Sizwe MkhizeProject ManagerPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Good morning.
My executives need to see a resource availability dashboard in addition to the project dashboard I am able to create on MS Project.
As a PM of a fairly small team I have sight of what everybody is doing in the organisation but it is important for the executives to have sight of when each team member is available as the execs need to sell to clients and dont want to over-promise and under-deliver.
Thus I would to create a resource availability dashboard for them. But the only PM tool I have access to is MS Project (local instance). I would like your assistance in creating this report if any body knows how to do this on MS Project.
The main aim of this report is that is it easy to understand at a glance to a executive who will make sense of it easily.
Product Operations Program ManagerBarcelona, Cataluña, Spain
Hi Sizwe,
I'd recommend that you look into YouTube tutorials or other materials easily accessible in the web, they are usually very helpful.
In MS Project, under the Project Tab, you may find the Visual Reports and (Written) Reports. Resource Remaining Work Report or Workload Report could be useful to provide the information you need to show to management.
Bear in mind to baseline the project and introduce tracking information to squeeze all functionality out of MS Project and its related features. Saving Changes...
Drew CraigSr. Agile & Product Coach| VanguardPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
This is possible. Assuming the resource sheet is completed with all resources on the project, those not specifically on the project that should be included, and all tasks have the associated resource allocated, you will be able to leverage a couple different views in MS Project.
From the report tab (available in MS Project 2013/16), select the appropriate report (Work Dashboard, Resource report), or build your own!
From the Gantt view, click on the top left most corner cell, right click, select either resource or work.
I'm going from memory here, but should get you started. Google will give some good results/options as well. Others will be by to also share great resources. Saving Changes...
Mark EckmanSenior Project Manager, PMP| VeoliaEmporia, Va, United States
I am still working with MS Project 2010 so this might be slightly different if using 2013 or 2016. You will probably want to start with the built in availability report and modify to suit your needs.
Here is how I have been able to generate that report in MS Project 2010:
Resource Availability visual report: On the Project tab, in the Reports group, click
Visual Reports. Click the Resource Usage tab, and then double-click the Resource
Availability Report (Metric) or Resource Availability Report (US). Visio opens to show how much time each resource is working throughout the project and how much time the resource has available.
The best resource guide to MS Project that I have found is:
"Microsoft Project 2010 - Inside Out" by Teresa Stover.
I found this book on Amazon and have included a link.
As Andrew and Eduard have already stated, there is a lot of tutorial and YouTube material out there.
Just remember, any report you develop will only be as good as the resource data you load in up front.
Hope this helps.
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1 reply by Sizwe Mkhize
Mar 13, 2017 11:00 AM
Sizwe Mkhize
...
Thank's very much.
Indeed I have seen this option but in the office we dont have a Visio licence (we are a very small company) and I dont have a personal one as well.
Would there be another way to create the report? (Maybe it has been answered above - will check them out)
Thank you very much for your time.
Regards,
Sizwe
Saving Changes...
Sizwe MkhizeProject ManagerPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Mar 13, 2017 9:10 AM
Replying to Mark Eckman
...
I am still working with MS Project 2010 so this might be slightly different if using 2013 or 2016. You will probably want to start with the built in availability report and modify to suit your needs.
Here is how I have been able to generate that report in MS Project 2010:
Resource Availability visual report: On the Project tab, in the Reports group, click
Visual Reports. Click the Resource Usage tab, and then double-click the Resource
Availability Report (Metric) or Resource Availability Report (US). Visio opens to show how much time each resource is working throughout the project and how much time the resource has available.
The best resource guide to MS Project that I have found is:
"Microsoft Project 2010 - Inside Out" by Teresa Stover.
I found this book on Amazon and have included a link.
As Andrew and Eduard have already stated, there is a lot of tutorial and YouTube material out there.
Just remember, any report you develop will only be as good as the resource data you load in up front.
Hope this helps.
Thank's very much.
Indeed I have seen this option but in the office we dont have a Visio licence (we are a very small company) and I dont have a personal one as well.
Would there be another way to create the report? (Maybe it has been answered above - will check them out)
Thank you very much for your time.
Regards,
Sizwe Saving Changes...
S RajasekarSenior Project Manager| AllscriptsBangalore, Karnataka, India
Go to Reports Menu - New report - Table reports - Give Name to a report
In the Right Panel - Field List - Choose Resources Tab
You will get list of resource names , start and end date for each resource allocation , So resource is allocated/engaged between these dates irrespective of number of task they are assigned , it is cumulative/duration
In the Filed List- Resources Tab - Select Work Node - Renaming Work
Now report will display resource name, Start and Finish date and remaining work
If remaining work is zero , resource is not allocated they are available
You can add this table to existing report/dashboard and also you can create custom filed to display available date using Finish + 1
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1 reply by Sizwe Mkhize
Mar 14, 2017 3:52 AM
Sizwe Mkhize
...
Thank you.
Im going to try this as soon as I get back in the office. Just running in-between client meetings right now.
Thanks very much. I appreciate it.
Regards,
Sizwe
Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
You may find, Sizwe, that investing in a Visio license is an inexpensive cost to get the reports you want.
Project integrates well into Visio for reporting. Given your targeted audience, you would be well served by adding that license.
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Great input from our fellow colleagues, can't really think of anything to add except that for small projects, I sometimes use excel to do the resource availability report. Saving Changes...
It would be nice if these post allowed us to post screenshots. Great comments from everyone.
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1 reply by Stéphane Parent
Mar 13, 2017 7:37 PM
Stéphane Parent
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There is a way to do it, Demetrius. It is a bit laborious as you have to first encode your image as base 64 code. You then embed that code in the img HTML tag.
I've done it a couple of times for small images, where it made sense.
If you are technically inclined just Google: html inline image.
Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
Mar 13, 2017 5:48 PM
Replying to Demetrius Williams
...
It would be nice if these post allowed us to post screenshots. Great comments from everyone.
There is a way to do it, Demetrius. It is a bit laborious as you have to first encode your image as base 64 code. You then embed that code in the img HTML tag.
I've done it a couple of times for small images, where it made sense.
If you are technically inclined just Google: html inline image. Saving Changes...
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