resource management
Types of Resources in MS Project
Starting with the 2007 version, MS Project has 3 types of resources: work, material, and cost.
Work resources differ from material ones in that they are renewable and limited. This means that having used them on one project, you can use them on subsequent projects. Also, work resources are limited in the program by the maximum possible amount (Max Units field) and possibly their own calendar. Material resources are considered non-renewable and unlimited in the program.
Most often, people and equipment are referred to as work resources. Of course, you can say that a person “burned out on the project” and is not subject to reuse, but still… You can treat machines and equipment differently. If we buy 3 cars to blow them up on the filming of a clip in our project - then most likely we will consider them as materials. If we buy them for transporting people and goods in our project, i.e. we need to take into account their work schedule, quantity - then we will designate them as a work resource.
Sometimes it is necessary to bring in material as a work resource if it is supplied to the project according to a certain schedule, or it is necessary to track when its quantity will end. Or a room, for example, if restrictions on its use are a bottleneck for the project and if we do not take these restrictions into account when planning, the plan will not be realistic.
Frankly speaking, material resources (especially in terms of specific names) in the program are rarely planned in practice, more often special services of the company monitor their purchase, use, availability. However, scarce, expensive materials or those supplied according to a special schedule can be the subject of attention of the project manager. Often for the manager, the cost is important, not the quantity of materials - planned, actual, remaining. In this case, you can think about the cost resource - payment for such-and-such materials.
And here you may need a third type of resource - costs. To make it clearer what this type is, it is enough to say that this is the same as the cost items in our estimate, i.e. money with a name - for example, rent, communication services, payroll taxes, travel expenses, payment for materials…
To describe the resources that may be needed for the project, it is convenient to use the Resource Sheet view:
Work resources differ from material ones in that they are renewable and limited. This means that having used them on one project, you can use them on subsequent projects. Also, work resources are limited in the program by the maximum possible amount (Max Units field) and possibly their own calendar. Material resources are considered non-renewable and unlimited in the program.
Most often, people and equipment are referred to as work resources. Of course, you can say that a person “burned out on the project” and is not subject to reuse, but still… You can treat machines and equipment differently. If we buy 3 cars to blow them up on the filming of a clip in our project - then most likely we will consider them as materials. If we buy them for transporting people and goods in our project, i.e. we need to take into account their work schedule, quantity - then we will designate them as a work resource.
Sometimes it is necessary to bring in material as a work resource if it is supplied to the project according to a certain schedule, or it is necessary to track when its quantity will end. Or a room, for example, if restrictions on its use are a bottleneck for the project and if we do not take these restrictions into account when planning, the plan will not be realistic.
Frankly speaking, material resources (especially in terms of specific names) in the program are rarely planned in practice, more often special services of the company monitor their purchase, use, availability. However, scarce, expensive materials or those supplied according to a special schedule can be the subject of attention of the project manager. Often for the manager, the cost is important, not the quantity of materials - planned, actual, remaining. In this case, you can think about the cost resource - payment for such-and-such materials.
And here you may need a third type of resource - costs. To make it clearer what this type is, it is enough to say that this is the same as the cost items in our estimate, i.e. money with a name - for example, rent, communication services, payroll taxes, travel expenses, payment for materials…
To describe the resources that may be needed for the project, it is convenient to use the Resource Sheet view:
How to change the view on the screen?
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