Chapter Eight Review

Lesson Summary

To Schedule Overtime for a Resource

To Schedule Resource Overtime:Select the task that has a deadline indicator next to it and select Window Resource Work from the shortcut menu. Click the Ovt. Work field in the Task Entry form and enter the amount of overtime you want to schedule for the resource. Click OK when you're finished.

Identifying Resource Overallocation

To View Resource Overallocation:View the project in a resource view and find resources highlighted in red. Overallocated resources are always highlighted in red.

Balancing Resource Overallocation Manually

To Balance Overallocation Manually:Select View Resource Allocation, and click Apply. Locate the overallocated resource and the dates and work hours of the overallocation. Select the task to which the resource is overallocated. Click the Assignment Information button on the Standard toolbar and change the Assignment properties as necessary.

"Delaying" a task means that you are postponing it until your assigned resource has time to work on it so the resource will not be overallocated. Some people prefer this method of fixing overallocation, while others prefer to let Project fix it automatically.

Balancing Resource Overallocation Automatically

To Automatically Level Your Resources:Select View Project Tools Manual option and the Level Entire Projectoption, and then click the Level Now button. Click the Selected Resourcesoption or the Entire Pool option and click OK.

"Leveling" a resource means that you allow Project to delay or split tasks so that their resources will no longer be overallocated. Some people prefer this method of fixing overallocation, and others prefer to fix overallocation manually.

When you reassign a resource to a task, you may lose your updated information for that task. For example, if the task is 30% done before you reassign a new resource to it, you will have to enter 30% again after reassignment.

Quiz

1. Overallocated resources appear in which color?

   1. Black

   2. Red

   3. Blue

   4. Chartreuse

2. What field should you enter resource overtime into?

   1. The Ovt. Rate field

   2. The Ovt. Value field

   3. The Assigned Ovt. field

   4. The Work Ovt. field

3. When it is impossible to resolve an overallocated resource, you can ____ the overallocated resource's work.

   1. just conveniently forget to do

   2. throw out

   3. reassign

   4. restructure

4. When manually delaying a task, never enter more lag (delay) time than you have slack time. (True or False?)

5. Automatic leveling allows Project to ____ and ____ tasks in order to get rid of resource overallocation.

   1. track and balance

   2. cut and paste

   3. split and delay

   4. reschedule and reassign

6. Generally, Project will only level ____ tasks (tasks with slack), to avoid affecting other tasks' schedules.

   1. unimportant

   2. noncritical

   3. superfluous

   4. underassigned

Homework

1. Start Microsoft Project 2003.

2. Navigate to your practice files and open the Homework 8 database.

3. Identify the overallocated resource.

4. Fix the overallocated resource using automatic leveling. (If you get a dialog box that says the overallocated task can't be leveled, push the Stop button and continue.)

5. Manually delay task #23, "Build a chain of stands," five days.

6. For task #5, "Build stand," give the Bill Gates resource an overtime rate of five hours. (Note that the duration of task #5 will change.)

7. Close the Homework 8 file without saving any changes.

Quiz Answers

1. B. Overallocated resources appear in red.

2. A. Enter a resource's overtime into the Ovt. Rate field.

3. C. When it is impossible to resolve an overallocated resource, you can reassign the overallocated resource's work.

4. True. If you enter more lag (delay) time than you have slack time, your schedule will be unbalanced.

5. C. Automatic leveling allows Project to split and delay tasks in order to get rid of resource overallocation.

6. B. Generally, Project will only level noncritical tasks (tasks with slack), to avoid affecting other tasks' schedules.