Category: How-to

This topic (how to set a deadline for an MS Project task) is so simple, it’s hardly worth mentioning.  But, it might be good to review.  It’s just another little piece of information that might help scheduling projects.

To create a task deadline:

1. Double-click on a task  (the Task Info dialog box appears)
2. Click the Advanced tab
3. Click the Deadline dropdown
4. Choose a date, sometime after the task finish date

These steps allow you to set a deadline that the task should be finished by.  A small arrow is displayed in the Gantt column at that date.  The image below shows what it looks like.

 

Arrow indicating task deadline
(normally before the task finish date)

 

If your task gets bumped (presumably because of linked predecessors) the finish date may go beyond the deadline.  When this happens, a small red indicator is shown next to the task name.  The image below shows what it looks like.  Browse your mouse over it to see a tool tip explaining the reason.

Deadline indicator

 

–ray

This post discusses how to use Microsoft Project resource pools.  First, let me say that you are going to find this a little kludgey.  Standard Time® has a better solution for resource pools, so you might find it a bit easier to assign users to project tasks.  But, this will discuss resource pools in MS Project.

What is a resource pool?  It is just a common set of employees or resources that will be used to assign to project tasks.  Standard Time® has all resources and projects available in one database, so the “pool” is always available.  Microsoft Project uses the technique below to meet this requirement.

To create a resource pool:

1. Create a new Microsoft Project MPP file
2. Choose View, Resource Sheet
3. Enter the names of resources you will assign to tasks in your projects
4. Save the file with a catchy name like RezPool.mpp
5. Consider creating resource pools for each workgroup in your company
6. Keep the file open for use in the next step

To associate the resource pool with your project:

1. Create a new MPP file (a new project)
2. While in the new project, choose Tools, Resource Sharing, Share Resources
3. Choose the “Use Resources” option
4. Choose RezPool.mpp from the dropdown list
5. Click OK
6. Save the new project file

To use the resource pool in task assignments:

1. Make sure both your project file and resource file are open in Microsoft Project
2. Click in the Resources column next to a task
3. You should see the list of resources from the pool
4. Choose one

This technique should allow you to share a common set of resources, which you will frequently assign to task.  As we said earlier, you should consider creating multiple resource pools representing each workgroup in your company.  But, consider using Standard Time®, where resources are always available for all projects.

–ray

This post discusses how to assign percentages to resource assignments.  Or in English, how to set how much each resource will work on a task.  By default, people in Microsoft Project are set to work 100% of their time on tasks.  But we know that’s not always practical.  People multitask their work, and may work on four tasks at once.  This post discuses how to multitask in MS Project.

Follow these steps to set assignment units in MS Project:

1. Create a new task in MS Project
2. Right-click before the “Start” column an choose Insert Column
3. Insert the Work Column
4. You should now have the Duration and Work columns next to each other
5. Enter 16 hours into both Duration and Work
6. Enter your Name into the Resource column

At this point, you should have a single 16-hour task that is assigned to you.  By default, it is assumed that you will work 100% of your time on this task.  But as we stated earlier, we wish to work on multiple tasks, spreading our time across them.  The steps below will do that.

1. Right-click on your task
2. Choose Task Information
3. The Task Information dialog is displayed
4. Click the Resources tab
5. You should see your name and 100% at the right
6. Enter 50% into the Units column and press OK
7. Notice that the text [50%] has been added next to your name in the resource column
8. Also notice that the duration column changed to 32 hours
9. The finish date has also been extended to accommodate the extra time

 These steps demonstrate that the Duration column is affected by the assignment units.  Duration = Work * Units.  In other words, if you are only working half the time on a task, it will take you twice as long.  The following steps show what happens when another resource is added to the task.

1. Right-click on your task and choose Task Information again
2. Click the Resources tab
3. Add another resource under your name
4. Set the units for this new resource to 50% also
5. Click OK
6. Notice that the Duration went back to 16 hours because you have help
7. Notice that the Finish date also went back to two days

We just learned that adding a new resource to a task can help it get done quicker.  Each person is working only half their time, but there are two of you, so the task is finished sooner.  You can use this technique to spread yourself around to many tasks.  But beware, this can become a little difficult to manage.

–ray

This post will help you understand the Resource Graph in Microsoft Project.  The Resource Graph shows a graphical view of when your employees are scheduled to work.  You should also take a look at the Resource Allocation window in Standard Time.  It has additional options to help view scheduled employee hours.

 

Steps to use the Resource Graph:

1. Create a new task in a blank Microsoft Project file
2. Enter 4 hours into the duration column and assign the task to your name
3. Choose View, Resource Graph
4. Right-click in the graph, and choose Work from the menu
5. Notice the blue bar representing the hours you entered (it stops at the “4h” line)
6. Choose View, Gantt Chart to go back to the task view
7. Create a second task, enter 5 hours, and assign it to you
8. Choose View, Resource Graph to see the effect
9. Notice that the blue bar has a red bar on top (this is the over allocated portion)

The previous steps demonstrate two simple principles: a graphical representation shows when employees are scheduled to work, and over-allocated hours are shown in red.  Standard Time takes this a step farther and shows under-allocated time in yellow.

 

Steps to add another resource:

1. Choose View, Gantt Chart to see your tasks
2. Add another task, enter some hours, and assign it to another resource
3. Choose View, Resource Graph to return to the bar graph
4. Right-click in the legend, and choose Next Resource
5. Notice that the bar chart changes to show the hours for your second employee

Standard Time allows you to see groups of employees stacked on top of each other.  This lets you see allocated hours for the entire workgroup.

 

Steps to change working hours for a resource:

1. Right-click on the legend, and choose Resource Information
2. Click the Working Time tab
3. Click in the calendar to select a day
4. Drag the mouse to select multiple days
5. Change the working hours at the right side (you are overriding the defaults)
6. Click OK to return to the Resource Graph
7. Notice that the bars change to reflect your new working hours

Normally, you’ll leave the working hours at 40, and change the start dates of tasks to reschedule them.

 

We hope this has helped.  Feel free to post comments on additional usage techniques!

–ray