Auto Adjust Task Length Based on Assigned Resource Hours

[Simon Hayward]

Good Afternoon,

I am trying to find out, is there a way that you can setup ServiceNow, so that if on a project task expected to take 16 hours, you have one user allocated for 8 hours on a task, that if you add another user for an additional 8 hours, it would then auto adjust the expected end date to now take in to consideration both users working on the task.

[vijaydodla · Accepted solution]

Hi @Simon Hayward - Based on ServiceNow’s product documentation and scheduling architecture, the short answer is no, not automatically on a single task record.

In OOTB ServiceNow’s Project Portfolio Management scheduling engine is primarily duration driven, rather than strictly “effort-driven” (similar to Microsoft Project, where adding resources to a fixed work task automatically recalculates and shortens the duration). Furthermore, a standard project task in ServiceNow is designed to have only one “Assigned to” user.

Because the platform treats duration and effort as separate variables, adding a second person to a task will not automatically pull in the expected end date.

However, you can achieve your desired outcome using customization - Here is the one of the solution

Use Child Tasks:

Break the work down into sub-tasks. Instead of having one 16-hour task, you create a “Parent Task” for the overall deliverable. You then create two 8-hour “Child Tasks” under it. You assign User A to the first child task and User B to the second child task. If you schedule both child tasks to start at the same time (concurrently), the Parent Task’s duration and expected end date will automatically roll up and adjust to reflect the shorter timeline.

Please kindly mark the solution Accepted, if this helps you. Thank you !