Project 2010 Bible

Chapter 5. Creating Resources and Assigning Costs

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Understanding resources

• Creating a resource list

• Modifying resource information

• Using resources and tasks

• Handling unusual cost situations

The "management" portion of the term project management suggests that you are overseeing and, supposedly, controlling what goes on during the project's lifetime. In the last chapter, you found out how to build the tasks that comprise the project. Now you need to identify the resources for each task. Some tasks require people only; other tasks may also require equipment.

As you create resources, you see that you can associate various rates with a resource. As you assign the resource to a task in your project, Microsoft Project automatically begins to calculate the cost of your project.

Understanding Resources

Resources are the people, supplies, and equipment that enable you to complete the tasks in your project. In Project, you can define four types of resources:

• Work resources

• Material resources

• Generic resources

• Cost resources

Work resources are people or equipment that consume time when working on a task. When you set up work resources, you define the amount of time that the resources have to spend on a project (100 percent is full-time). Similarly, when you assign a work resource to a task, you indicate the amount of time that you want the work resource to spend on the task (100 percent is full-time).

Material resources are items that are consumed while working on a project. Material resources ...