Schedule modes in Project Operations

Problem Definition:

It has always been a confusion for the Project Manager to choose between the Schedule modes, whether it should be a Fixed effort, Fixed duration or a fixed unit project. And the primary reason behind it was, that most of the PM wanted to a have a fixed duration/unit project without impacting the effort they have added to that specific task. This was not possible earlier, as the OOB formula to calculate the effort, duration or unit, would only respect one fixed value (effort, duration, unit).

Solution:

With the new release wave feature named “Include effort-driven schedule modes” it now possible to have a fixed duration

1. Where to find the option to select the Schedule Modes option
2. Go to the Settings area in Project operations and select parameters.
3. On the General Tab, click on Schedule Mode.

• As shown in the above image, you will see 2 additional options: Fixed duration/Effort driven & Fixed units/Effort driven
• Functionality Description
• Fixed Duration-Effort Driven: In this scenario, the duration and the efforts both remain the same, even if the units are changed. Unlike in Fixed duration, if the units are changed the efforts change accordingly. Please refer to the below example:
  • Fixed Duration:

As you can see, in the above image the efforts changed the moment an additional resource was tagged to the task.

• Fixed Duration-Effort Driven:

As you can see, in the above image the efforts were not impacted even when an additional resource was tagged to the task.

• Fixed Unit-Effort Driven: In this scenario, the unit and the efforts both remain the same, even if the duration are changed. Unlike in Fixed duration, if the units are changed the efforts change accordingly. Please refer to the below example:
  • Fixed Unit:

As you can see, in the above image the efforts & duration changed the moment an additional resource was tagged to the task.

• Fixed Unit-Effort Driven:

As you can see, in the above image the efforts were not impacted even when an additional resource was tagged to the task, and the duration value changed.

Conclusion:

This feature will help the Project Manager to have duration/unit as a schedule mode without impacting the efforts, which might be useful for different Projects across various industries.

Thank you, Sankalp for your valuable inputs for this blog!