Project Management OPER 576

1
Project Management OPER 576

• Resource Allocation
• Greg Magnan, Ph.D.
• May 6, 2004

2
Project Life Cycle Stages
3
II. Project Planning

• Identify Resource Requirements
• To avoid future resource problems and help assign
  responsibility
• For each WBS element, consider
• Knowledge, skills, facilities, equipment,
  supplies, materials, special/unusual resources
• People, Materials, Equipment, Capital
• Identify type, amount, and cost
• ESTIMATE!

4
Identify Resource Requirements
5
II. Project Planning

• Responsibility Assignment Matrix
• To make responsibilities clear and visible
• WBS elements down left side
• Note Deliverables
• Names of individuals/groups along top
• Mark Primary responsibility (P)
• One for each terminal element
• Negotiate commitment from each person

6
II. Project Planning

• Schedule Deliverables / Gantt Chart
• To provide basis for project monitoring
• Identify start and finish dates
• Review precedence to ensure that no terminal
  element starts or finishes too soon
• Gantt charts, however, do NOT show precedence
• Once again, uses WBS as main input

7
Sample Gantt Chart
8
(No Transcript)
9
II. Project Planning

• Schedule Resources
• Resource the Plan to help maintain commitment
  of resources
• Resource managers allocate resources
• Act in collaboration with Project Manager
• Confirm or negotiate specific commitments for
  each resource
• Be aware of resource managers constraints or
  policies (e.g., res. util. limits)
• May affect schedule sequence!
• Completion date, too

10
Resourcing Plans

• Resource Categories
• People, Materials, Equipment, Capital
• Time Constrained vs. Resource Constrained
• Time Imposed Date
• Resource Cannot exceed level of Resource
• Problem is combinatorial lots of possible
  solutions
• Incorporating resources may result in new
  Critical Path
• Resource Constrained
• Parallel Method
• Minimize delay while maintaining technical
  relationships and resource limitations

11
Parallel Method

• Combinatorial problem expensive optimal
  solutions
• Heuristics priority allocation rules
• Minimum slack (first)
• Smallest duration (second tie-breaker)
• Lowest activity number (third)
• Parallel starts at first time period and
  schedules period-by-period any activities
  eligible to start
• Apply priority rules when resource conflict
• Effectively delaying early start times of
  downstream activities

12
In Class Problem
13
Determine ES, EF, LS, LF SL
14
Scheduled Resource Load Chart w/ ES and Slack
updates
15
Baseline Gantt Chart
16
Resource-Constrained Scheduling Impacts

• Slack reduced
• Flexibility reduced (slack used to min. delay)
• Network sensitivity increased
• Scheduling complexity increased
• May no longer be intuitive
• If you dont account for resource needs, the
  resource-constrained schedule will materialize
• If early enough, may be able to create
  alternatives

17
Multi-project Scheduling

• This is where resources really become an issue
• Resource needs reconciled across projects
• Priorities, risks, resource requirements, tasks
• Effects
• Overall schedule slippage
• Inefficient resource utilization
• Resource bottlenecks
• Project Management Offices (PMO)
• Prioritize projects
• Centralized scheduling/ resource mgt
• Control outsourcing