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I want to have a task with a duration of X days, and have multiple resources assigned to the task for varying hours. The total work should not be equal to the duration. If I am trying to reduce the work on any resource in the Resource Usage sheet, MSP reduces the dueartion of the task. Can anyone tell me a way to adjust work without affecting duration. Thanks.
You can try to temporarily set the task as fixed duration and uncheck effort driven. You should try to create the task with X duration and then when you assign work for each resource then Project will calculate the assignment units necessary to balance the work over the duration.
You can also manually distribute the work (non-linearly) by using the Task Usage view (View/Task Usage...). You will need to make the task Fixed duration non-effort driven just as stated above. Are you using task calendars which have odd working times? Even with fixed duration tasks, non-working time can adjust the schedule (usually finish date). Please give us an example of what you are trying to do and include details like the definition of working time in your task calendar.
We just took a 5 day calendar and added some company holidays as non-working time. Both the tasks and resources are assigned to the company calendar. We have then taken a task, set a duration and assign a resource. But the fixed duration and effort driven off, schedule ignores resource calendars. If we adjust the resource hours in the resource usage view the duration changes. When we reset the duration, the resource loading resets. The tasks are paint drying type tasks, Activities that go on whether or not any hours are being charged.
I don't understand why you need to assign this task to any calendar. Usually tasks are assigned no calendar, and the effect of any holidays MS Project automatically takes from the "Standard (Project Calendar)". You will need to assign a task a calendar of its own, and switch off the dependence on resource calendars, if for some reason it needs to run to a different calendar to all other tasks (e.g. weekend work). So try to set up your holidays in the Standard (Project Calendar) and then try selecting no calendar for this task. After that make it fixed duration and then switch of effort driven.
Thats absolutely correct. We are trying to make this work, everything is and has been from the first - fixed duration, effort driven off. My thoughts are that something in the resource was at play and the only way I could see to confirm or verify that is to ignore the resource schedule. The only way to do that is to set a calendar for the task, even if it is the default calendar.
If you would like, then you can try to zip the file and send it to me. I wont gurantee you, but I will take a look and see that I can find the issue. Also, try to give me some details in the message about what specific tasks are causing this issue.