Assigning Project Resources

After you begin Working with Resources in Project Management, you can then assign resources to projects and tasks as needed. Resources assigned to a project can enter time against the project. You can calculate resource productivity based on reported time.

While assigning resources, you can use the Target Utilization feature for each Project Resource. For more information, see Utilization.

You can also assign generic resources to projects and project tasks when a specific resource has not yet been identified. Generic resources are added in the same way that defined project resources are added to projects and project tasks. For more information, see Generic Resources.

Important:

If you use Resource Allocations you must first allocate a defined resource to a project before project task assignments can be made. Generic resources may be added to a project task regardless of project allocation. For more information, see Resource Allocations.

You can also allocate resources directly to project tasks. For each project, it is recommended that you choose to either allocate resources directly to project tasks or allocate resources to the project and then assign to project tasks. Using both resource allocations to project tasks and task assignments can create inconsistencies in your project data. For more information, see Assigning Resources with Allocations.

Assigning resources works in conjunction with other project preferences you select on the Preferences subtab when creating the project record.

Allow Time Entry - This preference determines whether time can be entered against the project. You must select this preference in order for anyone to record time against a project for billing purposes.

If you select this preference and the Limit Time and Expenses to Resources preference, then time entry is restricted to only resources identified on the project record.
Display All Resources for Project Task Assignment - Select this if you want to be able to select from a list of all employees and vendors designated as project resources or previously assigned to any project when assigning resources to project tasks.

Important:
Available project resources and generic resources may be limited by the Employee Restrictions field for any custom roles used to assign resources to the project. For more information, see Setting Employee Restrictions.

After a resource has been assigned to a project, if you clear the Project Resource box, the resource is still available to be assigned if you use the Display All Resources for Project Task Assignment preference when creating your project in NetSuite

If this option is not selected, then you can assign only resources listed on the Resource subtab of the project to a project task.

Note:
If you use Resource Allocations, enabling this preference overrides the need to allocate resources prior to making task assignments. Disabling this preference requires you to allocate defined resources prior to making task assignments. Generic resources are available for task assignments regardless of project allocation.
Limit Time and Expenses to Resources - This preference determines whether only resources assigned to the project can enter time and expenses against the project and its project tasks.

If you select this preference and Display All Resources for Project Task Assignment, then any resource assigned to a project task is automatically added to the Resources subtab, and therefore, can enter time worked on the project in time tracking.

You have two options when assigning resources to project tasks. Based on how you set the Display All Resources for Project Task Assignment option for the project, you can assign resources from a list of either:

Resources designated on the project record only - see Assigning Resources Restricted to the Project
All project resources - see Assigning Resources not Restricted to the Project

Assigning Resources Restricted to the Project

If the Display All Resources for Project Task Assignment option is not selected for a project, then complete these steps to assign resources. You can select and assign only resources added to the Resources subtab of the project record.

To assign resources to the project:

Go to Lists > Relationships > Projects and click Edit next to the project.
Click the Resources subtab.

Note:
If you use Resource Allocations you must first allocate a defined resource to a project before project task assignments can be made. Generic resources are available for task assignment regardless of project allocation. For more information, see Resource Allocations.
In the Name column, select the employee or vendor you want to add as a resource.

Note:
An employee or vendor name shows in this list only if they are identified as a Project Resource. For more information, read Working with Resources in Project Management.
In the Role column, select a project role for this resource. For more information on project roles, read Creating a Project Resource Role.

You can select multiple roles for a single resource by holding down Ctrl while selecting roles with your mouse.
If you use Job Costing and Project Budgeting, a cost associated with the selected role or employee is automatically populated. In the Cost Override column, you can enter a new cost to be used for this project.
Click Add.
Repeat steps 3 through 5 for each resource you want to assign to this project.
Click Save.

To assign resources to project tasks:

Go to Lists > Relationships > Projects and click Edit next to the project.
On the Schedule subtab, click Edit next to the task you want to assign resources to.
In the Project Task window, click the Assignees subtab.
In the Resource column, select the employee or vendor you want to add as a resource.

Note:
The Resource dropdown displays only the resources that you added to the Resources subtab of this project. If you use Resource Allocations, only allocated defined resources and all generic resources are displayed. For more information, see Resource Allocations.
Select the service item required for this resource on this task.
Enter a unit cost and unit price for this service item on this task.
Click Add.
Repeat steps 4 through 7 for each resource you want to assign to this task.
Click Save.

Each assigned resource may have a different amount of work to perform on the task and may work at a different rate, such as full-time or half-time. The percentage of time the employee dedicates to a single task is often referred to as his or her “full-time equivalent.”

You can also use resource groups to assign multiple resources to a project task at one time. For more information, see Creating Resource Groups.

Assigning Resources not Restricted to the Project

If the Display All Resources for Project Task Assignment option is selected for a project, then you can assign any designated project resource. This includes any employee or vendor identified as a project resource on the entity record.

Important:

After a resource has been assigned to a project, if you clear the Project Resource box, the resource is still available to be assigned if you use the Display All Resources for Project Task Assignment preference when creating your project in NetSuite

Assign resources to project tasks:

Go to Lists > Relationships > Projects and click Edit next to the project.
On the Schedule subtab, click Edit next to the task you want to assign resources to.
In the Project Task window, click the Assignees subtab.
In the Resource column, select the employee or vendor you want to add as a resource.

Note:
An employee or vendor name shows in this list if they are identified as a Project Resource, For more information, read Working with Resources in Project Management.
Select the service item required for this resource on this task.
Enter a unit cost and unit price for this service item on this task.
Click Add.
Repeat steps 4 through 7 for each resource you want to assign to this task.
Click Save.

You can also use resource groups to assign multiple resources to a project task at one time. For more information, see Creating Resource Groups.

Overbooking and Underbooking

Note that resource assignment is not automatically limited by the time constraints of that resource. Such as, a resource that works 20 hours a week can be assigned to 50 hours of tasks. You must assess time reports to determine if resources are under or over their planned utilization across multiple tasks or projects.

For example, Brenda is scheduled to work on Task 1 full time all of next week (40 hours). It is still possible to assign Brenda to Task 2 full-time for all of next week also, even though she will work only 40 hours total that week.

After resources are assigned on projects and begin to enter time against it, you can do the following:

View the progress of the project by clicking View Gantt Chart on the Schedule subtab of the project record.
Monitor resource productivity by running the Utilization by Resource Reports.