Hi



I've spent hours trying to resolve this, hope someone can help.....

Imagine I have 2 tasks to be carried out. Task 1 is constrained to commence on 1st September and will take 5 days duration, so will finish on friday 5th Sept. I allocate "Resource 1" to this task and all is good, the task ends on Friday 5th September.

Then imagine I have another task, Task 2, which is constrained to start on 3rd September. This will also take 5 days, so should end on Tuesday 9th September. I allocate my second resource, Resource 2 to this task and Project calculates the "correct" end date of 9th September.

But what I'd really like is for my first Resource, once they're finished with Task 1, to then work on Task 2. So I allocate Resouce 1 to Task 2, meaning there are now 2 resources aligned to Task 2.

BUT....when I do this Project makes my new finish date a day later (wednesday 10th)! So by adding an extra resource to Task 2 it takes longer! Why? As far as i can see it's because Project tries to evenly allocate work between both my resources for Task 2 (both show as working 17.5 hours). What I'd really like is for Resource 2 to work 100% on Task 2, then on Monday 8th September Resource 1 moves across and both resources work a full day and I finish my task a day earlier, reflecting what would happen in the real world.

Can anyone help me get round this please?

Thanks in advance

I'm afraid there is no automated way to plan this. You certainly can assign Resource 1 to 8 hours of work on Task 2 starting on Monday, May 8 and then drop the work for Resource 2 to 32 hours - but it is a manual intervention.

If you choose to go that route, split your screen to show the Task Form in the lower pane and change the format to "Schedule". Assign Resource 1 , enter 8 hours of work, and set the Scheduled start of the assignment to Monday. Then drop the work for Resource 2 and the duration should drop.

This method of course, assumes Resource 1 finishes Task 1 as scheduled.

If I want to play it a bit closer, I'd suggest keeping both resources as they are. On Friday you update the work on both tasks. Task 1 should be complete and task 2 should have 24 hours of actual work with 16 hours remaining. Ensure Task 2 is effort driven and then assign Resource 1. The remaining 16 hours of work will be split evenly (assuming equal assignment units) and the duration of the task will adjust automatically.

I hope this helps.

Attached Images

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That does indeed help - thank you very much for your reply, appreciated.

Thanks

You're welcome and thank you for the feedback.