Project 2013 Introduction

Project 2013

Lesson 4 – Working with Resources

generic resource type, such as Carpenter ; or the name of the equipment, such as Overhead Projector . By default, resources you enter into the resource sheet are work resources, as indicated by the text Work in the Type field.

In addition to the Resource Name field, you should also complete the Max. Units field in which you can enter a value representing the availability of a resource. This field defaults to 100%, indicating that the resource is available full-time to work on any tasks. However, you can change this percentage to accurately reflect the resource’s availability. For example, if a resource is only available part-time, you could change the Max. Units field for the resource to 50%. If, on the other hand, two resources, such as two plumbers, are available, you could change the Max. Units field for the Plumber resource to 200%. At the time you create a resource, you may also want to change the Initials field since Microsoft Project defaults to the first initial of the resource name and does not change duplicate initials. By eliminating duplicate initials, you can later sort and filter resources by the Initials field, if desired. By default resource names will displayed on task bars in the Tracking Gantt. If you have a number of resources assigned you may want to conserve space by using their initials. You may also want to assign a resource to a group. A group is a name that represents related resource types, such as Management, Union or Contractor . Assigning resources to groups is helpful because it gives you the choice of tracking and filtering information by an individual resource or a group. While you can view and track information on the group level, you cannot assign a group to a task. The resource sheet includes other fields in which you can enter data when you create a work resource. If you do not enter information in the other fields, Microsoft Project enters default values in some of them. Later, when you have created all of your resources and assigned them to tasks, you can enter cost information and resource codes, as well as scheduling information. The only field you cannot complete for a work resource is the Material Label field. This field is used for entering a unit of measurement, such as tons, for a material resource.

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