Work

There are two basic planning methods in project management: resource-based planning and time-based planning. Merlin Project supports both planning methods. The fields"... work..." are responsible for the former. In the latter case duration fields are brought to bear.

Resource-based planning is carried out with work units, i.e. the total amount of work to be done is entered. Depending on the resource, this can be specified in Merlin Project in time units or in units of measure.

In Merlin Project these fields are used for resource-based planning:

• Default work: takes the quantity of planned work for an operation. Percentage values can also be specified that refer to the specified work of the superordinate group.
• Default work absolute: contains the same information as the default work. However, the percentage values specified there are converted to absolute values.
• Planned work: Contains the total work that results for an operation after complete calculation of the planning.
• Expected work: Specifies the total work expected for an operation.
• Maximum planned work: contains the maximum amount of work that can be done between the planned start and the planned end of an operation, taking the calendar into account.
• Remaining work: displays the amount of work not yet done.
• Real work: takes up the amount of work already done.

With regard to resource-based planning, however, information from the areas of overtime, costs and evaluation (in particular earned value analysis) can also be used.