Orientation for New Users¶

This page answers basic questions that new users often have before they start planning. The answers help you choose the right workflow from the beginning.

Which View Should I Use?¶

Rillsoft Project provides different views. You switch between views from the Start ribbon.

Task Views for Schedule Planning¶

View	Use it for
Gantt chart	Planning tasks, durations, dependencies, dates, and the critical path on a timeline.
Network diagram	Checking the logical dependencies between tasks.
Bar network diagram	Combining network logic and timeline information.

Resource Views for Utilization and Assignment¶

View	Use it for
Roles	Checking demand by qualification before assigning named employees.
Employees	Checking individual utilization and assigning tasks to employees.
Teams	Reviewing utilization by teams.

Capacity Views for Demand and Supply¶

View	Use it for
Capacity balancing employees	Comparing resource demand and available employee capacity.
Capacity balancing employees with Gantt chart	Reviewing capacity and schedule at the same time.

Target/Actual Views for Project Control¶

View	Use it for
Variance analysis	Comparing planned and actual values in a table.
Target/actual comparison for dates	Visualizing date deviations from the baseline.
Target/actual comparison for effort	Identifying effort deviations from the plan.

Tip

If a view is not visible, check File > Options > Views and properties.

Which Master Data Do I Need Before Planning?¶

For a realistic project plan, maintain the following data in the resource pool:

Calendars: Define working days, working hours, holidays, and non-working days.
Roles or qualifications: Describe what skills the tasks need, for example engineer, project manager, or electrician. Roles allow qualification-based planning before named employees are assigned.
Employees: Represent people who can be assigned to tasks. Each employee needs working time data, a calendar, and assigned roles or qualifications.

Recommended, but not always required at the beginning:

Teams: Useful when you plan by departments or project teams.
Material, devices, and machines: Useful when non-personnel resources are relevant for planning or control.
Project categories, status, customers, and priorities: Useful for portfolio analysis and reporting.

Tasks, Subprojects, Master Projects, or Portfolio?¶

Use the structure level that matches the planning problem:

Situation	Recommended structure
Small project with up to about 30 tasks	Flat task list
Medium project with clear phases	Tasks and subprojects
Several projects with shared resources	Master project or portfolio
Many parallel projects and strategic steering	Project portfolio

Tasks are the basic work units. Anything that has duration, effort, resources, and dependencies should be a task.

Subprojects structure one project into phases or logical sections. They are part of the same project and use the same resource pool.

Master projects combine several separate project files in one view.

Project portfolios provide the broadest cross-project view. Use them when you need strategic overview, resource conflicts, and priorities across many projects.

When Do I Need the Resource Pool?¶

You need the resource pool whenever you want to:

plan which roles or employees are required,
detect overloads before dates become binding,
control shared employees across several projects,
perform capacity balancing,
include working time, vacation, illness, or other non-working days in the schedule.

You can start without a resource pool only for a rough schedule where resources and capacity are not yet relevant.

Required Steps for a Reliable Plan¶

No.	Step	Without it you miss
1	Create a resource pool with calendars, roles, and employees	A realistic capacity basis
2	Enter project structure and tasks	Completeness of the plan
3	Define durations and effort	Realistic resource demand
4	Link tasks	Schedule logic and critical path
5	Assign roles or employees	Visible resource planning
6	Perform capacity balancing	Feasibility check
7	Save a baseline	Basis for target/actual comparison

Next Steps¶

orientation, views, master data, resource pool, subproject, master project, project portfolio, resource planning, resource assignment, resource demand, resource supply, project manager, resource manager