Think of Resource Attributes as the different characteristics of your resources. You can create attributes such as skills, certifications, region or expertise, and assign them to your project resources so that you can easily search for them when you want to see their utilization and/or availability.
For example, if you would like to assign tasks to a Developer but would like to see who among your developers has capacity or is available, you will go to Resource Utilization and search for "Developer" as an attribute and Inspire Planner will return all resources you've tagged with the "Developer" attribute.
This help article will show you how to:
To view Resource Attributes, create new attributes and assign them to resources, go to the Resource Management Tab.
There are three (3) subtabs within Resource Management - Utilization, Resources and Attributes. Go to Attributes.
The Attributes Tab displays all existing attributes in a list on the left of the page. You can click on a column heading to sort attributes by the attribute name or by type. By default, there are four (4) types of Attributes - Certification, Skill, Region and Expertise. However, Salesforce System Administrators have the ability to create/customize attribute types.
It is best practice to search for an attribute first before you create a new one. This prevents you from creating duplicate attributes. To search for an attribute, enter the attribute in the search box. Attributes that match the text you enter will be displayed.
You are able to create as many attributes as you need and classify them according to their types (i.e. skill, certification, region or expertise).
To add a new attribute, click on Add New Attribute.
Enter an Attribute name and specify the Type. You can also add any other information pertaining to the attribute, such as a description. Click on Create when you are finished populating all attribute information.
The attribute you created should now be displayed within the list of attributes on the left.
To edit an attribute, simply click on the attribute name from the list of attributes on the left. The attribute details will open on the right. Click on Edit in the top right corner.
Make your changes, then click on Update.
To delete an attribute, click on the attribute from the list of attributes on the left. The attribute details will open on the right. Click on Delete in the top right corner.
Once you've created attributes, you can now assign them to resources. Assigning an attribute to a resource means that you are essentially "tagging" a resource with the attribute, so that you can search for them in Resource Utilization.
You can assign an attribute to a resource either from the Attributes Tab or from the Resources Tab.
You can assign an attribute to resources (users and contacts) from the Attribute record. Simply click on an attribute from the list on the left. The attribute details will be displayed on the right.
To assign the attribute to a user, click on Assign to Users. To assign the attribute to a contact, click on Assign to Contacts.
You can search for a user or contact from either list using the search box on top of the list. You can search by first name, last name or full name.
Select the user(s) or contact(s), then click on Apply. You can assign an attribute to as many users or contacts as needed.
The attribute details will display all the users and/or contacts the attribute has been assigned to.
You can also assign an attribute from resources (users and contacts) from the Resource record. Simply click on the Resources Tab.
Users are selected and displayed by default. However, you can select the type of resource you would like to see in the list (users only, contacts only or both).
To assign an attribute to a resource, start by clicking on the resource's name from the list of users/contacts on the left. This will open the resource's record on the right.
In the box labeled "Pick attributes to add", start typing in the name of the attribute. This will return all attributes that match the characters you entered. Click on the attribute to assign it to the resource.
You can assign more than one attribute to the same resource. Simply repeat the step above - search for and select the attribute you would like to assign to the resource. The attributes you assigned to the resource are displayed below the search box.
Attributes of the same type are displayed in the same color (i.e. attributes of type "skill" will display in the same color, etc.)
If the attribute no longer applies to a resource, you can unassign/remove the attribute from the resource from either the Attributes Tab or the Resources Tab.
You can unassign an attribute from resources (users and contacts) from the Attribute record. Simply click on an attribute from the list on the left. The attribute details will be displayed on the right.
To unassign the attribute from a user, click on Assign to Users. To unassign the attribute from a contact, click on Assign to Contacts.
Deselect the user/contact and click on Apply.
The user/contact should no longer be listed under Assigned Users or Assigned Contacts.
You can also unassign an attribute from resources (users and contacts) from the Resource record. Simply click on the Resources Tab.
To unassign an attribute from a resource, start by clicking on the resource's name from the list of users/contacts on the left. This will open the resource's record on the right.
Click on the "X" beside an attribute to remove it.
The Resource Attributes feature is configurable, so you are able to customize attribute types, add custom fields or add a lookup to another object. To learn how, see Configuring Resource Attributes.