Edit Resource and Role Spread Data in the Assignment List

When reviewing resource and role spread data for assignments, you may find that you need to make adjustments to more accurately analyze resource allocation over time. Future period planning offers an alternative to standard or linear resource planning by helping to more accurately determine where resource shortfalls or additional needs might occur in future periods. This type of planning applies to labor, non-labor, materials, and roles. If work on an activity is not proceeding according to plan, you can manually update the remaining units for an assignment's future periods. This will enable you to measure the remaining work for an assignment without changing the original plan. Alternatively, if you choose to re-estimate future work based on changes to the project schedule, you can edit an assignment's future period budgeted or planned units while the activity is in progress. If many assignments require re-estimation, you can establish a new baseline plan based on your changes.

For example, you might have an activity that requires more resources at the beginning and end, rather than at the mid-point. Consider work being done for an apartment complex that requires masonry, followed by a brief waiting period while mortar joints cure. Planning for this effort requires fewer resources after the start of the activity, but significantly more involvement once curing is complete. For this activity, linear resource allocation makes less sense. By editing spread data for future periods, the resource manager can allocate one resource during the waiting period, and in a few more days, they can assign five more to proceed with the next steps when more work can begin.

From the  Resources app or the  Schedule app, you can modify spread data directly from the project Assignment List by selecting the data within the cell. You can also use a right-click menu to select the field or the desired field for a role or resource to delete single cell data.

To achieve the most precise resource/role distribution plan, you can manually enter the budgeted or planned resource/role allocation per assignment in the timescale unit you choose (days, weeks, months, quarters). You can adjust the current spread to capture the earliest start date of any activities, or anything that extends beyond the current spread. The calendar automatically adds a small buffer relative to the timescale selected at first login. For example, if you select a daily spread view, the calendar adds four weeks, or 28 days, of buffer to the spread. Editing outside the current spread can impact activity dates.

To edit spread data, several conditions must be met. The activity duration type must be set to Fixed Duration or Fixed Duration & UPT. To edit Planned Units, the field must be on or after the Activity's Planned Start date. To edit Remaining Units, the activity must be Not Completed, and the field must be on or after the Activity's Remaining Start date. You must have the following project-level privileges enabled to edit cost and unit spread data: Schedule: Edit Future Periods, Schedule: Edit Activities, and Project: Edit Project Costs/Financials.

Additional rules apply to the entry of zero into the beginning of the field. Specifically, entering a zero into the first Planned Units future period is considered lag and decreases the Planned Units and Planned Duration of the assignment. Entering a zero into the first Remaining Early Units future period decreases the Remaining Early Units and Remaining Duration of the assignment. Entering a zero at the beginning of a manual curve will not impact the curve.

Linking Cost and Unit Data

In Summary and Settings, at the project level, the Update units when costs change on resource assignments setting determines if the application updates units when costs change on assignments to activities throughout the project. At the assignment level, the Calculate costs from units field (Activity Details, Resources tab) determines if costs are updated when you change units for that particular assignment. The Update units when costs change on resource assignments project-level setting only applies when the Calculate costs from units assignment-level option is selected. See Configure Calculation Settings for a Project.

When cost and unit data calculations are linked, cost and unit fields must have a non-zero value. See Entering Activity and Assignment Units and Costs for more information about updating cost and unit values.

Manual Curve Adjustments

While assigning a resource curve to the resource/role assignment will yield more accurate results than spreading units evenly across the duration of an activity, the work you plan to perform per period on an activity may not be fully reflected by the curve. As a result, performance against the project plan cannot be accurately measured. When you manually enter a value in a future period for an assignment, a value of Manual displays in the assignment's associated Curve column. By displaying the Curve column, you can determine which assignments already have an assigned resource curve, or a defined manual curve. The first time you begin editing assignment spread data, you will be prompted to confirm before changes are committed. Select Do not show again to prevent the message from appearing each time you edit a new field.

Note:You cannot undo the deletion of a Manual curve or the deletion of an assignment row on the Assignment List page. You cannot revert changes after changing the timescale.