The resource heatmap (Schedule People) in Forecast allows you to manage effortlessly your resources across your project portfolio while presenting you with accurate data as to your resource Utilization. This article explores the resource heatmap itself along with all of its functionalities and the differences that are present depending on your Resource Management setting.
This article includes:
Overview of Schedule People
The schedule people page is the hub for your resource management in Forecast. Understanding its multiple features and the way it functions is vital in understanding resource management in Forecast. Below we break down each of the schedule people page's functions and features, starting with how it works and then presenting the different functions.
How it works
The resource heatmap in the schedule people page is an interactive Gantt chart that allows you to plan your resource time for the coming days/weeks/months. In this page
Resource's amount of available hours - Amount of hours allocated to the resource
- The number of hours available derives from each resource's setting in regards to their working hours. See Setting up individual working hours for more information.
- The number of hours allocated is derived either from a project allocation or a task assignment. This depends on your Resource Management setting.
If a person is allocated fewer hours than their availability then they are under-allocated. If they are allocated more hours than their availability then they will show up as overallocated. Below we present how this is reflected on the heatmap.
Overview of the Heatmap
The heatmap itself is interactive and is used for several functions.
| Functions | How it impacts the Heatmap |
| View the number of hours that a resource is available and the number of hours they are allocated |
If a resource has no hours allocated then you will be able to see the total hours available per day/week/month. If a resource has X number of hours of available work per day/week/month and they are allocated less than that X number of hours, you will be able to see how many hours of capacity they have left for that day. If the resource has been allocated more hours of work than they are available for per day/week/month then you will see the map turn red and it will display the extra amount of hours allocated to that resource. |
| Check the utilization breakdown per day/week/month. | Click on the day/week/month for a resource and you will receive a full list of all the project allocations or task assignments and the number of hours that are associated with them as well as a percentage of their utilization |
| Create/edit tasks |
Click and drag on a task or allocation to move it along the calendar on the heatmap. Click on a task or allocation to view it and edit it. Right-click on a task or allocation for additional options such as delete, split and more. |
| The heatmap displays time off and public holidays |
Time off is displayed by greed out blocks that read the time off. Public holidays appear as greyed-out blocks. Time off and public holidays set the availability of resources to zero for the number of days that they last for. |
| Create/edit allocations |
Click and drag on the heatmap to create an allocation. Click on an allocation to view it and edit it. Click and drag an allocation to move it on the calendar and change the dates. Right-click on a task or allocation for additional options such as delete, split and more. To learn more about creating/managing allocations visit our article here. |
People list
On the left side of the heatmap, you can view the people list. Here your resources will be listed alphabetically. This list will include active users and also virtual resources. They will appear in this list so long as their start and end date are set correctly.
- By clicking on the dropdown button next to each resource you will be able to get a more detailed view of their allocations in the heatmap during the period you are reviewing.
- Click on the three dots that appear next to the resource name to quickly add to a project.
Unassigned Tasks
This option is only available if your Resource Management setting is set to Assign people to tasks and it gives you a quick look at tasks that have no one assigned to them yet.
This allows you to quickly check unassigned tasks and match them with resources that have available time during the dates that the task is supposed to run.
Heatmap in hours or percentages
The button located on the top left corner of the heatmap allows you to change how the heatmap displays allocations from hours to percentages or vice versa.
Calendar Navigation
- By clicking on the arrows around the Today button you can navigate the calendar.
- Click the Today button to return to the present day.
Zoom in and out
The + and - buttons allow you to zoom in and out of the heatmap view. This allows you to get a daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly view of your schedule.
Search bar and Grouping tool
The search bar allows you to quickly find a resource in the heatmap. The search bar on this page may only be used to search for resources.
The grouping tool, next to the search bar, can be used to group your resources by role or by department. This gives you a quick view of how each role or department is being utilized.Eye Icon
The eye icon is used to show or hide information from the page. You may decide to:
- Show or hide information about the heatmap.
- Show or hide total resource utilization.
- Show or hide the Unassigned tasks (if on task assigning Resource Management).
- Show or hide weekends on the heatmap calendar.
Filters
Filters enable you to filter the schedule people page and find everything faster. By default, the filters are set to people but by clicking on Advanced Filters you may change it to either projects or tasks (if on task assigning Resource Management).
Behavior based on your Resource Management setting
Forecast provides you with two Resource Management settings, to learn more please visit our article, Selecting your resource management strategy.
- Allocating people to projects (Agile)
- Assigning people to tasks (Waterfall)
- Heatmap based on Task Estimates
- Heatmap based on Time Registrations & Remaining Task Estimate.
These two settings affect the calculations of the heatmap differently. Specifically:
- While using the Allocating people to projects setting, your heatmap will be based on the number of hours each project allocation has. Those hours will be spread among the dates that the allocation is supposed to run for and will affect the availability of the assigned resources.
- Assigning people to tasks has two additional options you have to choose from:
| Option | How it impacts the Heatmap | Additional Information |
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Ensures that the hours associated with your resources derive from the original estimate (hours) that you give to a task. | If a task has an estimated 10 hours worth of work, those 10 hours will be spread among the dates that the task is supposed to run. |
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Breaks the heatmap into two, the past and present/future. Days/weeks/months in the past will reflect the hours registered on a task whereas days/weeks/months in the present and future will reflect the remaining task estimate (hours) of a task. This option is particularly useful if your company places a lot of focus on time registrations and wishes to view them outside of reporting. |
The remaining task estimate is calculated based on Task estimate - Time registrations. So if you have a 10 hours task and you register 5 hours worth of time the remaining time estimate on that task will be |
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