Core Training for Microsoft Project 2002

Fine-Tuning Resource and Assignment Details

Entering Pay Rates for Resources

1 To select an existing resource, click the Resource Name field for resource 18 (Jan Miksovsky).
2 To start creating a second cost table for the selected resource, click the Resource Information button on the Standard toolbar.
3 In the Resource Information dialog box, click the Costs tab and notice that Jan's default pay rate is $18.75 per hour in rate table A.
4 Under Cost rate tables, click the B tab.
5 To assign a second pay rate, click in the first Standard Rate field and type 14/h.
6 To enter an overtime rate for the second pay rate, click in the first Overtime Rate field, type 21/h, and then press the ENTER key.
7 To save the second cost rate table and close the Resource Information dialog box, click OK.
8 To select a different resource, click the Resource Name field for resource 11 (Doug Hampton).
9 To specify the effective date of a pay rate increase for the selected resource, click the Resource Information button on the Standard toolbar.
10 In the Resource Information dialog box, make sure that the Costs tab is active, click in the second field under Effective Date, and type 7/1/04.
11 To increase Doug's pay rate by 20% on the date specified, click in the second field underStandard Rate, type 20%, and then press the ENTER key.
12 Notice that Doug's new hourly rate will be $15.60 starting on July 1st 2004, and click OK.

Setting Up Resource Availability

1 To select an existing resource, click the Resource Name field for resource 13.
2 To start customizing the selected resource's availability over time, click the Resource Information button on the Standard toolbar.
3 In the Resource Information dialog box, click the General tab.
4 Under Resource Availability, leave NA (for Not Applicable) in the first row of the Available From column, then click the first cell in the Available To column, and type 6/6/04.
5 To specify that a different number of electricians will be available between June 7th and June 11th, click the second cell in the Available From column and type 6/7/04.
6 Click the second cell in the Available To column, and type 6/11/04.
7 To indicate that three electricians will be available to work full time during the specified time period, click in the Units field in the second row and type 300, and then press the ENTER key.
8 To specify that only two electricians will be available after 6/11 and for the remainder of the project, click in the third row of the Available From column and type 6/12/04.
9 Click in the third row of the Units column, type 200, and then press the ENTER key.
10 Notice that NA is inserted for you in the third row of the Available To column, and click OK.

Managing Resource Assignments

1 To see the assigned resources listed under each task, click the View menu, and then click Task Usage.
2 To locate the task for which you need to change the task assignment schedule, click the Edit menu and click Go To.
3 In the Go To dialog box, type 86 in the ID box and click OK.
4 To have one of the three assigned resources start work on December 6 rather than December 3, in the Task Name column, click Doug Hampton, and then click the Assignment Information button on the Standard toolbar.
5 In the Assignment Information dialog box, make sure that the General tab is active, click the Start arrow, and in the calendar, click Monday, December 6, 2004.
6 To apply the new start date, click OK.
7 To locate another existing task and apply a predefined contour to one of the resources assigned to that task, click the Edit menu and click Go To.
8 In the Go To dialog box, type 81 in the ID box and click OK.
9 To specify that one of the resources assigned to this task will start with a brief daily assignment, increase his work time as the task progresses, and continue working on the task after the other resources have finished their assignments, in the Task Name column, click Michael Patten, and then click the Assignment Information button on the Standard toolbar.
10 On the General tab of the Assignment Information dialog box, click the Work contour arrow, and click Back Loaded in the list.
11 To apply the new setting, click OK.
12 Notice that a contour indicator has been added to the Indicator column to the left of Michael Patten's name. To see an explanation of this symbol, hold your mouse pointer over the contour indicator until a ScreenTip appears.
13 To manually edit the task assignment values for another task, click the Edit menu and click Go To.
14 In the Go To dialog box, type 2 in the ID box and click OK.
15 Notice that Clair Hector is currently assigned to work four hours per day for each day of the assignment. To change this, in the right pane, click Clair Hector's four-hour assignment for Thursday in the week beginning February 29, 2004.
16 To specify that Clair will work full-time on the task for the last two days of this week, type 8h, press the TAB key, type 8h again, and press the ENTER key.
17 Notice that a contour indicator has been added to the Indicator column to the left of Clair Hector's name. To see an explanation of this contour indicator, hold your mouse pointer over the contour indicator until a ScreenTip appears.

Managing Cost Rates

1 To find the existing resource whose pay rate you want to change, click the Edit menu and click Go To.
2 In the Go To dialog box, click 29 in the ID box and click OK.
3 To change the Task Usage table so that it shows the task's costs, click the View menu, point to Table: Usage, and then click Cost.
4 To select the entire assignment of a given resource, click the row heading directly to the left of Jan Miksovsky.
5 To display the current cost of Jan's assignment to the selected task, in the left pane, click to the right of the scroll box on the horizontal scroll bar.
6 Notice that $150.00 appears in the Total Cost field. To use a different cost rate table to calculate this amount, click the Assignment Information button on the Standard toolbar.
7 On the General tab of the Assignment Information dialog box, click the Cost rate table arrow, click B in the list, and then click OK.
8 Notice that the new assignment cost, $112.00, appears in the Total Cost column. To apply a different view to the project plan, click the View menu and click Gantt Chart.
9 To select the Task Name field for task 29 (Scene 7 shoot), press the TAB key.
10 To enter an hourly variable consumption rate for one of the material resources assigned to the selected task, click the Assign Resources button on the Standard toolbar.
11 To select the Units for 16-mm Film, in the Assign Resources dialog box, click below the scroll box on the scroll bar, and then click the Units field for 16-mm Film.
12 To assign a rate of 5 spools of 16-mm film per hour, type 5/h, click the Assign button, and then click Close.
13 To verify the total cost and amount of film assigned to this task, click the View menu, and then click Task Usage.
14 Click the row heading directly to the left of the 16-mm Film resource.
15 To display the current cost of the selected material, in the left pane, click to the right of the scroll box on the horizontal scroll bar, and notice that $800 appears in the Total Cost field.
16 To see the total work of the selected assignment, click the View menu, point to Table: Cost, and then click Usage.
17 Click to the right of the scroll box on the horizontal scroll bar for the left pane, and notice that 40 100 Feet appears in the Work field, indicating that 40 100-foot spools of film are assigned to the selected task (calculated at 5 spools per hour for 8 hours).