Project Intermediate Training Courses

Calendar Control

Managing Resources and Costs

Assigning Calendars to Resources

To assign a specific calendar to a resource:

• Go to the Resource Sheet view.
• Select the resource you want to assign a calendar to.
• In the Resource Information dialog, go to the General tab
• Under Base Calendar, select the calendar you created from the dropdown menu.
• Assigning Calendars to Tasks

To assign a calendar to a specific task:

• Go to the Gantt Chart view.
• Select the task you want to modify.
• Open the Task Information dialog.
• In the Advanced tab, select the desired calendar from the Calendar dropdown.
• Viewing Calendar Effects on the Schedule Once you have assigned calendars:
• Gantt Chart: The Gantt chart will reflect the working hours and non-working days based on the assigned calendars. Tasks will be scheduled according to the specific calendar rules.
• Task Usage View: This view allows you to see how resources are allocated based on their individual calendars.

Resource Reality

Assigning Resources

Definition: Allocating resources to tasks in your project.

Example: If Task A requires 2 developers for 5 days, you would assign “Developer 1” and “Developer 2” to Task A.

If each developer costs £50/hour and works 8 hours a day, the total cost for the task would be £4,000 (2 developers × 5 days × 8 hours × £50).

Effort Driven Scheduling

Definition: The principle that adding resources can reduce task duration.

Example: If a task is estimated to take 10 days with 1 resource, adding a second resource might reduce the duration to 5 days, assuming the work can be effectively divided.

Task Types

Fixed Units: The number of resources remains constant.

Example: If you assign 3 resources to a task, it will always have 3 resources, regardless of changes in duration.

Fixed Duration: The duration of the task remains constant.

Track and Adjust

Tracking

Creating Baselines

Definition: A baseline is a snapshot of your project plan at a specific point in time.

Example: After finalizing your project plan, you can set a baseline to compare future progress against it.

Entering Project Progress

Definition: Updating tasks with the percentage of completion.

Example: If a task is halfway done, you would enter 50% completion in the task details.

Viewing Variance Information

Definition: Displays the difference between planned and actual performance.

Example: If a task was planned to take 10 days but took 12 days, the variance would be +2 days.

Analyze and Adjust a Schedule

Analyzing Schedules

Definition: Using tools to assess the project timeline and resource allocation.

Example: Use the “Task Usage” view to analyze how resources are allocated across tasks.

urther analysis or reporting.