Resource Availability in Microsoft Project

When you work with resources in a project, it is important to ensure that the correct and up-to-date availability is reflected to ensure effective planning. The project calendar is used to reflect the general working times in days and hours for your project. The calendar also lists the nonworking times like weekends and holidays.

Adding Non-working time for a resource
Whether it is because of a vacation day, sick day, or otherwise, if a resource is not going to be available to work on the project it should be recorded in the project.

1. Click on the Project Tab, in the Properties Group click Change Working time.

2. In the dialogue box, and in the For Calendar list, find the resource that will be effected with the change that you want to make.

3. Choose the Exceptions tab.

4. Type a descriptive name for the exception, such as sick day; also enter the start and end times for this exception period.

5. If the exception will be repeated, then you will need to click on Details
a. Under the Recurrence pattern, choose the frequency and details about the recurrence.
b. Under the Range of recurrence, enter a start and end date, or choose end after a number of recurrences.

Enter the details of the specific resource non-availability

By ensuring that the resources time schedule is kept up to date, all assigned tasks to a particular resource will be scheduled around this off-time. This will keep your project on schedule and realistic to the assigned availability of all resources. This process can be used for entering holidays, vacation days and other off time to a specific resource calendar.

Simon Calder

Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA. He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!