For the project manager, the objective of resource leveling is to minimize the length of the resource-feasible schedule. For the computer scientist, the objective is to write code that will find a resource-feasible schedule in a reasonably short amount of time. The resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) is NP-hard, which means that finding an optimal…

A person inexperienced in project management may think that resource leveling is a method of making use of resources having the same height. Most experienced project managers know that it is a resource optimization technique which tries to make the best use of available resources to create a workable project schedule. Resource leveling is often…

  The schedule in the figure above was leveled in Project using the standard leveling order. Even though it appears to be discontinuous, the critical path is correct. It takes into account the leveling delay (lag) between tasks 4 and 5, but, what is causing that leveling delay? The start of task 2 depends on…

  In the figure above, a schedule was resource leveled using Project (left Gantt chart). It was resource smoothed using Excel (right Gantt chart). Both results are resource-feasible, but the schedule on the right has a smoother resource allocation. To contrast the resource optimization techniques of leveling and smoothing, I will share how both schedules…

An interesting question about resource calendars in the Project Standard and Professional user forum prompted me to write this blog post article. After using Microsoft Project for over 21 years, one of the nuggets of wisdom I have gleaned from this software is, “Always trust the schedule.” When you assign resources to a task, Microsoft…

In this brief article, I would like to show you the easy way to display the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in the Resource Usage view. This view is a really wonderful way to see all of your project resources, along with the tasks assigned to each resource. As a bonus, the Resource Usage view displays…

  Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This Webinar is eligible for 1 PMI® PDU in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle. Event Description: Audience: – Project Managers – Project Web Access Administrators – Project Management Office – Business analyst – Decision makers Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, you…

An Introduction Project’s Web App allows one to define three types of resources: Work, Material, and Cost. Work resources are equipment and people needed to perform tasks on a project. Work resources may be further classified as Generic, Named, and Team. Generic resources are placeholders for work resource roles such as designer, developer, architect, etc….

There is a lot of discussion surrounding the question of resources being assigned to milestones using Microsoft Project. The answer to this question is (Isn’t it always?), “It depends.” The milestone is the checkpoint. Its main characteristic is that it has no duration (duration for a “classic” milestone is 0 (days, weeks, hours…). The best…

Dear Elizabeth: I’m currently running a large project that’s a mess. We’ve lost team members, the customer has asked for more features, and now we’re scheduled to go well over our deadline. I’ve had endless conversations with my manager about the need to add more people to the project—I’ve even shown her my resource workload…