Resource managers can use Resource Staffing features to review open resource requests from project managers and to search for and assign resources to activities. Resource Staffing enables a resource manager to perform sophisticated resource searching using multiple criteria such as resource codes, roles, and resource name or ID. This feature also provides the capability to staff multiple activities with a single resource.
Note: You must have the required project privilege to view and staff resource requests for a project.
Resource Staffing can be broken down into two main steps:
When determining the best resource to staff a resource request, you can assign a resource from the list of resources you have access to, or you can perform a resource search.
Step 1: Reviewing requests for resources
You view staffing requests in the Open Requests for Resources portlet in a dashboard. This portlet displays all unstaffed roles for the role team you select. Through the portlet preferences, you can organize and filter the data to focus on staffing requests for the projects you are responsible for.
For example, suppose you are responsible for staffing software engineers and system architects within your projects. To view all open requests for these roles
- Create a role team comprised of software engineers and system architects.
- Customize the Open Requests for Resources portlet and choose this role team.
The portlet then displays all staffing requests for these roles, organized and filtered according to your customize preferences.
Within the Open Requests for Resources portlet, click an unstaffed role to view the role's activities, including details such as the requested assignment dates and units. You can display only unstaffed activities or all activities assigned to the role. From this page, you can assign resources to staff the request.
Note: Staffed resource assignments that have actual units are not listed on the Resource Staffing page.
Step 2: Staffing requests with the best resource
You have two options when assigning resources
- Assign a resource from the list of resources that you have
access to.
The list of accessible resources is determined by your resource security access privileges and individual resources' project association. For more information, see Resource security. - Search for resources based on specific criteria.
If a project manager has specified criteria for you to use in selecting a resource, you can use this criteria as it is or modify it. You can also save search criteria for future use.
Tip: If a project manager has already specified resource requirements for the unstaffed activity, the Search Criteria column displays the word Yes.
To assign one or more activities to a resource without searching, mark the activity Select checkbox, then click Assign.
Select a resource, then click Assign. Or, to review allocation details before assigning, click Show Detail. This displays resource usage data, which enables you to review resource assignments based on summarized data.
To search for resources to assign to one or more activities, mark the Select checkbox, then click Search.
Tip: If you select an activity that has search criteria associated with it, the search form displays the criteria. If you choose multiple activities, and all do not have search criteria specified or identical search criteria, only the requested role displays in the search form.
- Specify new criteria required to staff the activity.
To save new search criteria for later use, click Save as Template.
Or, to search using previously saved criteria, click Select Template.
- Specify the sorting and availability calculation options you want to use, then click Run Search to display available resources.
Note: If no resources match the criteria you selected, click Search to modify your selection criteria.
Search results include only those available resources that belong to your access node, based on resource security, and current project resources.
- To assign a resource, mark the Select column next to the resource name, then click Assign Resource.
Note: In the search criteria, if you specify a primary role and no other role, only those resources who are available and are assigned that primary role will be included in the search results. To find all available resources who have the specified role assigned, even if it is not their primary role, leave the primary role text entry box blank and type the role you want to search for in the second text entry box of the role criteria section.
For additional details on Staffing Search page fields and options, see Resource Staffing - Field Definitions.