Have more questions? Submit a request

Resource Allocation - Complete Overview

Cheryl Wetherington -

Article & Video: Complete overview of resource allocation tools.

Resource Allocation allows you to view your resources' workload in a graphical format.

On the Resources tab, add the Availability column. Then specify the appropriate values. On the Tasks list, click the Chart icon and the Resource Allocation window appears. The default view is the overall project allocation of all resources. Select a resource and his or her individual workload will appear.

Allocation is determined by the values in the Work column in the task list and also takes into consideration the resource's availability. If no value is set in the work column, the system will calculate based on the duration field. For example, if there is a one-day duration, the system will assume the resource's hours dedicated to that project on that day are fully allocated.

For the most accurate assessment of allocation, use the Schedule by Work function on any assigned tasks. 

If you have two or more Resources assigned to a task, you can designate the level of work on a specific task as well. Use parentheses to specify the appropriate percentage of responsibility to each Resource. This will impact the allocation level for each.

Understanding these principles and how the system calculates Allocation will help you to follow best practices when it's critical you know exactly how much time is allocated to each resource across all projects.

The resource allocation chart is color-coded. Red indicates over-allocation; yellow means under-allocation; and green means proper allocation. Click on any bar in the chart and the corresponding task is highlighted above, making it easy for you to make adjustments.

To get a broad overview of Resource allocation across multiple projects, go to the Home tab then click on Allocation.

Cross-Project Allocation.png

The Allocation tab displays all resources associated with the active projects. The workdays schedule from the first active project tab is used as the base schedule for cross-project allocation. Please also note the system identifies these resources based on the Email Address listed on the resource page. This page will not display any Resources that do not have an email addresses associated with them. Click on the + symbol to expand a Resource's list. Clicking on a task takes you to the project where you can assign the task to another Resource.

Have more questions? Submit a request

Comments 0

