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Resource Allocation

During resource scheduling, Open Plan suggests a resource for each activity assignment.

If you defined the resource assignment for an activity using an alternate resource, this suggested resource may be the requested resource, or it may be the alternate resource you specified. If you defined the resource assignment as either a pool or a resource with a certain skill, Open Plan selects an individual resource that meets the requirement.

After performing resource scheduling, you have the opportunity to review these suggested resources and take an appropriate action. In Open Plan, this process is referred to as “resource allocation,” and the results of this process appear in the Activity Resource Allocation dialog box.

This dialog box is modeless; in other words, you can leave the dialog box open when performing other operations. Four navigation arrows in the lower-right corner of the dialog box allow you to scroll through the records in the file.

If Open Plan suggested the requested specific resource, you do not need to take any action. However, if Open Plan suggests an alternate resource, a resource from a pool, or a resource with a specified skill, you need to decide whether you want to act on the suggestion at this time.

There are two types of actions you can take when using resource allocation:

  • Accept: Replace the requested resource with the one suggested by Open Plan.
  • Lock: Lock the requested resource, which has the effect of removing the alternative resource from future consideration for the assignment.

These actions take effect the next time you perform resource scheduling on the project. Your role in resource allocation is to review the resources Open Plan suggests for each activity. You can either accept the suggestion by replacing the requested resource with the suggested resource or ignore the suggestion for the time being.

If you do not take any action, the requested and alternate resources are not modified, and the next time you run resource scheduling, Open Plan may suggest a different resource.

Resource Allocation Guidelines

In general, you should use the following steps when calculating a schedule using pools, skills, or alternate resources:

  • Step 1: After making your initial resource assignments and performing time analysis on the project, perform resource scheduling.
  • Step 2: Use the Activity Resource Allocation dialog box to review the suggested resources for each activity and make any necessary changes. (Note that you cannot display this dialog box for activities without resource assignments.)
  • Step 3: Perform resource scheduling again.
  • Step 4: To see the effect of your choices in resource allocation on the schedule and resource utilization, display a histogram view showing the resources you are most interested in.

Typically, you would repeat this procedure several times until you are satisfied with the resource assignments for each activity.

Related Procedure