Resources

Resources are people, facilities, or anything else that is needed to perform the work of a project.

Although entering resources is not required in Open Plan, many project managers have found that successful planning, management, and control of project resources are crucial to the overall success of a project.

In Open Plan, features related to resource management fall into three broad categories:

• Defining resource availabilities
• Assigning resources to activities
• Performing resource scheduling

Resources and the skills they may possess are stored in resource files that can be used with more than one project. Open Plan does not require you to define resources that are project-specific. Instead, you can define a resource file that is independent of any project and then associate it with projects as needed.

Attention: For information about assigning resources, see Resource Assignments. For information about resource scheduling, see Resource Scheduling.

Resource Files

You can assign a resource file to a project using the Files tab of the Project Properties dialog box.

At any one time, a project may have only one resource file assigned.

Once a resource file has been assigned to a project, you can assign individual resources to an activity using the Activity Details dialog box.

Resource Assignments

Resource assignments define which resources are required for the completion of one or more activities in a project. Open Plan provides a rich set of features for defining resource assignments. For example:

• You can describe assignments that apply for the entire duration of an activity or for only a portion of the duration.
• You can define assignments using profile curves that vary the amount of the resource required over the course of the assignment.
• You can define alternate resources that can be used in the absence of the requested resource.
• You can assign a resource pool or skill for an activity and have Open Plan select an available resource for you.

Resource assignments at the subproject level have no direct effect on the dates calculated by resource scheduling. However, these types of assignments may impact the availability of resources assigned to subsequent activities, thus resulting in delays.

Related Topics

• Resource Structures in Open Plan
• Using Resource Files
• How a Resource View Displays Information
• Adding Resources to a Resource File
• Adding Skills to a Resource File
• Resource Details Dialog Box
• Using the Project Properties Files Tab
• Activity Details Resources Tab

Related Procedures

• Create a Resource File
• Open a Resource File
• Copy a Resource File
• Delete a Resource File
• Assign a Resource File to a Project Using the Open Plan Explorer
• Assign a Resource File to a Project Using Project Properties
• Assign Activity Resource Requirements
• Assign Resources in a Spreadsheet
• Display Resource Assignments on a Barchart