Assigning staff to tasks in projects lets you manage your staff pool and track the progress of tasks as they are completed by your staff.

There are three ways to assign staff to tasks in Projectal:

• Manually assigning staff using the Edit Task screen
• Manually assigning staff using the Assigned Staff column on the Tasks screen
• Auto assigning staff

Manually assigning staff using Edit Task screen

To manually assign staff using the Edit Task screen, follow these steps:

1. Click the Projects menu item on the left sidebar to display the Projects screen.
2. Locate the project and click it to enter the project.
3. Click the Tasks or Gantt menu items on left sidebar to display the Tasks screen or Gantt screen.
4. Locate the task and select it and click Edit Task button the toolbar on the Tasks screen or Gantt screen.
5. On the Edit Task screen, locate the Assigned Staff section and click the Add Staff button to display the Staff screen.
6. By default, the Recommended tab will be displayed and list the recommended staff for the task based on their availability matching and skills matching.  You can adjust the recommendations by clicking the Settings button on the Recommended tab.
7. If you do not want to choose a recommended staff, then click on the List tab, Org Chart tab or Generic tab to select an actual staff or generic staff that you prefer.
8. Once the staff has been selected, the Edit Staff Utilization screen will be display and let you set the amount of time the staff member will work on the task.  100% means full-time.  50% means half-time.
9. After the staff has been assigned, the staff member will be listed in the Assigned Staff section of the Edit Staff screen.

Tip: On the Staff screen, click the Use Project Bookings switch to restrict the list of staff to only those staff that have been booked onto this project.  You can book staff onto projects using the Staff Planner.

Tip: Click on a staff member listed in the Assigned Staff section of the Edit Task screen to adjust their utilization.

Tip: Click the X button on a staff member listed in the Assigned Staff section of the Edit Task screen to remove the staff member from working on the task.

Manually assigning staff using the Assigned Staff column

To manually assign staff using the Assigned Staff column on the Tasks screen, follow these steps:

1. Click the Projects menu item on the left sidebar to display the Projects screen.
2. Locate the project and click it to enter the project.
3. Click the Tasks or Gantt menu items on left sidebar to display the Tasks screen or Gantt screen.
4. Make sure the Assigned Staff column is displayed in the Tasks screen.  Click on the Options button on a column header on the Tasks screen to show or hide columns.
5. Locate the task and double-click on the Assigned Staff cell for the task.  This will display the Staff screen.
6. By default, the Recommended tab will be displayed and list the recommended staff for the task based on their availability matching and skills matching.  You can adjust the recommendations by clicking the Settings button on the Recommended tab.
7. If you do not want to choose a recommended staff, then click on the List tab, Org Chart tab or Generic tab to select an actual staff or generic staff that you prefer.
8. Once the staff has been selected, the Edit Staff Utilization screen will be display and let you set the amount of time the staff member will work on the task.  100% means full-time.  50% means half-time.
9. After the staff has been assigned, the staff member will be listed in the Assigned Staff cell for the task on the Tasks screen.
   

Tip: On the Staff screen, click the Use Project Bookings switch to restrict the list of staff to only those staff that have been booked onto this project.  You can book staff onto projects using the Staff Planner.

Tip: Double-click on the Assigned Staff cell for a task and do not select any staff from the Staff screen to remove all staff from being assigned to the task.

Using Recommended Tab on the Staff Screen

The Recommended tab on the Staff screen will display the staff who best match the task using the matching criteria that you have selected.  This is very useful for finding the right staff from your staff pool.

Select the Use Project Bookings switch to restrict the list of recommended staff to only those staff that have been booked onto this project.  Staff are booked onto projects using the Staff Planner.

Click the Settings button to display the Recommendation Settings screen.  This lets you configure how you want Projectal to recommend staff. 

Enter text into the Filter edit box and click the Search button to find recommended staff.  You can search by name, company, location, position and more. 

Click a Column Header settings menu to display the available columns to display in the Recommended tab.  This lets you hide and show data about recommended staff and also sort the staff by data such as department, location, company and employment type. 

Recommendation Settings

Allow staff to be over allocated

If it is OK for staff to be over allocated, then select this checkbox.  If unchecked, then staff will not be considered for tasks if they are already allocated to tasks at the same time or unavailable at the time.

Example: When bidding, budgeting or planning on a project, you may want to use generic staff as placeholders for costing purposes.  In these stages where you are mostly concerned about costs, it is OK to have generic staff over allocated on tasks and use the Staff Usage screen to get insights on head count required, etc. 

Match staff to this task based on their skills

Select this checkbox to match staff skills with the skills required by tasks.

Tip: It is recommended to use skills matching to help you manage your staff pool efficiently.  Skill matching requires your company to add the skills of your staff into Projectal and the skills required to complete tasks into Projectal.  If you do this, then your company will gain significant cost efficiencies, reduce staff over allocations, reduce staff idle time and gain greater insights into future requirements of your staff pool for upcoming projects. 

Include staff that have an exact skill match

This checkbox cannot be turned off.  When skills matching is turned on, then exact skills matching will always be used.  This rule will be used when a task requires a specific skill and skill level.  Only those staff from your selected staff pool with that skill aand at that skill will be considered for the staff assignment. 

Example: An animation task requires Senior level Animation skills.  Jane has Animation skills at the Senior level.  Harry has Animation skills at the Mid-level.  Andy has Lighting skills at the Junior level.  Only Jane will be considered for this task since she has an exact skills match. 

Include staff that have a skill match, but with a higher experience level

If it is OK for staff with a matching skill but at a higher skill level to be considered for staff assignments to tasks, then select this checkbox.  If unchecked, then staff with a matching skill but at a higher skill level than required by the task will not be considered for staff assignment.

Example: A lighting task requires Mid level Lighting skills.  Jack has Lighting skills at the Senior level.  Sally has Lighting skills at the Junior level.  Kate has Compositing skills at the Mid level.  Only Jack will be considered for this task since he has a skills match - even though it is at a higher skills level than required by the task. 

Adjust task duration to match the skill level of the selected staff

When assigning a staff with a matching skill but at a higher level, then the estimated duration to complete the task could possibly take less time due to the staff's higher level of expertise and experience.  Select this checkbox if you wish to have the duration adjusted to match the skill level difference.

Tip: The amount of adjustment made to a task's estimated duration is calculated by Projectal using the number of days that you have specified in the Auto Scheduling Estimate section for the skill.  Go to the Management screen and click on Skills to display the Skills screen.  Edit a skill to view and adjust the Auto Scheduling Estimate values. 

Example: A Compositing task has an estimated duration of 10 days for a Mid level Compositor.  By assigning a Senior level Compositor, the estimated duration has been recalculated and adjusted by Projectal to now take 8 days, based on the Auto Scheduling Estimate values for the Compositing skill. 

Include staff that have a skill match, but with a lower experience level 

If it is OK for staff with a matching skill but at a lower skill level to be considered for staff assignments to tasks, then select this checkbox.  If unchecked, then staff with a matching skill but at a lower skill level than required by the task will not be considered for staff assignment.

Example: A Compositing task requires Mid level Compositing skills.  Emily has Compositing skills at the Junior level.  Jane has Compositing skills at the Senior level.  David has Effects skills at the Mid level.  Emily will be considered for this task since she has a skills match - even though it is at a lower skills level than required by the task. 

Adjust task duration to match the skill level of the selected staff

When assigning a staff with a matching skill but at a lower level, then the estimated duration to complete the task could possibly take more time due to the staff's lower level of expertise and experience.  Select this checkbox if you wish to have the duration adjusted to match the skill level difference.

Tip: The amount of adjustment made to a task's estimated duration is calculated by Projectal using the number of days that you have specified in the Auto Scheduling Estimate section for the skill.  Go to the Management screen and click on Skills to display the Skills screen.  Edit a skill to view and adjust the Auto Scheduling Estimate values. 

Example: An Animation task has an estimated duration of 20 days for a Senior  level Animator.  By assigning a Junior level Animator, the estimated duration has been recalculated and adjusted by Projectal to now take 32 days, based on the Auto Scheduling Estimate values for the Animation skill.