Featured Article: Resource Leveling - It's Time to Level Your Schedule
Video Tutorial: Automatic Leveling Issues in Microsoft Project
Featured Master Class: Resource Loading Like a Pro - Mastering Microsoft Project Resource Management
Featured Resource: Compare Your Next PM Tool
PM Best Practice: Set Max Units Before You Assign, Not After
Tuesday Brief: Resource leveling has a reputation problem. It moves dates in ways that are hard to predict, so a lot of project managers turn it off and resolve overallocation by hand instead. This week we look at what leveling is actually doing when it shifts your schedule. Daryl Deffler covers the leveling controls and functions, Dale Howard demonstrates a setting that lets Project reschedule your plan on its own, and a 60-minute Master Class with Eric Christoph goes deeper on resource loading. We've also included a tool on the site that may be new to you.
Featured Article: Resource Leveling - It's Time to Level Your Schedule
Daryl Deffler wrote this as the capstone of a thirteen-part series. It brings all three leveling controls and all three leveling functions together in one article, which the individual pieces never did, so you can see how they interact rather than learning them one button at a time.
The leveling dialog he walks through is the same one Dale Howard opens in the video below, so the two fit together directly. Deffler explains what the controls do. Dale shows what happens when you let Project use them on your behalf.
Video Tutorial: Automatic Leveling Issues in Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project MVP Dale Howard demonstrates the problem before he names it. He assigns a resource to three design tasks, clicks Assign, and two full phases jump into the future. He undoes it, tries a different resource, and the same thing happens again.
The cause is a single setting under Leveling Options. Dale recommends leaving the leveling calculation set to Manual so Project cannot reschedule your plan without asking. He closes with the correction most people miss. One person assigned full-time to three parallel tasks is being scheduled for 24-hour days, and the units value should be 33 percent instead.
Featured Master Class: Resource Loading Like a Pro - Mastering Microsoft Project Resource Management
Plenty of schedulers assume loading resources in Project is more trouble than it is worth, then end up maintaining a parallel spreadsheet of hours, dates, and availability that nobody else can read. This session works through doing it inside Project instead, where the data can actually drive the schedule.
MPUG members get live access and replays. Not a member yet? Join today.
Featured Resource: Compare Your Next PM Tool
Our Tool Comparison page is one of the newer additions to the site and worth a look if you are evaluating platforms. Enter your project type, team size, budget, methodology, and the features you actually need, and it returns a shortlist. You can also run two specific tools head to head.
MPUG hosts live events with leading experts on Wednesdays from 12:00pm - 1:00pm ET! MPUG members get access to live events where you get direct access to industry leaders, actionable insights, hands-on training, and opportunities to earn PDUs.
8/19/2026: Real Project Online Migrations: What Worked, What Didn’t – A Conversation with Ira Brown | Learn More + Register Here
8/26/2026: Connect Microsoft Project Desktop to Copilot and AI Agents for a Modern PMO | Learn More + Register Here
More summer events and Project Online retirement sessions coming soon!
PM Best Practice: Set Max Units Before You Assign, Not After
Microsoft Project defaults every resource to 100% Max Units, which means it flags overallocation against a person who does not exist. If someone is only half available to your project, set their Max Units to 50% on the Resource Sheet before you assign them to anything. Every overallocation warning after that is measured against their real capacity, and you stop arguing with a red stick figure that was never describing your team.
