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 examine all pertinent details and decide which trade-off to make.

Click all the following that apply:

• Delay a task by changing its lead or lag time when the resource has more tasks assigned than can be completed during a given time period. The simplest way to correct 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.
• Substitute resources in a project automatically by using the Resource Substitution 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 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, just assign another resource to the task and Microsoft Office Project 2007 assigns equal shares of work 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.
• Assign an additional resource to divide the work on a task (task: An activity that has a beginning and an end. Project plans are made up of tasks.) between a resource already assigned to the task and another resource or resources.
• Replace a resource assignment with a different resource that is better able to complete the task on time (for example, faster or larger equipment or a person with more available time).
• Remove a resource assignment from an overallocated resource.

Resolve resource overallocations by leveling   Project 2007 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 must make sure that resources are assigned to work consistently throughout the project and are not underutilized when work is needed.

Click all 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.
• Change a 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.
• Assign a resource to another task to increase a resource's workload.
• Replace a resource assignment with an underallocated resource to more evenly distribute work among team members.
• Remove a resource assignment from an underallocated resource so that the resource has more time available to be assigned to larger tasks.

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 make sure 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 the following that apply:

• Review resource workloads in order to see that you resolved the overallocations and underallocations that you wanted to fix and to see whether any other resources are now overloaded or underutilized.
• Determine whether the project end date has changed if you set a baseline for your project and you want to view the time difference between the baseline and the currently scheduled end date.
• Show the critical path in order to check whether the critical path (critical path: The series of tasks that must be completed on schedule for a project to finish on schedule. Each task on the critical path is a critical task.) changed as a result of resolving any overallocations or underallocations. You might now see different dates, different tasks, and different resources associated with the critical path.

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 make sure that the changes you made are what you intended.

• Compare two versions of a project

Communicate assignment changes   You might 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.

• Publish the latest plan and team assignments if you are using Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007 to communicate the project information.
• Add a note about schedule changes to log information about the changes that you made to optimize the resource workload. Such notes can be helpful when you are tracking actual progress, closing the project, or collecting data for the next project.