MGMT404
V2007
Lesson #3 - Managing Project Resources
Due Date: Check Class Schedule/Syllabus
MS Project
Objectives





Create a list of resources
Assign resources to tasks
Enter resource information
Assign costs to resources and tasks
Assign variable resource pay rates and costs rate tables
Resources are the people, equipment, and materials necessary to complete a task. MS Project focuses on
two aspects of resources: availability and cost. Availability determines when a specific resource can work
on a task and how much work they can do and cost refers to how much money will be required to pay for
that resource.
MS Project works with two types of resources: work resources and material resources. Work resources are
the people and equipment that do the work of the project. These can be a single individual, a group of
people who have common skills (such as electrician), or equipment (such as a truck or diagnostic tool).
Equipment resources need not be portable; they can be fixed, such as a conference room or lab. Material
resources are consumables that you use up during the project, such as cabling or bricks.
We will be creating our resources and assigning them to tasks. Please follow all instructions carefully!
Assigning Resources
1.
2.
3.
Log onto Windows. Open MS Project.
Open your project file that you created in Lab 2 (MyLab2_XXX.mpp).
Save as MyLab3_XXX.mpp, where XXX are your initials. I have included a check sheet (see
Addendum) with this lab. Make sure your project matches the information as shown, except for the
main summary task name (which will have your name). Make any needed changes before continuing
with this lab.
Resources can be entered into Project in several different locations. The Assign Resources dialog box is
one method. The Resource Sheet is another method and the Task Information box is a third method.
4.
Make sure you have not clicked or highlighted any of the tasks in your project! (Note: if you have
selected a task, the resource may be assigned to that task!)
5.
On the standard toolbar, click on the Assign Resources button.
It is the one with the "faces" on it.
The Assign Resources dialog box appears. (Make sure it says “No task selected “)
Profkc
MS Project Lesson #3
Page 1
MGMT404
V2007
Lesson #3 - Managing Project Resources
Due Date: Check Class Schedule/Syllabus
6.
MS Project
In the first Name field, type Project Manager and press enter. See figure 1.
Figure 1
7.
8.
9.
After the first resource name as been entered, the selection moves to the next row.
Type Systems Manager and press enter.
Type Systems Administrator and press enter. You should now have three resources displayed in the
Assign Resources dialog box. Do NOT enter anything in the Units column and do not press Assign.
10. Click Close.
11. You can also enter resources on the Resource Sheet view, which is preferred.
12. From the View Menu or View Bar, select Resource Sheet. The Resource Sheet displays the names
you entered on the Assign Resources dialog box. Your screen should look similar to Figure 2. The
values you see are default values when you create a resource.
Figure 2
13. Click in the Resource Name field below Systems Administrator.
14. Type Wiring Contractor and press enter. The name is entered along with the default information for
that resource and the cursor should move to the next entry for a resource.
15. For Type, leave the default of work, since this is a work resource. Work resources are people and
equipment. The only other option is material, which we will not be using for these labs.
16. Type Financial Officer for the next resource and press enter.
17. Type Conference Room for the next resource and press enter. (Why is conference room a work
resource and not a material resource?)
18. For your final resource, enter Systems Analyst.
19. You should now have seven resources listed.
You will notice that the “Max Units” field defaults to 100%. For an individual resource, this represents the
amount of that resource’s maximum time you have available to your project. For example, if you only
have one Systems Manager, 100% maximum units means that 100% of the Systems Manager’s time is
Profkc
MS Project Lesson #3
Page 2
MGMT404
V2007
Lesson #3 - Managing Project Resources
Due Date: Check Class Schedule/Syllabus
MS Project
available to work on the project. You can assign different percentages, but it will change the availability of
the resource. For example, if you have the maximum units at 50% for the System Manager, the 50% of the
System Manager’s time is available to you, which could mean 4 hours out of an 8-hour day.
For a group resource, people with common skills, it would represent the number of people assigned, though
not necessarily the same people. For example, if you had Systems Administrators at 200% maximum units,
this would mean you would have two System Administrators available for your project or task, but not
necessarily the same two administrators.
While each resource (whether group or individual) can be assigned to a task at less than their maximum
units, if you assigned more work (or units) than the maximum, you will be overallocating that resource.
Assigning Resources to Task
While there are several ways to assign resources to a task, we will use the following method:
1.
2.
3.
From the View menu or View Bar, change to the Gantt chart view.
Select task #6, "Create proposal for accounting".
From the Standard toolbar, click the Assign Resources button. The Assign Resources dialog box
appears with the listing of all your resources. In the Name column, select Project Manager and click
Assign.
Figure 3
4.
You will notice that a checkmark appears next to the name of Project Manager and a unit value of
100% is displayed. (You may also notice that Project Manager may move to the top of the list). The
resource name is also display next to the task on the Gantt chart.
Note: The concept of unit is sometimes confusing. You can think of it as one whole person being assigned
to the task, but a better way is you are saying that this resource will be devoting 100% of his/her time to
this particular task. Therefore, if the task is 3 days of work (or 24 hours given a normal 8-hour day), the
Project Manager, in this case, will be spending all of his/her time on this task for these 3 days. It also is
very important to say that you have just assigned 24 hours of work to the Project Manager. (Please
note that the column says Units, not Max Units). We will return to resource scheduling later.
Profkc
MS Project Lesson #3
Page 3
MGMT404
V2007
Lesson #3 - Managing Project Resources
Due Date: Check Class Schedule/Syllabus
MS Project
5.
You can also assign a resource to a task with a unit other than 100% (as long as you do not exceed the
maximum units listed on your Resource sheet).
6. Select task 7, "Research Products and Services". (If you accidentally closed the Assign Resources
dialog box, re-open it).
7. Click in the Units field for System Analyst (do not press Enter or Assign).
8. Type 50 (for 50%). You do not have to enter the % sign. Then press Assign. (Can you calculate how
much time the Systems Analyst will spend on this task?)
9. To assign multiple resources to a single task, follow the next procedures very carefully. (At no
time should your task durations change!)
10. Select the task, "Design and Diagram New System". Using the Assign Resources dialog box, select
Systems Manager. Do not press enter or assign, just select the name! (If you accidentally pressed
enter or assign, select the Systems Manager and press Remove, which will only remove the assignment
to the task, not the resource.)
11. Hold down the Ctrl (Control Key) and select Systems Analyst. Then press Assign. What we have
indicated to MS Project is that both the Systems Manager and the Systems Analyst will be assigned to
this task and each will be assigned 40 hours of work (5 days). More about this in the next lab.
Figure 4
Check to make sure the time duration for this task is still 5 days; if it is not; you need to remove the
resources from the task, reset the task back to 5 days and repeat steps 9-11 again.
12. To assign a single resource to multiple tasks, follow the next instructions carefully.
13. Select tasks 9-10 (Issue RFPs and Evaluate Bids) by selecting task 9 first and then holding down the
control key and then select on task 10.
14. Using the Assign Resources dialog box, assign the Project Manager.
Note: if the tasks are contiguous, you can use the shift key rather than the CTRL key. The previous
method of assigning a single resource to multiple tasks is not recommended; it is strongly suggested that
you assign resources one task at a time.
15. Close the Assign Resources dialog box. (No durations should have changed during the above
instructions; if they did, you need to remove assignments and do again).
Profkc
MS Project Lesson #3
Page 4
MGMT404
V2007
Lesson #3 - Managing Project Resources
Due Date: Check Class Schedule/Syllabus
MS Project
Providing Resource Details
Resource details provide additional information about a resource and usually are entered on the Resource
sheet. Information includes maximum units, costs, project/accounting codes, calendars, etc.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
From the View menu, select the Resource sheet view.
Select the Project Manager name and tab to the column, Initials. (We will not be using the material
label for work resources).
The Initials column is where you can give abbreviated "nicknames" to each resource. You should give
each distinctive letters or names of at least two characters.
Enter PM.
The next column, Group, again is optional for giving a name for a group of resources, such as Network
Staff, Project Team, etc. For now, leave this blank and move to the next column.
A maximum unit is where you enter the number of units for each resource available to you for the
project. Since there usually is only one project manager, leave this default of 100%.
Tab to Standard Rate.
In any project, there are two types of costs: resource costs and fixed costs. This information is crucial in
identifying project budgets, cost overruns, etc. Each resource and task can have a cost associated with it
(with the exception of summary tasks). Costs can be an hourly wage, rental on equipment, license fees,
contractor expenses, material charges, etc. Costs can be prorated, paid up front or paid out at the end of the
project or task.
As you create budgets for your project and assign costs, it is important to determine whether the cost is a
resource cost or a fixed cost. Resource costs are fairly easy, with one exception. Wages, salaries, etc are
resource costs. However, a fixed contract, say for installing wiring, is a fixed cost and is assigned to the
task not the resource. The exception, and one that is hard to discern, is cost per use. Cost per use is a
resource cost and is applied when then is a set charge every time you use the resource. For example, if you
have a piece of equipment delivered to a construction site, you might be charged a delivery fee for the
equipment (as well as an hourly rate). The delivery fee would be a cost per use.
Let's start with the easiest: resource costs.
1.
2.
3.
Under the Standard Rate for the Project Manager, enter 200. Tab to the next column. (Note: if the
resource is paid other than hourly, you can enter weekly, monthly or yearly salaries).
The next column, Overtime Rate, you would enter the amount of overtime pay rate for the resource.
Please note that on this sheet you cannot enter a formula to calculate overtime rate, you must calculate
it for yourself. (Microsoft left this one out!) Since our Project Manager does not technically qualify
for overtime rate, one might leave this blank; however, I would enter the same amount for overtime
as standard.
Enter 200 for overtime rate for the Project Manager.
Let's go to the next easiest: fixed costs
Note: Our wiring is being done via a contractor. This is a typical example of a fixed cost. Even though
this task is being done by a resource, the Wiring Contractor, it is being done at a fixed price. Unlike
resource costs, a fixed cost is not dependent on the amount of time or the number of resources it takes to
complete a task. (Note: you can have both fixed costs and resource costs assigned to the same task, such as
the contractor is working on a fixed price for materials, but a resource cost for labor).
1.
2.
First let's assign the Wiring Contractor as the resource for the task 14, Install Wiring.
From the View menu, change to the Gantt chart view. Assign the Wiring Contractor to task 14,
Install Wiring. (100% unit).
Profkc
MS Project Lesson #3
Page 5
MGMT404
V2007
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Lesson #3 - Managing Project Resources
Due Date: Check Class Schedule/Syllabus
MS Project
The Wiring Contractor will be charging a fixed contractual price (materials and labor) of $4,000 to
install the necessary wiring. The amount of $4,000 is NOT a resource cost, but a fixed cost and must
be assigned to the task!
We now need to change the current table we are using, which is called the Entry table.
Go to the View menu. Look for the selection Table: Entry. (You may have to expand to View menu
to see this selection).
Position your cursor over the Table: Entry and another menu will appear to your right with a list of
other tables. (These are all task tables, which allow you to see different project task information
organized by subject).
Select the Cost table and the figure 5 should appear on your screen. (Move your Gantt chart if you
have problems seeing the table).
Figure 5
8.
9.
Notice the column Fixed Cost. For task Install Wiring, enter 4000 for the fixed cost.
Tab to the next column, Fixed Cost Accrual. The word Prorated is now highlighted in a pull down
menu box. Press the down arrow and select End. This means the charge will not be accrued to our
project until this task is completed.
Let's go to the hardest: cost per use
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Return to the Resource Sheet and Highlight Conference Room.
Tab over to the Cost/Use column.
Since we have a very cost-conscious company, they charge for use of the conference room. This
would not be a fixed cost, but a cost per use. Every time I use the conference room there is a charge!
Enter 150 for the Cost/Use for this resource.
To see the effect of this, return to the Gantt Chart View.
Change from the Table: Cost to Table: Entry. (Can you figure how to do that?).
Go to the summary task Project Meeting. Expand the summary task to see all the project meetings.
Profkc
MS Project Lesson #3
Page 6
MGMT404
V2007
Lesson #3 - Managing Project Resources
Due Date: Check Class Schedule/Syllabus
MS Project
Figure 6
8.
9.
10.
11.
Select Project Meeting 1 and assign the Conference Room as a resource.
Switch from Table: Entry to Table: Cost.
Notice the $150 under the Total Cost column, but not the fixed cost column.
Assign the Conference room to all the Project Meetings. (Return to the Entry table. Do you
remember how to assign a resource to multiple tasks?).
12. Check now the total cost for the summary task, Project Meetings, on the Table: Cost. Why is the total
cost now $1,200?
Profkc
MS Project Lesson #3
Page 7
MGMT404
V2007
Lesson #3 - Managing Project Resources
Due Date: Check Class Schedule/Syllabus
MS Project
Assigning Cost Rate Tables and Variable Resource Rate
Variable resource rates are time-stamped so new rates are applied to the project at an appropriate time. For
example, during a project a resource earning $20 an hour at the beginning of the project receives a pay
increase later in the project. By entering a pay rate effective on a certain date, the resource costs can be
tracked appropriately. (You can also enter pay rates this way rather than resource sheet).
1.
2.
3.
Go the Resource Sheet.
Select the Systems Analyst.
Double-click on the name Systems Analyst and the following should dialog box should appear:
Figure 7
4.
5.
This is the Resource Information dialog box. Here you can enter information about the resource,
including e-mail information, working schedule, etc. Spend some time looking over all the
information you can enter by clicking on the four tabs.
Click on the Costs tab. In the Cost Rate table area, tab A is selected by default: (Figure 8)
Profkc
MS Project Lesson #3
Page 8
MGMT404
V2007
Lesson #3 - Managing Project Resources
Due Date: Check Class Schedule/Syllabus
MS Project
Figure 8
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Leave the effective date for the first row blank; do not put a date in it.
In the first row for Standard Rate, enter 50.
Click in the Overtime Rate column; enter 75.
Click in the second row, under Effective Date.
A down arrow appears. Click the down arrow and select October 29, 2007. This is the date that the
new cost rate for the resource will become effective.
Click in the Standard rate field for this row and enter 10% for a 10 percent raise! (Include the % sign.)
This time MS Project will automatically calculate the new hour wage. ($55)
Click in the Overtime rate field for this row and enter 10% again. What happened?
Before we leave, you will notice the tables B, C, etc. These are cost rate tables. They are used if your
resource can do more than one type of work each at different rates. For example, a worker may charge
one rate for painting, but another rate for plastering. Another example would be a different rate for
hazardous work. To apply different rate tables, you would go to the task usage sheet, find the task the
resource is assigned and apply the correct rate table there. For the purposes of this lab, we will not be
doing that in this project.
Make sure you press OK to close this dialog box and to affect the changes. Otherwise, you will have to
do steps 6-12 over again!
(Note: To set up material resources on the assignment sheet, you would enter the name of the resource
(such as wiring or nails), then enter Material in the type field, and in the Material Label field the unit of
measurement (such as Feet for wiring or Pounds for nails). You would then enter the amount charged
per unit of measurement in the Standard Rate column, such as 1.50. However, we will not be dealing
with material resources for the purposes of these labs.)
Profkc
MS Project Lesson #3
Page 9
MGMT404
V2007
Lesson #3 - Managing Project Resources
Due Date: Check Class Schedule/Syllabus
MS Project
On Your Own
1.
Finish the Resource Sheet by adding or editing the following information:
Resource Name
Project Manager
Systems Manager
Systems Administrator
Wiring Contractor
Financial Officer
Conference Room
Systems Analyst
2.
Initials
PM
SM
SAD
WC
FO
CR
AN
Std Rate
entered
$70000.00/yr
$20.00/hr
0
$250/hr
0
entered
Ovt Rate
entered
$70000.00/yr
$30.00/hr
0
$250.00/hr
0
entered
Cost/Use
0
0
0
0
0
entered
0
Make the following additional resource assignments to the appropriate tasks: (Hint: go to Gantt
Chart view and, if necessary, change to Table: Entry). Try using the Task Information box to
assign these resources.
Inventory Current Equipment
Access Current Dept Needs
Purchase Equipment
Install Hardware
Install Software
3.
Max. Units
100%
100%
300%
100%
100%
100%
100%
System Administrator
System Administrator
Financial Officer
System Administrator
System Administrator
200%
100%
50%
200%
300%
On the last task, assign the following resources. Be very careful to select every resource BEFORE
assigning!
Test System
System Manager
System Analyst
System Administrator
100%
100%
100%
From the Project menu, select Project Information and then press the statistics button. Check your project
information statistics with the one provided in the addendum to this lab. If it is not correct, you will need
to unassign all resources from all tasks, check your resource sheet cost values and then go back to the
beginning of the lab and re-assign your resources. Your task durations should never change and your
project duration should never change from 41 days!
4.
After verifying that everything is correct – save the file. (Note: System Administrator will appear
in red…this is by design. See below).
When finished with the lab, print out the following after checking all column widths and proper header
information and format. Then staple the printouts IN ORDER to the back of your question/answer sheet:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
A printout of your Table: Entry showing all columns, but no Gantt chart.
A printout of your Table: Cost showing all columns but no Gantt chart.
A printout of your Resource Sheet showing all columns (wide enough to read all entries)
The project Summary Report.
Your project's Budget Report.
Your project's Who Does What report.
Your project's Overallocated Resources report. (You should have an over allocated resource which is
the System Administrator; this resource will appear in red on your resource sheet. If not, make sure
all of your resource assignments are correct.)
Save your file.
Again, with the exception of the Summary report, all printouts must contain the proper header
information.
Profkc
MS Project Lesson #3
Page 10
MGMT404
V2007
Lesson #3 - Managing Project Resources
Due Date: Check Class Schedule/Syllabus
MS Project
Addendum
Task Information for Beginning of Lab 3
Project Information at end of Lab 3
Profkc
MS Project Lesson #3
Page 11
MGMT404
V2007
Lesson #3 - Managing Project Resources
Due Date: Check Class Schedule/Syllabus
MS Project
Review Questions
Name ____________________________
Answer the following questions in complete sentences: (Use the lab and MS Project Help)
1) What is a resource?
2) What would happen to a resource if you assigned it to a summary task?
3) What is the difference between Start, Prorated and End in association with costs?
4) Give a real-world example of the difference between a fixed cost and a cost per use?
5)
Why is a fixed cost entered with the task and not the resource?
6) Why is the resource cost for the Wiring Contractor $0.00?
7) Which resource is overallocated and why do you think that is?
Attach your seven printouts, in print order, to the back of this sheet and submit by the
lesson due date.
Profkc
MS Project Lesson #3
Page 12