Once the body of the Plan Matrix window shows effort for each month for each activity, oftentimes the level of effort varies considerably from month to month. To smooth the level of effort so a more consistent amount of effort is made each month, you can use commands that level the effort across all months.

The leveling process is comprised of two major parts:

• The system sets the monthly totals to be level across all months and then sums these values to yield an annual value, which is shown in the Activity Totals column.
• The system runs an optimizer to fill the body of the Plan Matrix table without changing the activity totals and monthly totals and while staying as close as possible to the Performance Guideline window's Activity Calendar distributions.

The system provides two approaches to leveling effort depending on what is known:

• If you know the total amount of person-days over the entire year to be expended on an activity.
  In this approach, you enter data into the monthly columns of the Plan Matrix table. As you enter data, the system updates the Activity Totals column to show the yearly effort.
  After entering the data in the body of the Plan Matrix table, you initiate the leveling process for this approach by selecting the Level Labor Hours Within Scope command that is found in the right-click shortcut menu. The system then begins the leveling process. In this process, the system treats the monthly totals and the yearly totals as fixed and the individual values that comprise the totals as capable of being varied (while still, in aggregate, summing to the fixed total values). It varies the individual values by distributing them evenly across the twelve months by the number of working days in each month.
  
  
• If you know the monthly FTE (Owner Month FTE) value for an activity.
  In this approach, the system uses the primary custom calendar selected in the Calendar window to derive monthly person-days for the entered monthly FTE value for each month. The system then prorates the Activity Totals column to be the sum of the person-days across all months.
  Enter the FTE value in either of two ways:
  
  • When the same FTE value applies to all months, you select the Level Labor Resource for a Given FTE command from the right-click shortcut menu. This command displays a dialog box, in which you enter the FTE value.
  • When the FTE value can vary depending on the month and year, you first configure the FTE values in the Owner Month FTE window for a particular year and month. You can then select the Level Labor by Existing FTE command from the right-click shortcut menu in the Plan Matrix window to level effort based on what is configured in the Owner Month FTE window. This approach provides a finer granulation to assigning effort than with the Level Labor Resource for a Given FTE command.

Regardless of which approach you take, the system uses information from the following windows when distributing effort during the leveling process:

• The Calendar window: The primary custom calendar selected in the Calendar window in the System module determines the number of hours that employees can work and the number of working days in each month. This value therefore sets the absolute upper boundary for the number of person-days that can be assigned to any given month. It also sets, when comparing months, the proportion of effort to be made in a given month relative to the other months.

• The Performance Guidelines window: The Activity Calendar configured in this window for an activity determines how much of the total yearly effort is expended in any particular month. The leveling process tries to get as close as is feasible to the Activity Calendar distributions while absolutely maintaining both the monthly and yearly totals.

  Note: The Calendar Importance column in the Activity Calendar affects how closely the system tries to match the Activity Calendar distribution for each row in the Plan Matrix window. See Performance Guidelines for more information.

• The Equipment Scheduling window: For those implementations that include an Equipment Scheduling window, when you execute one of the leveling commands or the Distribute Man Hours by Calendar command and an equipment schedule exists for an activity and administrative unit, then the months and portion of the month(s) for which the equipment is available to the administrative unit will override the relative distribution set in the Activity Calendar. The system will not place any hours in the Plan Matrix for those months where the equipment schedule indicates zero availability; instead, the system will distribute all effort throughout the remaining months.
• The Priority column of the Plan Matrix window: When this column is null, the system will allocate effort as required across all months. When activities are associated with a particular inventory element, then this column can be used to establish a ranking for the order in which the activities are to be performed. The effect of this is to cause the system to assign effort to the activity/inventory element combination ranked first until the Activity Totals value for the activity/inventory element is reached, and then proceed with the activity/inventory element combination ranked second, and so on. The assignment of effort is within the overall constraints established by the selected primary custom calendar and the activity's Activity Calendar and Equipment Schedule.