Allocating resources to a project

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If a project requires resources, you can search for available resources and add them to project. When you add resources, you allocate them for a specific period. You can allocate resources for multiple periods.

About this task

On the Resources tab, you can view work items, allocate resources, add date ranges for resources, and modify resource allocations. You can allocate a resource that is in the repository. If you allocate a resource that does not belong to your project area, that resource is added to your project area. When you add a member to the project area, that member is added to the Resources tab without any date restrictions. When you delete a resource, if work items are assigned to the resource, a warning is shown in the Actions column that the resource is deleted, and the resource is removed from the project area. You cannot delete the last allocation of a resource.
When you assign an owner to a work item from the work item editor, that work item is shown under the name of that resource on the Resources tab. If a work item does not have an owner, that work item is shown in the Unassigned group. The Resources tab also shows the start and end dates for each work item. The scheduler calculates the start and end dates based on the schedule dependency, schedule constraints, and resource availability.
Remember:

This feature is available only if you are using the Formal Project Management process template.

Procedure

  1. In the web client, open the plan and click the Resources tab.
  2. Click the Add resources icon (Add resources).
  3. In the Add resources window, click Select users.
  4. Type the person's name and click Add and Close.
    You can select multiple names by entering the wildcard characters.
  5. In the Add resources window, specify the start date, end date, and the number of hours that the resource must be available for the project.
    The end date is not mandatory.
  6. Click Check Availability.
    The Available Hours column shows the number of available hours after deducting the number of estimated hours for the work items that are assigned to the person.
  7. Select a resource and click Add.
    You can select multiple people.
  8. Click Save.
    If the person is from another project area, that person is added to the current project area without any role. You should a
    Associate a role to the person.

What to do next

After you allocate a person to the project, you can modify the allocation percentage and duration. For more information about modifying time, see Modifying allocation periods for resources. If the allocation percentage or duration of the resource is greater than the overall availability of the person, the resource is over allocated and you get a warning.