Plan User Manual
PROJECT PLANNING
Fundamental concepts
Plan allows a project plan to be constructed from individual task components. Task and resource details are entered into the application along with dependencies between tasks. The application will then calculate the schedule for each task and the project as a whole.
Each task within a project plan has the following key values:
•start date and time,
•end date and time,
•the amount of work required to complete the task,
•a number of assigned resources working at a given rate.
A number of resources may be assigned with given work rates to each task. The resource work hours, holiday information and work rates are then taken into consideration when calculating task values, such as end dates.
An “Input” option for each task (which appears under the “Details” tab when editing each task) allows control over which of the above values are entered manually and which are calculated by Plan. This field can take one of 3 values:
•“Work & rates”. Here you enter the work and resource rates and Plan calculates the start/end date.
•“Rates & dates”. Here you enter the start and end along with resource work rates and Plan calculates the work required by each resource and the task as a whole.
•“Work & dates”. Here you enter the start and end along with the work each resource performs on the task and Plan calculates the work rate for each resource.
When considering which of the above options to select for a task, it is often associated with the stage the task is at:
•For planned tasks you usually can estimate the work and rates and want Plan to calculate the end date (use the “Work & rates” option).
•For tasks nearing completion it is sometimes easier to estimate when the task will finish, so you enter the rates and dates and get Plan to calculate the work (use the “Rates & dates” option).
•For tasks which are completed, you know when the task started and finished and can sometime enter the total work (from timesheets), so Plan will calculate the average resource work rates (use the “Work & dates” option).
In addition to the above, constraints can be set for each task:
•Known start/end dates can be input manually (via the “Constraint” option under the “Details” tab when editing a task). The start or end can be constrained in various ways
– fixed absolutely or set to be before or after a given date.
•A number of dependencies can be defined upon other tasks, e.g. a task must start after another task finishes.
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