Forum Discussion
Show correct %-Allocation in Resource Usage for a specific project when using Resource Pool
I would like to get Percent Allocation in Resource Usage, by a specific project when I have a pool of resources and a master project using two simple projects (testP1, testP2) like the following to illustrate the point:
And I would like to visualize the monthly percent allocation in the Resource Usage view by project. Considering Sept,2025 which has 168 working hours.
I created the following custom group: Group by Projects as follows, to group by project, so I can have the information I am looking for:
Note: I followed the answer from Ignacio_Martin for this question: MS Project Resource Pool Usage. Then I followed the instructions from this post: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/view-resource-workloads-and-availability-in-project-desktop-3ee16869-68ad-4e63-bcb3-278ae34f7459 to add Percent Allocation in the Detail column of the Resource Usage view.
Now using this custom group I would like to get the calculation for %-Allocation for project testP1, so I filter the Project column to select just this project. I am getting the following results:
As you can see the result is as expected for Work, but not for % Allocation. For example, Res1 is working 80 hours, so its allocation should be: 80/168=48%, but the allocation cell is empty for Res1. If it is a single task, as it is for Res2, then the %-Allocation is correct: 40/168=24%. Why it is not possible to calculate the %-Allocation for Res1?
Here is the filter used in the Project column:
What I am doing wrong here? Is there a way to get the %-Allocation per project when using a pool of resources?
Attached are sample files compressed in a zip folder, since mpp files are not supported for attach.
7 Replies
Lets see if this works for you. I didn't use your test files as I already have a couple of my own. I created a master with the two sharer files inserted as subprojects. This is the basic Gantt Chart view:
Then I set up a group for the Resource Usage view. It's a little different from what you have. Note it groups the Project field by assignment
Now, when that group is applied and the Project field is autofiltered for the Sharer1 file, this is the result:
Does that do it for ya?
John
John-project Thanks, this is an option I didn't consider. I tried it but I got the same result for Res1.
Using Assignment for Project and Resource for Name (%-Allocation is empty):
Using Assignment in both cases:
The %-Allocation value is provided for Res1, but the value is wrong, it is not by group.
Would you try with the same sample files I shared just to double check. Thanks!
Please advise, and thanks again for your response!
Sorry for the delay in responding, I got a lot of things going on.
I did try your files and indeed I see the issue about % Alloc not appearing for a resource that has more than one assignment in the project. You also mention something about the % Alloc value being wrong. That I don't see. Your screen shot of the Resource Usage view is kind of obliterated by overlay of the group definition windows. This is what I see when the timescale is expanded to show weekly data. Unless the "lot of things I have going on" is clouding my vision, I don't see any issue with % Alloc for Res1.
I tweaked my own test files to more closely parrot your file and what I see is that when a resource is assigned to more than one task in a given Project, the % Alloc value is missing from a grouped display. Why this happens, I have no idea and I have no tricks on how to make it happen.
So, what would I do if I wanted a Resource Usage view that delineated each resources % Alloc by project in a dynamic master? I'd use VBA to export the data to Excel in a format similar to what you'd expect to see with the grouped Resource Usage view. I already have a macro that exports resource data from a master file with a resource pool but it would have to be modified to break down the format by subproject.
Yeah, probably not the answer you were hoping for but there is a way "outside the box".
John
