Assigning Multiple Resources to Projects

You can assign multiple resources to a single project and update the scheduling strategies for assignments.

Your administrator must:

  • Add PSA Actions: Assignments to your Project record page from Lightning App Builder.
  • Assign you the PSA - Manage Project Assignments permission set for this functionality to be visible, or refer to the PSA Technical Documentation Pack if a custom permission set is required.
  • Add Staffing permission to the project and resources.
  • Assign Read and Edit permissions for Cost Rate, Cost Rate Amount, and Use Default Cost Rate fields on the Assignment object to the PSA - Manage Project Assignments permission set or any custom permissions to display these fields.

  • Add columns in the Select Resources grid: by default the columns displayed are Resource Name, Resource Role, Region, Practice, and Group.

    • To add the Availability column, select Use Utilization Engine in the Utilization Settings custom setting.
    • To add custom columns in the Select Resources grid, specify the API name of the custom field set in the Assign Multiple Resources Columns field in the Assignment Settings custom setting.
    Tip:

    Text Encrypted columns are not displayed in the grid. Also, if the column type is Rich Text Area, the column is displayed but the text is not formatted.

  • To customize the filters and add custom fields, use the Assign Multiple Resources to Project Filter Options field set on the Contact object.
  • On the Assign Multiple Resources to Project window, you will only view the milestones that are shared with you.

  • To customize the columns displayed in the Assignment Details grid, select the following in the Assignment Settings custom setting:

    • Display Planned Bill Rate to display the Planned Bill Rate column.
    • Mass Assign Milestone Editable to display the Milestone Column and select Mass Assign Milestone Required to make it a required column.
    • Mass Assign Budget Allocation Editable to display the Budget Allocation Column and select Mass Assign Budget Allocation Required to make it a required column.
    • Role Hidden to hide the Role column from the grid. By default, it's deselected and the Role column is displayed in the grid.
    • The Role Required on Creation checkbox to make it a mandatory column. This checkbox takes priority over the Role Hidden checkbox. If you are selecting the Role required on Creation checkbox, the Role column is always displayed in the grid and is mandatory when creating a new assignment.

    For more information, see Assignment Settings.

  • To customize the Scheduling Strategy in the Schedule Selected Items window:

    • In the Assignment Settings custom setting, customize the Scheduling Strategy picklist displayed in the Schedule Selected Items window by selecting the desired scheduling strategies. At least one must be selected for the functionality to work, else an error is thrown.
    • Select the Adjust Hours Strategy Respects Holidays checkbox for the Adjust Hours Per Day scheduling strategy to respect work calendar holidays.

For all the lookup fields, you can also click Show All Results for " ". The search lookup window opens with the searched string populated in the Search field and displays all related items in the grid.

Select the item from the grid that you want and click Select. The selected item is then displayed in the lookup field. For more information, see Using Advanced Lookup.

Note:

If Shield Platform Encryption is enabled in your org, the records in the Resource, Account, and Opportunity search lookup window are filtered using only the Name field in the grid.

To assign multiple resources to a project:

  1. On a Project record page, click Assignments | Assign Multiple Resources to Project. The window opens. By default, the resources displayed are filtered by the Region, Practice, and Group on the Project.
Note:

The Project must have a start date and end date to apply and clear filters.

  1. To clear the applied filters and display other resources, click Open the filters panel | Clear.
  2. [Optional] Click Open the filters panel to filter the resources in the grid.
  3. Select the filters and click Apply. The resources are filtered depending on the criteria selected. For more information, see Filtering Resources.
  4. Select the resources from the Select Resources grid. You can sort the columns in the grid in ascending and descending order.
  5. [Optional] Search the resources you want to assign to the project by entering the first three letters of the name.
  6. Select resources and click Pinned to pin the resources to the grid. The pinned resources sorted by resource name are moved to the top of the grid with the pin icon Pinned displayed in a column to the left-hand side of the resource name.
  7. To remove the pinned resources, select the resources and click Pinned. The pin is removed from the particular resource. The pinned resources always stay at the top of the grid even when you perform the sorting and search for the resource by name.
Note:

The pinned resources are browser and user dependent.

  1. [Optional] Click the resource name in the grid to open the record page in a new tab.
  2. [Optional] Click Show Selected to display the selected resources. You can sort and search the selected resources.
  3. [Optional] Click Show All to display all the resources. The state of selected resources, applied filters, and pinned resources are retained when switching between Show Selected and Show All.
  4. Select the checkboxes of one or more resources you want to assign. Click Next. The selected resources are populated in the grid in the Assignment Details section.
Note:

The selections and filters applied are retained on the Select Resources grid when you click Back in the Assignment Details section.

  1. [Optional] Update the editable fields to change the assignment details for the selected resources. To edit or update multiple columns, select the columns and click Edit. In the popup that opens, add the value, select the Update (0) selected items checkbox and click Apply.
Notes:

  • Scheduling Strategy, Start Date, End Date, Scheduled Hours, Resource, and working days from the work calendar are read-only columns.
  • By default, the scheduling strategy is None.
  • Start Date, End Date, Scheduled Hours, and Bill Rate are required fields in the Assignment Details grid. To customize the columns displayed in the grid, contact your administrator.
  • If the value in the Role, Milestone, or Budget Allocation column is "None" when that field is marked as required in the Assignment Settings custom setting, an inline error is thrown.

    1. [Optional] You can filter the assignments by searching resources in the search field.
    2. Select one or more assignments you want to delete and click Delete.
    3. [Optional] To apply the scheduling strategy and to change the start date and end date, select the rows and click Schedule Selected Items. The Schedule Selected Items window opens.
    Note:

    The start date and end date are not editable from the Assignment Details grid. To edit the start date and end date you must click Schedule Selected Items.

    1. Select the scheduling strategy, specify the scheduled hours, start date, and end date. You can select "None" as a scheduling strategy to apply the schedule depending on the start date and end date. The scheduled hours are then calculated using the working days and working hours on the selected resources' work calendars.

      [Optional] To customize the scheduling strategy:

      1. In the Scheduling Strategy field, select "Custom".
      2. In the Schedule Pattern section, enter the hours for each day. You must enter hours for at least one day.
      3. In the Repeat Every field, enter a number. The schedule repeats at that number of weeks. The default value is 1. For example, if you enter 4 in the Repeat Every field, the pattern from week 1 is repeated on week 5, week 9, and so on for the duration of the assignment.
    2. Click Schedule.
    1. Click Assign All to create assignments for all the records displayed in the Assignment Details grid.
    Notes:
    • You can create up to 200 assignments from the Assignment Details grid.
    • Bill Rate is editable only when the Billable checkbox is selected.
    • When the value of a selected resource's default cost rate is changed, the Use Default Cost Rate column checkbox is automatically deselected for the respective assignment.
    • The Mass Assignments Default Ignore Holidays field in the Assignment Settings custom setting is not supported because a schedule exception is created when the resource works on a holiday. The field is supported on the Visualforce page, and when no scheduling strategy is selected.
    • If you select the Custom scheduling strategy in the Schedule Selected Items window, scheduled hours are also required.
    • When a project is billable, then assignments can be billable or non-billable, but if the project is non-billable, the assignments are also non-billable.
    • Currently, it is not possible to select a scheduling strategy to control the pattern of work. By default, the assignments are created using the hours per day as mentioned in the resource's work calendar between the start and end date of the assignments.

    Filtering Resources

    To filter resources:

    1. [Optional] In the Resource field, enter at least one character from the name of the resource. Resources associated with an account beginning with the same characters as those you enter for the resource name search are also returned in any results.
    2. [Optional] Select one or more roles from the Resource Role field.
    3. [Optional] In the Region field, enter the name of the region that you want to add.
    4. [Optional] After entering two or more characters, click Show All Results for " ". The Select Region window opens with the searched string in the search field, and all the related items are displayed in the grid. You can amend the search term if required.
    5. [Optional] Select the region from the grid.
    6. Click Select to add the region to the Region field.
    7. [Optional] For the Practice and Group fields, repeat steps 3-5 to add the relevant practice and group.
    8. [Optional] Deselect the relevant sub-RPG checkbox if required. The sub-RPG checkboxes are selected by default. Deselect the relevant checkbox to only see resources that match the region, practice, or group.

    Filtering Resources by Skills or Certifications

    To filter resources by skills, certifications, or skill sets:

    1. [Optional]From the Skills and Certification section, select Consider Expiration Date to exclude resources with certifications that expire before the date specified in the End Date field of the filter.
    2. Click Edit. The Edit Skills and Certifications window opens.
    3. In the Skills Selection section, select "Skill or Certification" or "Skill Set" from the drop-down. By default, "Skill or Certification" is selected.
    4. Enter the name of the skill, certification, or skill set that you want to add.
    5. [Optional] After entering two or more characters, click Show All Results for " ". The Select Skill or Certification window opens with the searched string in the search field, and all the related items are displayed in the grid. You can amend the search term if required.

    6. Select the skill, certification, or skill set you want to add. The added skills and certifications are separated into drop-down lists of skill sets and individual skills and certifications.

      Notes:

      Each skill or certification can only be added once.

    7. [Optional] Click a suggested skill to add it to the resource request.

    8. [Optional] Do one of the following:

      • Leave All Essential Skills selected if you want the resource to have all the added essential skills.
      • Select Any Essential Skill if you want the resource to have any one of the added essential skills.

    9. [Optional] To edit the minimum rating or a skill importance, do one of the following:

      • Double-click the cell or select the cell and press Enter on your keyboard, then select an option from the picklist.
      • Select the checkboxes of the skills or certifications you want to simultaneously edit, then select the Update Selected Items checkbox and click Apply.
      Note:

      If you select Desirable for the skill importance, the minimum rating will default to --None-- and is not editable.

    10. [Optional] To remove skills or certifications, do one of the following:

      • Click Show actions | Remove Skill to remove the skill or certification, or Remove Skill Set the skill set that a skill or certification belongs to.
      • Select checkboxes of the skills or certifications you want to remove, then click Remove.
      • Click a suggested skill to remove it.
    11. Click Apply to update the list of resources using the skills filter criteria specified.
    Notes:
    • To show the Skill Importance column, your administrator must select the Enable Desirable Skills setting on the Skills Management custom setting. For more information, see Skills Management Settings.
    • If you deselect all the skills in a skill set, the entire skill set gets removed from the Skills section.
    • If you deselect a skill under the Skills and Certifications, that skill is removed from the Skills section.
    • If you deselect all the skills in the Skills and Certifications, the entire Skills and Certifications section gets removed from the Skills section.
    • The Consider Expiration Date checkbox is not visible when no skills are added under the Skills and Certifications section.

    Assign Multiple Resources to Projects

    Warning:

    Fields, such as First Name or Last Name on a Contact record that are contained in a field set do not display on the page when they are shield platform encrypted.

    Note:

    When Shield Platform Encryption is enabled in your org, you must be as specific as possible when searching for a resource name to ensure that resources are found. See Shield Platform Encryption for more information.

    Tip:

    Your administrator can edit the Contact Field Sets to modify the fields that appear in the "Filter Options" and "Select Resources" sections on this page. For more information, see Assign Multiple Resources to Project Filter Options and Assign Multiple Resources to Project Search Columns. If you add too many fields to field sets, you may degrade the performance of this page. Remove fields if performance is impacted.

    You can assign multiple resources to a single project and update the scheduling strategies for assignments.

    The recommended maximum number of skills for filtering is 50. To minimize the risk of encountering a view state limit when filtering on skills, you can do the following:

    • Reduce the number of skills in the filter.
    • Use other filters to further refine your search
    • Click Show X More to expand the number of results, instead of clicking Show All.
    Note:

    If your administrator has set Use Utilization Engine to true, you can filter resource availability results over a date range.

    To assign multiple resources to a project:

    1. Select the project to which you want to assign resources.
    2. On the Assignment related list, click Assign Multiple Resources. The Mass Assign Resources To Project page opens and displays a list of available resources.
    3. [Optional] Filter the resources that you want to assign to the project. In Filter Options, select an available option from the fields to locate resources.
      The Region, Practice, and Group fields are populated automatically from the project settings. Start and end date filters determine the period over which the availability of the resources is calculated. These dates default to the start and end dates of the project.
    4. [Optional] Filter the resources by skill set. This is only available if you have created skill sets. In the Skill Set Selection, click the Skill Set Lookup and select a record. Click Apply Skill Set. The Skill or Certification fields are automatically populated with the skills associated with the selected skill set. You can apply multiple skill sets and add other skills and certifications. Select Match All to match resources that have all of the selected skills, or Match Any to match resources that have any of the selected skills.
    5. [Optional] Filter the resources by skill and rating. In the Skill Selection, click the Skill or Certification Lookup and select a record. Select a rating from the picklist.When you select a numerical or alphabetical rating and filter, results equal to or greater than the selected rating are returned. Select Match All to match resources that have all of the selected skills, or Match Any to match resources that have any of the selected skills. Click + Add Skill to filter on another skill and rating. Deselect the checkbox next to a skill to deselect it and exclude it from filtering. Click Delete to delete a skill selection entry.
    6. Click Filter Resources to find matching resources.
    7. [Optional] If you included skills and ratings in your resource search criteria, view skills and ratings in your search results. Compare resource skills and expertise and assign the most suitable people to your project.
    8. [Optional] View the availability of resources in your search results in the % Availability column. Click the % Availability column header to sort results and find resources who are less utilized than others.
    9. [Optional] Click Clear Filters to reset your search criteria.
    10. In Select Resources, select the resources you want, or select the checkbox in the heading if you want to assign all resources to the project.
    11. Click Create Assignments.
    12. Complete the fields described in Mass Assign Resources to Project Fields.

    13. [Optional] Configure a scheduling strategy for one or more assignments. In the Assignment Details area, select the assignments using checkboxes. In the Scheduling area, do one of the following:

      Click Update Schedules for Selected Assignments to apply the scheduling strategy.
    14. Click Create Assignments.
    15. [Optional] Click Assign Milestones to Assignments to assign milestones to the assignments you have created. See Assigning Multiple Milestones to Assignments for more information.