Resource allocation and management in MS Project

Microsoft Project is integral to project management because it offers a comprehensive suite of tools for smooth planning, execution, and monitoring of projects. A crucial aspect of project management that Microsoft Project addresses is the allocation and management of resources, which are vital for the successful ending of projects. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to work with resources in a standard version of Microsoft Project.

Resource Types

Let’s start with the basics — Microsoft Project categorizes resources into three types:

• Human Resources: This includes individuals or teams working on the project.
• Equipment: These are the tools, machinery, and facilities involved in the project.
• Materials: These are the consumable supplies needed to carry out tasks.

Each resource type has its own allocation method, considering factors like availability, cost rates, and specific task assignments. To guide you through this process, here’s a step-by-step walkthrough.

How to add and allocate resources in Microsoft Project

When it comes to resource management, MS Project is one of the most reliable and professional tools. Ot provides the foles spectre of features that are necessary to keep track of every aspect. However, bear in mind that it is quite rigid, so if you want a more flexible and customizable program, you can check another Microsoft Project alternative here.

But, let’s see what the process is like in Project.

Step 1: Identify resources

To add resources in MS Project, start by listing all the resources you’ll use in your project: people, equipment, and materials. Having a clear idea of what you need is a foundation for subsequent steps.

Step 2: Open the Resource sheet

To add resources in Microsoft Project, open your project file. Head to the “View” tab on the Ribbon and select “Resource Sheet” from the “Resource Views” group. This is where you can input details about the people, equipment, and materials required for your project.

Step 3: Add a new resource

Click on an empty cell under the “Resource Name” column and type the name of the resource you wish to add. This could be a person’s name, a team name, or the name of a piece of equipment or material.

Step 4: Specify resource information

In the “Type” column, specify whether the resource is “Work” (for people and machines that work by the hour), “Material” (for consumable materials), or “Cost” (for financial costs).

If the resource is a material, you can specify a unit of measure (e.g., tons, boxes) in the “Material Label” column. To provide a shorthand reference for the resource, you can just fill in the “Initials” column. In case you need to categorize resources (e.g., by department or job function), there is a “Group” column to enter this information.

For work resources, you may specify the maximum capacity of the resource to work on tasks (e.g., 100% for full-time, 50% for half-time).

In the “Standard Rate”, “Overtime Rate”, and “Cost/Use” columns, you can enter the respective cost information for the resource. This will be particularly important later on for budgeting and cost management.

Step 5: Assign resources to tasks

Now that you’ve added everything to the Resource Sheet, you can assign the resources to tasks. Go to the “Gantt Chart” view, double-click on a task to open the “Task Information” dialog box. After that, go to the “Resources” tab, and select the resources you want to assign to the task.

Wrapping up with resource allocation, review your project plan to ensure they are assigned efficiently. Don’t forget to save your project after adding and configuring your resources!

Challenges in resource management

Resource management spans various strategies and activities from the project’s inception to its conclusion. And, indeed, it’s not free of challenges such as:

• Resource overallocation where a resource is assigned more tasks than they can handle within their available hours.
• Conflicts in resource scheduling that arise when two or more tasks require the same resource simultaneously.
• Budget constraints that result in the unavailability of necessary resources.

How can Microsoft Project help you tackle these challenges? By focusing on three key functionalities:

1. Resource leveling to automatically adjust task assignments and resolve overallocation.
2. Reports and Dashboard to get valuable insights into resource utilization and availability, and identify and resolve possible conflicts.
3. Budget management to surveil and manage costs against the project budget.

Resource leveling in MS Project

One of the nifty features in MS Project for managing resources is “Resource Leveling”. It goes beyond a simple automatic project schedule readjustment by offering various options to customize the process. For instance, you can level within available slack, outside working hours, or prioritize tasks to guide the process.

Access these options through the “Resource Leveling” dialog. There, you can fine-tune settings to handle individual assignments, delay tasks, or split them. Additionally, you have the option to choose between manual and automatic leveling.

What’s even more impressive is that MS Project supports cross-project leveling. Thus, you can level resources shared across multiple projects.

Using reports for resource management

Microsoft Project offers an array of ready-made and customizable reports that are handy for analyzing resource allocation and utilization.

Head to the “Report” tab on the ribbon, where you’ll find a wealth of options under the ‘Resources’ category, including reports like “Resource Overview” and “Resource Status”. These reports provide valuable insights into how resources are allocated across tasks and their current status.

Moreover, you can craft personalized reports by selecting “New Report” and opting for formats like “Blank Report”, “Chart”, or “Table”. Tailor these reports to zoom in on specific resource details, like identifying overallocated resources or focusing on an individual resource’s workload.

Using Dashboards

Dashboards serve as visual summaries, simplifying the communication of project and resource information and aiding in detailed analyses.

The “Project Overview” Dashboard offers a top-level perspective on project health, task status, upcoming milestones, and overall resource allocation. Meanwhile, the “Resource Overview” Dashboard emphasizes over-allocated resources, availability, and utilization rates. If you’ve configured specific aspects of resource management, Custom Dashboards can spotlight those tailored details for you.

Managing costs

MS Project seamlessly applies the costs you’ve set for resources when assigning them to tasks. You can utilize rate tables to manage varying cost rates over time for a single resource. This flexibility proves invaluable for adjusting to changes in resource costs or managing different types of work at different rates.

Moreover, after assigning cost resources to tasks for tracking non-labor expenses like materials or travel, you can monitor these costs individually or alongside labor costs to gain a holistic view of project expenses.

Balancing workload

In the realm of project management, resource and workload management go hand in hand. They both play crucial roles in efficient distribution and usage of resources. Resource management involves identifying, organizing, and allocating necessary resources. While workload management ensures an even distribution across tasks to prevent overburdening or underutilization. Together, they empower project managers to optimize productivity and efficiently achieve project objectives.

Within MS Project, the ‘Resource Usage’ view and reports offer insights into resource allocations. This comes in handy for the identification of over or under-utilization. In case of imbalances, manual adjustments to task assignments, durations, or resource allocations are possible. Alternatively, resource leveling automates this process by redistributing work to address overallocations.

Furthermore, tools like the “Team Planner” view provide a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, simplifying the reallocation of tasks among resources.