project management

Module 4: Project Resource Management (Created by Dr A Cabello, 2020)

Institution: Platform Site: ENGG951 (S221) Engineering Project Management

Book: Module 4: Project Resource Management (Created by Dr A Cabello, 2020)

Printed by: Dixitkumar Pravinbhai Patel Date: Thursday, 9 September 2021, 5:26 PM

Table of contents

1. Introduction

2. The Processes of Project Resource Management Explained

3. Plan Resource Management

4. What is a Resource

5. Assigning Resources

6. Resource Scheduling Problems 6.1. Types of Constraints 6.2. Resource Constrained and Time Constrained Projects

7. Resource Allocation Methods

8. Why to Avoid Splitting Tasks

9. Time Phasing of Project Costs

10. References

11. Glossary 11.1. Exercise 4.5: Notes

1.0  Introduction

The content in the following Module draws from multiple sources and includes elements from a number of PMBOK Knowledge Areas which are identified in Table 1. below. This module completes the final two planning tasks that become the master plan for your project —resource and cost scheduling. The steps associated with this process relate to the block titled Resource and Cost Scheduling in Figure 1 below. 

Once the project manager has built a project network diagram that visually depicts the activity interrelationships, for a project (Developed using knowledge area 6 Project Schedule Management) resources can be allocated to each activity (using knowledge area 9 and processes 9.1 and 9.2). This allocation of resources may well impact the duration of the project and enables a final schedule to be developed. At this time each activity can be more accurately costed and when these costs are phased across the schedule created previously - a project manager is said to  time-phase costs, which provides the project budget baseline (which you will learn more about in later modules related to knowledge area 7 Project Cost Management). This time-phased baseline, can later be used to Monitor and Control the schedule, costs and resources. So all three areas are closely related and a project manager will need to work with all three in mind. These ultimately feed into the master plan.

TABLE 1 Project Resource Management as described in the PMBOK Matrix (SOURCE: PMBOK, 6th Ed)

FIGURE 1 The Project Planning Process  (SOURCE: Larson and Grey, 8th Edition, p260)

As was discussed in prior modules an important element that must be considered in all of these activities is the element of risk. Each step in the process of conducting the activity of scheduling and resource allocation will identify risks to the project which must be documented. The identification of these risks in turn will in turn impact the final decisions about how resources are assigned to the project as management strategies are developed to mitigate the more significant risks. The concept of risk management will be addressed in more detail in later modules.

Watch the following video which is an extract from a past lecture that introduces the concepts which will be covered in this module.

Module 4 Lecture Video - Introduction to Scheduling Resources

2.0 The Processes of Project Resource Management Explained

Project Resource Management includes the processes to identify, acquire, and manage the resources needed for the successful completion of the project. These processes help ensure that the right resources will be available to the project manager and project team at the right time and place

TABLE 2.1 Project Resource Management as described in the PMBOK Matrix (SOURCE: PMBOK, 6th Ed)

In Table 2.1 it is evident that when a project manager is undertaking the activity of Project Resource Management, they are actually conducting sub-activities that are categorised as belonging in the PMBOK "Planning Process Group", Executing Process Group and the "Monitoring and Controlling Process Group". Each of these processes are briefly described below.

9.1 Plan Resource Management —The process of defining how to estimate, acquire, manage, and utilize physical and team resources.

9.2 Estimate Activity Resources —The process of estimating team resources and the type and quantities of material, equipment, and supplies necessary to perform project work.

9.3 Acquire Resources —The process of obtaining team members, facilities, equipment, materials, supplies, and other resources necessary to complete project work.

9.4 Develop Team —The process of improving competencies, team member interaction, and the overall team environment to enhance project performance.

9.5 Manage Team —The process of tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues, and managing team changes to optimize project performance.

9.6 Control Resources —The process of ensuring that the physical resources assigned and allocated to the project are available as planned, as well as monitoring the planned versus actual use of resources, and performing corrective action as necessary.  

This module will reflect on processes occurring during the planning process ie 9.1 and 9.2 whilst 9.3 to 9.6 will be dealt with in later modules. 

3.0 Plan Resource Management

Planning Resource Management is the process of defining how to estimate, acquire, manage, and utilize physical and team resources at the task level of a plan to deliver a specific project.  A prerequisite for planning resources is to identify the activities that need to be completed in order to deliver specific project outcomes. The methods for doing this were discussed in the previous module. 

The inputs and data flow for the process are shown below in Figure 3.1 which is an extract from the PMBOK guide (6th ed)

Figure 3.1: Overview of the process of planning Resource management (SOURCE: PMBOK GUIDE, 6th Ed, Fig9.3)

The entire purpose of planning is to ensure that there are sufficient resources to meet the project's needs. Consequently, inputs to this process include:

The Project Charter which includes high-level project description and requirements. It also has the key stakeholder list, summary milestones, and pre-approved financial resources that may influence the resource management of the project.

The Project Management Plan which would include the scope baseline.

A variety of project documents including the Project Schedule which dictates when the resources will be required, the Project Requirements which identifies the resources needed, The Risk Register which contains mitigation plans which may impact the resource allocation and the Stakeholder Register which identifies stakeholders who may ultimately impact on the availability of resources.

As is the case with all other knowledge areas - the project manager must examine Enterprise Environmental Factors and Organisational Process Assets which may dictate the physical environment in which the project is undertaken and will impact the Resource Management plan.

A project manager must take all of these sources into account as there are always more project proposals than there are available resources. If all projects and their respective resources are scheduled, the feasibility and impact of adding a new project to those already being undertaken by the organisation can be assessed and new projects added only if resources are available or can de diverted due to a higher priority. Hence the allocation of resources is key to setting project priority.

This module examines methods of scheduling resources and examines the problems encountered in scheduling those resources.

 Question

  saved

Q 1. How does resource scheduling tie to project priority?

 Submit

  saved

Q.2 How does resource scheduling reduce flexibility in managing projects?

 Submit

  saved

Q3. Why is scheduling resources an important task?

 Submit

4.0 What is a Resource?

A project manager is responsible for managing all of the resources required for the successful completion of a project. But what can be considered a resource in the context of a project?.

A resource is a necessary asset whose main role is to help carry out a certain task or project. A resource can be a person, a team, a tool, finances, and time. It can also include the technology that a project manager might require to run a project.

Physical resource management is concentrated in allocating and using the physical resources (material, equipment, and supplies, for example) needed for successful completion of the project in an efficient and effective way. However, the project manager must also have the skills to manage the human resources associated with running the project. They must be able to manage the project team and multiple stakeholders effectively. The project team consists of individuals with assigned roles and responsibilities who work collectively to achieve a shared project goal. The project manager should invest suitable effort in acquiring, managing, motivating, and empowering the project team.

The module begins by looking at physical resource management before proceeding to discuss the skills and competencies needed for the project manager to manage team resources versus physical resources. Stakeholder management will be addressed in a separate module.

Watch the following Video extract from a past lecture that describes these initial concepts in resource planning and discusses best practice resource planning.

Module 4 Lecture Video - What is a Resource?

5.0 Assigning Resources

A Responsibility Assignment Matrix or RAM shows the project resources assigned to each work package. It is used to identify the type of responsibility assigned to a team member and the work which the responsibility is related to. A RAM can be developed at various levels depending on the size and complexity of a project. On larger projects, RAMs can be developed at various levels.

For example, a high-level RAM can define the responsibilities of a project team, group, or unit within each component of the WBS. Lower-level RAMs are used within the group to designate roles, responsibilities, and levels of authority for specific activities. The matrix format shows all activities associated with one person and all people associated with one activity. This avoids confusion and rework.

One example of a RAM is a RACI (responsible, accountable, consult, and inform) chart, shown in Figure 5.1 .

FIGURE 5.1 A RAM which uses the responsibilities of responsible, accountable, consult, and inform to assign resources (SOURCE: PMBOK Guide, 6th ed, Figure 9-4)

The table in Figure 5.1 shows the work to be done in the first column on the left as activities. The assigned resources can be shown as individuals or groups in this chart they are assigned as individuals. Note that only 1 person can be made accountable for any single activity.

There are other options that a project manager might use to describe the various responsibilities, such as “lead” and “resource” designations, as appropriate for the project. 

A project manager should always consider the skills of their team when assigning responsibilities in this manner. This topic will be covered in greater detail later in the module when we discuss the ways in which people and teams behave and how this must be considered by the project manager in order to develop a high-performance team and maximise the efficient delivery of a project.

Watch the following video extract of a past lecture located below to help you understand the importance of a RAM and some implications that a project manager should consider when developing a RAM.

Module 4 Lecture Video - Resource Allocation Matrix (RAM)

6.0 Resource Scheduling Problems

In projects, the availability of resources will influence the way that a project is managed. A project network that contains only the times of activities cannot be considered a schedule until resources have been assigned. Imagine that you're a project manager assigned to a new project. You've been told what has to be achieved, you've been assigned a project team and you've been told by when the output of the project has to be delivered. Some of the questions you might ask are:

do the people assigned to this project have the skills I need to achieve the required outcome or will I have to hire in additional skilled resources? the people assigned to this project are not dedicated full time to the project, so will I be able to get them to work on my project deliverables when I need them? is the time frame I've been given reasonable to achieve the desired outcome? can the delivery date be shifted to accommodate andy potential changes I may need to make ie is it flexible?

In order to start answering some of these questions, a project manager has to develop a project schedule. In previous modules when you've developed a schedule you have only had to consider technical constraints or dependencies. Now it's time to consider other constraints that must be considered in developing a schedule.

The next two sections will discuss the different types of constraints faced by a project team when developing a schedule.

6.1 Types of Constraints

When executing a project, it is often the case that the project team may be constrained in the way that activities can be executed. The timing of the execution of activities may be constrained by technical or logic constraints, physical project constraints, or by resource constraints. In all cases, the constraint may require that the activity network takes into consideration the type of project constraint.

The consequence of logic or technical constraints is that they dictate the activity network relationships. In the case of physical and resource constraints, the consequence is often a delay in the execution of activities impacted by the constraint, which may in turn create a very different set of network relationships. Note that the physical or resource dependency takes priority over the technological dependency but does not violate the technological dependency.

When creating a schedule the project management team must, therefore, take into consideration all of these constraints which include.

Technical or Logic Constraints -  related to the networked sequence in which project activities must occur. You have already covered these relationships in the previous module.

Physical Constraints - activities that are affected by contractual or environmental conditions.

Resource Constraints - the absence, shortage, or unique interrelationship characteristics of resources (people,  materials, equipment).

Watch the following video which is an extract from past lectures, which discusses the different types of constraints, before progressing to learn more about resource constraints. 

Module 4 Lecture Video - Scheduling Constraints

Regardless of the type of constraint they are generally all resolved using the same methods which are discussed in the next section of this module.

6.2 Resource Constrained and Time Constrained Projects

You were introduced to the concept of a priority matrix earlier during this course. Now is the time for project managers to consult the matrix and ask the question - If the project looks like it cannot be completed within the time limit allocated, can I acquire additional resources to complete the activities required?

If the answer to this question is NO - then the project is Resource-Constrained. If the answer is yes then you might assume that the project is Time-Constrained. 

Watch this video extract from past lectures which will help you understand how to deal with the different types of constraints when developing a schedule.

Module 4 Lecture Video - Classification of Resource Scheduling Problems 

 Try the following exercise to further develop your knowledge.

 Exercise

Ashrit and Jenny are both electrical engineers who have been scheduled to work on designing the wiring for a new construction site. During planning it has become apparent that Ashrit is overly stretched and that just after activities 1 and 2 are planned for completion, Ashrit has to be transferred to another project and no additional resources are to be provided to the project manager. Now Jenny has to handle her own activities as well as Ashrit's.

Download an Excel copy here  to assist with completing the below questions

Questions

Q1:  Level the project Gantt chart so that Jenny is responsible for project activities 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Once attempted, click the 'Show Solution' button to compare your attempt with the provided solution.

Make sure you attempt Q1 using the Excel template provided above before moving onto Q2. To check your answer please click here.

Q2: What is the new estimated completion date for the project?

  saved

Q2: What is the new estimated completion date for the project?

 Submit

Q 3: Was this an example of a time constrained or resource constrained project?

This was a time-constrained project

This was a resource-constrained project

 Check

7.0 Resource Allocation Methods

In order to assist your learning - the methods that are discussed in this section require some assumptions to be made in relation to limits and risk. They are: 

Limiting Assumptions

Splitting activities is not allowed—once an activity is start, it is carried to completion. Level of resources used for an activity cannot be changed.

In reality, the above assumptions do not always apply but we will use them here to simplify the exercises we undertake and enable the student to focus on the key elements of scheduling that this module is intended to teach.

Risk Assumptions

Activities with the most slack pose the least risk.

TIME CONSTRAINED PROJECTS

When projects are time constrained - the time to complete the project cannot be adjusted to accommodate resource shortfalls. Consequently scheduling time-constrained projects focuses on utilising resource efficiently. Resource smoothing is the term used to describe the activity of ensuring resources are allocated evenly within the time window allocated to a project. 

RESOURCE CONSTRAINED PROJECTS

When the number of resources available is not adequate to meet peak demand requirements and it is impossible to obtain more, the project manager faces a resource-constrained problem. Something has to give and this is usually time ie the time to complete the project is extended. The trick is to prioritize and allocate resources to minimize project delay without exceeding the resource limit or altering the technical network relationships.

Watch the following video extract from a past lecture that describes both of these resource allocation situations.

Module 4 Lecture Video - Resource Allocation Methods

Exception - sessionwaiterr

8.0 Why to Avoid Splitting Tasks

Splitting tasks is a scheduling technique that is often considered to enable a project manager to utilise a particular resource across multiple activities and thus increase resource utilisation. This occurs when a planner splits the continuous work included in an activity by interrupting the work and sending the resource to another activity for a period of time and then having the resource resume work on the original activity.

Splitting can be a useful tool if the work involved does not include large start-up or shutdown costs—for example, moving equipment from one activity location to another. The most common error is to interrupt “people work,” where there are high conceptual start-up and shutdown costs. 

Watch the following video extract from a past lecture that explains this technique and the problems associated with it.

Module 4 Lecture Video - Why Avoid Splitting Tasks?

Keep in mind that you might be tempted to split tasks in your assessment tasks. Based on what you've learned above try to avoid this as there are real ramifications of using this technique in real-life projects.

9.0 Time Phasing of Project Costs

When you have completed this section you should be able to "Explain why a time-phased budget baseline is needed and create a baseline".

By this point, you should understand how to effectively allocate resources across a project regardless of whether it is time or resource- constrained. You should also understand how this allocation of resources may well impact the duration of the project, but once this is done a project manager has finally created a final schedule.

Now that you understand exactly when a resource is required according to the final schedule you can proceed to refine your costs for each activity, as the cost of a particular resource may vary depending on when and for how long it is required. Based on the schedule you will also know exactly when you plan to incur the identified cost. This is what is referred to as the time phasing of costs ie the allocation of costs in terms of time as prescribed by a schedule. 

These time-phased costs, provide the project budget baseline (which you will learn more about in later modules related to knowledge area 7 Project Cost Management). This time-phased baseline, can later be used to Monitor and Control the schedule, costs and resources.

Watch the following video extract from past lectures which explains the time phasing of project costs.

Module 4 Lecture Video - Introduction to Time Phased Budget Baseline

 Exercise

Given the time-phased work packages and network, complete the baseline budget form for the project. 

Copy the following tables into Excel and complete. Once complete, click the 'Show Solution' button below to compare your work with the solution.

Market Survey Project

WBS Work Package Cost by Week

WP Design 4 5 2

WP Survey 2 2 4 4 4 5

WP Report 3 3 2

Project Network

0 1 3 3 2 3

0 Design Survey Report

0 3 3 6 3

Time-Phased Budget

Task Budget Week 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Design 11 4 5 2

S r e 21

Task Budget Week Survey 21

Report 8

Total 40

Cumulative

Show Solution

Larson, E.W. and Gray, C.F. (2021), Project Management: The Project Management Process, 8 edition, McGraw Hill

Project Management Institute (2017), A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 6th Edition

th

Module 3: Supplementary Information

Question 1: Ashrit and Jenny are both electrical engineers who have been scheduled to work on designing the wiring for a new construction site. Just after activities 1 and 2 were completed, Ashrit was transferred to another project and no additional resources were provided to the project manager. Now Jenny has to handle her own activities as well as Ashrit's. Level the project Gantt chart so that Jenny is responsible for project activities 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.