Assigning Plans To Generic Resources

You can create generic resources in the Plan Time form or when reassigning plans. Once created, the generic resource is available for planning or for assigning to teams.

To create a generic resource:

You need to have Manage Plan on All Resources permissions to be able to add new generic resources. In this topic this combined permission and role access is referenced by Manage Plan/All Resources (Full).

1. In the Resource Planning view, click the Plan Time button or click + on a day in the calendar.

   See other ways of adding planned time in The Plan Time Form

2. Select Generic Resource in the drop-down list.

3. Click Search and select a previously created generic resource, or Create a new one.

   You can create new generic resources only if you have Manage Plans/All Resources (Full) permissions, otherwise you can only search and select existing generic resources.

   In Teams users with the Manage Team permission can create generic resources for their team. This generic resource becomes globally available to other teams (not restricted to the team). To restrict other teams from using it, identify the generic resource with your team name that indicates to be for this team only.

   You can also create generic resources when reassigning plans: click Create to create a new resource name, then click Cancel to exit the window without swapping plans.

4. To create a new generic resource, type the name in the Create or Search box and click to confirm.

5. Click to select an Issue or a Project to assign.

6. Add a Description if needed.

7. Set the dates and the time and if it is a recurring period.

8. Click Plan Time when done.

   

   The planned time is added to the generic resource's given name on the Resource Planning view. In this example, the generic resource's name is Developer.

9. Assign planned time for the generic resource as you would assign to a user with the exception that generic resources are not part of the approval process as users are (time plan approval).

Reassign Plans Between Resources

In the event that a team member is not available for the duration of a project, the tasks can be reassigned to a generic resource as a placeholder until a replacement is found. For example, the tasks of a team member who is going on a leave of absence can be assigned to a generic resource. You can also reassign plans between two generic resources, users to generic resources and vice versa.

To replace a team member and reassign plans:

1. In the Resource Planning view, mouse-over a user and click the Reassign plans icon.

   

2. In the Reassign Plans window, select the Type of Resource you are attempting to switch the resource to:

   - Select User, when replacing the resource with a team member.

   - Select Generic Resource, when replacing the resource with an unidentified team member.

   

3. Search and select the name of the user or an existing generic resource name, or Create a new one.

   If you select to Create a new generic resources and click Cancel without swapping plans, a new generic resource will be created without any plans and can later be used for teams.

4. Select one of the following Plan Options:

   - All Plans, to replace all plans

   - Replace plans within a date period, to replace the plans for a defined period of time.

   - Replace plans after a specific date, to replace the plans after the specific date selected. All plans are reassigned to the selected generic resource or user after the selected date and never revert back to the original assignee.

5. Click Apply when done.

6. The generic resource's timeline is updated with the tasks either partially or fully, depending on the selections above.

Plans that are outside the selected time frame will not be moved.

Delete Generic Resources in Planner

Deleting generic resources in Planner will permanently delete all associated plans from Planner and from all teams in Teams. You must have the required permissions to delete a generic resource that is unassigned to any team, and specific team permissions for deleting a generic resource that is assigned to teams.

To delete generic resources:

To delete a generic resource that is assigned to teams or without teams, you have Manage Plans/All Resources (Full) or Tempo Administrator permissions.

1. Reassign any plans from the generic resource to another or to another user, or vice-versa.

   After reassigning plans from generic resource to a user, delete the generic resource from the system.

2. Click on Delete button next to the generic resource name.

   The generic resource will be deleted from Planner and all associated teams.