How to replace resource with another in all tasks

Question

In MS Project 2016, I have a resource: call them Foo. They are assigned hours in many tasks. They must work:

• Task A: 20 hours
• Task B: 40 hours
• ...
• Task Z: 30 hours

Foo quit the company, and we hired a replacement, Bar. Bar is hired to do exactly Foo's old job.

Question: How can I, in one operation, replace Bar as the resource for every task Foo was previously assigned?

I have seen many answers to select the task in question, click "assign resources", then select the resource and hit replace. This only works if I manually click every one of the correct tasks from A to Z.

Answer 1

I would tackle this problem manually as I have no knowledge of a technical solution in MS Project. I would filter out tasks that have actual data loaded--any tasks that have finished or are in progress--leaving only those tasks that have not started. I would copy and paste into excel the resources data and then make a global change to remove the exited employee and replace him with the new employee. Then I would copy and paste those data into MS Project. Then I would load cost information for that new employee in the resource table. I would NOT rebaseline the new tasks, however, because changing employees is typically insufficient to justify a rebaseline.

Moving forward, I would NOT use specific employee names in the scheduling tool to avoid this type of nuisance change. I use roles or labor categories in my schedules. Therefore, changing, adding, or removing employees on the project will necessitate no change in the tool.