When planning future resource allocation on the Plan Resources page, you can search for resources to assign.
You can either specify new search criteria or select a template to search using previously saved criteria. After specifying search criteria or choosing a saved template, you can run the search, review the search results and assign resources.
To specify new search criteria
- On the Plan Resources page, select the appropriate WBS element, then click
at the top left of the Resource Planning spreadsheet.
- Enter or select search and sort criteria as defined in the following tables.
Tip: After entering your search and sort criteria, click Save as Template if you want to save the search criteria as a template for future use.
Tip: A Global Preference setting determines the number of search criteria you can specify.
- Click Run Search.
See review search results and assign resources below to learn how to assign resources based on the search results.
Select an existing search template
- On the Plan Resources page, select the appropriate WBS element, then click Assign by Search.
- Click Select Template. Select the template you want to use, then click Assign.
Refer to the previous search criteria and sort criteria field definition tables for information on the data contained in the template.
- Click Run Search.
Continue with the following section to assign resources based on the search results.
Review search results and assign resources
- On the Search Results page, mark the Select column for each resource you want to assign, then click Assign Resource.
Tips:
If no resources match your search results, or if you want to rerun the search, click Return to Search, modify your search criteria, and run the search again.
If you do not want to assign any resources or run another search, click Close.
Choose the level of detail to display in the timescale, such as Year/Quarter, Year/Month, Quarter/Month, or Month/Week.
The following fields are also displayed on the Search Results page.
- The Timescale shows the availability for the resource by time period.
Note: Availability calculations are based on summary data and so are current as of the last date the summarizer was run for a project. Assignment changes within a project after that date will not be reflected until the project is again summarized from the Projects > Tools page. For more detail about summarized resource data, see Resource Data and Summarization.
- The Score is the number of units the resource will have available after being assigned to the current request.
Note: This value is always represented as hours, regardless of the increment specified for Requested Units when searching. Requested units, and the search results spreadsheet values, reflect the time unit setting of your global preferences.
Score is calculated as:
Available Units of the resource across the expanded assignment time frame – Total Requested Units
Expanded assignment time frame is determined by an Admin preference in the Project Management module that specifies the interval for summarizing and storing resource spreads at the Resource/Role Assignment level. For example, if the Resource/Role Assignment summarize interval is set to week, the search is expanded to start from the Sunday just prior to the search start date and end the Saturday immediately following the search end date.