Availability All Editions
In the Resource Pool, you can view all your resources in a clear, configurable list. This helps you easily find the employees you are searching for.
How to Find
You need to have the Edit Resource Pool and Absences right to access this function.
In the left Sidebar, click Resource Pool and select the Resources tab:
In the list, you can see an overview of the resources with selected resource details. Depending on the following settings in the header, not all resources may be displayed in the list:
- Date Range: Only resources with a start date before or a termination date after the selected date range will be displayed. Learn more in the Navigation, Menus and Views article.
- Portfolio: If the selected portfolio includes a resource filter (for example, by OBS or primary role), the list will only display resources that are included by the filter. Learn more in the Portfolio Filters - Details article.
Click on a column header to sort its content alphabetically or numerically (depending on the content type). Use the Search field to search all columns for a word or phrase.
Sorting of Numbers
Notice that numbers will be sorted digit by digit. For example, when sorting by resource key in ascending order the resource with the key "MPR-2" comes after the resource with the key "MPR-19".
Configuring Your View
To see only the resource details that are relevant to you, you can customize the resource list. Click Configure Columns to select the information you want to display in the order you prefer. The Name column is the only one you cannot move and will always be the first column on the left. If the resource is linked to a user, the user's profile picture will be displayed, and if the linked user has not uploaded a picture, the resource's initials. If the resource is not linked to a user, either the resource's picture or their initials will be displayed.
You can also change the order of the columns by dragging and dropping them in your preferred order.
Find a list of all fields that you can select as columns here.
User-specific Configuration
The resource view is only configured per user. If you reconfigure your columns, only you will see the changed configuration.
Import and Export
To access this button, you need to have the Import and Export Data right.
Under Import and Export, you can add resources or resource absences using the Quick Import. You can save an Excel file of your configured view by clicking Export Resources.
Adding Resources
You can add new resources in Meisterplan either manually or collectively by importing them.
Adding by Import
Availability: Some of the features described in this section are only available in the Pro and Premium Edition.
There are several options for importing resources collectively, and some options can also be automated:
- Adding resources from other tools
- Copy & Paste from spreadsheets
Adding Manually
In the resource list, click Add Resource and fill in the fields. Last Name and Resource Key are required fields, the others are optional.
Find an overview of all fields with explanations here.
Editing Resources
To edit an existing resource, move your cursor over the resource entry in the list and click the pencil icon at the end of the line.
You can quickly edit resource details of the type String, such as Resource Key or Name directly in the list by clicking the field you want to edit.
Fields
In the sections General and Details, you can find the following fields.
- Picture: If the resource is linked to a user, the user's profile picture will be displayed. If the resource is not linked to a user, you can upload a picture for the resource. If there is no resource picture or a linked user without a profile picture, the resource's initials will be displayed.
- First Name
- Last Name: Required field
- Resource Key: Required field to uniquely identify a resource; value may only exist once in Meisterplan; when manually adding a resource, a Resource Key is auto-generated which you can change at any time;
- Primary Role: Add a primary role (e.g., "Consultant Junior") for each resource as the default to designate what role they commonly work in when allocated to projects. No matter the default role, you can allocate resources to projects in any role. Changing the primary role of a resource does not change their project role in existing allocations.
- Calendar: Determines the availability of a resource per day and accounts for holidays; when manually adding a resource, the default calendar is automatically selected but you can change the calendar at any time;
- Linked Resource: Link a resource with a user to a create a portfolio for your project managers that displays their own projects, or to allow your users access to the Meisterplan MyProjects Android- or iOS app. When a resource is linked to a user, the Name column will display the user‘s profile picture instead of the resource’s initials.
- External Resource: Add external employees as resources; they will be displayed with a blue icon in the resource section of the Portfolio Designer view.
- Start Date/Termination Date: Defines the employment period of an employee; the resource’s capacity before and after this period will be set to 0. When adding allocations to a project, you can only select resources with an employment period that is within the selected date range.
- Cost per Hour: Basis for calculating allocation cost; if a resource has no cost per hour, the cost per hour of the resource's primary role is used for the allocation cost calculation.
In the General section of your user group, you need to have the Access Financial Data right to access this field. - Country: This field is only relevant when creating geo-data reports for resources (e.g., in Power BI or Tableau).
- City: This field is only relevant when creating geo-data reports for resources (e.g., in Power BI or Tableau).
- Postal Code: This field is only relevant when creating geo-data reports for resources (e.g., in Power BI or Tableau).
- OBS: Use the organizational breakdown structure to define, for example, the department and office your resource; learn more in the Managing OBS article.
- Skills: Select the skills your resource has; learn more in the Managing Skills article.
Absences and Vacations
In the Absences section, you can manage sick leave and vacation days of your resources. You can also add other temporary capacity changes such as parental leave or part time.
Click Add Absence and add the following details:
- Capacity: Capacity of a resource during the time period listed; the capacity percentage refers to the number of working hours in the resources calendar.
Example: A resource has a capacity of 4 hours on a particular day, according to their calendar. An absence of 50% capacity is added for the resource on that day so the resource now has a capacity of 2 hours. - Start/Finish Date: This field is optional; if no dates are entered, the absence is valid for the time period between the previous and the following absence, or for the entire employment period between the start and the termination date.
All resource absences are global: They are valid for the Plan of Record and all scenarios.
For details on calculating resource capacity, see the Calendar, FTE and Availability/Capacity article.
Deleting Resources
To delete a single resource, move your cursor over the resource entry in the list view and click the trash can icon at the end of the line. You can also delete a resource in the resource detail view.
To delete several resources at once, check the boxes on the left side of the resources and click Delete. To select all resources displayed in the list, check the box to the left of the column headers.
Allocations are also deleted
When a resource is deleted, all allocations of this resource will also be deleted, both past and current allocations.
Deletion of Project Manager Resources
When a resource is deleted that was set as project manager in one or more projects, the project manager field in these projects will be emptied.
While you do have the option to delete a resource, we recommend simply setting a termination date for the resource in question. This way, allocation and project manager information is not deleted from your system.