Firstly you should understand the difference between "effort" & "duration". You can read this article - http://www.pmbypm.com/difference-project-effort-and-duration/
Let's talk about 3 different terms
- Work - In MS Project, "effort" & "work" are synonymous. It is the
a/m of labor units to complete a task.
- Duration - It is the length of time to complete a task.
- Units - In MSP, "units" is (sort of) equivalent to "no. of resources"
Following formula provides a rough relation between these three terms:
Work = Units * Duration
As per the wording of your Q, it looks like 184 hours is "effort" and one month is "duration". In your case "units" is 5-6 resources.
MSP provides 3 different options for task scheduling -
- Fixed Work - The work (184 hours) would not change if you change one of the other 2 parameters
- Fixed Units - The units (5 resources) would not change if you change one of the other 2 parameters
- Fixed Duration - The duration (1 month) would not change if you change one of the other 2 parameters
To understand which option you are using, you should use the "task details" dialog. You can also use "work" and "duration" column in "gantt chart view" of MSP to see the relationship.
Hope it helps.