Work vs Duration

Question

I understand the basic equation Duration/Units = Work. Is there a way to schedule and divest duration from work?

For instance, I will have a task lasting 3 months with an unknown actual work quantity (A specific hiring process). We would like to show this on the schedule as a certain 90 day time frame and assign a resource for that duration, but not have the work total display the total 90* 8 = 270 hrs. We want to assign 60 hours thru that 3 month period as an estimate of work. 

Suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Answer 1

Also, after you do what Dale says, switch to the task usage view and you should see that MSP has distributed the 60 hours uniformly across the 90 days duration. You can fine tune the work profile.

Answer 2

ChristopherPorter1 --

Really good question, my friend.  Before you enter either Duration or Work for the task in question, double-click the task and then click the Advanced tab of the Task Information dialog. Click the Task Type pick list and select the Fixed Duration option, then click the OK button. This action "locks" or fixes the Duration of the task so that it will not change when you adjust the Work value.  For the task in question, enter a Duration value of 90 days and then press the Enter key on your computer keyboard.

Next, right-click anywhere in the Gantt Chart pane and select the Show Split item on the shortcut menu. In the Gantt Chart pane, select the task in question.  In the Task Form pane, select the name of the resource you want to assign to the task and then enter 60h of Work.  Click the OK button in the Task Form pane to make the resource assignment.

The result is that you have a task with a Duration of 90 days and a resource assigned to perform approximately 60 hours of Work on the task.  Hope this helps.