Using Work Planners

Work planners enable you to plan project work easily by viewing:

• Assignments and resource requests (you can use the options in the toolbar to group the assignments and resource requests, for example by project or by resource)
• A resource's details and their scheduled work

The work planners available are tailored to your job role so that you can view and manage the information that is relevant to you.

The Work Planner page is designed for use by resource managers. The data fills the entire page, making it easier to view a large number of projects, assignments, and resource requests. To view the page, do one of the following:

• Select Work Planner from the App Launcher
• Navigate to the customized Work Planner page created by your administrator, if available

Work planners for other roles are made available by your administrator:

• Line Manager Work Planner
• Project Manager Work Planner: this work planner is also part of the Project Management workspace
• Resource Work Planner

For more information, see Setting up Work Planners or contact your administrator.

The work planners contain the following views:

• Scheduler: Shows assignments and resource requests grouped by project, resource, or RPG Abbreviation of region, practice, group. over time. The default date range is six months either side of today's date or you can specify your own date range in the Filter panel. The Scheduler gives a good overview of what a resource is due to work on at a particular time. You can quickly reschedule the assignments and resource requests by dragging them forward or backward to change their start and end dates. For more information, see Changing the Dates of Assignments and Resource Requests.
• Grid: Shows assignments and resource requests by project, resource, or RPG Abbreviation of region, practice, group. over the default date range or the date range specified in the Filter panel. Also shows the number of scheduled hours a resource is due to work on the corresponding assignment or resource request and indicates if a resource is correctly allocated, under-allocated, or over-allocated. You can update the scheduled hours displayed to make sure resources carry out the right amount of work at the right time. For more information, see Updating the Hours a Resource is Scheduled to Work and Determining Resource Allocation.

Tips:

You can use filters to reduce the amount of data displayed and focus on what you want to view. For more information, see Filtering the Data.

To reduce the amount of data displayed in work planners, assignment and resource request records with Exclude from Planners selected are not displayed.

Icons and Color-Coding Used

The following color-coding is used on the rectangles displayed on the Scheduler:

• Green: Project.
• Orange: Unheld resource request.
• Orange border filled with orange: Draft assignment.
• Blue border filled with white: Held resource request.
• Blue border filled with blue: Assignment.
• Gray border filled with white: When grouping by RPG, this is displayed in the top row of each group to make it easier for you to identify the parent RPG of the records you are viewing.

On the grid view:

• Cells shaded gray indicate a resource's non-working time and holidays, using the resource's associated work calendar.
• indicates that the corresponding resource is over-allocated.
• indicates that the corresponding resource is scheduled to work the correct number of hours.
• indicates that the corresponding resource is under-allocated.
• Italics indicate resource request values that were calculated using a schedule PSA has generated. This happens when resource requests contain requested hours but have no schedule specified in the Preferred Schedule field. PSA uses a resource’s work calendar to identify working days for the generated schedule. If there are no working days available or if there is no work calendar, PSA generates a schedule that splits the requested hours equally across the weekdays. If there are no weekdays available, PSA generates a schedule that splits the hours across all days, including weekends.
• The following icons help you to differentiate between the different records displayed:
  • Assignment
  • Unheld resource request
  • Held resource request

For more information, see Updating the Hours a Resource is Scheduled to Work and Determining Resource Allocation.

Switching Views

To switch from one view to another, take the appropriate action:

• Select Scheduler from the button menu.
• Select Grid from the button menu.

You can change the zoom level between Days, Weeks, Months, Quarters, and Years. On the grid, you can only edit the hourly values when using the Days and Weeks zoom levels.

Viewing Record Details

To view the details of an assignment, project, resource, or resource request without leaving the work planner, double-click the record on the grid view or scheduler view. The details are displayed in the Record Details panel.

Alternatively, you can:

1. Select the assignment, project, resource, or resource request on the grid view or scheduler view.
2. Click .

To view details of any records that are related to the currently selected record, you can switch between the tabs on the Resource Details panel. For example, if you are viewing the details of a held resource request, you can easily switch to the Resource and Project tabs to view details of the related resource and project records.

To hide the Record Details panel, click on the panel or click again.

For more information, see Viewing Record Details.

Grouping Assignments and Resource Requests

To group assignments and resource requests on a work planner, select the appropriate grouping option from the toolbar:

• Resource
• Project
• Region
• Practice
• Group

When grouping assignment and resource request records by region, practice, or group, PSA uses the following criteria in the order shown to determine an assignment or resource request record’s RPG Abbreviation of region, practice, group.:

1. The RPG set on the relevant resource.
2. The RPG set on the resource request, for resource request records.
3. The RPG set on the associated project.

If there is no RPG set on any of the above, the record is placed in a grouping called No Region, No Practice, or No Group, as appropriate.

In the top row of each RPG group in the scheduler, a white box with a gray border is displayed to make it easier for you to identify the parent RPG of the records you are viewing.

Filtering the Data

You can use the Filters panel to reduce the amount of content displayed. Depending on the work planner you are using, the Filters panel defaults to the following:

• Line Manager Work Planner:
  • Resource associated with your Salesforce user
  • Resources with your name in the Reports To field on their contact record
• Project Manager Work Planner:
  • Any projects where the current user is set as the project manager
  • Any projects the current user is assigned to
  • Any projects where the current user is a held resource
• Resource Work Planner:
  • Resource associated with your Salesforce user
• Work Planner page for resource managers:
  • No default filters

To filter the content displayed:

1. Click to open the Filter panel. The filters you last used are retained if you are using the same browser on the same device.
2. Specify the date range you want to filter by. The default date range is six months either side of today's date.
3. [Optional] Select Hide Zero Hour Commitments if you do not want to display assignments or resource requests containing zero hours.
4. [Optional] Select Exclude Assignments if you do not want to display assignments.
5. [Optional] Select Exclude Unheld Resource Requests if you do not want to display unheld resource requests.
6. [Optional] Select Exclude Held Resource Requests if you do not want to display held resource requests.
7. [Optional] Search for and select the resources you want to include on the work planner.
8. [Optional] Search for and select the additional projects you want to include.
9. [Optional] Search for and select the regions, practices, or groups you want to include. For details of the criteria PSA uses to determine an assignment or resource request record’s RPG Abbreviation of region, practice, group. , see Grouping Assignments and Resource Requests.
10. Click Apply. The content displayed reflects the selected filters.

To return the Filter panel to the default values, click Reset.

To close the Filter panel, click again.

The unheld resource requests are displayed in the following filtering scenarios, no matter what work planner you use:

• When you filter the work planner using the Resource lookup field, all the unheld RRs will be displayed in the work planner irrespective of the selected grouping.
• When you filter the work planner using the Project lookup field, the unheld RRs associated with the selected projects are displayed in the work planner.
• When you filter the work planner using Region lookup field, the unheld RRs associated with the selected regions are displayed in the work planner.
• When you filter the work planner using Practice lookup field, all the unheld RRs associated with the selected practices are displayed in the work planner.
• When you filter the work planner using Group lookup field, all the unheld RRs associated with the selected groups are displayed in the work planner.

Tip:

A resource request classifies as an unheld resource request when:

• There is no assignment or resource associated with it and the Resource Held checkbox is deselected.
• There is a resource associated to the resource request but there is no assignment and the Resource Held checkbox is deselected.

Note: If there are too many assignments and resource requests to show, a message is displayed so you can change the filters to reduce the number of records returned. Records are displayed in start date order, which means any records that cannot be shown are missing from the foot of the grid view.

Updating the Hours a Resource is Scheduled to Work

Note:

To update values on the grid view, your administrator must have assigned you the PSA - Edit Work Planner permission set.

To update the number of hours a resource is scheduled to work:

1. Select Grid from the button menu and check the zoom level is set to Days or Weeks.
2. Navigate to the relevant date. If the date you want is not displayed, select and apply the appropriate date range using the Filter panel. For more information, see Filtering the Data.
3. Double-click the value you want to change. For information on the icons displayed, see Icons and Color-Coding Used.
4. Type the new value and press Enter. Above the grid, Unsaved Changes is displayed to indicate you need to save when you have finished your updates.
5. [Optional] Repeat Steps 3 and 4 to update other values in the grid.
6. Click Save.

If you add or update an hourly value from the Weeks zoom level, PSA applies the following rules:

• If the relevant resource has an associated work calendar, the value is split equally across all working days in the given week.
• If the relevant resource has an associated work calendar but there are no working days in the given week, the value is split equally across Monday to Friday.
• If the relevant resource has no associated work calendar, the value is split equally across Monday to Friday.

You cannot edit hourly values displayed in italics. Italics indicate resource request values that are calculated using a schedule generated by PSA because the resource request does not have a schedule specified in the Preferred Schedule field.

For more information on values displayed in italics, see Icons and Color-Coding Used.

The total number of hours for each group of projects or resources is displayed in the top row of each group in the grid. The total number of hours on the schedule for the associated assignment or resource request is displayed in the Total Hrs column. This value reflects the total scheduled hours for the associated assignment or resource request across the entire schedule, not just the days specified in the filter criteria.

Tips:

To extend the start or end date of a resource’s schedule, update the hours outside the scheduled date range.

To expand or collapse a row in the grid, press Enter.

To move forward through the cells in the grid using your keyboard, press Tab. To move backward, press Shift + Tab. If you are using Apple Safari, ensure that you have "Press Tab to highlight each item on a webpage" enabled in your browser settings.

If you update a value and then change your mind before clicking Save:

• If you have not moved away from the cell, press Escape to restore the original value.
• If you have moved away from the cell or changed more than one value, click to return to the last saved state.

Creating Assignments

To create an assignment from the grid view or the scheduler view:

Note:

To create assignments you must have the PSA - Edit Work Planner permission set and the Staffing permission control assigned. For more information, contact your administrator.

1. Click Create Assignment. The Create Assignment window opens.
2. In the Select Project field, select a project and click Next. Only active projects that have Staffing permission control assigned are available for selection.
3. Complete the fields to create an assignment. Only active resources are available for selection. For more information, see Assignment Information and Schedule Details.
4. Click Create. A draft assignment is created.
5. [Optional] Drag the cloned draft assignment to a new start date on the Scheduler to reschedule it.
6. Click Save on the Work Planner to save the draft assignment.
7. [Optional] If you have moved away from a cell or changed more than one value, click to return to the last saved state. The Unsaved Changes window opens. Click Continue Editing, Discard and Continue, or Save and Continue as required.

Tips:
Check Setup | Apex Jobs after saving a draft assignment or click to update the new schedule.
An administrator can use the Assign Resource To Project Custom Fields field set on the Assignment object to customize the fields displayed in the Create Assignment window. For more information, see Work Planner Lightning Component Properties.

Notes:
The draft assignment is not visible in a work planner when the selected resource or project is not available on the grid view or scheduler view.

If there is an existing draft assignment for a resource and you try to create another for the same resource using the Calculate End Date, Level Schedule scheduling strategy with either the start date or end date falling between the same date range as the existing one, it means the two draft assignments overlap. It is recommended that you either change the selected scheduling strategy or change the draft assignment start date or end date so it does not fall between the same date range.

Cloning Assignments

Note:

To clone assignments you must have the PSA - Edit Work Planner permission set and the Staffing permission control assigned. For more information, contact your administrator.

To clone an assignment from the grid view or the scheduler view:

1. Right-click on the assignment and select Clone Assignment. The Clone Assignment window opens, displaying the details of the assignment to be cloned and the current resource on that assignment.
2. In the New Resource for Cloned Assignment search field, enter the first few words of the resource name and select the resource for the new assignment. Only active resources with Staffing permission control assigned are available for selection.
3. Click Clone.
4. [Optional] Drag the cloned draft assignment to a new start date on the scheduler to reschedule it.
5. Click Save on the Work Planner to save the cloned draft assignment.

Changing the Dates of Assignments and Resource Requests

Note:

To update assignments and resource requests on the scheduler view, your administrator must have assigned you the PSA - Edit Work Planner permission set.

To update the dates of assignments or resource requests from a work planner:

1. Select Scheduler from the button menu.
2. Drag the resource request or assignment to a new start date. Although schedules are preserved where possible, the end date might be recalculated to take account of non-working days.
3. Click Save.
4. [Optional] Hover over the assignment or resource request to view the updated start and end dates.

Tip:

If you drag an assignment or resource request and then change your mind, click to return to the last saved state.

Determining Resource Allocation

PSA uses a resource's associated work calendar to determine whether the resource is scheduled to work the right number of hours. For more information on work calendars, see About Time Periods, Work Calendars, and Holidays.

The following is displayed in the grid view when grouping by resource:

• If a resource has zero hours on their work calendar for a particular period of time (for example, day or week), the relevant cell is shaded in gray to indicate non-working time or a holiday.
• is displayed in the cell next to the value if a resource is over-allocated.
• If the total value exceeds a resource's work calendar hours for the corresponding period of time (for example, day or week) taking holidays into account, the following icons are displayed in the cell containing the summary value:
  • indicates that the corresponding resource is over-allocated.
  • indicates that the corresponding resource is scheduled to work the correct number of hours.
  • indicates that the corresponding resource is under-allocated.

Note:

and are displayed next to the summary value only and not in the cells that correspond to individual assignments or resource requests. That is because the relevant resource might be scheduled to work on more than one assignment or resource request during the corresponding period of time (for example, day or week).

Provided you have the required permissions, you can quickly update a value by double-clicking on it or alternatively you can switch to the scheduler view and use drag and drop to change the start date. For more information, see Changing the Dates of Assignments and Resource Requests.