1. PMI-SVC Scheduling Forum “Let Me Level With You” Resource Leveling in Microsoft Project Mark “Doc” Dochtermann Scheduling Consultant August 4, 2015

2. About Doc Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) Certified PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP) Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Green Belt Certified Scrum Master (CSM) Certified IS Security Professional (CISSP) Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) 1 st Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo 8/4/20152

3. Understand What Resource Levelling is (and Isn’t) Learn about Total Slack, Free Slack, Lead, Lag, Critical Path, Forward Pass, Backward Pass, Capacity, Availability, Leveling Delay, Assignment Delay Learn How the Microsoft Project Scheduling Actually Engine Works Learning Objectives 38/4/2015

4. Resource Leveling... … is – a Tool / Aid to Assist With Managing Resource Over-Allocations – for Advanced Project Schedulers – a very Powerful Feature of Microsoft Project … is NOT  – a Substitute for Project Schedulers – a “Silver Bullet” – a Way Out of Designing Good Schedules – for the Un-Informed or Novice Project Scheduler 8/4/20154

5. Capacity vs Availability 58/4/2015

6. Example Schedule 8/4/20156

7. Types of Slack 1.Total Slack in a Schedule: The Time an Activity Can Be Delayed Without Impact on the Finish Date of the Project. 78/4/2015

8. Types of Slack 2.Free Slack in a Schedule: The Time an Activity Can Be Delayed Without Causing Impact to Any Following Activity. 88/4/2015

9. Crashing a Schedule 3.Crashing a Schedule: Allocating More Resources So that an Activity Can Be Completed On / Before Time … Assuming That With More Resources the Activity Can Be Completed Earlier. 98/4/2015

10. Fast Tracking 4.Fast Tracking a Schedule: Activities That Are Normally Done in Sequence, are Assigned Partially in Parallel. 108/4/2015

11. Schedule Tailgating 4.Schedule Tailgating: Activities are Logically Linked and the “Driving” Task Continues to Force Start of its Successor, Even if the Task is Incomplete. 118/4/2015

12. The Critical Path 8/4/201512 Total Slack = 0d for Critical Path

13. Non Critical Tasks Free Slack = 4.6d

14. Resource Leveling Using the Tracking Gantt View we Can See How the Resource Leveling Function Resolves Over-Allocations 8/4/201514

15. Leveling Gantt View Using the Leveling Gantt View to Better Visualize What MS Project is Doing to Your Schedule 8/4/201515

16. Leveling Gantt Configure the Leveling Gantt View for a Better View and then Re-Level the Specific Resource(s) 8/4/201516

17. Leveling Gantt Understanding the Various Elements of the Leveling Gantt View 8/4/201517 Task Pre- leveled Task Free Slack

18. How The Microsoft Project Scheduling Engine Works Leveling Gantt View in the Top Frame and the Task Form in the Bottom Frame 8/4/201518 5d Leveling Delay

19. Leveling Delay vs. Assignment Delay Assignment Delay - This Type of Delay Applies to Assignments Within a Task. Leveling Delay – This Type of Delay Applies to the Entire Task. 8/4/201519

20. Leveling Tasks Work Can be Pushed Out by MS Project by Introducing Task Leveling Delay 8/4/201520 3d Delay 3d Task Duration 3d Free Slack Over Allocation Resolved Over Allocation Created

21. Resource Leveling Options 8/4/201521 Always Set to Manual Avoid Pushing End Date Concurrent Activity? Contiguous Work? NEVER !

22. Summary Start With a Well Structured Schedule Never Level All – Work on Areas of the Schedule Understand all of: Total Slack, Free Slack, Lead, Lag, Critical Path, Forward Pass, Backward Pass, Capacity, Availability, Leveling Delay, Assignment Delay MS Project is a Robust Tool for Scheduling and Resource Allocation and Tracking – You Need to Understand How the Scheduling Engine Works A Fool With a Tool is Still a Fool ! 8/4/201522

23. Resources Simon Sez IT – Project 2013 Training Tutorials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9AVFtHVtss&li st=PLzj7TwUeMQ3iTsQY6ERGqxg9YDK5Y9eBU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9AVFtHVtss&li st=PLzj7TwUeMQ3iTsQY6ERGqxg9YDK5Y9eBU Leveling Resources And Assignment Delay https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en- US/a029e6c6-9885-4b28-9787-f99c47798914/are- leveling-resources-and-assignment-delay-the-same- thing?forum=projectprofessional2010general https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en- US/a029e6c6-9885-4b28-9787-f99c47798914/are- leveling-resources-and-assignment-delay-the-same- thing?forum=projectprofessional2010general 8/4/201523

24. Contact Info Email: docdoc@msprojectschedules.com Mark.Dochtermann@ca.fiscal.govdocdoc@msprojectschedules.com Mark.Dochtermann@ca.fiscal.gov Mobile: 916-835-5806 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/docdochttps://www.linkedin.com/in/docdoc Twitter: Doc_PMI 248/4/2015