Resource Substitution Wizard

Use the Resource Substitution Wizard to have Microsoft Office Project automatically staff your enterprise projects according to the skills required for the tasks in the projects, the skills of the resources in the enterprise resource pool, and the availability of those resources. The Resource Substitution Wizard works in conjunction with an identified resource breakdown structure (RBS). The RBS is set up by your server administrative closure and then applied to all enterprise resources. Add the RBS field to the Task Usage view, and then for each assignment for which you want the Resource Substitution Wizard to find resources, enter the appropriate RBS code. You can:

• Replace generic resources with real resources.

• Replace existing resources with other resources.

• Find qualified and available resources and assign them to tasks.

• Find resources from within the selected projects or the entire enterprise resource pool.

Dialog box location

On the Tools menu, click Substitute Resources. On the introductory page, click the Next button.

Details

Step 1. Choose Projects

Select the enterprise project(s) that are to be staffed using the Resource Substitution Wizard.

Check box     Specifies that this project is to be staffed using the Resource Substitution Wizard.

Project Name     Shows the names of all enterprise projects currently opened on the user's computer.

Version     Specifies the version name of the project, for example, Published or Archived. If you're selecting multiple projects to be staffed at the same time, they must all be of the same version. New unsaved projects can be used with any version.

Step 2. Choose Resources

Select the group of resources you want to use to staff the selected projects.

In the selected projects     Specifies that the resources in the projects selected on the Step 1. Choose Projects page of the wizard should be used to staff those projects. These resources need not be currently assigned to any tasks. This option is selected by default.

Specified below     Indicates that the resources listed in the table should be used to staff the selected projects. Resources are listed in the table when you click Add and select resources from the Build Pool for Resource Substitution dialog box, which can display all available enterprise resources.

Add    Opens the Build Pool for Resource Substitution dialog box. If necessary, apply filters to find enterprise resources who meet your skills or availability criteria. Select the resources in the Filtered enterprise resources table on the left and click Add. The resources are added to the Project team resources table on the right. When finished, click OK. The resources in the Project team resources table are added to the table on the Choose Resources Wizard page.

Remove     Removes the selected resource from the table. Use this when you've selected the Specified below option and are building and fine-tuning the list of resources to be used for resource substitution.

Allow resources with the proposed booking type to be assigned to tasks     Specifies that the Resource Substitution Wizard should assign proposed resources, as well as those that are committed. By default, this check box is cleared.

Resource freeze horizon     Specifies the start date for tasks that you want the Resource Substitution Wizard to begin assigning resources. This is helpful when you want to keep your assignments as they are in the near term, but want to staff assignments further in the future. By default, the resource freeze horizon is set to the current date.

Step 3. Choose Related Projects

Review any related projects and specify whether these projects should be included in the set of projects being staffed by the wizard. Related projects are those that have either cross-project links, share enterprise resources with your selected projects, or use any of the resources selected in Step 2. Only projects that contain relationships to other projects are listed in the table on this page.

Include check box     Specifies that the related project is to be added to the list of projects to be staffed using the Resource Substitution Wizard. If you select the check box for a project on this page, that project is added to the projects that can be restaffed through resource substitution. Whether you select related projects or not, the wizard always considers assignments in related projects to calculate a resource's remaining availability.

Name     Shows the name of the related project.

Relationship     Specifies the nature of the relationship between the selected project and the related project, For example, shared resources or linked tasks.

Related Project     Indicates the name of the related project, whether it shares a resource pool, or if it uses any of the resources selected in Step 2.

Step 4. Choose Scheduling Options

Specify the priority for each project to be staffed, and indicate which group of resources should be used for the staffing.

Name     Shows the name of the selected project to be staffed by the wizard.

Priority     Specifies the relative priority by which the projects should be staffed. By default, all projects have a priority of 500, indicating a medium priority on a scale of 0 to 1000. Projects with higher numbers have higher priority for staffing, and determine the order in which projects will be staffed.

Options     Specifies which resources should be used to staff the selected project. Choices are the resources in the project itself or resources in the resource pool selected in Step 2.

Level resources with proposed booking type     Indicates that proposed resources should be leveled along with the committed resources. It's a good idea to level your project after the resource substitution process is complete. By default, this check box is cleared.

Step 5. Substitute Resources

Review the summary of the choices you've made up to this point. If you want to change any settings, click the Back button to get to the page you need.

Summary of configuration     Shows the names of the projects to be staffed, the resource options selected, the resource pool being used, and the date indicating the resource freeze horizon.

Run     Runs the Resource Substitution Wizard to find resources in the selected pool for resources and assignments in the selected projects. When the process is complete, click Next.

Step 6. Review Results

Review the results of the resource substitution process. This page shows the assignments and the resources that have been found for those assignments based on the skill profiles. The assignments aren't actually changed yet; these are the proposed results. You can also sort, filter, and group the changes in a view.

Task     Shows the task for which a resource has been found.

Skill Profile     Shows the list of skills, as defined in the RBS or enterprise resource outline code. These are the skills you set for assignments in the Task Usage view, or through the use of assigned generic resources, and are used by the Resource Substitution Wizard to find eligible resources.

Assigned Resource     Displays the name of the resource the wizard has found to staff the task.

Requested Resource     Displays the name of the resource that was originally assigned to the task using the Assign Resources dialog box.

Request/Demand     Specifies whether the resource was requested or demanded in the Assign Resources dialog box.

Step 7. Choose Update Options

Specify whether you want to update the projects based on the results of the wizard. You can also save the wizard configuration and substitution results to a file for later use. Your projects are not updated until you apply the results from this page.

Update projects with result of the wizard     Specifies that the results of the wizard should update the project. By default, this check box is selected.

Save results of the wizard     Specifies that the results of the wizard should be saved to a file as a report, rather than applied to the selected projects. These results are saved as an HTML file, and includes the projects, resources selected, the resource freeze horizon, scheduling options, and the resources found by the wizard. By default, this check box is cleared.

If the Update projects with result of the wizard and the Save results of the wizard check boxes are both cleared, the results of the wizard will be discarded. You can also select both check boxes.

Folder     Specifies the folder into which the file containing the saved results of the wizard should be saved. This box is available only when the Save results of the wizard check box is selected.

Browse     Opens the Browse dialog box, which you can use to locate the folder into which you want to save the file containing the results of the wizard. When you find the folder you want, select it and then click OK. The dialog box closes, and the path of the folder appears in the Folder box. This button is available only when the Save results of the wizard check box is selected.

Step 8. Finish

Review the recommendations on this page. When you click Finish, your projects will be updated with the results of the wizard, or the information will be saved to a file.

Update your projects with the results of the wizard     Applies the resource substitutions found by the wizard to the selected projects or saves the results to an HTML file in your selected folder.

Progress bar     Shows the current status of the update. When finished, a message appears, indicating that the wizard has finished.

Stop      Cancels the project updates.

Finish     Completes the resource substitution process and closes the wizard. You can now review the results of the assignment changes.

Note: 

• After finishing and closing the wizard, review the assignments by using the Task Usage view or Resource Usage view. You can also review substituted resource information in the Resource Sheet view. If you are satisfied with the changes, make them permanent by saving the projects. To discard the changes, close the projects without saving. You can also save the projects as separate project files by using the Save As command.

• After finishing and closing the wizard, consider leveling your projects. This helps you see how the wizard's resource assignments have impacted your resource allocation and project finish dates.

• Before running the Resource Substitution Wizard, your server administrator needs to set up the enterprise resource pool, and create the RBS or similar job skills code scheme. The server administrator also needs to apply the RBS code to the enterprise resources.

• You can review the RBS applied to resources in your project. In the Resource Sheet view or Resource Usage view, add the RBS field. Click a column heading, and then on the Insert menu, click Column. Click the name of the RBS field created by your server administrator, and then click OK. Apply the appropriate RBS code for each assignment that you want the Resource Substitution Wizard to staff.