How to change working time in Project (143254)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Project 98 for Windows
  • Microsoft Project for Windows 95 4.1
  • Microsoft Project for Windows 95 4.1a
  • Microsoft Project for Windows 4.0
  • Microsoft Project for the Macintosh 4.0
  • Microsoft Project 2000
  • Microsoft Project 2002
  • Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003
  • Microsoft Office Project Standard 2003
This article was previously published under Q143254

SUMMARY

This article includes information about changing the working time of the Microsoft Project Standard calendar. This information also applies to changing an individual resource calendar or creating a shift calendar from a copy of the standard.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Project, there are three different types of calendars. Before you modify a calendar, it important to consider what each of these calendars does. The following information should familiarize you with each of these types of calendars.

The Project Calendar

The project calendar defines basic scheduling properties for tasks. To find out which calendar is the Project Calendar or to assign a calendar, do the following:
  • Microsoft Project 98, Microsoft Project 2000,?Microsoft Project 2002, and Microsoft Office Project 2003

    On the Project menu, click Project Information.

    In the Project Information dialog box, the Calendar field contains the name of the calendar that Microsoft Project is using as the file's main calendar.
  • Microsoft Project 4.1

    On the File menu, click Project Info.

    In the Project Info dialog box, the Calendar field contains the name of the calendar that Microsoft Project is using as the file's main calendar.
  • Microsoft Project 4.0

    On the File menu, click Summary Info.

    In the Summary Info dialog box, the Calendar field contains the name of the calendar that Microsoft Project is using as the file's main calendar.

Base Calendar

You can use a base calendar or shift calendar to define alternate available time schedules. The Project calendar (above) is always one of the Base Calendars.

The base calendars can also act as templates for resource calendars. To find out what base calendar a resource is using, do the following:
  • Microsoft Project 98
    1. On the View Menu, click Resource Sheet.
    2. On the Insert menu, click Resource Information.
    3. Click the Working Time Tab.
    The Base Cal field contains the name of the base calendar.
  • Microsoft Project 4.0, Microsoft Project 4.1, Microsoft Project 2000,?Microsoft Project 2002, and Project?2003
    1. On the View Menu, click Resource Sheet.
    2. On the Insert menu, click Resource Information.
    The Base Cal field contains the name of the base calendar.

Resource Calendar

A resource calendar is a schedule of availability for an individual resource. When a resource is created, Microsoft Project automatically creates a calendar based upon the Standard base calendar. This individual calendar only affects the resource's availability and is not used to calculate the work for the resource.

Moreover, a resource calendar is an exception to the project calendar. Therefore, if a task is scheduled for a time that a resource cannot work and the task is using resource-driven scheduling, the task is adjusted (in many cases the finish date is adjusted) to allow for the differences between the project calendar and the resource's individual calendar.

To change or view a resource's calendar, do the following:
  1. On the Tools Menu, click Change Working Time.
  2. In the For list, click the resource's name.

    You will now see the resource's individual calendar.

Calendar Options

Microsoft Project makes a number of calendar options available. To see these options, do the following:
  1. On the Tools Menu, click Options.
  2. In the Options dialog box, click the Calendar tab.
These options do not change calendars or availability schedules (as described above), but are simply definitions for specific defaults and values for units. For brief explanations of some of these options, see the following information:
  • Default Start Time/Default End Time

    This option defines the default time that is placed upon any Start Date or Finish Date in which the user did not specify a time. Any fully qualified date includes month, day, year, and time.

    For example, if you set the Default Start Time to 8:00 AM and you were to create a task that started 1/25/96, if you told Microsoft Project nothing else, Microsoft Project still requires a time value for the date entry. Because Default Start Time is set to 8:00 AM, this is the time that will be added to the date you typed in. The fully qualified date for the task would then be 1/25/96 at 8:00 AM.
  • Hours Per Day

    This option defines the day unit to be a certain number of hours. This option is important because the day unit itself is not a concrete number in many business applications. You should set this option before any tasks or resources are created.
  • Hours Per Week

    This option defines the week unit to be a certain number of hours. This option is important because the week unit itself is not a concrete number in many business applications. You should set this option before any tasks or resources are created.
NOTE: The value of Hours Per Day and Hours Per Week should not be changed after you begin creating tasks and resources because fractions of Days and Weeks can result. Additionally, you will see changes in the way your plan is scheduled
  • Example

    You work a standard 40 hours/week.
    Your initial Hours Per Day is 8.

    If you were to create a task of 1 day long, and then assign a resource to it, Microsoft Project consults the Hours Per Day option to calculate how much work the resource should be assigned (in this case 8 hours).

    If you were to change the Hours Per Day option to 6 hours, the resulting duration would be 1.33 days. This behavior occurs because when you change the option you do not change the assignment on the tasks. The resource is still working 8 hours on this task. In other words, 8 hours divided by 6 hours per day equals 1.3333 days duration.

REFERENCES

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

45695 Setting calendar working hours for evening/night shift in Project

In Microsoft Project online Help, see the following topics:
  • Calendar
  • Change Working Time
  • Assigning Calendars
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:5/3/2006
Keywords:kbhowto kbusage KB143254
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