Resource leveling is a process that helps you ensure that sufficient resources are available to perform the activities in your project according to the plan. During resource leveling, an activity is only scheduled to occur when its resource demands can be met. To accomplish this, tasks may be delayed to resolve resource availability conflicts.
Typically, you level during the forward pass through a project. This determines the earliest dates to schedule an activity when sufficient resources will be available to perform the task.
If forward leveling delays the project's early finish date, late dates remain unchanged unless you clear the checkbox to preserve scheduled early and late dates in the Level Resources dialog box. In this case, a backward pass recalculates late dates.
After a project is leveled, you can identify the resource assignments affecting the critical path by viewing the resource-driven critical path.
Tip
- While resource leveling provides one way to resolve resource conflicts, you may also want to consider alternative solutions, such as changing activity relationships or reallocating resources.
Notes
- The maximum amount of work that a resource is capable of doing for a given timeperiod is defined by the resource’s Max Units/Time value in the Units & Prices tab of Resource Details.
- Leveling is disabled when no projects are open.
- Resource curves are not used when leveling; however, manual future period values are considered when leveling.
- If multiple projects are open when you level resources, you must select which project's settings to use when leveling.