Precursive has two Resourcing Modes to choose from: Booking Mode (best for a top-down approach) and Task Mode (best for a bottom-up approach). The Resourcing Mode decides how Bookings are created and effort is reflected in the Resource Plan. Define the Resourcing Mode in the Details tab on the Phase. 

Booking Mode

Booking Mode is best for when Project Managers want to book Resources for a length of time, e.g. 1 month, without necessarily knowing the granular breakdown of the Booking’s Tasks. 

Bookings are made at the Phase-level against each Participant. They can be Resource Requests, or Bookings against specific Resources. As Timesheets are Submitted, Bookings are split automatically, making it easy to move or reassign the remainder of the booking.

To create Bookings,  

1. Add a Participant to the Phase, where you can make decisions about the Costs and Rates that should be used to inform the Project Financials
2. Schedule Time - define a Start and End Date for the Booking - this effort will be reflected in the Resource Plan 

When using Booking Mode, there is some, but limited, functionality around Tasks. 

You can ✅: 

• Create Tasks
• Visualize Tasks in both Kanban & Gantt view
• Assign a Task with Planned Hours to a Participant
• Log Time against Tasks only if "Allow time entry outside of Bookings" is enabled

You can’t ❌: 

• See the effort for Tasks reflected in the Resource Plan (effort is determined by the Bookings against Resources or Resource Requests)

Task Mode

Task Mode is best for High-Velocity Service Delivery teams working on repeatable projects where the detailed task-level scope is known in advance e.g. a Software Implementation Project.

With Task Mode, the effort reflected in the Resource Plan is driven by Bookings created for Tasks. In order for a booking to be created, a task requires the following elements:

• Task Name
• List 
• Task Contributor with Planned & Remaining Hours
• Start Date & End Date*

You can ✅: 

• See the effort for Tasks reflected in the Resource Plan
• Log time against a Task for which you have Planned Time directly from the Task

You can’t ❌: 

• Schedule Time for Participants without using Tasks
• Directly manipulate Bookings - you have to edit the Tasks
• See Tasks in the Resource Plan - they are represented by a Booking

The recommended method to build Projects using Task Mode, is to use a Task Template to capture all Task details, and Project Categories to define the delivery method. However, Projects and Phases can also be built manually. 

Creating Projects manually requires a specific order of actions. 

1. Create a New Project and select Task Mode
2. From the Phase, add Participants with Roles (or Resource Requests) - you cannot schedule time (this is reserved for Booking Mode)
3. From the Tasks tab, create a task with a) Name b) List c) Start/End date
4. From the Task select Manage Contributors, choose the Participant and define the Planned/Remaining Hours
5. Report to the Resource Plan tab to see the effort reflected (a Page Refresh can help things along)

* A task with planned effort, but no Start/End Dates will not appear in the Resource Plan and this effort will not contribute to the Project Financials