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Multi-Tier Calendars

One of the most common reasons project schedules fail is the "Generic Resource" fallacy—the assumption that every person is available 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, without exception.

MSP Planner solves this by implementing a Multi-Tier Calendar Model. This ensures that your schedule reflects the actual working time of your team.

Calendars

The Three Tiers of Time​

The scheduling engine calculates availability by layering three different calendar levels:

1. The Project Calendar (Tier 1)​

This is the global working time for the entire project. It defines the standard working days and hours for the project as a whole.

  • Example: A project might be set to a "Standard 40-hour week" or a "Compressed 4-day week."
  • Impact: All tasks in the project default to this calendar unless overridden.

2. The Resource Calendar (Tier 2)​

Individual resources often have different working patterns than the project default.

  • Example: A part-time consultant who only works Tuesdays and Thursdays, or a team member in a different time zone.
  • Impact: The schedule automatically shifts task dates to align with the specific resource's availability.

3. Exception Days & Personal Availability (Tier 3)​

The most granular level of planning accounts for specific dates where work cannot happen.

  • Holidays: National or corporate holidays that apply to everyone.
  • Personal Availability: Specific dates for vacations, sick leave, or training.
  • Impact: If a resource is on vacation for a week, the scheduling engine automatically pushes their assigned tasks forward, alerting you to potential delays in the critical path.

Managing Calendars in the Workspace​

Editing Calendars​

You can access and edit calendars through the Resource Calendar Dialog. This allows you to:

  • Define the standard working hours for a specific resource.
  • Add "Exception Days" (holidays or vacations) to a resource's calendar.
  • Import project-file calendars from an MS Project upload.

The Result: Realistic Scheduling​

By combining these three tiers, MSP Planner ensures that:

  • No Work on Holidays: Tasks are never scheduled for a Sunday or a national holiday.
  • Accurate Finish Dates: If a critical task is assigned to a resource who is on vacation for two weeks, the project finish date will realistically shift to account for that absence.
  • Factual Capacity: Resource histograms show "Available Hours" based on the actual calendar, not a theoretical maximum.