The Resource Allocation page allows you to view your resources' capacity and availability based on the project tasks assigned to them. This feature allows you to easily see whether resources are over or under allocated and helps you find available resources for new and upcoming projects and tasks.
Please Note:
We've upgraded Resource Allocation to a Lightning Web Component. For more information, please see Resource Lightning Web Component (LWC).
Vacation time can also be scheduled for resources. If a block of time needs to be reserved or considered for a future project, you can create a Salesforce Task within the Resource Allocation page and link it to a future project. This allows Project Managers to better allocate resources according to their capacity and availability.
You can set a resource's working hours per day which the Resource Allocation page references when plotting hours for the resource. To learn how to set a resource's working hours per day, please see "Set a Resource's Working Hours per Day".
The resource allocation page also allows you to pin resources so you can easily view resources you regularly work with.
Start with the video below:
To view Resource Allocation, go to the Resources Tab.
Search for resources by attributes in the 'Select Attribute(s)' field on top of the page. You can either scroll through the dropdown menu to find an attribute or you can type the attribute name in the box. A list of matching attributes will display based on the text you enter. Select the attribute by clicking on it.
Inspire Planner will return all resources (users and contacts) who match the attribute you selected.
You can enter one or more attributes in the attribute box. By default, the operator used between attributes is set to 'AND' which means that a resource must have all of the attributes you select.
If you would like to view resources that have any one of the attributes you select, you can switch the operator to 'OR'.
If you would like to clear all attributes, click on Clear to the right of the 'Select Attributes' box.
When you are finished searching for resources by attributes, we recommend you hide the Attribute Filter by clicking on the Filter Icon at the top right corner. This will give you more real estate on the page to expand your resources.
To the right of each resource, you'll see the total planned effort for all tasks assigned for each day of the week.
When you hover over the hours, a dialogue box will open and show you the tasks that make up the hours. On top of the dialogue box, Availability is the resource's capacity and next to it, it will tell you if the resource is under/over allocated and by how many hours.
Instead of viewing resources' allocation by hours, you can also choose to view their allocation and capacity by percentage. Click on the % icon at the top right corner to view the resources' % allocation.
To toggle back to hours, click on the Time icon at the top right.
When you expand a resource on the left, it also displays the resource's assigned project tasks. It will only include the project tasks that make up the hours displayed within the timeline in the Gantt Chart on the right. As you adjust your timeline, it will adjust the project tasks displayed under the resource to include only the project tasks that fall within the timeline.
The work hours you see are based on the planned effort and duration specified for the assigned project tasks. For example, if the planned effort for a task is 10 hours and the duration is set to 2 days, then it will plot 5 hours per day.
Please note the following:
It also takes into consideration the % of work that the resource is responsible for. This is defined within the project, in the Assigned To field (see image below). For example, if there are two (2) resources assigned to a task and each resource is responsible for 50% of the work, and the planned effort is set to 10 hours with a duration of 2 days, then the work hours shown for each resource would be calculated as follows:
(Planned Effort x % Units) / Duration = Total Work Hours
So using the example above, work hours would be calculated as:
(10 hours x 0.50) / 2 days = 2.5 hours per resource
By default, the resource allocation page displays the total planned effort for all tasks assigned to the resource per day. However, you can also view the resources' allocation and capacity per week or per month. Click on the dropdown arrow beside Zoom at the top right corner and select between Days, Weeks or Months.
To move to the previous or next timeline, click on the left or right arrows at the top right corner.
To refresh the timeline, click on the Refresh on Timeline icon.
When you expand the resource, beside each project task is a View Project Icon that will take you to the Project in a new window. For example, if you see that a resource is over-allocated, the View Project Icon allows you to easily go to the Project where you can then unassign the task from the resource.
When the total allocated hours for a resource exceeds the resource's capacity, it highlights the hours in red to indicate that the resource is over allocated. By defauly, Inspire Planner assumes that a resource's capacity is at 8 hours per day. However, you can define the resource's capacity by setting the working hours per day.
When the resource is at capacity, it highlights the hours in green.Please note: With the Resource LWC (Lightning Web Component), when a resource is fully allocated or under-allocated, the hours are highlighted in green.
When the resource is under allocated, the hours appear in grey.Please note: With the Resource LWC (Lightning Web Component), when a resource is fully allocated or under-allocated, the hours are highlighted in green.
If the task is complete, it will display in green.
If the task is overdue (where current date is past the task finish date and task status is not complete), then it displays in red.
If the task is in progress, then it displays in blue.
You can pin resources on the page so that they appear on the page every time you view resource allocation. Pinned resources are always visible on the page whether they have the attributes you search for or not, and always appear on top of the resource list to make it easy for you to view resources you regularly work with.
To pin a resource, simply click on the Pin icon beside the resource name.
The pin icon turns green for a pinned resource.
To unpin a resource, click on the pin icon again.
The Resource Allocation page also allows you to create booking tasks to block vacation time or set aside time for a future project. Booking tasks are essentially Salesforce Tasks. This allows project managers to better plan and allocate resources based not only on their capacity but also their availability.
To book vacation time, click on the Create New Task icon beside the resource name.
A 'Create New Task' window will open. You have the option of linking the new task to an existing Project by selecting a project from the project dropdown menu.
**Important: Although it is not required that you link the task to a Project, we recommend that you do. When you create booking tasks for a resource, you are basically creating a Salesforce Task assigned to the resource. In Salesforce, Tasks are only visible to who they are assigned to. Since the task is not assigned to you, you will not be able to see it plot in the Resource Allocation page even though the booking task has been created. Therefore, we recommend that you create a Project that serves as a placeholder for your booking tasks and then add the users who need to see booked tasks as collaborators on the Project. When you create booking tasks within the Resource Allocation page, link them to the Project which will then make the booked tasks visible to all users who have access to the Project.
Enter a task name and in the Schedule As dropdown, select 'Vacation'. Then specify the inclusive dates. Click on Create when finished.
The resource allocation page will auto-refresh and display the vacation time. Expand the resource on the left and you will see the vacation time you've booked.
To edit, click on the edit icon beside it.
To delete it, click on the delete icon beside it.
Perhaps you would like to reserve a resource's time for a future Project so that other project managers know that the resource will be occupied at that time. To block time for a future project, click on the Create New Task icon beside the resource name.
Enter a task name and in the Schedule As dropdown, select 'Future Project'. Then enter the total planned effort and specify the inclusive dates. The planned effort you enter will be divided equally across the dates you specify. In the example below, the total planned effort is 24 hours which will then be divided evenly across 3 days from 10/20/2020 to 10/22/2020. Click on Create when finished.
The resource allocation page will auto-refresh and display the reserved block of time. Expand the resource on the left and you will see the time you've reserved.
To edit it, click on the edit icon beside it.
For information on how to create attributes and assign them to resources, see Managing Resources with Resource Attributes.