Creating Work Allocations

Work allocations are created for specific work items. Before creating a work allocation, the work item must exist.

To create a new work allocation:

1. Log on to PPM.

2. From the menu bar, select Open > Time Management > Allocations > Create Allocations.

   The Create Work Allocations page appears.

   The available Work Item Types can include the following:

   • Program

   • Project

   • Task

   • Request

   • Package

   • Misc (miscellaneous)

   • External Data (if PPM time sheet is integrated with Agile Manager)

   Note: We strongly recommend that you not use work allocations for programs, projects, tasks, or requests, but only for packages and miscellaneous items as needed.

3. (Optional) Use the Work Item Filters section of the Create Work Allocations page to limit the collection of work items available in the autocomplete lists associated with the work item types. Later, you will select the particular work items of interest from those autocomplete lists.

   Filters in the General Filters section apply to all work item types, and filters in the other sections apply to particular work item types.

   For example, if you specify filter criteria in the General Filters and the Request Filters subsections of the Work Item Filters section, the set of work items in the autocomplete list for Request work items becomes automatically limited to those that meet both of your sets of criteria, and the sets of work items in the other autocomplete lists become automatically limited by your General Filters criteria.

   Complete the Work Item Filters section as desired, using the information in the following table:

   Field Name	Description
   General Filters section
   Modified in Last x days	Limits the list of work items to those that were modified within the number of days you specify.
   Created in Last x days	Limits the list of work items to those that were created within the number of days you specify.
   Include Closed	Option to include closed work items in the list of work items. Closed work items are as follows: Requests that are closed Tasks that are complete and whose projects still allow time to be logged Packages that are closed
   Project Filters section a, b
   Project Name Contains	Limits the list of projects to those with names that include the string you specify.
   Project Resource	Limits the list of projects to those with a participant list that includes the resource you specify. (Participant lists include resources in the project's staffing profile, resources directly assigned on tasks in the work plan, and summary task owners.)
   Project Manager	Limits the list of projects to those that have the project manager you specify.
   Scheduled Start From	Limits the list of projects to those that start on the date you specify or later.
   Scheduled Start To	Limits the list of projects to those that start on the date you specify or earlier.
   Scheduled Finish From	Limits the list of projects to those that finish on the date you specify or later.
   Scheduled Finish To	Limits the list of projects to those that finish on the date you specify or earlier.
   Request Filters section b
   Request Type	Limits the list of requests to those with the set of request types you specify.
   Request Assigned To	Limits the list of requests to those assigned to the user you specify.
   Only requests whose assigned group includes me	If set to Yes, limits the list of requests to those that include you in their assigned groups.
   Request Resource	Limits the list of requests to those that have resource lists that include the user you specify.
   Only requests that list me as a resource	If set to Yes, limits the list of requests to those that include you in their resource lists.
   Request Assigned Group	Limits the list of requests to those with the Request Assigned Group specified from a list of security groups.
   Request Number	Limits the requests to only the one with the specified number.
   Task Filters section b, c
   Task Name Contains	Limits the list of tasks to those with names that include the string you specify.
   Project	Limits the list of tasks to those in the project you specify. The project must have a work plan, and the user must be allowed to log time against the project or its tasks.
   Task Type	Limits the list to tasks or to summary tasks, or displays both.
   Project Assigned Resource	Limits the list of tasks to those with the assigned resource you specify.
   Task Status	Limits the list to tasks of a particular status.
   Project Manager	Limits the list of tasks to those in projects that have the project manager you specify.
   Scheduled Start From	Limits the list of tasks to those that start on the date you specify or later.
   Scheduled Start To	Limits the list of tasks to those that start on the date you specify or earlier.
   Scheduled Finish From	Limits the list of tasks to those that finish on the date you specify or later.
   Scheduled Finish To	Limits the list of tasks to those that finish on the date you specify or earlier.
   Package Filters section
   Package Workflow	Limits the list of packages to those with the workflow you specify.
   Package Number	Limits the list of packages to only the one with the package number you specify.
   Package Assigned Group	Limits the list of packages to those with the Package Assigned Group you specify from a list of security groups.
   Package Assigned To	Limits the list of packages to those assigned to the user you specify.
   a.    As an additional project filter, only projects that track time at the project level are displayed.     b.    We strongly recommend that you not use work allocations for projects, tasks, or requests.     c.    If a project has a work plan and it tracks time at the project level, the task filter returns top-level summary tasks.

   For information about how to modify the set of Time Management filters, see the Time Management Configuration Guide.

4. When you finish specifying the filters that limit the autocomplete lists of work items for the work item types, complete the fields in the work allocations list at the top of the Create Work Allocations page.

   Field Name	Description
   Work Item Type	List of work items depends on the selection in the Work Item Type field. The work item types (in bold below) and descriptions of their work items are as follows: Program. List of programs in Program Management, identified by name Project. List of projects in Project Management, identified by name Request. List of open requests in Demand Management, identified by the request numbers Package. List of open packages in Deployment Management, identified by the package numbers Task. List of tasks in Project Management, identified by name Misc. List of miscellaneous work items, such as Meetings or Vacation
   Work Item	Name or number of the work item, based on the work item type, as follows: For programs, a program name For projects, a project name For requests, a request number For packages, a package number For tasks, a task name For miscellaneous, a selection from Time Management, such as Meetings or Vacation
   Work Item Set	Work item set of the work items selected, as follows: For request work items, the specific request type For package work items, the workflow used by the package For program work items, the program For project and task work items, the project
   Description	Value in the Description field for the given work item, truncated to 50 characters.
   Original Bdgt (Hrs)	While you are completing the fields on the Create Work Allocations page, the original amount of time (in whole hours or tenths of an hour) to allocate (to budget) for the work item. Once you have created the work allocation, the following occur: This value is assigned to the Current Bdgt (Hrs) field, which you can later edit. The Original Bdgt (Hrs) field becomes a read-only field that automatically and permanently retains its initial value, which is an important metric for tracking accuracy of planning and estimation.
   Current Bdgt (Hrs)	Blank until a work allocation is created. For a created work allocation, the editable amount of time (in whole hours or tenths of an hour) to allocate (to budget) for the work item.
   Standard Discount %	If Time Management is used to gather charge-back information, the cost rate for the resources might be different than the standard rate. For this case, you can specify a pre-negotiated discount rate. Normally this field is either 0% (standard cost rate or no billing is performed) or 100% (no charge for this work item). This rate can be used for custom calculations when extracting data to a billing or financial system.
   Billing Discount %	Cost overruns sometimes require charges to be renegotiated. This field sets a pre-billing discount rate for all work performed for the work item. For example, if the costs of a given project went over by 20%, an additional billing discount of 10% might be set. This rate can be used for custom calculations when extracting data to a billing or financial system.

5. Click Create.

   The work allocation is created and the Created Work Allocations page appears.

   The Details column is added on the right. Its three icons, from left to right, are for the following:

   • Notes

   • Resource Access

   • Charge Codes

6. In the Details column, click the Notes icon to open the Work Allocation Notes page.

   1. Enter information in the text area and click Add for each new note.

   2. Click Done to save all of the notes.

7. In the Details column, click the Resource Access icon to display the Work Allocation Resource Access Information page.

   Use this page to assign specific resources to a work allocation. Other users are restricted from using the associated work items.

   1. In the Work Allocation Resource Access Information page, select the Restrict Access to Resources and Groups listed below check box.

   2. Select resources from the Resource list and click Add.

   3. Select resource groups from the Group list and click Add.

   4. Click Done to save the selections.

8. In the Details column, click the Charge Codes icon to display the Work Allocation Charge Code Information page.

   Use this page to specify the charge codes to use for time billed against a work item. This page also sets the percentage breakdown to use to distribute the total calculated cost among the various charge codes. Charge codes are applied when a work item is added to a time sheet. To assign charge codes, you must be in a security group that allows access to all charge codes or to the specific charge codes.

   1. In the Work Allocation Charge Code Information page, complete the Allow User to Update Charge Codes check box to indicate whether users are allowed to update the set of charge codes.

      Note: If your PPM instance supports multiple languages, any charge code a user creates is defined in the language the user selected at logon (the user's session language). After the charge code is created, it can be modified only in its definition language. For more information, see the Multilingual User Interface Guide.

   2. Complete the Charge Codes are Required on Time Sheets check box to indicate whether charge codes for this work allocation must be entered on time sheets.

   3. To add a charge code, select the code from the Charge Code list and click Add.

   4. This adds the charge code to the list in the Charge Codes section.

   5. Within this section, specify the Charge Percent field for each code. You can specify percentages to a tenth of a percent. The values must total 100%.

   6. Click Done to save the selections.

9. To save this work allocation without creating more work allocations, on the Created Work Allocations page, click Done.

   To add more work allocations, click Create Allocations and proceed to step 10.

10. Repeat through step 3 to step 9 create more work allocations. If the number of blank rows is insufficient, enter the number of additional rows required in the New Allocations field and click Add. This adds the specified number of rows to the section.