Goal: Resolve resource allocation problems

Resolve resource overallocations     When a resource is assigned too much work in a given period, the most effective way to reallocate or reschedule the work is to look at all pertinent details and decide yourself which tradeoff to make.

Click all of the following that apply:

• Delay a task when the resource has more tasks assigned than can be completed during a given time period. The simplest way to rectify that overallocation is to delay (delay: The amount of time between the scheduled start of a task and the time when work should actually begin on the task; it is often used to resolve resource overallocations. There are two types of delay: assignment delay and leveling delay.) one of those tasks, ideally a task with lower priority (priority: An indication of a task's importance and availability for leveling [that is, resolving resource conflicts or overallocations by delaying or splitting certain tasks]. Tasks with the lowest priority are delayed or split first.) than the others. If you add delay that is less than or equal to the amount of slack (slack: The amount of time that a task can slip before it affects another task or the project's finish date. Free slack is how much a task can slip before it delays another task. Total slack is how much a task can slip before it delays the project.) on the task, you will not affect the finish date of the project.
• Replace resources in a project automatically by using a wizard to search for specific resources based on the skill demands of the tasks in the project, the skills of resources in the enterprise resource pool (resource pool: A set of resources that is available for assignment to project tasks. A resource pool can be used exclusively by one project or can be shared by several projects.), and the availability of those resources.
• Control resource availability throughout a project to increase the amount of time the resource can work. Often the only way for a resource to complete all the assigned work (work: For tasks, the total labor required to complete a task. For assignments, the amount of work to which a resource is assigned. For resources, the total amount of work to which a resource is assigned for all tasks. Work is different from task duration.) over the course of a project is to increase the the span of dates during which the resource is available, or to specify additional unit (units: The quantity of a resource assigned to a task. The maximum units is the maximum number of units available for the resource. For example, if you have three plumbers, the maximum units is 300 percent or three plumbers working full-time.) availability. Controlling resource availability is effective for resolving chronic overallocations over a period of time.
• Find a resource with available time by filtering (filter: Specifies which task or resource information should be displayed or highlighted in a view. For example, when you apply the Critical filter, only critical tasks are displayed.) through a list of enterprise resources by skills and availability.
• Interrupt work on a task so that part of it starts later in the schedule. However, if the work can be divided equally between the resources, simply assign another resource to the task and Project assigns equal parts to each resource automatically.
• Decrease task duration to reduce the scope (scope: The combination of all project goals and tasks, and the work required to accomplish them.) of a task. You can decrease task duration (if no actual work has been entered) to reduce the amount of work required of the resource who is assigned to complete the task. If actual work has been recorded, you must manually reduce the remaining work (remaining work: The amount of work, in terms of a time unit such as hours or days, that is left to be completed on a task. This is calculated as follows: Remaining Work = Work - Actual Work.) on the task.

• Adjust a resource assignment

Resolve resource overallocations by leveling     Project can automatically level an overallocated resource's workload by delaying (delay: The amount of time between the scheduled start of a task and the time when work should actually begin on the task; it is often used to resolve resource overallocations. There are two types of delay: assignment delay and leveling delay.) or splitting tasks until the resource is no longer overallocated.

• Resolve resource overallocations by leveling

Resolve resource underallocations     To maintain progress on tasks, you need to make sure that resources are assigned to work consistently throughout the project and are not underutilized when work is needed.

Click all of the following that apply:

• Control resource availability throughout a project to decrease the amount of work for a resource. If a resource isn't needed as much as you had planned, you can limit the resource's availability and lower your project costs by reducing a resource's working days and times, shortening the span of dates during which the resource is available, and specifying less unit availability throughout the project.
• Increase task duration if the scope of a task has increased. You can increase task duration (if no actual work has been entered) to change the amount of work required of the resource assigned to complete the task. If actual work has been recorded, you must manually enter the remaining work on the task.

• Adjust a resource assignment

Add a note about resource changes     You may want to record changes that were made to resource assignments and the reasons for those changes so that you can remember details if you work on a similar project in the future or conduct a lessons-learned (lessons learned: A review of best practices, project insights, and client information. As the project team disbands and new projects begin, reviewing the lessons learned lets you record information gathered and generated through the project.) exercise at the end of the project.

• Add a task, resource, assignment, or project note

Evaluate the results of resource adjustments     After you level (leveling: Resolving resource conflicts or overallocations by delaying or splitting certain tasks. When Project levels a resource, its selected assignments are distributed and rescheduled.) the schedule (schedule: The timing and sequence of tasks within a project. A schedule consists mainly of tasks, task dependencies, durations, constraints, and time-oriented project information.) and correct any overallocations or underallocations, you should review the schedule to ensure that you will still meet the budget (budget: The estimated cost of a project that you establish in Project with your baseline plan.) and planned finish date for the project and any related projects.

Click all of the following that apply:

• Show the critical path to be sure the finish date of the project was not extended and that noncritical tasks (noncritical task: A task with slack time that can be completed after its end date without delaying the project finish date. Slack is the amount of time that a task can slip before it affects another task's dates or the project finish date.) haven't become critical tasks (critical task: A task that must be completed on schedule for the project to finish on time. If a critical task is delayed, the project completion date might also be delayed. A series of critical tasks makes up a project's critical path.) unnecessarily.
• Review cost totals to check the overall status of your project's costs (cost: The total scheduled cost for a task, resource, or assignment, or for an entire project. This is sometimes referred to as the current cost. In Project, baseline costs are usually referred to as "budget.").
• Check for overallocated or underallocated resources to verify that you haven't created additional overallocations or underallocations for other resources after reassigning tasks.
• Check impact on other projects that may depend on tasks with resource assignments that you changed, if your team is working on multiple projects.
• Communicate assignment changes to resources electronically through Project Server, or you can print an assignment report.

Compare two versions of a project and report differences     If you have saved a backup copy of the plan, you can compare specific fields (field: A location in a sheet, form, or chart that contains a specific kind of information about a task, resource, or assignment. For example, in a sheet, each column is a field. In a form, a field is a named box or a place in a column.) to ensure that the changes you made are what you intended.

• Compare two versions of a project