Resource graph in ms project. Types of resources in Microsoft Project and their relationship in the project

Resource Usage Diagram

The Resource Usage diagram is designed to analyze the load of resources in design work. The diagram allows you to evaluate the total load of a resource for any period of time and analyze what tasks it consists of participation in.

Rice. 8.9. Resource Usage Diagram

The table to the left of the diagram (Fig. 8.9, file 2.mpp) lists the resources, and below each resource is a list of tasks that use that resource. The diagram contains data series that display data both on the total work of the resource and on the work within the framework of the execution of individual tasks.

MS Project: Formatting a resource usage chart and editing the data on it

Formatting and Editing the Resource Usage Chart

When formatting a resource usage chart, the same techniques apply as when formatting a task usage chart. The existing differences in formatting possibilities concern only some details. In the dialog box for setting the data displayed on the diagram (called by the menu command Format\u003e Detail Styles (Format\u003e Detail Styles)), the All Resource Rows pseudo-field is used, with which you can define the format of rows containing summary data about the resource.

In the dialog box formatting text styles Format\u003e Text Styles (Format\u003e Text Styles) style Assignment Row (Assignment line) corresponds to lines with task names (and not resource names, as in the task usage diagram).

Editing data on the resource usage diagram is done in the same way as on the task usage diagram. To change the information, you need to select the appropriate cell and enter the data, after which all related data will be automatically updated.

Using filtering, grouping, and sorting data in charts

When working with charts, you can apply filtering, grouping, and sorting data, just like when working with tables (see chapter Sorting,

grouping and filtering data in tables ). Unlike tables,

Consisting of rows and columns, charts have a different structure, so the methods of selecting and organizing data can be applied to different charts in different ways, and to some they are not applied at all.

All methods of grouping, sorting and filtering data described in the chapter

Sorting, grouping and filtering data in tables), fully

can also be applied to charts that are always displayed with the table (task and resource usage charts, Ganges chart and its views). In this case, filtering, grouping, and sorting are applied to the data in the table, and the chart is rebuilt accordingly. For example, in fig. 8.10 (file 2_1.mpp) filtering was applied to the resource usage diagram to select only overloaded resources (Overaltocated resources). After applying the filter, only these resources are displayed in the table, and the data corresponding to them is displayed in the chart.

A similar example is shown in Fig. 8.11 (file 2_2.mpp). Task grouping by duration has been applied to the data placed on the Gantt chart. In the table accompanying the diagram, the tasks were divided into groups, and the diagram itself was rearranged accordingly.

Structural filtering (see section "Structural filtering") maybe

be applied to all charts displayed with or without tables. However, one of its features is specifically designed to filter data in task and resource usage charts. Using the menu command Project t Outline> Show Assignments (Project> Structure>

Show Assignments), you can display all resources allocated to a task or all tasks associated with a resource (the resource or task must be highlighted with the cursor). Conversely, using the Project > Outline > Hide Assignments command (Project > Structure > Hide Assignments), you can hide the data displayed in the diagram associated with the selected resource or task.

MS Project: Using filtering, grouping and sorting data in charts

Rice. 8.10. The diagram shows only overloaded resources

MS Project: Using filtering, grouping and sorting data in charts

Rice. 8.11. This is how the plan takes on the Gantt chart after grouping project tasks by duration.

Charts displayed without tables are special cases that need to be considered separately.

Filtering data in charts without tables

Filtering can be applied on all charts in one of two modes: actual filtering or selection. In the filtering mode, the chart will display only data that matches the filter conditions (similar to the example in Fig. 8.10). In selection mode, all data is displayed on the chart, and the corresponding filter conditions are highlighted (see the "Filters" section of lesson 4). For example, in fig. 8.12 (file 2_3.mpp), tasks worth more than $200 are highlighted on the calendar, for which we applied the standard Cost Greater Then filter (Costs exceed).

MS Project: Using filtering, grouping and sorting data in charts

Rice. 8.12. Filtering the calendar in selection mode: tasks costing more than $200 are highlighted

Filtering in selection mode does not work on the resource graph and data schema.

Sorting data in charts without tables

Sorting, that is, ordering data according to the values ​​of their properties, can be applied to all diagrams except for the network diagram.

On the calendar, the sort order (when appropriately configured) determines the order in which tasks are placed: tasks with a higher value in the sorted field are placed above others. In a resource graph, the sort order determines the order in which information about resources is displayed, and in a data scheme, information about tasks.

MS Project: Using filtering, grouping and sorting data in charts

Grouping data in charts without tables

You can only group data network diagram. With a large number of tasks, it is convenient to group by turning on the Hide fields mode in the context menu of the chart. In this case, most tasks fit on one screen.

Rice. 8.13. Network diagram with grouping by task cost enabled

For example, in fig. 8.13 (file 3.mpp) tasks are grouped by costs with an interval of $100 (for sorting with an interval, see the section “Configuring

grouping options"). For grouping, a previously created

group Cost (Costs), and in order to fit more blocks on the screen, their fields are hidden. The upper block contains tasks costing from 0 to $100, the next one - from $100 to $200, and so on. By the way, grouping data on a network diagram - new opportunity, which appeared in MS Project 2002.

MS Project: Using filtering, grouping and sorting data in charts

Types of resources in Microsoft Project and their correlation with realities

After creating a preliminary schedule, you need to move on to resource planning to determine:

1. Specific executors of tasks;
2. Responsible for achieving results;
3. The duration of the task, taking into account the possible limited availability of resources.
4. The need for materials, equipment, money in a given period of project execution;
5. Calendar schedule, taking into account the limitations (insufficiency) of resources.

Resources in Microsoft Project are understood as people, machines, mechanisms, equipment, materials, and costs/incomes.

Despite the fact that resources in Microsoft Project mean a lot of things, Microsoft Project supports only three types of resources:

1. Workforce is a company's renewable resources that include the people, machinery, and equipment needed to complete a project. Through the “labor” type, you must model those resources for which you need to take into account their loading / overloading, sufficiency or insufficiency, for example, loading ten workers. So, if you only have ten workers available, and a project needs fifteen workers, Microsoft Project will show you when one or more workers are missing.

Work resources affect the duration of tasks.

2. Material resources are used to model the materials required to create a project result. Also:

a.Contractors are modeled through this type if you are not interested in the project how many people of a particular contractor will perform this or that work.

b. Through the material type of the resource, cost items are also modeled if it is necessary to take into account their write-off per unit of time, for example, renting a crane costs 500 UAH. in hour.

c. Items are modeled through material resources if the payment is made in a currency other than the project currency, for example, the purchase of an elevator in dollars.

d. Income or income to the project is modeled through the material type, since the material type of the resource can have its cost value equal to, for example, minus one (-1).

e. Through this type of resource, you can model labor resources if you do not need the duration of tasks to change, and you want to keep a daily record of resources (Possibly a controversial point, but it is not a dogma or an axiom, because, for example, Microsoft Project can calculate the amount of labor resources on the task, but does not allow you to enter the required amount for each day, but the material type allows this).

f. Physical volumes (m3, m2, tons) of works are modeled through this type.

3. Costly resources are needed to model the costs associated with a particular task, but do not depend on either the duration of the tasks or the labor resources assigned to it, for example, if you need to simulate a positive impact on an official in order to accelerate his acceptance of a positive solutions.

Workforce Planning Methodology

People, machines and equipment are needed to "do" a project. The main characteristics of workforce in Microsoft Project are:

1. Cost - how much it will cost the project to use one or another labor resource;
2. Availability - when a resource can perform a particular job and how many units of a particular resource are needed to complete the job.

Sources of information about the resources of the company can be an employee of its personnel department, and responsible for the construction, and an expert from the production and technical department of the relevant specialization. The latter can serve as a source of information on the cost of an hour of resource operation.

The list of mechanisms and their cost per hour are provided by the department responsible for mechanisms in the company. As a rule, this is the division of the chief mechanic.

Information about human resources can also be stored in:

1. Microsoft Outlook Address Book (tab “Resource – Add Resources – Address Book…), Figure 1;

Figure 1. Creating a resource in Microsoft Project from an Outlook address book

2. Active Directory (tab "Resource - Add resources - Active Directory");

3. Resource pool (“Resource – Resource pool – Use resources from…” tab).

A resource pool is a Microsoft Project file that contains only resources.

4. In the Enterprise Resource Pool on the Microsoft Project Server in the Resource Center view. An enterprise resource pool requires a connection to Project Server 2013 or Project Online.

Accordingly, if you are working with Project Server 2013 or Project Online, then the resources stored in the product databases are referred to as enterprise resources, while those that exist only in your project file are referred to as local resources.

Figure 2. Adding resources from the address book or Active Directory

In order to create a resource in Microsoft Project, you need to go to the “Resource Sheet” view, enter its name in the “Resource Name” column, and select the desired type in the “Type” column (or Labor, or Material, or Costs), Figure 3.

If you need to add resources from the address book or Active Directory, you need to click on the "Add resources" button and select the desired item.

Figure 3. Resource types

Each resource (of any type), among other things, in the project can be:

1. universal. These resources, Figure 3, are used to determine the personnel requirements for the project, such as carpenters and developers. So very often, in long-term projects, it is not known in advance which particular person is needed to complete a particular task. Therefore, the need is first determined through universal resources, i.e. to complete the task “Writing code”, which is planned in three months, you need not specifically beloved Nyura Pakhomova, but a C # programmer with more than 3 years of experience.

For example, in our project we will need a programmer with knowledge of the C# programming language. But often at the beginning of a project, it is not known which specific person will perform the work. Therefore, a project is initially planned in which the universal resource "C# Programmer" is assigned to a task and using custom enterprise fields (only in Microsoft Project Server or Project Online) determines his knowledge of the C# programming language. In the resource sheet (in Microsoft Project Server or Project Online, in the "Resource Center"), a specific programmer "Stroustrup Bjorn" must be on staff, who also has his language skills determined using custom enterprise fields (only in Project Server or Project Online) C# programming. Subsequently, when it becomes necessary to replace a universal resource with an enterprise resource that has the required set of skills and abilities, this can be done using the Create Group dialog box or the Resource Replacement Wizard (these icons are located on the Resources tab and are active only when connected Project Professional 2013 to Project Server 2013 or Project Online.

After detailed project planning, it is desirable to replace generic resources with specific resources.

Generic resources are best used when working with Project Server enterprise resources, because only in this case it is possible to replace generic resources with specific resources according to the selected characteristics.

Planning through universal resources will allow, especially if your company has a sufficient number of personnel who can perform the same work (10 lawyers or 5 marketers), to get away from the personal factor when project managers seek to recruit employees “convenient” for them, which can naturally lead to to an overload of "convenient" and an underload of "uncomfortable".

2. Budget. Budgetary resources (labour, material and cost) are used to model the total budget allocated to the project, i.e. allow the project manager to indicate how much he has available funds to compare with the need that is needed to implement the project.

For example, you have a budget for materials in the amount of UAH 350,000. Based on the need for materials in the project, Microsoft Project will calculate that in order to implement the project, it is necessary to spend 323.6 thousand UAH on materials. Comparing the budget resource and the final amount, you can see the difference, Figure 4.

At the project level, a budget resource can only be assigned to a project summary task.

Figure 4. Comparison of the budget with the actual need

In addition, each type of resource can have two reservation options (allocated or proposed):

• Dedicated (default reservation option) – Resource reservation option. A dedicated reservation type means that if a resource is assigned to a task, its load, time and hours required to complete the work, will be taken into account when analyzing the overall availability and load of the resource. This type of reservation is used if you are sure that a particular resource will perform this work.

If you work with Project Server 2013 or Project Online, then when assigning a dedicated resource to a task and publishing the project (p. 10.3), this dedicated resource will be able to report on the task through the web interface.

• Proposed - a resource reservation option, used at the project planning stage, when you are not yet sure whether this resource perform work in your project or not. Assigning a resource with a "proposed" reservation option does not reduce its availability for work on other projects. Choosing this type of reservation does not affect the availability and loading of the resource. Resources are not leveled against the proposed resources.

When working with Project Server 2013 or Project Online, if you assign a suggested resource to a task and publish the project, the resource will not be able to report on the task through the web interface.

So, in Figure 5, in the load graph of the dedicated resource, Vaus Klurman, its overload is highlighted in red, and the overload of the proposed resource, Gob Beldof, the overload is shown in the standard color configured for non-overloaded resources.

Figure 5. Committed and proposed resources

Editing Resource Properties

To change the properties of a particular resource (name, cost, availability), you can either:

1. Click on it with the left mouse button, or;
2. Right-click on it and select "Details" from the menu, or;
3. On the Resource tab, click the Details button.

On the General tab, you can set:

1. Resource name;
2. His email and account name (for workforce only);
3. Reservation type (dedicated or proposed);
4. Short name;
5. Group, i.e. to which group of resources this or that resource will belong (ITR, Workers, etc.). These groups are created by the user;
6. Code for docking with different systems;
7. Type (labor, material or costs);
8. Material unit of measure for material resources;
9. Type of resource (universal or not, budget or not), Figure 6;
10. Resource calendar (working hours, exceptions, vacation), Figure 7;
11. Resource availability, Figure 8. For example, if there are two cranes, then in the event of scheduled preventive maintenance (PPR) of one of them, in the Resource Availability area, you need to specify the range when only one crane will be available.

Figure 6. Information about the resource. General tab

Figure 7. Vacation setting in the resource calendar

Figure 8. Availability Modeling

The "Details" window on the "Costs" tab contains information related to the cost of the resource, Figure 9.

Figure 9. Information about the resource. Costs tab

If you need to provide for a project to change the standard rate over time, you must select the effective date of the current rate and specify a new rate that will be valid from the new effective date.

For example, if your standard "Architect" rate increases by 10% from the first of May, you need to enter the date of the new rate "01.05.11" and the rate change percentage "10%". If you don't enter an effective date, but only a percent change, then the new rate's effective date will be equal to the current date. By entering "-10%" you will reduce the standard rate by 10%

In the "Overtime rate" field, you specify the amount of money that you are going to pay resources for overtime. It is important to understand that if you have an eight-hour working day, and the resource works 10 hours a day, then the system will not automatically enter two hours of overtime as processing. When entering the actual information on the task, you will need to indicate on your own in the "Actual overtime work" field how much overtime this or that resource has worked.

The “Use Costs” field indicates the amount that needs to be paid for attracting a resource, for example, in addition to paying the cost of an hour of operation of that crane, you need to pay the cost of its supply.

As a rule, the standard rate is indicated as the cost of an hour of work. You can also specify in the "Standard Rate" field the cost of a week or a month of work. But a month, from the point of view of Microsoft Project, is usually 20 working days, and if you have 22 working days in a month, then for a resource whose standard rate is indicated as "20,000 UAH / month", its cost will be automatically recalculated under the number of working days in a month, Figure 10.

Figure 10. Recalculation of the cost of the resource when specifying the standard rate per month

You can also set five different cost rates for each resource. Cost rate table - a set of information about rates and rates for a resource, including standard rate, rate overtime work, any usage costs, and the date the charge rate takes effect. For example, a "Bricklayer" for laying at a height of up to three meters above the ground can receive a rate of 45 UAH / h, and for work at a height of more than three meters, he can receive a rate of 50 UAH / h.

In addition, Microsoft Project provides three ways to accrue planned resource costs and allocate actual project costs:

• At the beginning (costs are charged at the beginning of the task);
• At the end (costs are charged at the end of the task);
• Proportional (costs are distributed proportionally in the process of completing the task), Figure 11.

Figure 11. Write-off / accrual options

On the Notes tab, Figure 12, you can:

1. Enter the necessary information about the resource;
2. Attach an object / document.

Any reasons for the change, such as in size wages, should be recorded on the "Notes" tab. Although, to be honest, you can start looking for this or that information in notes from hundreds of resources

Instead of attaching documents (OLE), it is best to indicate a link to a particular document

Figure 12. Resource details. Notes tab

The Custom Fields tab displays a list of custom fields associated with the resource and, if connected to Microsoft Project Server, corporate fields.

Figure 13. Information about the resource. Custom Fields Tab

In addition to all the above fields in the resource sheet, the most important field for labor resources is the “Max. Units, which specifies:

1. Or the list number of workers, i.e. how many are in the state (for example, 10 masons);
2. Or, if a person is alone, he can indicate how much he is ready to engage in projects. So if 0.5 or 50% is indicated opposite the person, depending on the settings, this means that he will be able to pay attention to the project tasks for half of his time, for example, 4 hours a day from an eight-hour calendar, Figure 14.

Figure 14. Maximum resource availability

Material resource planning methodology

The formation of a list of material resources (materials) will make it possible, by assigning materials to tasks, to determine the need for materials distributed over time, and also to find out the cost of each material and the cost of all materials.

The list of material resources is formed in the Resource List view. For material resources, the type "Material" is selected.

The source of information for filling the list of materials can be an estimate, production and technical department (a department that determines the need for materials for a particular project) or a supply department (a department responsible for the supply of materials and equipment in a company). The Procurement Department must also provide the project scheduler in Microsoft Project with information to update material information if prices change or new materials become available.

In order to quickly assign the type “Material” to material resources, you need to assign the type “Material” to the first material in the list, select the labor types of materials, right-click on the type of the first material and select “Fill down” in the menu, Figure 15.

Figure 15. Setting the type through the "Fill down" function

Property Differences material resource from the properties of the labor resource are:

1. Ability to specify the unit of measurement of materials (thousand pieces, mp, tons, etc.);
2. The column "Standard rate" indicates the cost per unit of material, Figure 16.

Figure 16. Editing the properties of a resource of the "Materials" type

The standard rate for both material and labor resources can be specified with a negative value. This feature is used to simulate the receipt of money in the project, mutual settlements, fines, etc.

Cost Resource Planning Methodology

In Microsoft Project, a cost resource is an independent cost (does not depend on the duration of a task / project) that needs to be associated with a project task or project (for example, the cost of an air ticket).

But for modeling For costs that depend on the duration of tasks or projects, this type of resource is not suitable.

Also, a costly resource does not allow modeling the change in costs over time, the multicurrency of the project, the flow of money into the project (profit). To model all this, I use material resources.

Figure 17. Editing the properties of a resource of the "Costs" type

The difference between the properties of a costly resource and others is that it is not possible to specify either its unit of measure or the cost of a resource unit, Figure 17.

P.S. The second part of the article is devoted to how.

Active Directory (“Active Directories”, AD) directory service of server versions of Windows, where, for example, all users of the company are stored

The information below is for reference only. You can learn more about this material and its practical application by watching the video.

Purpose and its main characteristics in MS Project

An assignment is a relationship between a task and the resource needed to complete that task. An arbitrary number of resources, both worker and material, can be assigned to one task (in other words, several assignments can be associated with one task).
The main characteristics of an assignment (regardless of the type of resource) are:

• The allocated amount of resources.
• Job.
• Boot profile.
• Consumption rate (for material resources).

Allocated amount of resources - the number of resource units that can be used to complete the task. Material resource, can be measured in any dimension specified in the field " unit of measurement". For work resources, corresponds to the amount of work time the resource can use to complete the task.
For an assignment, work is the amount of work a resource spends on a task. The labor costs of a resource are understood as the amount of the spent working time of the resource. Work should be distinguished from task duration.
Work is also defined for tasks and for resources. For a task, work is the total effort of all resources involved in the task. For a resource, the sum of the resource's work for all tasks to which the resource is assigned.
A load profile is a way of distributing work over the duration of a task. By default, MS Project uses the so-called flat loading profile, i.e. the same amount of work is planned for each working day for the resource. Along with a flat loading profile, MS Project allows you to use several predefined loading profiles. In addition, you can independently edit the distribution of work by day for any assignment.

Dealing with appointments. Assigning resources to tasks in MS Project

Assigning resources in the task description
To assign resources directly when describing a task, you must:

1. To open the "Task Details" window, double-click on the task name or select the task and click the "Details" button on the "Task" tab.
2. In the Task Details window that opens, go to the Resources tab.
3. In the input window, you can enter the name of the resource, if this name matches the name of an existing resource, it will be automatically assigned to the task, if the name does not match, a new resource of the "Labor" type will be created. To avoid duplication, become an empty line, and click on the down arrow on the right side of the line, then select the name of the resource from the drop-down list.
4. The "Owners" field displays the username of the owner of the resource to whom the approval for the use of this resource will be sent. For all local and universal resources, this field is empty.
5. In the "Units" field, enter the volume necessary resource. If you enter a labor resource, you must specify the percentage of the resource's time that it will spend on the implementation of this task. If you are entering a material resource, enter its quantity in the dimension specified in the Resource Sheet view. If you are entering a costly resource, do not enter anything.
6. The "Costs" field will display the cost of using this resource. For labor and material resources, this value will be calculated automatically when you click the "OK" button. For costly resources, you must specify the amount that you plan to spend on the implementation of this task by this resource.

After entering the resource, do not forget to reduce the fixed costs of the project task by the amount that you plan to spend on the resources you entered.

To assign a resource to a task:

1. Switch to the Gantt Chart view and navigate to the " Resources».
2. Select the task to which you want to create a resource assignment.
3. Click on the button " Assign Resources". The corresponding dialog box will appear:
4. In the Resource Name field, select the resource you want to assign to the task. If you want to create a new resource, go to a free cell in the table of the dialog box and enter the name of the resource. Double-clicking on a resource name will bring up the Resource Details window, which allows you to enter information about the resource. You can also select a resource name from your email system's address book. To do this, click on the "+" button to the left of "Resource list options". Then click on the button " Add Resources” and select “From Adress Book” from the drop-down list (From the address book ...). MS Project will show you a window in which you will have to select the resources you need from the list of recipients. After you click on the button " OK”, the address book recipients will be added to the project resource list and assignments will be created for them.
5. In the Units field, enter the number of resource units to allocate in this assignment. For a work resource, the value is specified as a percentage (amount of working time).

For a material resource, the value is specified using the units of measure for the resource. By default, a fixed consumption rate is specified for a material resource. If you want to specify a variable consumption rate for a material resource, then specify the value using the units of measure for the resource converted to a unit of time. For example, in order to specify the consumption rate of “1 ton per day” for the material resource cement, and the unit of measurement for cement is specified as “t”, then in the Units field you will need to enter the value “1 t/d”.

If necessary, you can select multiple resources at the same time. To do this, pointing to the resource, use the Ctrl key.
To remove an assignment, in the Assign Resources window, select the resource whose assignment you want to remove and click the " Delete».
To replace one resource in an assignment with another, in the Assign Resources window, select the resource that you want to replace in the assignment and click the " Replace". In the Replace Resource window that appears, select the resource to replace.

When assigning resources from a corporate resource pool within the MS EPM ISMS, go to the "Resources" tab, "Resource Pool" menu item, "Corporate Pool" sub-item. After that, a special window opens where a list of resources of the corporate pool will be displayed and the ability to transfer them to the list of project resources.

Assigning resources through task description

1. Go to the bookmark " A task". Click on the " Display task details", which will open the bottom of the screen.
2. Press the left button on the panel that opens and go to the tab " Format". Click on the " Labor costs" to display the desired data set.
3. Specify the list of resources in the list in the column " Resource name". Then specify the amount of resources in the column " Units" or " Labor costs"(volumes of materials or work for teams also indicate in the column" Labor costs").
4. After assigning resources to a task, click the " OK".

• tutorial

A small introduction

The whole methodology is just a set of simple methods and recommendations for using MS Project to solve the applied problems of the project manager. I’ll make a reservation right away that the methodology does not claim to be universal, and is applicable only under certain restrictions, which I will mention in the course of the story.

First, let's remember what is usually required of a project manager. For experienced leaders, this is obvious, but for beginners (or just about to become leaders) it will be useful to remember once again. So the development project software is the creation of some unique product. At different stages life cycle project from the RP is required to solve various tasks.

Before starting a project

Before starting a project, the project manager is usually required to answer two questions:

1. how long will the project take
2. how much will the project cost

At the same time, it is important to understand that no one is interested in an answer like “not earlier than in six months.” It just needs an estimate from above.

Note. I have never had to deal with the explicit monetary value of the project, and, as I now understand, this is a serious omission. All the projects that I managed were performed by the company's employees. The project team was formed for the entire duration of the project, some specialists were involved in certain time. In fact, I am required to estimate the number of required performers, as well as the timing of their involvement. It seems to me that this is a fairly typical situation for software development companies. In the end, it all comes down to an estimate of labor costs, which, using empirical formulas, turns into an estimate of the cost of the project. As you can see, there is a direct dependence of the cost of the project on its timing.

During the project

In the conditions of the mentioned restrictions, the main task of the project manager is to ensure the implementation of the project within the stated time, and this is directly
affects its value. Unforeseen circumstances that necessarily accompany any project can lead to missed deadlines. Strictly speaking, the project timeline can be unexpectedly shortened, but, to be honest, I have never seen such a thing. The manager is required to respond to such events in a timely manner in order to reduce the negative consequences. The only way I know of to solve this problem is careful planning, regularly monitoring impending problems and adjusting plans.

At the end of the project

At the end of a project, the manager usually looks back and sums up the project. Most often, it is required to assess how the project got out of the planned schedules and why this happened.

What MS Project can do

Despite external complexity, MS Project is very simple ideologically. It operates with three entities - tasks, resources, calendar and links between them. Essentially, it's a database, a user interface for creating and editing entities, and minimal, fairly simple automation (what Project does on its own in response to input).

Let us briefly analyze the properties of entities.

A task has a duration, a scope, an assigned resource, and a hell of a lot of different properties. If there are not enough built-in properties, you can add your own - we will use this later. Tasks can be interconnected by various relationships (predecessors, successors, etc.).

Resource has many descriptive properties, but most importantly, it can be
set availability in time, for this a calendar is used. The resource can be
assigned to a task.

Based on this data, Project can make various views using
filters, groupings, sortings, etc. In addition, he knows how, according to some algorithm
Calculate start and finish dates for tasks based on the availability of assigned resources
and links between tasks. That's pretty much all he can do.
Let's see how we can benefit from this

How to use it

Note To make it clearer, I will clarify some general properties projects,
with whom I worked. So, we are talking about software development projects,
which consists of several steps. At the end of each stage, we must get some
tangible result that will be presented to the customer, so it is important for us to evaluate
the term of not only the project as a whole, but also each stage. I repeat, the only kind of resources
which is required is people, and we do not hire specialists from outside, but use
opportunities for existing employees.

Plan preparation

So, we have a technical task before us, and we need to answer three questions:

1. How long will this project take?
2. How many (and what) specialists will be required for this?
3. What is the expected labor cost for this project?

To do this, we are preparing a rough project execution plan in MS Project. Those. We simply write out the tasks that need to be completed in sequence. The technique of turning a technical task into a set of tasks is a separate story, I will not dwell on it now.
The preparation of the plan is carried out in several stages:

1. Preparing a list of tasks
2. Exposing dependencies between tasks
   (the result of which task is needed to move on to the next one?).
3. Assign task executors
4. Balancing the resource load
5. Balancing what we have

When preparing the plan, we adhere to the following recommendations:

1. We do not use summary tasks for decomposition.
   All tasks are placed in one linear list. At first it may seem inconvenient,
   but it saves a lot of problems in the future. To manage the task structure
   use custom fields (see below).
2. Drag&Drop is often used to manage task dependencies. When there are a lot of tasks, it quickly becomes inconvenient. In this case, I recommend not to use drag and drop, but to explicitly indicate the numbers of predecessor tasks. To do this, you can add the "predecessors" column to the table and enter the task numbers manually.
3. The deadline for each task should not exceed two weeks.
   If the deadline for a task exceeds a week, this is already a reason to think about its decomposition. I followed a very simple estimation methodology: a primitive task - 2 days, an average
   difficulty - 1 week, difficult task - 2 weeks. At the same time, there should not be many complex tasks. This approach makes it possible to prepare an evaluation plan fairly quickly.
   On the one hand, the resulting estimate, of course, will not be accurate, but, on the other hand, which one is accurate? Based on practical experience, I can say that
   big projects the errors in the estimates of individual problems are usually leveled out, and for small problems it is often possible (and necessary!) to use more accurate estimates.
4. By all means we avoid tasks that have several performers. Only one performer should be assigned to each task. It makes sense to appoint two performers
   only if they really work together (for example, you practice pair programming). In other cases, it is better to decompose the problem.
5. When appointing performers, we are guided by their profession and qualifications, while not worrying about the uniformity of workload.
6. We use summary tasks to divide tasks into stages. We put dependencies between the stages so that they go sequentially. The division into stages is still quite approximate.

Project balancing

The most important thing in the technique is precisely balancing. The purpose of this process is to prepare a plan in which the work is fairly evenly divided among the performers throughout.

After the initial preparation of the plan, a complete disgrace is usually obtained, and not a project. So let's start putting it in order. Tidying consists of manually balancing assignments of performers and divisions into stages. For this we use grouping tasks by performers to see how the tasks have decomposed. For ease of viewing, I recommend sorting tasks by start date.

Note. Theoretically, to estimate the load it is supposed to use graphs
user downloads. These graphs are good (probably) for bosses when they
evaluate finished project. But they are unsuitable at the stage of creating a plan, as they show
that everything is bad, but they do not give any information why this is so and what can be done.

Then the magic of balancing begins. It is required to minimize the execution time of each stage by ensuring a more or less uniform load on all project participants. To do this, we perform the following steps:

1. Change task executor.

   It makes sense to do this if we see that one performer has a large tail of tasks,
   and the other has obvious "holes", and he can take over some of the work from
   first.

2. Move the task to another stage.

   A task that leads to a lengthening of the stage time, but is not necessary
   to obtain the result of a stage can be moved to a stage later. And vice versa,
   if the stage contains "holes" in the loading of performers, and change the performers
   fails, you can try to take tasks from the next stage.

Unfortunately, you have to do all this manually, performing resource leveling after each change. Despite the apparent complexity, this process usually takes a finite amount of time. A project for a year of 8 participants, divided into 4 stages, I put in order in less than an hour.

Now we look at the project carefully again, make sure that the links between the tasks are set correctly, that nothing is forgotten, and the appointments of the performers correspond to their specialties and qualifications.

Risk accounting

Now - finishing touch: risk accounting. To be honest, I have not been involved in serious risk management, but I take into account the possibility of certain force majeure occurrences (such as illness of performers, forgotten works, etc.). To do this, I add a dummy task with the lowest priority, called "other work" for each resource, to each stage. Once resources are leveled, these tasks end up at the end of the stage. The duration of these tasks depends on the probability of occurrence and the degree of influence of risks, it depends on the way estimates of task durations are determined, the health of team members and the degree of paranoia of the project manager. Usually I set the duration of "other work" to about a third to a quarter of the length of the stage.

As a result of all the above manipulations, we get a project execution plan that we can work with.

With this plan, we can:

1. List the time frame for the project and its milestones. Reasonably and with a high degree
   reliability.
2. Estimate the approximate labor costs for the project

Note. It often happens that the deadline is quite long, and a reasonable question arises whether it can be reduced by attracting additional performers. In order to answer this question, I balanced the new plan using the same set of tasks, but changing the composition of the performers. The answer didn't come instantly, but it didn't take long.

Working with a plan

When the project is launched, original plan The , which was used for estimating, can also be used to track project progress. The project manager is required to regularly perform the following actions:

1. Issue tasks to performers
2. Mark completed tasks in the plan
3. Correct the plan in case of significant deviations

The issuance of tasks by performers can be performed in different ways. You can break the execution into short iterations, form a pool of tasks per iteration, and mark the results at the end of the iteration. You can immediately announce to the participants a set of tasks for the stage, give each a copy of the Gantt chart and periodically poll about progress. You can use MS Project and TFS integration and upload the project directly to TFS. The point is not the means. The main thing is regular update of the plan. I do this about once or twice a week. This makes it possible to quickly see problem areas.
To determine the problem area, it is convenient to use various groupings - by performers, by components, etc. It may often turn out that the project as a whole is even ahead of schedule, but in a certain context there is a lag, for example, one of the developers unexpectedly stumbled upon a serious systemic problem that led to to deviations. Using only the average metric will not show this problem - it will only surface at the end of the stage, when it will be too late to do anything.

Note. Usually I don't move tasks on the calendar, but only note how they are completed. I track the deviation from the plan by the deviation of the total task of the project from the current moment.

There is another strategy - making changes to the deadlines of tasks, "pushing" unfinished tasks forward. With this approach, another useful feature of MS Project, the baseline, can be used to track deviations from the plan. A baseline is simply a saved snapshot of the status of tasks. It can be done at the beginning of the project. To compare the current plan with the baseline, open the "Gantt chart with tracking". For a dynamic plan, where the order of tasks changes frequently, this can be inconvenient, so I insert milestones in the project that reflect some of the important results of the project, and track deviations from the baseline only for them.

Manage task structure with custom fields

I strongly recommend not to use summary tasks in MS Project for functional decomposition or task categorization. The fact is that the hierarchy of tasks in MS Project is strongly tied to their sequence. And often you want to look at the tasks in a different sequence, while the whole structure “crumbles”. To manage the task structure, I recommend using Custom fields. MS Project has a predefined set of fields with undefined behavior that we can use as we see fit. For example, to break down tasks into components, you need, based on the text field Text1 create a field Component and set a list of values ​​for it corresponding to the components of the system.

After that, we get the opportunity to specify for each task the component to which it belongs, and, using the grouping of tasks by components, track how things are going.

Custom fields allow you to divide tasks into several categories, for example, I divided tasks by type of work: Development, Testing, Documentation.
I will mention for the curious that in MS Project you can also set the rules for drawing diagrams based on task properties. If desired, you can make tasks for different components have different colors, and the color will be determined only by the task property, it does not need to be set manually for each task. Such settings do not require writing scripts, but are made by standard chart customization tools.

The use of custom fields, as well as the filtering, sorting and grouping functions built into MS Project, allow you to get a variety of views that allow you to get answers to many questions that a project manager has.

Project Completion

At the end of the project, we get a plan in which all tasks are completed. I usually try to keep the original plan as well, at least as a baseline. To be honest, at this stage, MS Project is of little use, since it is not the planned values ​​that are of interest, but the actual ones. Some solutions to this problem are offered by MS Project Server, there is an opportunity to take into account the actual labor costs, but this is beyond the scope of this article.

Conclusion

I tried to summarize my experience of using MS Project for practical solutions to the problems that arose in front of me when I was managing software development projects. The described technique does not claim to be universal, but it seems to me that it is quite simple and logical, while at the same time it allows solving the practical tasks of the project manager.
Using this approach has allowed me to successfully complete more than one project on time.
True, there have been failures. This happened, as a rule, when the preparatory part of the project was poorly carried out, namely, the formulation of the problem. Those. the result of the project was not exactly what was required, and the understanding of this came too late.

I must have missed something, feel free to ask questions.

The article discusses the resource planning methodology in Microsoft Project.

Types of resources in Microsoft Project and their relationship with reality

After creating a preliminary schedule, you need to move on to resource planning to determine:

• Specific executors of tasks;
• Responsible for achieving results;
• The duration of the task, taking into account the possible limited availability of resources.
• The need for materials, equipment, money in a given period of project execution;
• Calendar schedule, taking into account the limitations (insufficiency) of resources.

Resources in Microsoft Project are understood as people, machines, mechanisms, equipment, materials, costs / incomes, and three types of resources are supported:

1. Human resources are the company's renewable resources, which include the people, machinery, and equipment needed to complete the project. Through the “labor” type, you must model those resources for which you need to take into account their loading / overloading, sufficiency or insufficiency, for example, loading ten workers. So, if you only have ten workers available, and a project needs fifteen workers, Microsoft Project will show you when one or more workers are missing.

Work resources affect the duration of tasks.

2. Material resources are used to model the materials needed to create a project result. Also:

a. Contractors are modeled through this type if you are not interested in the project how many people of a particular contractor will perform this or that work.

b. Through the material type of the resource, cost items are also modeled if it is necessary to take into account their write-off per unit of time, for example, renting a crane costs 500 UAH. in hour.

c. Items are modeled through material resources if payment is made in a currency other than the project currency, for example, the purchase of an elevator in dollars.

d. Income or income to the project is modeled through the material type, since the material type of the resource can have its cost value equal to, for example, minus one (-1).

e. Through this type of resource, you can model labor resources if you do not need the duration of tasks to change, and you want to keep a daily record of resources (Possibly a controversial point, but it is not a dogma or an axiom, because, for example, Microsoft Project can count the number of labor resources on the task, but does not allow you to enter the required amount for each day, but the material type allows this).

f. Physical volumes (m3, m2, tons) of works are modeled through this type.

3. Cost resources.

Workforce Planning Methodology

People, machines and equipment are needed to "do" a project. The main characteristics of workforce in Microsoft Project are:

1. Cost - how much it will cost the project to use a particular labor resource;
2. Availability - when a resource can perform a particular job and how many units of a particular resource are needed to complete the job.

Sources of information about the resources of the company can be an employee of its personnel department, and responsible for the construction, and an expert from the production and technical department of the relevant specialization. The latter can serve as a source of information on the cost of an hour of resource operation.

The list of mechanisms and their cost per hour are provided by the department responsible for mechanisms in the company. As a rule, this is the division of the chief mechanic.

Information about human resources can also be stored in:

1. Microsoft Outlook Address Book (tab “Resource – Add Resources – Address Book…), Picture 1;

Figure 1. Creating a resource in Microsoft Project from an Outlook address book

2. Active Directory (tab "Resource - Add resources - Active Directory");

3. Resource pool (“Resource – Resource pool – Use resources from…” tab).

A resource pool is a Microsoft Project file that contains only resources.

4. In the Enterprise Resource Pool on the Microsoft Project Server in the Resource Center view. An enterprise resource pool requires a connection to Project Server 2013 or Project Online.

Accordingly, if you are working with Project Server 2013 or Project Online, then the resources stored in the product databases are referred to as enterprise resources, while those that exist only in your project file are referred to as local resources.

Figure 2. Adding resources from the address book or Active Directory

In order to create a resource in Microsoft Project, you need to go to the “Resource Sheet” view, enter its name in the “Resource Name” column, and select the desired type in the “Type” column (or Labor, or Material, or Costs), Figure 3.

If you need to add resources from the address book or Active Directory, you need to click on the "Add resources" button and select the desired item.

Figure 3. Resource types

Each resource (of any type), among other things, in the project can be:

1. Universal. These resources, Figure 3, are used to determine the personnel requirements for the project, such as carpenters and developers. So very often, in long-term projects, it is not known in advance which particular person is needed to complete a particular task. Therefore, the need is first determined through universal resources, i.e. to complete the task “Writing code”, which is planned in three months, you need not specifically beloved Nyura Pakhomova, but a C # programmer with more than 3 years of experience.

For example, in our project we will need a programmer with knowledge of the C# programming language. But often at the beginning of a project, it is not known which specific person will perform the work. Therefore, a project is initially planned in which the universal resource "C# Programmer" is assigned to a task and using custom enterprise fields (only in Microsoft Project Server or Project Online) determines his knowledge of the C# programming language. In the resource sheet (in Microsoft Project Server or Project Online, in the "Resource Center"), a specific programmer "Stroustrup Bjorn" must be on staff, who also has his language skills determined using custom enterprise fields (only in Project Server or Project Online) C# programming. Subsequently, when it becomes necessary to replace a universal resource with an enterprise resource that has the required set of skills and abilities, this can be done using the Create Group dialog box or the Resource Replacement Wizard (these icons are located on the Resources tab and are active only when connected Project Professional 2013 to Project Server 2013 or Project Online).

After detailed project planning, it is desirable to replace generic resources with specific resources.

Generic resources are best used when working with Project Server enterprise resources, because only in this case it is possible to replace generic resources with specific resources according to the selected characteristics.

Planning through universal resources will allow, especially if your company has a sufficient number of personnel who can perform the same work (10 lawyers or 5 marketers), to get away from the personal factor when project managers seek to recruit employees “convenient” for them, which can naturally lead to to an overload of "convenient" and an underload of "uncomfortable".

2. Budget. Budgetary resources (labour, material and cost) are used to model the total budget allocated to the project, i.e. allow the project manager to indicate how much funds he has available to compare with the need needed to complete the project.

For example, you have a budget for materials in the amount of UAH 350,000. Based on the need for materials in the project, Microsoft Project will calculate that in order to implement the project, it is necessary to spend 323.6 thousand UAH on materials. Comparing the budget resource and the total amount, it will be possible to see the difference, Figure 4.

At the project level, a budget resource can only be assigned to a project summary task.

Figure 4. Comparison of the budget with the actual need

In addition, each type of resource can have two reservation options (allocated or proposed):

• Dedicated(default reservation option) – resource reservation option. A dedicated reservation type means that if a resource is assigned to a task, its load, the time and hours required to complete the work, will be taken into account when analyzing the overall availability and load of the resource. This type of reservation is used if you are sure that a particular resource will perform this work.

If you work with Project Server 2013 or Project Online, then when assigning a dedicated resource to a task and publishing the project (p. 10.3), this dedicated resource will be able to report on the task through the web interface.

• Proposed- resource reservation option, used at the project planning stage, when you are not yet sure whether this resource will perform work in your project or not. Assigning a resource with a "proposed" reservation option does not reduce its availability for work on other projects. Choosing this type of reservation does not affect the availability and loading of the resource. Resources are not leveled against the proposed resources.

When working with Project Server 2013 or Project Online, if you assign a suggested resource to a task and publish the project, the resource will not be able to report on the task through the web interface.

So, Figure 5, in the load graph of the dedicated resource, Vaus Klurman, its overload is highlighted in red, and the overload of the proposed resource, Gob Beldof, the overload is shown in the standard color configured for non-overloaded resources.

Figure 5. Committed and proposed resources

Editing Resource Properties

To change the properties of a particular resource (name, cost, availability), you can either:

1. Click on it with the left mouse button, or;
2. Right-click on it and select "Details" from the menu, or;
3. On the Resource tab, click the Details button.

On the General tab, you can set:

1. Resource name;
2. His email and account name (for workforce only);
3. Reservation type (dedicated or proposed);
4. Short name;
5. Group, i.e. to which group of resources this or that resource will belong (ITR, Workers, etc.). These groups are created by the user;
6. Code for docking with different systems;
7. Type (labor, material or costs);
8. Material unit of measure for material resources;
9. Type of resource (universal or not, budget or not), Figure 6;
10. Resource calendar (working hours, exceptions, vacation), Figure 7;
11. resource availability, Figure 8. For example, if there are two cranes, then in the event of scheduled preventive maintenance (PPR) of one of them, in the “Resource Availability” area, you need to specify the range when only one crane will be available.

Figure 6. Information about the resource. General tab

Figure 7. Vacation setting in the resource calendar

Figure 8. Availability Modeling

The "Details" window on the "Costs" tab contains information related to the cost of the resource, Figure 9.

Figure 9. Information about the resource. Costs tab

If you need to provide for a project to change the standard rate over time, you must select the effective date of the current rate and specify a new rate that will be valid from the new effective date.

For example, if your standard "Architect" rate increases by 10% from the first of May, you need to enter the date of the new rate "01.05.11" and the rate change percentage "10%". If you don't enter an effective date, but only a percent change, then the new rate's effective date will be equal to the current date. By entering "-10%" you will reduce the standard rate by 10%

In the "Overtime rate" field, you specify the amount of money that you are going to pay resources for overtime. It is important to understand that if you have an eight-hour working day, and the resource works 10 hours a day, then the system will not automatically enter two hours of overtime as processing. When entering the actual information on the task, you will need to indicate on your own in the "Actual overtime work" field how much overtime this or that resource has worked.

The “Use Costs” field indicates the amount that needs to be paid for attracting a resource, for example, in addition to paying the cost of an hour of operation of that crane, you need to pay the cost of its supply.

As a rule, the standard rate is indicated as the cost of an hour of work. You can also specify in the "Standard Rate" field the cost of a week or a month of work. But a month, from the point of view of Microsoft Project, is usually 20 working days, and if you have 22 working days in a month, then for a resource whose standard rate is indicated as "20,000 UAH / month", its cost will be automatically recalculated according to the number of working days in a month, Figure 10.

Figure 10. Recalculation of the cost of the resource when specifying the standard rate per month

You can also set five different cost rates for each resource. A cost rate table is a collection of rate and rate information for a resource, including the standard rate, overtime rate, any per-use costs, and the date the pay rate takes effect. For example, a "Bricklayer" for laying at a height of up to three meters above the ground can receive a rate of 45 UAH / h, and for work at a height of more than three meters, he can receive a rate of 50 UAH / h.

In addition, Microsoft Project provides three ways to accrue planned resource costs and allocate actual project costs:

• At the beginning (costs are charged at the beginning of the task);
• At the end (costs are charged at the end of the task);
• Proportional (costs are distributed proportionally in the process of completing the task), Figure 11.

Figure 11. Write-off / accrual options

On the Notes tab, Figure 12, can:

1. Enter the necessary information about the resource;
2. Attach an object / document.

Any reasons for a change, such as in wages, should be recorded on the Notes tab. Although, to be honest, you can start looking for this or that information in notes from hundreds of resources

Instead of attaching documents (OLEG), it is best to indicate a link to a particular document.

Figure 12. Resource details. Notes tab

The Custom Fields tab displays a list of custom fields associated with the resource and, if connected to Microsoft Project Server, corporate fields.

Figure 13. Information about the resource. Custom Fields Tab

In addition to all the above fields in the resource sheet, the most important field for labor resources is the “Max. Units, which specifies:

1. Or the list number of workers, i.e. how many are in the state (for example, 10 masons);
2. Or, if a person is alone, he can indicate how much he is ready to engage in projects. So if 0.5 or 50% is indicated opposite the person, depending on the settings, this means that he will be able to pay attention to the project tasks for half of his time, for example, 4 hours a day from an eight-hour calendar, Figure 14.

Figure 14. Maximum resource availability

Material resource planning methodology

The formation of a list of material resources (materials) will make it possible, by assigning materials to tasks, to determine the need for materials distributed over time, and also to find out the cost of each material and the cost of all materials.

The list of material resources is formed in the Resource List view. For material resources, the type "Material" is selected.

The source of information for filling the list of materials can be an estimate, production and technical department (a department that determines the need for materials for a particular project) or a supply department (a department responsible for the supply of materials and equipment in a company). The Procurement Department must also provide the project scheduler in Microsoft Project with information to update material information if prices change or new materials become available.

In order to quickly assign the type “Material” to material resources, you need to assign the type “Material” to the first material in the list, select the labor types of materials, right-click on the type of the first material and select “Fill down” in the menu, Figure 15.

Figure 15. Setting the type through the "Fill down" function

The differences between the properties of a material resource and the properties of a labor resource are:

1. Ability to specify the unit of measurement of materials (thousand pieces, mp, tons, etc.);
2. The column "Standard rate" indicates the cost per unit of material, Figure 16.

Figure 16. Editing the properties of a resource of the "Materials" type

The standard rate for both material and labor resources can be specified with a negative value. This feature is used to simulate the receipt of money in the project, mutual settlements, fines, etc.

Cost Resource Planning Methodology

In Microsoft Project, a cost resource is an independent cost (does not depend on the duration of a task / project) that needs to be associated with a project task or project (for example, the cost of an air ticket).

But for modeling costs that depend on the duration of tasks or projects, this type of resource is not suitable.

Also, a costly resource does not allow modeling the change in costs over time, the multicurrency of the project, the flow of money into the project (profit). To model all this, I use material resources.

Figure 17. Editing the properties of a resource of the "Costs" type

The difference between the properties of a costly resource and others is that it is not possible to specify either its unit of measurement or the cost of a resource unit, Figure 17.