Booking allocation methods
Whether adding a team member directly to a project on the Team tab, or booking a resource to a project or requirement from the schedule board, you can choose from six different booking allocation methods to use:
Full capacity - Books the resource’s full capacity for the specified From and To dates.
For example, if a resource has a calendar set to work eight hours each day, five days a week, setting a start and end date that covers five working days will book the resource for 40 hours. The booking is done without regard to the resource's remaining capacity. If a resource is already booked on other projects during that period, the 40 hours is booked as additional hours. This situation potentially leads to overbookings.
Remaining capacity – This method is only available when you book directly to a project by using the schedule board. This method books the resource’s available capacity within the specified date range.
For example, if a resource has a capacity of 40 hours each week and has already been booked for 10 hours, booking for the same week results in booking the remaining 30 hours of capacity for that week.
Percentage capacity - Books the resource for a percentage of capacity for the specified From and To dates.
For example, if a resource's calendar is set to work eight hours each day, five days a week, setting a start and end date that covers five working days at 50 percent capacity would book the resource for 20 hours. The individual bookings each day are spread equally across the period, four hours each day in this example. The booking is done without regard to the resource’s remaining capacity. If the resource is already booked during that period on other projects, the 20 hours is booked as additional hours. This situation potentially leads to overbookings.
Evenly distribute hours - Books the resource for a specified number of hours, distributing the time evenly each day over the specified From and To dates.
For example, if you book a resource for 20 hours over a five-day period, this method distributes the 20 hours evenly at four hours each day. The booking is done without regard to the resource's remaining capacity. If the resource is already booked during that period on other projects, the 20 hours is booked as additional hours. This situation potentially leads to overbookings.
Front load hours - Books the resource for a specified number of hours, front-loading the daily hours over the specified From and To dates. Front-loading consumes the resource's available capacity in a “first-in-first-consumed” order. Because available capacity is considered, you might receive an error message if the resource has no remaining capacity that can be absorbed by the booking. With this method, you can’t overbook.
None – This method is only available when you book from the Team tab within a project. This method adds the resource as a team member on the project but doesn’t create bookings that absorb the resource's capacity. This method is used when the default project manager team member is added when a project is created. The project manager user who created the project is added by default to the project so that the project entity record has an owner and the project has only one approver. Because this user doesn't have bookings, if you do want to book the resource, you can delete and then re-add them by using a different allocation method, or you can add the resource to tasks and then use Extend Bookings on the Reconciliation tab to create bookings for the assignments.
Allocation methods that lead to overbooking
The following allocation methods lead to overbooking if the resource is already committed in other projects (or for other work orders or schedulable entities):
- Full capacity
- Percentage capacity
- Evenly distribute hours
When using one of these three allocation methods, you won’t be notified that the resource is overbooked. To correct the overbooking, you’ll need to use the schedule board.