TABLE OF CONTENTS There are two modes that the software may be used at Level 3.
Estimating. In this mode the objective is to create a schedule with costs that are being used in an estimate and the schedule will never be statused. Activities may have many resources assigned to them to develop an accurate cost estimate and include many items that would never be updated in the process of statusing a schedule.
Planning for Control. In this mode it is intended to assign actual units (hours) and costs to resources, then calculate units and costs to completion, and possibly conduct an Earned Value analysis. In this situation it is important to ensure the minimum number of resources are assigned to activities, and preferably only one resource assigned to each activity. The process of statusing a schedule becomes extremely difficult and time consuming when a resourced schedule has many resources per activity and the scheduler is in threat of becoming a timekeeper and may loose sight of other important activities such as calculating the forecast to complete or the finish date.
When Planning for Control on large or complex schedules, it is important to maintain a balance between the number of activities and the number of resources that are planned and tracked. As a general rule, the more activities a schedule has, the fewer resources should be created...
