Tuesday Brief: The difference between project managers who wrestle with Microsoft Project's resource assignments and those who make the software work exactly as intended often comes down to understanding one critical rule that most users never learn. This week, we explore the calendar intersection concept that's breaking your resource plans, plus advanced techniques to gain precise control over every assignment.
July 1, 2025
In This Issue:
Featured Article: The Calendar Intersection Rule That's Breaking Your Resource Plans
Video Tutorial: How to Use Resource Pools in Microsoft Project
Community Poll: About your PM tool
Live Event (7/2): Resource Loading Like a Pro - Mastering Microsoft Project Resource Management
PM Best Practices: The Resource Visibility Framework
Featured Article: The Calendar Intersection Rule That's Breaking Your Resource Plans
When you assign resources to tasks, Microsoft Project doesn't just look at your task dates and resource availability separately. It calculates the intersection of your task calendar and each resource's individual calendar to determine when work can actually happen.
Here's a scenario that trips up many project managers: Your task uses a 9-80 alternate schedule with 9-hour days Monday through Thursday and Fridays off. But your resources follow the standard calendar with lunch breaks from 12-1 PM. The result? Your resources get both the lunch breaks AND the alternate Fridays off, even though your task calendar assumes full 9-hour days.
This intersection rule explains why your resource assignments don't match your expectations and why your carefully planned schedules seem to fall apart in unpredictable ways. Understanding this concept is the first step toward gaining real control over Microsoft Project's resource management capabilities.
Video Tutorial: How to Use Resource Pools in Microsoft Project
Managing resources across multiple projects can be challenging, especially when trying to prevent overallocation. This practical tutorial demonstrates how to set up and utilize Microsoft Project's Resource Pool functionality to share resources across projects while maintaining total control over allocation.
You'll discover how to:
Create a dedicated resource pool file with consistent resource naming
Link multiple project plans to your shared resource pool
Monitor resource allocation and identify conflicts using the Resource Usage view
Troubleshoot overallocation issues across multiple projects
Essential knowledge for project managers working with MS Project Desktop who need to coordinate resources across teams or multiple initiatives.
Live Event (7/2): Resource Loading Like a Pro - Mastering Microsoft Project Resource Management
Most project managers default to building elaborate Excel spreadsheets because they assume resource loading in Microsoft Project is too difficult. But the truth is, Microsoft Project makes this easy—if you know where to look and what to set.
Join Eric Christoph, former Corporate EVM Subject Matter Expert for L-3 Communications, as he demonstrates the precise techniques for controlling exactly when and how much a person works on each task. Eric implemented EIA-748 Earned Value Management Systems for projects worth over $400 billion, and he'll share the advanced methods that eliminate guesswork and spreadsheet workarounds.
What You'll Learn:
How calendars (task, base, and resource) impact your resource availability
What really happens when your assignments don't match your task dates
How to set your assignment hours and dates exactly
How Project manages TimeScaleValues and Work Contours
Advanced troubleshooting techniques for complex scenarios
If you've ever thought, "Why won't MS Project just do what I tell it to?" this session will show you exactly how to make that happen.
🗓️ Wednesday, July 2 🕛 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT 📍 Live on Zoom 🏅 1 PMI PDU: Ways of Working
MPUG host 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 PDU's.
Learn more and register for upcoming events:
7/2: Resource Loading Like a Pro: Mastering Microsoft Project Resource Management | Learn More / Register Here
7/9: Leading Through Connection: Navigating the Challenges of Human Relationships in Leadership | Learn More / Register Here
PM Best Practices: The Resource Visibility Framework
Before diving into advanced resource loading techniques, establish clear visibility into your current resource situation. Use this three-layer approach:
1. Calendar layer - document all working time variations (holidays, alternate schedules, personal exceptions) 2. Capacity layer - track actual availability vs. theoretical capacity for each resource 3. Conflict layer - identify overlapping assignments and calendar mismatches.
This foundation makes advanced resource loading techniques far more effective and prevents the calendar intersection issues that break most resource plans.
