effortdriven

Effort-driven is a scheduling attribute used in many project management tools to describe how task duration responds to changes in resource assignments. In an effort-driven task, the total work remains fixed; adding resources shortens the duration, while removing resources lengthens it. A non-effort-driven task keeps its duration unchanged when resource counts change; the work adjusts accordingly.

In practice, this distinction matters for forecasting and resource leveling. Tools like Microsoft Project expose an effort-driven option on tasks. If you expect a task to progress faster with more personnel, mark it as effort-driven. If the task has a fixed duration due to constraints or requires a specific sequence, mark it as not effort-driven.

Common examples:

- Effort-driven: a team performing a 40-hour repair that can be split among 2 or 4 technicians.

- Not effort-driven: a task with a fixed deadline or a task that is sequential and cannot be shortened by adding staff.

Cautions: changing the effort-driven flag can affect your schedule forecasts, and not all tasks behave intuitively when resources are reassigned, so verify results after leveling.