Delay Tasks Automatically

When you have many resource overallocations, you can have Microsoft Project add delay times to those tasks automatically. You can then check the results and make adjustments if necessary. This is often faster than adding delay to one task at a time.

In a process called leveling, Microsoft Project delays or splits tasks automatically until the resources assigned to them are no longer overallocated. You can prioritize tasks to specify which tasks should be delayed first and which should not be delayed at all. You can decide whether to level all resources or only selected resources. And you can level with or without delaying the finish date of the schedule. Remember, though, you should apply leveling only after analyzing and refining the schedule yourself.

If you’re scheduling from a finish date, you can still level your project. Earlier versions of Microsoft Project did not allow leveling for projects scheduled from a finish date. Leveling tasks in projects scheduled from a finish date will have negative delay values applied to them. This will cause a task or resource assignment’s finish date to occur earlier because the delay will be applied from the finish of the task or assignment.

Automatic leveling might not result in the best solution to your problem because Microsoft Project can follow only a limited set of fixed rules. It checks predecessor dependencies, slack time, dates, priority, and task constraints to determine which tasks to delay. It can’t get creative and substitute a resource on an overallocated task or change the task’s duration. Only you know the subtleties of your schedule.

You should always review the changes Microsoft Project has made when it levels resources by delaying tasks. You can review these changes on the Leveling Gantt view. If you don’t like the changes, you can remove them at any time.

To delay tasks automatically to level overallocated resources

1. On the Tools menu, click Resource Leveling.
2. Click Manual to level resources only when you click the Level Now button.
3. In the Look for overallocations on a basis box, click a time period to determine the sensitivity with which leveling will recognize overallocations.
   Leveling will occur only if a resource is scheduled to do more work than it has the capacity for in the specified period.
4. Under Leveling range for, select whether you want the entire project leveled or only those tasks falling within a specific time period.
5. In the Leveling order box, click one of the following leveling orders:
   • Click ID Only to have Microsoft Project check tasks in the ascending order of their ID numbers before considering other leveling criteria to determine which tasks to level.
   • Click Standard to have Microsoft Project check tasks in the order of their predecessor dependencies, slack, dates, priority, and then task constraints.
   • Click Priority, Standard to have Microsoft Project check tasks’ priorities to be leveled before considering predecessor dependencies, slack, dates, and then task constraints.
6. To prevent the finish date of your project from being moved out, select the Level only within available slack check box.
7. To have leveling adjust when a resource works on a task independent of other resources working on the same task, select the Leveling can adjust individual assignments on a task check box.
   When the task’s priority is set to Do Not Level, Microsoft Project will skip the task.
8. To interrupt tasks by creating splits in the remaining work on tasks or resource assignments, select the Leveling can create splits in remaining work check box.
9. Click Level Now.

Immediately after leveling your project, you can undo the action if you don’t get the results you want.

To immediately undo the effects of leveling

• On the Edit menu, click Undo Leveling.

To remove the effects of the last leveling operation

• Click Clear Leveling in the Resource Leveling dialog box.

If there are tasks that you prefer not to delay unless absolutely necessary, you can select the order in which Microsoft Project delays tasks with overallocated resources. You do this by assigning a higher priority to urgent tasks that should start as early as possible.

To prioritize the delay order of tasks with overallocated resources

1. On the View Bar, click More Views .
2. In the Views list, click Leveling Gantt, and then click Apply.
3. In the Task Name field, select a task that has overallocated resources.
4. Click Task Information , and then click the General tab.
5. In the Priority box, click a priority for this task based on the order in which you want Microsoft Project to level tasks, and then click OK.
   Microsoft Project delays tasks with the lowest priority first. If you don’t want a task to be leveled, click Do Not Level.
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for each task with overallocated resources.
7. On the Tools menu, click Resource Leveling.
8. In the Leveling order box, click Priority, Standard.
9. Click Level Now.

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