MSP 2010 Resource Allocation

[smudgepost]

Hi all, I've just inherited MS Project 2010 and have been building 16 initiatives into one big project. The install is connected to the central server for email/notifications and the easy addition of resources.

Where I'm struggling is in allocating a resource. Every task block defaults in creating 8 hour work days when many of the actions take little time such as booking meetings (an hour or two a week). I started going through the Task Usage (view) to select the hours but this seemed a slow and muddy way to do this.

I know an initiative has a start date and finish date. I can allocate a person to act on each task under the initiative and it will take time to review over a period of weeks. Can anyone give me a high level tip on how to structure this or my option setting will mean boiling the ocean! (Too much detail)

The output will be a reminder to put x hours into a task in a set week.