In CS Project, Resource Assignments can be set as effort driven, or duration driven.
If a task is duration driven, the task will stick to its set duration regardless of the resources assigned and the resources duration, ie; a task will take 5 days despite if there are five labourers or ten labourers. It will assume the amount of resources is needed to complete the task in the set time.
If a task is Effort / Resource driven, its duration will depend on the duration of the resources assigned. Likewise, if the duration is increased the resources will extend to the new duration, ie; three labourers will complete the task in four days, but five labourers will complete it in two days.
Step One – Creating a Resource
1.) First you will need to have some resources. If you already have resources to use, or know how to make them you can skip ahead to Step Two
2.) At the bottom of your screen you will see a grid, with an empty graph to the right. This is called the Resource Table and Histogram Chart.
3.) Double click on the Resource Table grid to bring up the Resource Details dialog box. This is where you can create your resources. For this tutorial, we will name it Labourer and keep the default settings. Press OK once done.
Step Two – Assigning the resource to a task as Effort / Duration driven.
1.) Hover over the resource so that the ‘Assign Resource’ cursor is displayed.
2.) Click and drag to the desired task so the ‘Add/Remove Assignment’ dialog box appears.
3.) If you wish for the Assignment to be Effort Driven, tick the box ‘Effort Driven’. If you wish for it to be Duration Driven, leave the box unticked.
