How to accomplish What if Scenarios

Begin by creating a folder in your preferred location. It is usually a sub-folder in the related project space. In this example, it is in the Information Technology folder.

Navigate to the project you would like to run ‘what if’ scenarios on.

Once on the task list or Gantt chart of that project, go to ‘tools’ then click ‘copy.’ This will place that project on the Project Insight clipboard.

Click inside your ‘what if scenario’ folder.

Right click and go to ‘tools’ and select ‘paste (copy)’ project name in ‘what if scenario’ folder.

You may add as many projects as you wish to run scenarios on…one or one hundred.

Next, go to the project add/edit form and select ‘archive’ state and ‘save.’ This will keep it from appearing on the resource allocation and other reports.

Decide upon a naming convention to distinguish your scenarios from your actual projects. Here, we are using the name of the project, then ‘what if scenario I’ in our example.

Make the changes you prefer on a project schedule.

When ready, go to the add/edit form and place the project in ‘planning’ state. This will make it appear on the resource forecasting reports in grey.

If you have an active project that your scenario would replace, then you need to place that project in archive state for the moment.

*Note: If your system is set up to archive projects in a single folder, you may need to toggle that option to allow users to choose the archive folder instead.

Navigate to the resource allocation reports and make sure you select ‘include projects in planning state’ from the display options.

You may want to add the column ‘project state’ from the table column selections. Then update and run your report.

This will display the impact on your resources of the newly inserted project so you can review if that scenario works for your team.

You may perform this as many times as you wish until you get the results you prefer. Remember to archive any project scenarios you do not go forward with.