Chapter 8. Resource Management
8.0 Learning Objectives & Overview
Learning Objectives
- Describe how to create a project resource plan.
- Define the resources that will be utilized in a project, including the project team members.
- Elaborate on resource loading, leveling, and crashing to conduct resource allocation effectively.
- Practice on Microsoft Project to determine and allocate the resources, and solve resource overallocation and conflict problems as well as scheduling issues.
Overview
A project manager is responsible for planning, developing, managing, and monitoring and controlling the resources to ensure that project objectives can be achieved. Effective resource management is integral to overall project success. The objective is to identify and allocate resources effectively and efficiently to project activities to complete the project to the satisfaction of the stakeholders, in particular, clients and customers. Whereas scope, time, and cost are the main constraints of a project, they are tightly linked to the resources. After the scope and schedule are delineated, the project manager can continue with the identification and allocation of resources based on the scope (product requirements and project activities) and the schedule (how project activities are sequenced on a timescale). Allocation of resources allows the project manager to determine the overall project budget most of which is spent on resources.
