When resource-loading projects in Primavera P6, you may run into resource over-allocation. Over-allocation indicates that you’ve assigned your resources to work more hours than they are capable of working. This tends to occur when dealing with overlapping activities that require the same types of resources. Resource over-allocation is a schedule error that you will need to address before the project can begin. In Primavera P6, there are a couple ways to deal with resource over-allocation. For one, you could hire additional resources for the project. However, this will typically increase your project’s overall cost. If you have a budget constrained project, you can deal with over-allocation by rearranging a resource’s work. With P6, you can do this automatically using the Level Resources tool.

Resource leveling lets the program move activities with overallocated resources. There are, of course, positives and negatives to this tool. For one, it can help ease over-allocation – but it does tend to expand the project’s duration during the process. It’s a good idea to test out the effect of leveling resources before committing to using it on your project. When used effectively, Level Resources can be a powerful tool for capacity planning and running what-if scenarios.

In this article, we will cover how to level resources in Primavera P6. First, we’ll take a look at how to track resource allocation using the Resource Usage Profile. Then, we’ll look at how to set up and run the Level Resources tool on your project. The following examples are all from Primavera P6 Professional 20 – but this tool is available in all versions of Primavera P6.

Viewing Resource Allocation

Before performing resource leveling, you should monitor your resource allocation. You can view this information from the Resource Usage Profile. To open this profile, select View > Show on Bottom > Resource Usage Profile.

The Resource Usage Profile will display a graph of resource allocation over time. In the left window, select the desired resource. The graph on the right will show the resource’s usage throughout time. This graph will display three resource values by default: Budgeted Units, Actual Units, and Overallocated Units. The limit line, shown in black, will display the resource’s maximum units per period. Essentially, this is how much the resource can work each month, week, or day. If the Budgeted Units bar goes beyond this limit line, the resource is overallocated – or assigned to work too much. Any overallocated units will display in red. You will want to correct any overallocation before the project is set to begin.

In this example, the assigned resource Robert Smith is set to work more than his maximum units, causing overallocation. To ensure that we finish the activity on time, we will want to resolve this over-allocation. We can do this automatically by leveling resources.

How to Level Resources

Before leveling, you should set leveling priorities. Leveling priorities tell the program which activities to prioritize within the leveling process. You can set leveling priorities at either the project level or the activity level. If you’re planning on leveling multiple projects at once, you should set leveling priorities at the project level. In this case, however, Robert Smith is only assigned to this one specific project – so I will set priorities at the activity level, instead.

To set priorities for your activities, you will need to turn on the Activity Leveling Priority column by selecting View > Columns.

The Activity Leveling Priority column will be available from the General category. Move the column from Available to Selected and press OK.

The priority rankings range from Top to Lowest. Activities marked as Top are prioritized within the leveling process. To set priorities, double click in the Activity Priority Ranking cell for the selected activity. In this example, I’ll focus on setting activities assigned to Robert Smith in January as Top priority to help ease this overallocation.

After entering in leveling priorities, you can level the project by selecting Tools > Level.

The Level Resources dialogue box will open, allowing you to adjust resource leveling options.

Level Resource Options

Here, you can define the parameters of the leveling process. First, choose which project to level resources for if there is more than one open. Then, adjust the following leveling options:

Automatically level resources when scheduling

This option will level your resources every time you schedule the project. Without this option selected, leveled activities will return to their original dates after scheduling. It’s recommended to leave this option deselected to test the leveling results. If you don’t like the results of the leveler, you can always schedule the project to get it back to how it was. However, if you do end up liking the leveling results, you should select this option to ensure your activities stay leveled.

Consider assignments in other projects with priority equal/higher than

This option determines which projects the leveler will run on. Only projects within the range of leveling priority you specify will be leveled. For example, if you mark the checkbox and specify a leveling priority of 5 in this field, the leveler will consider all projects with a project leveling priority of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. You only need to worry about this setting if you’re leveling resources assigned to multiple projects. In this example, Robert Smith is only used on one project, so I’ll leave this unchecked.

Preserve scheduled early and late dates

This option will preserve the original early and late dates for the leveled activities. Leveling pushes out activities to accommodate resource availability. After leveling, the Start and Finish columns will reflect leveled dates. Preserving scheduled early and late dates prevents the Early Start/Finish and Late Start/Finish fields from changing. This allows you to determine how leveling affects the schedule’s completion. I would recommend using this setting to ensure your project isn’t unnecessarily delayed.

Recalculate assignment costs after leveling

This option will recalculate resource and role costs after leveling resources and roles. It’s recommended to keep this setting on to ensure that your costs remain accurate.

Level All Resources

This option lets you choose whether or not to level all project resources. When deselected, you can select specific resources to perform leveling on. However, if your project has several overallocated resources, you should keep this option selected.

Level resources only within activity Total Float

This option will only delay activities up to their Late Finish date. In other words, it will only level activities with positive total float. This is generally a good option to keep selected. When deselected, P6 will assume the project can finish at any time as long as resource availability is met. Most contracts will specify a specific Must Finish Date, and you won’t want the project to extend past that date. However, there is a trade off. If you select this option, the leveler most likely won’t be able to clear up all resource overallocation. You’ll need to consider what is more important in your project: hitting the finish date on time, or easing resource overallocation. If you’re more concerned with the project’s finish date, keep this option selected.

To show the full effect of the leveler, I’ll deselect this option. This will allow the program to extend my project’s duration as much as needed – as long as resources are no longer overallocated.

Preserve minimum float while leveling

If you checked the last option, this option lets you specify the exact amount of float you want your activities to maintain. If you have some activities that need to have at least some float, you can enter that here. However, just like with the last option, this setting tends to diminish the effect of the leveler. You will most likely still have overallocated resources, even after leveling.  

Max percent to over-allocate resources

This option lets you choose the max percentage by which resources can be overallocated. Often, especially with the last two settings turned on, leveling can’t remove all overallocation. With this option, you can allow a certain percentage of overallocation to remain within your resources – even after leveling.

Leveling Priorities

Under Leveling Priorities, you choose how you want to level your resources. By default, it is set to level activities by their Activity Leveling Priority in Ascending order. This is generally the best option – especially if you’ve already assigned priorities.

Log to File

Lastly, there is an option to Log to File. This will record the resource leveling results in a log file and save it to your computer.

With your options set, select Level to start the resource leveling process.

Resource Leveling Results

After leveling, the Resource Usage Profile shows that Robert Smith is no longer overallocated. His overallocated units, previously set to occur in January, are now spread over February, March, and April. The leveler has pushed out the Mobilization activities to accommodate the resource’s availability. Now, Robert Smith can work on all his assigned tasks – without going beyond his allocation.

Because the leveler pushed his activities out in time, the project as whole is now delayed. The original project Finish date was set to late September, as seen from the Early Finish column. Now, the project is set to finish in March of the following year, as seen from the Finish column.

This is quite a delay to add on to the schedule, which is something to consider when leveling. Although leveling solved one problem, it caused another altogether. You’ll want to consider what’s more important in your project: staying on schedule or staying under budget. If it’s more important to stay on schedule, you may want to hire more resources rather than leveling activities.

Summary

Primavera P6’s resource leveling tool can help resolve resource overallocation. The leveler works by pushing out activities to the point that the resource can continue to work on them. However, leveling can often extend the project’s duration and finish date. Although this can be useful for resource constrained projects, it’s not always the best solution. When leveling, you’ll want to consider the effect of the process on the project’s duration and cost. If it’s more important to stay on budget, the leveler can help you schedule activities without requiring additional resources. However, if you need to stay on schedule, you may want to look into hiring and using more resources, rather than delaying the project. Regardless of how you decide to deal with overallocation, P6’s resource leveler can give you better insight on your resource assignments.

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Lauren Hecker is an Oracle Primavera Cloud, Primavera P6, and Microsoft Project instructor who teaches onsite and virtual scheduling courses. To see her next open enrollment course, please visit our calendar. To schedule an onsite or custom course, please contact us!