Remove or replace a resource assignment

Depending upon the needs of your project, you can either remove or replace a resource that is assigned to a task in your project. For example, changing a resource assignment may help you to account for overallocation or underallocation, control costs, increase efficiency, or increase quality.

What do you want to do?

Remove a resource assignment

Remove an enterprise resource

Replace a resource assignment

Remove a resource assignment

Removing a resource assignment is not the same as removing a resource from a project plan. Removing a resource assignment will remove the resource's obligations to work on a particular tasks or set of tasks, but the resource can still exist in the project.

Tip: To remove a resource from a project, on the View tab, click Resource Sheet. Select the resource, and then press the DELETE key.

To remove a resource's obligations to work on a task, do the following:

1. On the View tab, in the Task Views group, click Gantt Chart.

2. In the Task Name column, select and right-click the task from which you want to remove a resource.

3. Select Assign Resources .

4. In the Assign Resources dialog, in the Resource Name column, select the resource you want to remove.

5. Click Remove.

   Notes: 

   • As you remove assigned resources from tasks, the durations for those tasks might change. The remaining work is redistributed to the remaining assigned resources. If you don't want the durations to change, turn off effort-driven scheduling for the task.

   • If you remove the only resource from a Fixed Units or Fixed Duration task, the work value disappears. To keep the work value, consider replacing the resource with a placeholder resource. This is particularly important if you use work values to help build your schedule.

   • When you remove a resource from a task, actual work values associated with the task will also be deleted.

   • When you remove a resource from a task, any actual costs associated with the resource are deleted. To keep the actual costs for the task, set the remaining work for the resource to zero before removing the resource.

   • An easy way to remove a resource from a task is to clear the check box in the Resource Name column.

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Remove an enterprise resource

In Microsoft Project 2010, you cannot delete enterprise resources. Instead, you deactivate resources that you no longer need. This ensures that any information and project history associated with that resource is retained.

Deactivating a resource is done by using Microsoft Project Web App. Only a server administrator can deactivate a resource.

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Replace a resource assignment

1. On the View tab, in the Task Views group, click Gantt Chart.

2. In the Task Name column, select and right-click the task with the resource that you want to replace.

3. Click Assign Resources .

4. In the Assign Resources dialog, in the Resource Name column, select the resource that you want to replace.

5. Click Replace.

6. In the Replace Resource dialog box, click the resource that you want to replace, and then click OK.

   To replace the selected resource with multiple resources, hold down CTRL, and then click the resource that you want to add.

   Note: Project will not remove the resource if actual work has been completed on the assignment. The replacement resource is assigned the remaining work from the original assignment. You can adjust these work values, if necessary.

7. In the Assign Resources dialog, in the R/D column, use the drop-down arrow to select Request or Demand.

8. To specify the amount of work the new resource will perform on a task, in the Units list for the resource, enter one of the following:

   • Assign a single work resource full time to the task by typing 100%.

   • Assign a group of resources full time to the task by entering a percentage greater than 100 percent. For example, type 300% for a group of three operators working full time on the task.

   • Assign the consumption rate for a material resource by typing a number that indicates the amount of material to be used for this assignment.

     If the amount of material used depends on the task duration, enter the rate of use by adding a slash (/) and a duration. For example, if 20 yards of lumber is used per week, type 20/week or 20/w.

     Note: Cost information for the duration of the resource's time on the task is automatically calculated and shown in the Cost column. Double-click a Cost column field to enter different cost rate information for the resource.

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