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From: Rob Schneider on 16 May 2010 01:21 Silene, As Andrew mentioned, taking a course or at least reading a really good book makes all the difference. Project is a sophisticated tool. Use it as it's designed to be used makes all the difference and can surely help with de-risking your project. --rms www.rmschneider.com On 16/05/10 06:13, Silene wrote: > Thanks a lot Andrew, > I will try all that, I think I am on the right path but defenetely I > will have to have some outside help. > > Silene > > "Andrew Lavinsky" <(Catapult Systems)> wrote in message > news:c4abab72327748ccbb06ac2d2ae0(a)msnews.microsoft.com... >> Ok - so we are developing an effort-based schedule where hours are >> tracked. >> >> In that case, your goal is to use MS Project to develop a model of >> resource allocations. Typically, here's how you would do that: >> >> 1) Make sure your WBS includes PM activities. For the PM activities, >> generally, create hammock tasks for the duration of the project and >> assess how many hours the PM would probably allocate to the project - >> then add those to the task. This will shave perhaps 10-20% (if not >> more) of the PM time away from general availability. Consider adding >> contours as appropriate (check that in the help screen). >> >> 2) Add recurring meetings to the PM deliverable. Generally, for >> recurring weekly meetings, I would again create a hammock task, and >> then calculate which resources attend, and then do a rough calculation >> of let's say 3 hrs X No. of weeks in the entire project. This accounts >> for the availability hit from my recurring meetings. For one off >> meetings, add them to your schedule and consider putting a Start No >> Earlier Than constraint on them as well as a Deadline. Generally, I >> would set the duration of the meeting to one day (or one week), but >> allocate 3 hours of each resource's time. From a scheduler >> perspective, I don't care so much about what day the meeting happens, >> as long as I capture the work load of preparing for and attending the >> meeting. As long as the effort is accounted for in your model, the >> specific meeting details may be irrelevant. >> >> 3) Add your project tasks. Estimate duration and effort separately - >> or estimated effort first, then calculate how many resources you will >> have dedicated to the task, and allow that to guide the duration >> calculation. Ensure the tasks are all linked appropriately. >> >> Once you've done all of that, you'll have a good model of overall >> resource allocation. You can then look to optimize the schedule by >> reviewing such items as the Critical Path, Slack, and Resource >> Overallocations. This is where the art of scheduling comes in as >> you'll need to make critical decisions as to which constraint you wish >> to optimize for. >> >> I'd strongly recommend you consider taking a Microsoft Project >> training course in your area or online. It will probably help you out >> significantly. >> >> - Andrew Lavinsky >> Blog: http://blogs.catapultsystems.com/epm >> >>> Thanks a lot for the answers but to continue understanding: >>> 1) I don't schedule by the hour but I need to know the occupancy of my >>> resources/day. Should I look in the resource usage view only and >>> relocate >>> them? >>> 2)I schedule meetings to track the dates and considering the resources >>> are high tech people the cost of a 3 hour meeting is significant. Can >>> you comment on that, please? >>> >>> 3)I understand my goal is estimate when things will happen, an >>> effort-based >>> schedule, so I should have a >>> accurately map resource allocation. >>> "Andrew Lavinsky" <(Catapult Systems)> wrote in message >>> news:c4abab723210b8ccb587375030f0(a)msnews.microsoft.com... >>> >>>> 1) I don't schedule the resources by the hour, how can I prevent >>>> overallocated (referred in your answer 2)? >>>> >>>> If you don't schedule them by the hour, then why does it matter if >>>> they're overallocated? I would just ignore that indicator. >>>> >>>> 2) I have duration of PDR/CDR meetings of 3 hours. Also I have a >>>> resource that only works 4 hours a day. Maybe this is why I have >>>> broken duration (4.5, 5.6)!? >>>> >>>> Possible. Why are you scheduling tasks of less than a day or so? >>>> The general rule of thumb is not to schedule a task less than 1% of >>>> the overall duration, or more than 10% of the overall duration of the >>>> project. What would be the point of scheduling a meeting. Does that >>>> shift all subsequent tasks out for three hours? >>>> >>>> 3) Can you explain more about duration/effort estimating methodology, >>>> I may be working in a wrong way? >>>> >>>> I think where the confusion may be is in understanding what kind of >>>> schedule you're trying to build. Are you trying to estimate when >>>> things will happen, or estimate how many man hours each task will >>>> take? Based on your answer to that question, you'd go build a >>>> schedule in different ways and pay attention to different metrics. >>>> For instance, if all you're looking at is a duration based schedule, >>>> the question of overallocation is irrelevant. If you're doing an >>>> effort-based schedule, the goal is to accurately map resource >>>> allocation, and to a certain extent, have that drive the schedule. >>>> Which is your goal? >>>> >>>> When you assign duration to a task, what two variables do you know? >>>> >>>> 1) Duration >>>> 2) Number of Resources >>>> 3) Man Hours Required by the Task >>>> In IT, typically, I would say that the task is 80 man hours, and I >>>> have two developers working on it - then using the tool to calculate >>>> the duration of 1 week. In construction, I'd say that we have a team >>>> of 10 working on a task for 2 weeks, then derive the man hours from >>>> those two variables. >>>> >>>> My recommendation is to go enroll in a Microsoft Project (or general >>>> scheduling) class in your vicinity. It will help you significantly. >>>> >>>> - Andrew Lavinsky >>>> Blog: http://blogs.catapultsystems.com/epm >>>>> I have duration of PDR/CDR meetings of 3 hours. Also I have a >>>>> resource >>>>> >> >> |