How to allocate varied resources for different times during a task? 1

[projectdave]

Hi Folks:
First time in this forum. Saw a similar question from 2002 but no replies!

I have a task that will be worked on by a number of different people (each at 100%) starting on the task at different times as they become available. I can't seem to find a way for Project to cooperate with this seemingly common occurance. eg., person X starts the task on June 1, person Y joins in on July 1, person Z starts on July 15. All three remain on the task till completion August 31.
Resource availability doesn't seem to be the key because it seemingly restricts resource availability for the whole project by calendar date instead of by task within the project. I want someone available on the project all the time, but able to move from task A to task B when available.
I think I can do this by creating fake child tasks for each resource of the true task (Task A person X, Task A person Y, etc.), but this seems a bulky way to do it. Advice welcome!

 

[WillRussell]

You can do this if you view the assignment information using either the Task Usage View or Resource Usage View.

If you double click on the assignment in question you can set the start and finish dates for that resource on that task in the Assignment Information dialogue box, General tab.

You have to keep an eye on the durations of the tasks because it tends to want to fix the amount of work and keep the units the same so the duration increases, this happens no matter which task type you use.

It's probably best to use fixed units when doing this, either effort driven or not, it doesn't seem to matter.

Hope this helps,

Will