Assign Resources in Bulk

The Resource Review page provides a centralized view of Resource allocation (effort) and availability across work items, as well as any unstaffed demand that currently exists.

Users can assign a single Resource to multiple work items on the Resource Review page at once. This includes work items from either the Allocation section (top) or the Demand (bottom) section of the page.

Example: One of Piper's employees, Jack, works as an Analyst. Jack needs to take some time off due to an emergency, so he will not be able to work for a while. Thankfully, a new Analyst, Adrian, is available to take on some effort. Piper would like to assign Adrian to Jack's effort, as well as some unstaffed demand for an Analyst on another work item.
To do this, she expands Jack's Resource row in the Allocation section and selects the checkbox of the work item he is assigned to.

She repeats the process for any more Allocation section work items that she would like to assign Adrian to. She then selects Assign person from the drop-down menu in the top left-hand corner of the Resource Review page and then selects the Apply button.

This opens a window that allows her to add Adrian the effort of each selected work item.

Next, she scrolls to the Demand section and expands the "Analyst" Role. She selects the checkbox of the work item that contains the unstaffed demand that she would also like to assign to Adrian.

She does the same for any more unstaffed demand she would like to assign to Adrian and then once again selects Assign person and the Apply button.

Tip: See Assign a Resource to a Work Item if you are interested in assigning a Resource to a single work item's unstaffed demand. Also, see Assign Unstaffed Demand to Multiple Resources if you are interested in assigning more than one Resource to a work item's unstaffed demand.

Note: The 2025R1.0 version of PowerSteering introduced the first phase of a new Resource Review user interface. This new page is still under construction, so there are a few functions that users will still need to rely on the legacy page for. Currently, the following procedure can only be carried out using the legacy Resource Review interface.

Users cannot assign Resources to work items in bulk to both the Allocation section and the Demand section at the same time. When Allocation section work items and Demand section work items are both selected, the Resource will only be assigned to the work items from the Demand section.

This page covers both procedures:

 

Assign Resources in bulk to Allocation section work items

Users can assign a Resource to multiple work items in the Allocation (top) section of the Resource Review page. When this occurs, the Resource will take over all the assigned time of the original Resource.

Note: The newly-assigned Resource will inherit all of the original Resource's effort on the work item, not just the effort that is displayed on the Resource Review page.

 

To assign Resources in bulk to Allocation section work items:

Before You Start: Users require the "Allocate Resources to Demand" Project permission on a work item to assign its effort or demand to a Resource.

Also, all PowerSteering users can access the Resource Review page and change the display settings of Resource Review Layouts that they can access. However, users can only view the data through Resource Review Layouts they have saved themselves or that have been shared with all users. Additionally, users can only view work items and users that they have permission to view. For instance, users without the "View" Project Task permission on a work item will not be able to view the work item on the Resource Review page:

  1. Select Review → Resource Review → your preferred Resource Review Layout from the Navigation Menu.

    Note: The layouts above the gray line are layouts that have been shared with you. The layouts below the line are your own private layouts.

  2. Expand the row of any Resource from the Allocation section that you would like to replace.

    Note: Based on the layout's display settings, the "Resources" column might be organized by work items instead of Resources. If this is the case, you will need to expand one of the work items that the Resource is assigned to in order to view the Resource's availability.

    See Change the Resource Review Display for more information on display settings.

  3. Expand the parent of the work item you would like to assign the new Resource to.

    Note: The displayed parent will always be the work item's closest parent with an "Is project" Object Type.

  4. Select the checkbox of the work item you would like to assign the new Resource to.

  5. Repeat Steps 2-4 for any more work items in the Allocation section that you would like to assign the new Resource to.

  6. Select Assign Person from the "Actions" drop-down menu in the top left-hand corner of the page.

  7. Select the Apply button.

  8. Assign a Resource to the effort using one of the three methods.

    Select any of the methods below to learn more about them:

    Enter a name (first or last) into the search bar and select the Go button. From the results table, select the "Plus" icon of the Resource you would like to assign.

    This option will provide a list of best-suited Resources, calculated by the required Role, the Resource Pool, and the Resources' Tag set (location, skills, etc.). From the results table, select the "Plus" icon of the Resource you would like to assign.

    This option allows you to perform a Resource search based on chosen criteria. Use the drop-down menus to select the criteria of your preferred Resource and select the Go button.

    From the results table, select the "Plus" icon of the Resource you would like to assign:

    Note: Resources can have previous assignments. They can also have personal days off or holidays on their own Resource Calendar (which can be configured on a User Profile). These can all cause their availability to waver, so you should keep an eye on the "Availability" column of the results table while assigning Resources:

    If the Resource's availability is displayed in red font, it means the Resource does not have enough available hours to cover the duration of the work (this could be a result of previous assignments or a day off on the Resource's User Profile). If you decide to choose one of these Resources anyway, it might change the duration of certain work based on the Constraint Type.

    For example, imagine a Project Task that has a Scheduled Duration of 10 days (2 working weeks) from August 15th to 26th. This requires a total of 80 working hours across all 10 days. As we can see in the image above, Jack Torrance only has 72 available hours. This is because he has a personal day off on his own Resource Calendar separate from the Work's calendar. If we decide to add Jack anyway, we will see that the Project's duration will change to accommodate him:

    However, if the work has a Constraint Type that prevents the dates from changing (for example, a "Fixed Dates" constraint), the dates will stay the same and Jack will only have 9 days to work on the Project Task:

After selecting the "Plus" icon of the Resource, the Resource will inherit the effort on each selected work item.

 

Assign Resources in bulk to Demand section work items

Users can assign a Resource to multiple work items in the Demand (bottom) section of the Resource Review page. When this occurs, the Resource will take over all of the work item's unstaffed demand for the Role.

Note: The newly-assigned Resource will inherit all of the Role's demand on the work item, not just the demand that is displayed on the Resource Review page.

To assign Resources in bulk to Allocation section work items:

Before You Start: Users require the "Allocate Resources to Demand" Project permission on a work item to assign its effort or demand to a Resource.



Also, all PowerSteering users can access the Resource Review page and change the display settings of Resource Review Layouts that they can access. However, users can only view the data through Resource Review Layouts they have saved themselves or that have been shared with all users. Additionally, users can only view work items and users that they have permission to view. For instance, users without the "View" Project Task permission on a work item will not be able to view the work item on the Resource Review page:



  1. Select Review → Resource Review → your preferred Resource Review Layout from the Navigation Menu.

    Note: The layouts above the gray line are layouts that have been shared with you. The layouts below the line are your own private layouts.

  2. Expand the row of any Role from the Demand section that you would like the Resource to inherit.

    Note: Based on the layout's display settings, the unstaffed demand might be organized by work items instead of Roles. If this is the case, you will need to expand one of the work item parents to see which Roles make up its unstaffed demand. Expanding the Role will list all of the specific work items that contain the unstaffed demand.

    See Change the Resource Review Display for more information on display settings.

  3. Expand the parent of the work item you would like to assign the new Resource to.

    Note: The displayed parent will always be the work item's closest parent with an "Is project" Object Type.

  4. Select the checkbox of the work item you would like to assign the new Resource to.

  5. Repeat Steps 2-4 for any more work items in the Demand section that you would like to assign the new Resource to.

  6. Select Assign Person from the "Actions" drop-down menu in the top left-hand corner of the page.

  7. Select the Apply button.

  8. Assign a Resource to the demand using one of the three methods.

    Select any of the methods below to learn more about them:

    Enter a name (first or last) into the search bar and select the Go button. From the results table, select the "Plus" icon of the Resource you would like to assign.

    This option will provide a list of best-suited Resources, calculated by the required Role, the Resource Pool, and the Resources' Tag set (location, skills, etc.). From the results table, select the "Plus" icon of the Resource you would like to assign.

    This option allows you to perform a Resource search based on chosen criteria. Use the drop-down menus to select the criteria of your preferred Resource and select the Go button.

    From the results table, select the "Plus" icon of the Resource you would like to assign:

    Note: Resources can have previous assignments. They can also have personal days off or holidays on their own Resource Calendar (which can be configured on a User Profile). These can all cause their availability to waver, so you should keep an eye on the "Availability" column of the results table while assigning Resources:

    If the Resource's availability is displayed in red font, it means the Resource does not have enough available hours to cover the duration of the work (this could be a result of previous assignments or a day off on the Resource's User Profile). If you decide to choose one of these Resources anyway, it might change the duration of certain work based on the Constraint Type.

    For example, imagine a Project Task that has a Scheduled Duration of 10 days (2 working weeks) from August 15th to 26th. This requires a total of 80 working hours across all 10 days. As we can see in the image above, Jack Torrance only has 72 available hours. This is because he has a personal day off on his own Resource Calendar separate from the Work's calendar. If we decide to add Jack anyway, we will see that the Project's duration will change to accommodate him:

    However, if the work has a Constraint Type that prevents the dates from changing (for example, a "Fixed Dates" constraint), the dates will stay the same and Jack will only have 9 days to work on the Project Task:

After selecting the "Plus" icon of the Resource, the Resource will inherit the demand on each selected work item.