Transcript Introduction to Project Management Lecture Outline

Resource Loading and
Leveling
Kathy S. Schwaig
A Roadmap of the Project
Planning Process
Develop project charter
Establish work breakdown structure
Analyze sequencing relationships
Estimate “normal” activity durations
Perform network calculations
Validate/revise initial schedule
Perform time-cost tradeoff analysis
Load resources to activities
Our Focus
Today
Resolve any resource/workload imbalances
Develop budget and cash flow plan based on
analysis of direct and indirect costs
What is a Resource?
What’s a resource?
A resource is any entity that
contributes to the accomplishment of
project activities
Personnel
Equipment
Contractors
Space
Materials
Resource Planning
Resource planning is the process of
making sure resources are available
as required to execute the project
according to schedule
Questions to ask:
What type of resource is required?
How much resource is required?
When and how long is the resource
needed?
Where is the resource required?
Resource Loading
Resource loading involves specifying the
types and quantities of resources required
to complete each activity in a project
Note that resources are loaded not at the
project level, but at the activity level
Resources can be identified
By name (if you have individual professionals
with unique skills, this is a reasonable
approach)
By generic type (e.g., system analysts)
How Do We Quantify Resources
Used?
One way is to use some measure of
resource usage
Programmer days
Staff hours
Equipment hours
Another way is to indicate the
number of units of resource assigned
Programmers
Workstations
Scheduling Resources
A resource requirements list can be
constructed by listing each activity and
the resources that will be required
Example
Activity
Resource
Days
Design
database
Systems
Analyst
7 F/T
Notes
Required resources are then mapped to
the activity plan to assess the distribution
of resources required over the duration of
the project
Developing a Resource Profile
(2)
(1)
EPS
DUR
EPC
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DUR
EPC
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DUR
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Start
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(5)
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End
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8
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H
(2)
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EPS
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(2)
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(4)
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Numbers in ( ) show number of people needed for each activity
LAS
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LAC
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0
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Developing
a
Resource
Profile
Day
1
2
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5
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7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
Developing a Resource Profile
Resource Requirement (programmers)
12
10
Ideal profile
8
6
4
2
1
2
3 4
5 6
7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Time Period (days)
Resolving Workload/Resource
Imbalances
Request additional resources
Plan to work overtime
Contract out work
Delay start or extend durations of noncritical activities
Change the approach used to perform the
work
Reduce project scope or extend project
deadline
Resource Leveling
Scheduling resources by earliest possible
start date often leads to an uneven
resource profile that is more likely to call
for levels of resource beyond those
available
By adjusting the start date of some
activities and splitting others, we can
achieve a more level resource profile,
reducing the maximum level of demand for
limited resources
Resource Leveling
Allocating a resource to one activity limits
the flexibility for resource allocation and
scheduling of other activities
Resources should be allocated to activities
in some rational order
The priority must always be to allocate
resources to critical path activities and
then to those activities that are most
likely to affect others
In this way, lower priority activities are
made to fit around the more critical,
already scheduled activities
Approaches for Prioritizing
Activities
Total slack priority
Activities are ordered according to their to
total slack, those with the smallest total
slack having the highest priority
Ordered list priority
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Shortest critical activity
Critical activities
Shortest non-critical activity
Non-critical activity with least slack
Non-critical activities