Level of Effort (LOE) Activity in Primavera P6

The Level of effort (LOE) is one of the activity types in Primavera P6. As noted in the earlier post, it is dependent on its predecessors and/or successors. It can be used in certain scenarios. In this article, we will explore this type of activity hands-on with Primavera P6, compare with the Hammock Activity and conclude with some key points.  

Definition

As per Primavera P6, a Level of Effort activity can be defined as follows:

“If activity's duration is dependent on its predecessor and/or successor activities, then you can indicate that activity to be a Level of Effort activity.”

Re-read the previous line. It may not be a single predecessor and/or successor, but multiple predecessors and/or successors.

We go for LOE activities when we have on-going tasks, which depends on other activities. 

Now, let’s take an example for the creation of Level of Effort activity. 

Create the LOE Activity

To create a LOE activity, add an activity with Activity Type as “Level of Effort”. This is shown below. 

As shown above, we have created an activity:

• Name = Management Work
• Activity Type = Level of Effort
• Duration = 5 days (default)

Set the Bar Style(s)

As you’d have noticed in the graphical side, we don’t have a visualization for the LOE activity. It’s empty. To visualize, we have to set the bar styles. This can be done by going to View menu > Bars command or Layout toolbars > Bars command. You can also put your cursor in the graphical side of the Gantt Chart, right click and choose Bars command.

As shown, we have set the bar for the LOE activity. Do note that there are two bars for LOE activities. 

• Remaining Level of Effort
• Actual Level of Effort

Both should be enabled if you want to track both the planned and actual data related to LOE activities. And all conditions, as shown above, should be properly set. Now it’ll be visible in the graphical side of the Gantt Chart. This is shown below.

Set the Predecessor(s) and Successor(s)

Next, we have to set the predecessor(s) and successor(s) of this activity. Our management work will span across the entire project. Hence, in our case:

• Predecessor is the Start Milestone
• Successor is the Finish Milestone

After you set the milestones, the LOE activity will look as follows.

As can be seen above, the LOE activity is now scheduled between the Start and Finish milestones. Like a Hammock, it looks to be handing between two milestone activities. The LOE activity has:

• A Start-to-Start (SS) relationship with the Start Milestone
• A Finish-to-Finish (FF) relationship with the Finish Milestone

Next, as you schedule with the Primavera P6 software, our LOE activity hangs between these milestones and spans across the entire project. Do note that a LOE activity is similar to Hammock Activity, but not exactly the same. 

Key Points to Note

Following are the key points to note when you go for LOE activities.

• It’s used for on-going tasks such as project management, shift monitoring work, work related to security guards etc. 
• While going for Resource Leveling, the LOE activities are not included!
• Unlike Hammock Activities, the LOE activities use its assigned calendars to summarize the dates.

Conclusion

Specifically, in a project management plan, I'd recommend using the LOE activities for the project management work. Because a PM may not be working on a plan for the entire day, but will be working a few hours on each project. In such cases, you can assign the PM to the LOE activity at a reduced unit/time.

References

[1] Article: Primavera P6 – Understanding Various Activity Types, by Satya Narayan Dash

[2] Course: Practical PMP with Oracle Primavera P6, by Satya Narayan Dash