Requesting and Assigning Resources from Resource Planning Page

Resource requests, also called resource demands, are part of the resource planning and allocation process. Project Managers and Process Managers with Manage Process rights can make requests for the resources required for a project, either by stage or across an entire project. Project Managers can request a general resource, for example, a chemist or a quality assurance expert, or can request that specific Accolade users be part of the project; and make requests in your company's chosen unit of measure for resources within a pool, for example, full time employee (FTE).

The Resource Planning page within a project allows Project Managers to request resources for a specific project; and the Plan Projects page allows Project Managers to request resources for multiple projects.

Note:  This page is only available if the user also has at least one of these roles: Process Manager, Team Leader, Idea Manager, or Resource Planner.

The Resource Planning page works side by side with the Resources, Plan Projects, Resource Editor, and Resource Requests pages, and as such, the Resource Planning page gives Resource Planners and Project Managers a place to assign resources and add demands to a project. Changes made here reflect on the Plan Projects, Resource Editor and Resource Requests pages, and vice versa.

The Resource Planning page is divided into three sections:

• On the left of the page, you can add and manage your pools and resources.

• On the middle of the page, you have a Gantt chart, displaying the timeline and demands for your project.

• On the right of the page, when you select a pool, you can view each resources' availability over the ensuing months.

To add pools, request resources and create demands:

1. Display a project and select the Resources Planning page.

2. To add a pool, click on the plus icon corresponding to your project's name, located on the left panel. On the dialog that loads, search for and select the resource pool you want to add to this project. The pool is then added to the left panel, under the project name. The available resources load on the panel on the right of the page. Each resource's availability for the next few months is displayed under them.
   • Click on the funnel icon on the top left of your resources panel, to filter your resources by their attributes. For this, ensure that you have set up and assigned attributes to your resources. See Viewing Resource Capacity & Managing Resource Attributes for more.
3. To request a resource for your project, click on their name, drag it to the left panel, and drop it under the project and pool.
4. To create a demand for this resource, click on the start date within the Gantt chart, and drag the bar to the finish date. On the dialog that loads, edit the dates if needed, enter the resource efforts required, and click Save.

   Note:  Project Managers with no resource planning rights will only be able to create requested demands. On this Gantt, assigned demands are identified by a solid top border, and requested demands have a hashed mark top border.

To fulfill a requested demand:

Note:  This is only possible if the requested resource is a specific person.

1. Display a project and select the Resources Planning page.

2. Locate the requested resource, and click on the three dot menu corresponding to it.
3. Click on the Assigned Demand toggle switch.

 

On this page, you can also:

• Update a demand - Double click on a demand to update its details.

• Add a Multiplier on resources to adjust demands - The Multiplier is a quick way to adjust all demands on a resource. Click on the three dot menu corresponding to the resource, select Add Multiplier, and set a rate and effective date.

• Add Demand Curve on resources to adjust demands - Demand Curves quickly apply a set of demand values for a resource; for more on Demand Curves, see Demand Curves. To do this here, click on the three dot menu corresponding to the resource, select Apply Demand Curve, select a Demand Curve that was previously created for the relevant process model and pool, and set an effective date.

• Delete a resource - Right-click on a resource to delete them.

• Remove a pool - Right-click on a pool to remove it.

• Zoom - Right-click on the header of the Gantt chart to zoom in and out of the chart.

• Collapse - Click on the respective icons at the pool level to collapse their records.

• Navigate on Gantt - Use the controls on the top right of the Gantt chart to move left or right on the grid, collapse or expand all items, or zoom in and out of the grid.

• View resource capacity and manage resource attributes - Click on a resource's name to view their attributes, assigned work, and availability. For more on this, see Viewing Resource Capacity & Managing Resource Attributes.