Overview of Project Calendars

Overview of Project calendars

Do you know how many calendars Microsoft Project use and do you understand when to use each one?  Keep reading if you want to know more.

Project uses several calendars to determine resource availability and the way that tasks are scheduled.

  • Project calendar     This is the calendar that is used to designate the default work schedule for all tasks in a project.
  • Resource calendar     For each resource that you enter, Project creates individual resource calendars based on the settings in the Standard calendar. You can modify those calendars by clicking Change Working Time on the General tab of the Resource Information dialog box. You can also create and assign resource calendars for individual resources or resource groups to indicate specific working hours. For example, you can assign a resource to the swing shift or night shift. You can edit the resources’ calendars to indicate nonworking time, such as vacations and leaves of absence.Note   If you are using Project Professional, you must first check out the resource. 
  • Task calendar    Tasks are scheduled based on the working times in the project calendar. However, you can customize the working times from the project calendar in a task calendar if you have tasks that need to be completed at different times, especially tasks that are independent of resources. A task calendar is especially useful for equipment that runs and completes tasks throughout nights or weekends, which are designated as nonworking time in the project calendar.
  • Base calendar    A base calendar is used as a template that the project calendar, resource calendar, and task calendar are based on. Project provides three base calendars:
    • Standard (8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. weekdays, with an hour off for lunch)
    • 24 Hours
    • Night ShiftNote   If you are using Project Professional with Project Server, you cannot directly edit the project calendar, nor can you set any nonworking times, such as vacation times. In this case, the project calendar is defined by the enterprise global template. Only someone with administrative permissions (for example, your server administrator) can check out and change items in the enterprise global template.Keep in mind that working time calendars and resource availability do not apply to material resources.

      Tip   If you set up the same calendar each time that you create a new project, consider saving a completed project as a template or adding the calendar to the global file.

    • Want to change a project calendar, check out this blog:  https://ppmworks.com/changing-the-working-time-for-specific-projects-project-server-2013/

Let us know if you have any tips or tricks with Project Calendars by submitting a comment or sending us an email to info@ppmworks.com

PPM Works is a full service Microsoft Project and Portfolio Management consultancy, focused on Microsoft Project Server and Microsoft SharePoint platforms.  We believe in partnering with our clients to exceed expectations and build long lasting rewarding partnerships. We are continuously building a knowledge base of multiple tips, tricks and solutions to make your use of Microsoft Project Pro as quick and easy as possible. Contact us for more information.

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