work will result in a
corresponding increase / decrease in
task duration.
Fixed Units is the default task type for
new tasks.
 Fixed Work
If assigned work should remain constant,
then as a task's duration goes up assigned
units will go down (and vice versa).
If assigned units are greater than max
units, a resource over-allocation will arise.
Duration = Work Resource Units
or Duration = 1 Resource Units
 Fixed Duration
For a constant task duration, as assigned
work is increased so will assigned units.
Decrease the units and the work will
correspondingly reduce.

Duration = Work Resource Units

If assigned units are greater than max
units, a resource over-allocation will arise.
 Effort-Driven
Only comes into play after the initial
resource assignments have been made
Work stays constant
When resources (manpower) are assigned
or removed from a task, Microsoft Project
will extend or shorten the duration of the
task to accommodate change in resources
This is the default option for new tasks
 Over-allocation
Situation when more hours of a resource
are allocated than are available
Identifying Over-allocated Resources
Special leveling indicator
Resource Usage View over-allocated
resources are red
Over-allocation can be resolved by
leveling project
 Leveling
Resolving resource conflicts or over-
allocations by delaying or splitting certain
tasks.
During leveling, assignments are
rescheduled according to the resource
availability profiles, assigned units, and
resource calendars, as well as the task's
duration and constraints.
It is instigated either automatically or (more
commonly) by the command level now.
Tools | Level Resources . . . (hour by hour)
Questions?