How do you track parallel projects and show overlapping resources?

beatea

I am looking for advice on how to:

• Track multiple project (software releases)
• Show individual resources/groups against a gantt view so I can see where they are double booked or overloaded
• Other useful tips for tracking multiple efforts and resources
• Note: I think my account or company access has some restrictions around the Resource Allocation features so I'm trying work arounds that can keep this sheet lightweight

Genevieve P.

Hi @beatea

If you're not able to use the Resource Allocation & Resource Settings, there's a few other ways you can track this.

Personally, I would have multiple different Project sheets. Then I'd set up a Report to gather together the sheets in one view. You can either filter the Report by date (ex. to see what's happening in the next week) or by person (ex. to see all tasks assigned to one person in all the different Project Sheets).

It sounds like you may want to create a Report that Groups the columns by Person, so you can see all the tasks assigned to one user below their name. Then you can use the Gantt view to see when projects overlap, like this:

I've Sorted the Report by Start Date so they show up in order. You'll also notice that I have the Sheet Name as the Label appearing in the Gantt chart. You can adjust this by clicking on the small gear icon in the top-right corner and editing your Project Settings for this Report.

Additionally, you could set up colour-coding on the underling sheet's Task Bars for each project (perhaps a Conditional Formatting rule based off of the % Complete, so it's easy to see which project is which). You could also add in a COUNT of how many tasks are assigned to each person:

This Help Center article has more information on Reports: Report on Data from Multiple Sheets

Here's a Webinar on Grouping in Reports: Redesigned Reports with Grouping and Summary Functions

I hope this helps provide a few ideas for you to work with!

Cheers,

Genevieve

beatea

Genevieve, thank you! I dind't even think of putting the data into a report.

Genevieve P.

@beatea, No problem! Let me know if you have any questions as you build this out. 🙂

Cheers,

Genevieve

ktgator

Hi @Genevieve P. - any suggestions for how to do this using Reports without flattening out the hierarchy? Or is the best solution, in that case, to keep everything in one spreadsheet?

Genevieve P.

Hi @ktgator

Reports are unable to display hierarchy from the underlying sheet(s) as they evaluate each row separately. You can create levels of hierarchy with Grouping, or you could add in helper columns to your sheets using a PARENT function to indicate if the row is a Parent or not (then use this in your Report either to Group by or Filter by, etc).

The best solution will depend on your specific projects / end goal. I would suggest starting a new thread with screen captures of your set up (blocking out sensitive data), detailing what you want to see in the end (ex. Dashboard?), and then the Community can help guide you in the best way forward for your own process!

Cheers,

Genevieve