P6 Professional User Guide

Tips

Use the Unread Comments column to view the number of unread comments on an activity. You can sort and filter on Unread Comments. This column serves as a notification for new comments. Project Managers use this column to see how many unread comments are in a given project.

To display this column, click Columns on the Layout toolbar. In the Columns dialog box, select Unread Comments from the General group.

You can choose to show all messages, only received messages, or only sent messages.

You can sort how messages are displayed by newest to oldest or oldest to newest.

Roles

Roles

Roles are project personnel job titles or skills, such as mechanical engineer, inspector, or carpenter. They represent a type of resource with a certain level of proficiency rather than a specific individual. Roles can also be assigned to specific resources to further identify that resource's skills. For example, a resource may have a role of a engineer and manager.

You can create a set of roles to assign to resources and activities in all projects in the enterprise. You can establish an unlimited number of roles and organize them in a hierarchy for easier management and assignment. The set of roles you assign to an activity defines the activity's skill requirements. You can also define unique price per unit rates for each role for accurate cost planning.

You can temporarily assign roles during the planning stages of the project to see how certain resources affect the schedule. Once you finalize your plans, you can replace the roles with resources that fulfill the role skill levels. Five proficiency levels can be assigned to roles: Master, Expert, Skilled, Proficient and Inexperienced.

Roles can be assigned in the Resource Details window or from the Roles dialog box.

Add a role

1)Choose Enterprise, Roles.

2)Click on the Edit toolbar or choose Edit, Add.

3)Click the General tab, then type a unique ID for the role.

4)Type the role's name.

5)Click Modify to type a description of the role's responsibilities in an HTML editor.

In the editor, you can format text, insert pictures and tables, copy and paste information from other document files (while retaining formatting), and add hyperlinks.

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Define price/unit rates for roles over time

You can add up to five price per unit rates for each role in the roles dictionary. When you assign a role to an activity during project planning, you can choose which rate you want to use to calculate cost. Defining rates for specific roles yields more accurate project cost planning results. You can define an unlimited number of changes to prices for each role; however, the effective date must be unique.

1)Choose Enterprise, Roles.

2)Select the role you want to assign rates to, then click the Units and Prices tab. If tabs are not displayed in the Roles dialog box, click the Display Options bar and choose Roles Details.

3)Click Add at the bottom of the Roles dialog box.

4)Double-click in the Effective Date column, then click the Browse button to select the date the prices takes effect.

5)Enter up to five Price/Unit rates for the selected role.

For example, if the price per unit is $25 per hour, enter 25h; if the price per unit is $50000 per year, enter 50000y. You can only enter unit values in minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. Your system administrator defines the abbreviations for these units in the Admin Preferences, Time Periods tab when P6 Professional is connected to a P6 Professional database in P6, Application Settings when connected to a P6 EPPM database.

Notes

When connected to a P6 EPPM database: An application level setting determines whether cost spreads account for changes in resource and role rates over time.

The Calculate Costs from Units checkbox is marked by default when you add a new role. When this option is selected, any new assignments for the role will have its costs recalculated whenever any quantity changes occur.

The default unit value is hours. If you type a price but no unit, the module defaults the unit to hours.

Define role limits over time

Use the Limits tab to specify available quantities (limits) for a role. Setting limits helps you quickly identify areas of role overload in Resource/Role Usage Profiles, using different colors to represent limits and overallocated units in charts and histograms. You can define an unlimited number of role limits for each role; however, the effective date must be unique. To define role limits:

1)Choose Enterprise, Roles.

2)Select the role you want to define limits for, then click the Units and Prices tab. If tabs are not displayed in the Roles dialog box, click the Display Options bar and choose Roles Details.

3)Click Add at the bottom of the Roles dialog box.

4)Double-click in the Effective Date column, then click the Browse button to select the date the limit takes effect.

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5)In the Max Units/Time column, enter the allocation limit for the role as a unit value or as a percentage, depending on your user preference settings for resource units/time (User Preferences, Time Units tab).

You can enter values in any time and duration unit; however, the module automatically converts the value to the default units/duration format specified in the User Preferences, Time Units tab.

Tip

By default, role limits are calculated based on the limit defined for each role’s primary resource, which may not accurately reflect a role’s planned allocation. In P6 Professional on the User Preferences, Resource Analysis tab, you can choose to display role limits based on the custom role limits you define.

Assign roles to activities

1)Choose Project, Activities.

2)Select the activity to which you want to assign a role.

3)Display Activity Details, then click the Resources tab.

4)Click Add Role.

5)Select the role you want to assign.

You can assign multiple roles to an activity. To select more than one item, hold down the Ctrl key, then click each role you want to assign.

6)Click Assign, then click Close.

Tip

If price/unit rates are defined for a role you assign to an activity, you can choose the price/unit rate you want the module to use to calculate cost. Choosing a defined price/unit rate yields more accurate cost planning results. If you do not specify a rate, the module uses the default rate defined in the Project Details, Calculations tab.

Assign roles to resources from the Resources window

1)Choose Enterprise, Resources, then select the resource to which you want to assign a role.

2)Click the Roles tab, then click Assign.

3)Select the role you want to assign.

4)Click the Assign button, then click the Close button.

5)In the Roles tab, double-click the Proficiency column and select a skill level.

6)If this is the resource’s primary role, mark the Primary Role checkbox.

Assign roles to resources from the Roles dialog box

1)Choose Enterprise, Roles, then select the role you want to assign.

2)Click the Resources tab, then click Assign.

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3)Select the resource to which you want to assign the selected role.

4)Click the Assign button, then click the Close button.

5)In the Resources tab, double-click the Proficiency column and select a skill level.

6)If this is the resource’s primary role, mark the Primary Role checkbox.

View roles

To view all roles

1)Choose Enterprise, Roles.

2)Click the Display Options bar.

To view only those roles that have assignments in the open project, choose Filter By, Current Projects' Roles.

To view all roles, choose Filter By, All Roles.

To view roles for a specific activity

1)Choose Project, Activities.

2)Select the activity whose roles you want to view.

3)Click the Resources tab.

Edit resource information

1)Choose Enterprise, Resources.

2)If necessary, choose View, Filter By, All Resources, to display all resources.

3)Choose View, Group and Sort By, Default.

4)Select the resource you want to edit.

To change the resource's position in the hierarchy, click the appropriate arrow buttons.

5)Click each tab in Resource Details to enter new information.

Notes

When connected to a P6 Professional database: The email address and office phone number you type in the Resources window General tab overwrites the email address and office phone number recorded in the Users dialog box, if that information is different. Likewise, email and phone information you enter for a resource in the Users dialog box overwrites the information in the Resources window.

When connected to a P6 EPPM database: The email address and office phone number you type in the Resources window General tab overwrites the email address and office phone number recorded using P6, if that information is different. Likewise, email and phone information you enter for a resource in P6 overwrites the information in the Resources window.

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