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Assigning Resources and Roles
In the Activities window, select the activity to which you want to assign a resource or role. Click the Resources tab in Activity Details.
For information about establishing resources and roles for your projects, see “Defining Resources and Roles” on page 109.
You can customize the Resources tab columns to include other information for resources and roles. Right-click in the Columns area of the Resources tab, then choose Customize Resource Columns.
Click Add Resource to assign a resource to the selected activity; click Add Role to assign a role to the selected activity. Select the resource or role you want to assign. To assign multiple resources or roles, hold down the Ctrl key, then click each resource/role you want to assign. Click the Select button, then click the Close button.
Organizations who do not want to assign resources to activities can use the activity Owner attribute to specify one person who is responsible for an activity. Primavera Web application users with the appropriate license can update progress for activities they are associated with as activity Owner. Additionally, to support oversight and approval processes, the activity Owner designation can be combined with the use of the new Reflection project feature, which provides the capability to review changes before updating an active project. For information about activity Owner and Reflection project features, see the Project Management Module online Help and the Administrator’s Guide. Also refer to “Creating and Using Reflections” on
page 391.
To define detailed information, double-click each appropriate cell and enter the resource’s or role’s information for the selected activity. To replace a resource or role assigned to the activity, select the resource or role you want to replace, click Add Resource or Add Role, then click the Replace button. Select the new resource or role with which you want to replace the existing resource/role, then click the Close button.
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Recalculating Costs/Units for Assignments
If you want to calculate costs from the units indicated or to recalculate units based on actual cost, include the Cost Units Linked column in Activity Details. If you mark the assignment’s checkbox for the Cost Units Linked column, the module notifies you that costs will be recalculated. If no progress has occurred for the activity, the Budgeted Cost/Units, Remaining Cost/Units, and At Completion Cost/Units are equal. When you apply an actual start to the activity, and record an actual quantity value or an actual cost value for the resource or role assignment, the Budgeted Cost/Units value is retained and the Remaining and At Complete Costs/ Units are recalculated automatically.
Roles with specific skill sets can be assigned resources to enable schedule and cost planning until specific resources are identified. You can later replace the role with the correct resource, based on the proficiency requirements established for the role.
To remove a role assigned to an activity, the activity must have a resource assignment. In the Resources tab of Activity Details, double-click the Role cell for the role you want to remove. (Add the Role column if it is not included in the tab.) Click the Clear button in the Select Role dialog box.
Assign resources to activities by role At least one role must be assigned to activities to assign resources by role. Click Assign by Role; the Assign Resources by Role dialog box lists the roles assigned to the selected activity. The resources who can fulfill each role are listed below it. Select the resources you want to assign. Click the Select button, then click the Close button.
Once you assign a resource or role and specify the budgeted units anticipated for its use on activities, you can use Activity or Resource Usage Spreadsheets and Profiles to track its use as the project progresses.
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To analyze role use per time-period or by selected role, include a Role Usage Profile in the bottom portion
of your layout.
This Activity Usage Spreadsheet is organized by resource, so you can see the weekly spread of resource use each month over the course of each activity’s duration.
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When a resource and role share an assignment on the same activity, you can choose to always use the rate of the resource or the rate of the role in the Calculations tab of User Preferences.
Choosing the Rate Source and Rate Type for an Assignment
Up to five price/unit rates may be defined for each resource and role in the database. When both a resource and a role share an assignment on the same activity, you can choose to use the rate of the resource or role to calculate costs, or enter a custom rate. If you choose to use the rate of the resource or role, you can select which price/unit rate associated with the resource or role you want to use to calculate costs for the assignment.
Choose Project, Activities. Select the activity that contains the resource and role assignment. Display Activity Details, then click the Resources tab. Customize the tab to display the Rate Source, Rate Type, and Price/ Unit columns. Double-click in the Rate Source field and choose Resource, Role, or Override.
Choose Resource to calculate costs for the assignment based on the resource's price/unit value. Choose Role to calculate costs for the assignment based on the role's price/unit value. Choose Override if you want to enter a custom rate in the Price/Unit column. If you choose Resource or Role, select the rate type you want to use to calculate costs for the assignment in the Rate Type field. (If rates have been defined for the resource or role, some or all of the rate types have an associated price/unit value.) When you select the rate type, the Price/Unit field displays the price/unit value defined for the resource or role.
If only a resource is assigned to an activity, the rate source must be Resource or Override. If only a role is assigned to an activity, the rate source must be Role or Override.
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