top of page

2. Calendars and Resources

Objectives

 

  • Understand how capacity (availability × efficiency) influences the actual duration of tasks

  • Know how to assign resources and teams to a task

  • Understand the logic of calendars (project, task, result) and their combination

  • Recalculate the planning to see the impact on the Critical Chain and the buffer

​

Key concepts

​

  • Task capacity = combination of the capabilities of the assigned resources/teams (and/or the task schedule)

  • Resulting calendar:

    • Several resources → we merge (union) their working ranges (capacity = min)

    • Several teams → we cross (intersection) their ranges (capacity = min)

    • Resources + teams → we cross the two results (resource union) ∩ (team intersection)

    • Effective duration ≠ nominal duration: it depends on the ranges worked and the capacity

Catalog Settings

Tips

 

You can update the catalogs at any time; the task editor will reflect new items.

 

Start simple: a standard calendar ( Mon- Fri, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.), 2-3 resources, 1 team.

01

Catalogs settings

Why

 

Your assignments (resources/teams) and calendars determine the capacity and working ranges of the tasks.

 

Steps

 

  1. Open Catalog Setup (or Catalogs) from the workspace toolbar

  2. Select your JSON files (or use the default values) to:

  • Calendars (shifts per day, capacity),

  • Resources (name, efficiency, availability, schedule),

  • Teams (members, availability),

  • PERT (optional, used in your duration/variability calculations)

 

Apply. The data becomes available in the task editor.

 

02

Assign Resources to a Task

Steps

 

  1. Open a task (tap/click in the list).

  2. In Calendar / Resources:

    1. Choose a resource (Select Resource menu)

    2. Repeat to add multiple resources if necessary

  3. ​Observe:

    • The capacity of the task is updated (sum of availabilities × efficiencies)

    • If resources have a calendar, a resulting calendar is calculated automatically

 

​Rules (simplified)

​

  • Several resources → the resulting calendar is the union of work ranges per day

  • Resulting capacity = min of the capacities of the combined calendars (conservative approach)

  • If you delete all resources, the task returns to no resulting calendar (you can then select a manual calendar).​

Edit Task Menu

Advice

 

Assign critical resources first; see the impact on the actual duration before refining.

 

Check that the availability and efficiency of the resources are realistic (catalogs).

Edit Task Menu

Why is it useful

 

Several teams involved → we are restricted to really compatible slots.

 

Several individual resources → we open more available slots.

03

Assign Teams and Combine Calendars

Steps

 

  1. Open a task, then in Calendar / Resources, add a team

  2. Add other teams if necessary

​

Logic of combination

​

  • Teams: the intersection of the beaches is calculated (the common slots where all the teams can work)

  • If you have resources + teams:

    • We first calculate the union of resources,

    • Then we intersect with the intersection of the teams

    • The final capacity remains cautious: min of the capacities.​

Tips

 

  • Too many teams can drastically reduce common slots → monitor the actual duration

  • Prefer truly independent teams for parallel work (otherwise, sequence)

04

Re-plan and measure the impact

Steps

 

  1. Open the ResultGrid panel (dates, gauges)

  2. Click Apply to recalculate:

  • Effective durations (according to capacity and schedules),

  • Critical Chain (CC),

  • Buffer (size, position, consumption).

​

On the Gantt view:

  • The failed bars,

  • CC tasks (in evidence),

  • Start, Deadline, Buffer markers.

​

What happens "under the hood"

​

  • The actual duration of a task takes into account the ranges worked and the capacity

  • Multiple resources = union of niches; several teams = intersection; mix = intersection of the two worlds

  • The CC is recalculated on the augmented graph (precedences + strings of resources)

Apply button and Gauges features

Advice

 

  • Measure the effect of task-by-task assignments: sometimes adding a resource does not shorten if its calendar does not cover useful slots

  • Monitor the balance of the parallel branches (lanes) to avoid a bottleneck

05

Troubleshooting & Good Practices

Good practices

 

  • Don't hide parallelizable work in subtasks if you have multiple lanes.

 

  • Adjust Team size (lanes) at the level of the AI assistant to better exploit parallelism.

 

  • Keep main tasks (deliverable) - no micro-gestures.

Common problems

 

  • “The duration did not decrease after adding a resource”:

    • Check efficiency/availability,

    • Check the resource calendar (non-roverling ranges),

    • Too many teams → too narrow intersection

​

  • “Greyed task calendar”:

    • Assignments are present → the resulting calendar is priority

    • Delete assignments to go back to manual

​

  • “Capacity = 0”:

    • Check that the sum (availability × efficiency) is 0,

    • Check that the calendar is not empty.

bottom of page