The formula for calculating task duration is as follows: Duration = Work ÷ Units In this formula:
Duration represents the length of working time required to complete a task, calculated as the difference between the start date and the finish date of the task.
Work refers to the amount of effort, typically measured in hours, that the resource assigned to the task must exert for task completion.
Resource Units indicate the portion of the resource's available time dedicated to working on a specific task.
The task type setting determines how the values in the formula are computed for a task. The term "fixed" in the task type name (fixed units, fixed duration, fixed work) signifies which element among the three in the scheduling formula remains unchanged, while the other two elements are recomputed based on the fixed element.
1. Fixed Units:
Units = Work ÷ Duration
- When you modify Work or Duration, the Units value remains constant.
- Either Work or Duration is recalculated based on the formula.
2. Fixed Duration (default):
Duration = Work ÷ Units
- When you adjust Units or Work, the Duration value remains constant.
- Either Units or Work is recalculated based on the formula.
3. Fixed Work:
Work = Duration * Units
- When you modify Units or Duration, the Work value remains constant.
- Either Duration or Units are recalculated based on the formula.
Effort-driven tasks refer to activities where the total workload remains constant, regardless of the number of resources allocated to them. In Microsoft Project, adjusting resource assignments on an effort-driven task means the workload gets evenly redistributed among the resources. These tasks are typically set as Fixed Work by default, meaning adding more resources or increasing their working hours reduces the task's duration.
For Fixed Unit tasks, making them effort-driven also results in a reduced duration with the addition of more resources. However, applying effort-driven principles to Fixed Duration tasks does not decrease the duration. Instead, the amount of work stays the same, and the allocation per resource is adjusted to spread the workload evenly across the allotted time.
Understanding the different task types and how effort-driven scheduling operates is crucial. This knowledge ensures you won't be surprised by how task durations or resource allocations adjust when you're managing resources. It's all about the scheduling engine's formula, where altering two variables allows the Project to calculate the third, ensuring efficient task management.
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