Resources → Resource Options → Resources

Resources

Resources are people (labor) that can be associated with any item. This includes generic labor resources and a TBH (to-be-hired or unknown) resource. A resource manager is allowed to add resources and to create resource teams for actual and generic resources (a placeholder). The Resources module helps provide tools to resource managers for creating, managing, allocating, and securing your resources.

Adding a resource

A new resource can be added. When a new resource is created, that resource is not assigned to a user account, is not assigned to a license, and is inactive. To assign a license and activate the account, please contact your administrator.

To add a resource
  1. Open the Resources module.
  2. Select the Resource Pool tab.
  3. Click New Resource.
  4. In the New Resource dialog box, type the first name, last name, user name, email address, and contact information for the new resource.
  5. Enter starting and ending dates for the resource.
  6. Select the resource type from the Resource Type drop-down.
  7. Click OK. The resource will be inactive until a license is assigned to the user account. Please work with an administrator to assign a license to the new resource.

Adding a resource with a user account

In order for a resource to be assigned to tasks, report time against those tasks, manage projects, manage resources, or otherwise perform work against any item, that resource must also have a user account. If your administrator has imported resources, when you add a new resource, they may already have a user account. Use the New Resource from User option to create a new resource based on an existing user account.

To add a resource who already has a user account
  1. Open the Resources module.
  2. Right-click the navigation tree and select New Resource from User to create a new resource based on an existing user account.
  3. In the New Resource from User dialog box, select a user.
  4. Click Save. The resource will be an active resource.

Deleting a resource

If a resource isn't needed in the resource pool, it can be deleted.

To delete a resource
  1. Open the Resources module.
  2. Select the Resource Pool tab.
  3. Select a resource team.
  4. Select a resource and click Delete.

Editing a resource

You can edit (or update) the properties of a resource. However, if your organization is using a Lightweight Directory Access (LDAP) provider to maintain user account data, some resource data should not be edited and/or updated manually.

To edit a resource
  1. Open the Resources module.
  2. Select the Resource Pool, Resource Allocations, or Resource Assignments tabs.
  3. Select a resource team in the resources tree.
  4. Select a resource.
  5. In the lower pane, make your changes and click Save.

Finding a resource

Find a resource and assign or allocate that resource to a task, work item, or item. In the Find Resource dialog box you can search for resources by the name, role, or skills. You also have the option of sorting the candidates by availability, based on the criteria of your choosing. When you select a possible candidate, you can view the resource's availability in the time-phased graph.

The Find Resource dialog enables you to search for resources from specific resource teams by name, role, or skill, and search from specific resource teams. This search will return all the resources meeting the identified criteria, and list them alphabetically under Candidates. Clicking a resource displays an associated capacity and availability graph in the lower pane.

The Find Resource dialog also enables you to sort the returned list of resources according a weighted availability score. You can define the value attribute used to calculate availability for the candidate scoring. The availability score displays a graphical indication of a resources availability, from most available to least.
  • 100 5 bars–Most available, score of 81-100.
  • 80 4 bars–Score of 61-80
  • 60 3 bars–Score of 41-60
  • 40 2 bars–Score of 21-40
  • 20 1 bars–Least available, and possibly over-allocated, score of 0-20
You can determine the exact availability score by positioning your mouse pointer over the candidate score graphic. These values are derived using a resource availability algorithm. Essentially, for each resource that matches the search criteria and selected timeframe, availability is calculated in the following way:
  • Straight availability resources with the most non-allocated hours.
  • Earliest availability resources with the most non-allocated hours that are the closest to the specified time period.
  • Value of non-availability resources who are allocated to a high-value item may be considered less available than those who are allocated to a lower-value item.

The period availability score is a resource's capacity minus any planned hours for any item to which the resource will be assigned work. Each planned hour is adjusted by the value of the item so that resources on a high value item that are scored as less available than resources on a lower value item. Candidates with availability on or closer to the specified time period are more desirable than candidates with availability in the future, even if their overall availability in terms of non-allocated hours may be higher. If you select a specific Investment Value Attribute to sort against, the relative value of the availability scores for all candidates will likely vary.

To find a resource
  1. When allocating or assigning resources, click to open the Find Resource dialog box.
  2. In the Search dialog box, type the string for which you want to search.
  3. Select the Name attribute.
  4. For Match, select any word to have the search results include any of the text you typed or select all words to have the search results include all of the text you typed. To search for a specific phrase, put quotation marks around the word(s) for which you are searching.
  5. From the Display drop-down, select Documents.
  6. Click Advanced to set up a more detailed search, including defining rules, searching by keyword, title, and description, and any selected item.
  7. Click OK.

Moving a resource

Open the Move Resources dialog box to move a resource or a resource team to a different location in the Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS). The Move Resources dialog lists every item that you are authorized to view. An item is displayed by default in a tree view that you can navigate just like the navigation pane in the Projects module. When you select an item for a report or a notification, the selection applies to that item and any item below it in that branch of the tree view. When you select an item for include/exclude or self-allocating activities, the selection applies only to that item.

To move a resource
  1. Open the Resources module.
  2. Select the Resource Pool tab.
  3. Select a resource team.
  4. Select a resource.
  5. Click Move/Copy.
  6. In the Move Resources dialog box, click a resource team into which the resource will move.
  7. Click OK.

Viewing a resource

Resources can be viewed from the Resource Pool tab in the Resources module.

To view a resource
  1. Open the Resources module.
  2. Select the Resource Pool, Resource Allocations, or Resource Assignments tab.
  3. Select a resource team from the resources tree.
  4. Click the resource you want to view. The resource's details appear in the lower pane.

Viewing resource properties

You can view the properties of a resource from the Resource Pool, Resource Allocations, and Resource Assignments tabs.

To view resource properties
  1. Open the Resources module.
  2. Select the Resource Pool, Resource Allocations, or Resource Assignments tab.
  3. Select a resource.
  4. The resource's properties will appear in the lower pane.

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