In this video, we’re going to survey Project Resource Management: what resources are, why we need them, the resource planning process, and how this applies to project human resource management.
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Project Resource Management
Definition of Project Resource Management
My favorite definition of Project Resource Management is the one the PMI uses:
‘Project Resource Management includes the processes to identify, acquire, and manage the resources needed for the successful completion of the project.’
The Project Management Institute (PMI), in the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 6th Edition (the PMBOK Guide). It’s not defined in the 7th Edition!
What are Project Resources
The term ‘Project Resources’ covers :
- Consumables and materials
These can be:- Finished goods
- Components
- Raw materials, which can be un-processed natural materials or lightly-processed feedstock
- Capital Assets
These can be:- Land and property, or space and accommodation
- Tools, equipment, plant, and machinery
- Intangible Assets
These can be:- Methods, processes, systems, procedures, and even knowledge and ideas
- Software (which may be classed as:
- A Capital asset if software licenses are bought outright (or developed to specification)
- A Consumable asset if the software is rented on a recurring license, or as a Software as a Service (SaaS) subscription
- Data – the raw information we need, to achieve certain objectives
- Energy
Yes, energy is ‘intangible’. And yes, it is a ‘consumable’ resource. But I think it is sufficiently different to merit its own entry. I’d also note that very few project types will need to account for energy in their resource management. - People
We’ll talk about Human resources in this Part 1 guide, but cover how best to manage this special resource type in Part 2. e involve people for the work they can do and the expertise they can bring. - Money
Perhaps most important of all, money is the master resource. You can trade Money for any of the other resources. Money is subject to its own rules, so I have a video, How to Deliver Effective Project Cost Management.
Project Resources are about Two Things…
There are two reasons we need resources in projects – whether people, assets, or materials. These are:
- Capacity – resources allow us to get more done than we can do alone
- People provide extra minds and bodies to get things done
- Tools and equipment amplify our efficiency
- and the money to pay for them
- Capability – resources allow us to do things we cannot otherwise do
- People bring new skills, experience, and expertise
- Tools and equipment allow us to do things people cannotThe materials to build deliverables from
- and the money to pay for them
What Project Resource Management is all about
Project Resource Management is about:
- Securing the right resources…
- in the right quantities…
- to the right specifications, quality standards, or with the right capabilities…
- in the right place…
- at the right time.
Therefore, this suggests a number of challenges:
- Availability
- Estimation
- Conflicting commitments
- Balancing workload (in the case of people)
- Delivery
- Timing
I will leave the challenge of securing an advantageous price and contract terms to our guide, Project Procurement Management 101 – All the Basics You Need to Know https://youtu.be/bPgheptnmWs
Project Resource Planning
The Four Steps of Project Resource Planning
The four steps are:
- Understand the activities needed to deliver your project
- From the activities, extract your resource requirements
- Apply your resources to the activities
- Balance your resource usage to optimize your efficiency
Then, we can manage our resources. We’ll look at these one at a time.
Understand the activities needed to deliver your project
The route to understanding your activities is your Work Breakdown Structure.
From the Activities, Extract your Resource Requirements
Either way, against each activity you’ll be able to list the types of resources you’ll require – people, materials, assets, or intangible, and the length of time (duration) you will need them for.
Apply your Resources to the activities
There are three parts to this step:
- Sourcing the resources you need
- Allocating those resources to the task.
- Scheduling the deployment of the resources in conjunction with your master project schedule
Balance your resource usage to optimize your efficiency
To get the most efficient allocation of resources, you will need to balance their utilization, using resource smoothing and resource leveling. Note that the steps of applying resources and balancing them up are iterative. You’ll rarely get the best allocation at the first pass. Take a look at our video on resource optimization.
Project Human Resources
Day-to-day resource management will often be focused on the people in your project: your team.
Six Themes of Project Human Resource Management
I think of this as being about six themes – each of which could carry a whole video. Let me know in the comments which one you’d most like to see!
- Onboarding
- Workload Management
- Team Management
- Individual Management
- Offboarding
- People Skills
Onboarding
Bringing people onto your team is your first human resource management challenge. The components are:
- Recruitment – or finding them,
- Induction (I prefer ‘welcoming’) – or introducing them into your team, and
- Project Kick-off – or getting them started on your project.
Workload Management
Once a team member is on board and one of the team, you’ll need to start them working alongside the team. In this Project HR Management Process, you’ll need the skills to get productive work from your team.
Your Plan
I would say that it is essential to share your full plan with your team. Better still is engaging them in creating it. When your team helps build the plan, it becomes ‘their plan’. This has advantages:
- Better plan, because more minds have created it
- Deeper understanding of the plan
- Higher levels of commitment to the plan
Competency Matching and Allocation
You probably did not recruit every member of your team with a specific role in mind. So, for each stage of your project, you’ll need to assign team members to work packages. The process of allocating a work package is very similar to delegation.
Performance Management
Another vital task is to monitor team performance, and then intervene to optimize it.
Team Management
Team management is a big part of project human resource management because in projects we tend to work in teams. For small projects, it’s one big team. On larger projects, you’ll have multiple teams, each working on their own workstream or work package.
The things you’ll be thinking about here are:
- Team structure and culture
- Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging
- Team Collaboration
- Lessons Learned
- Health & Safety and team welfare
- Managing remote workers
Individual Management
The things you’ll be thinking about here are:
- Workload Balancing, allocation, and delegation
- Motivation
- Feedback and professional development
Offboarding
At some stage, you’ll need to handle roll-offs from your project. Towards the end, your team members will start to get twitchy. They’ll not want to miss the next opportunity, so their feet will start to itch. Keeping them as prisoners can be counter-productive though. If their heart is no longer in it… Remember: ‘attitude over skills’.
Keep them motivated by letting everyone know you are looking out for opportunities for them and are eager to help them get staffed on their next project.
And, when a team member leaves, you can handle it well and make it a good experience for everyone. Or you can stuff it up and leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. It’s your choice.
People Skills
The last Project Human Resource Management Process is the collection of people skills you’ll need. It’s a huge set of topics – not least because it includes emotional intelligence, meetings and facilitation, general communication, and leadership!
Summing up Project Resource Management
Project Resource Management is a HUGE area of expertise. Especially when we consider its intimate links to cost management and procurement.
But, unless your project is trivially simple, this is something you need to study, master, and keep on developing throughout your career.
Recommended Videos to Help with Project Resource Management
Carefully curated video recommendations for you:
- How to Deduce Project Resource Requirements | Video
- Resource Optimization: What’s the Difference between Resource Leveling and Resource Smoothing?
Recommended Articles to Help with Project Resource Management
- Project Resource Management: Part 1 of Your Comprehensive Guide
- Complete Primer on the 6 Themes of Project Human Resource Management
What Kit does a Project Manager Need?
I asked Project Managers in a couple of forums what material things you need to have, to do your job as a Project Manager. They responded magnificently. I compiled their answers into a Kit list. I added my own.
Check out the Kit a Project Manager needs
Note that the links are affiliated.
Learn Still More
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For more of our videos in themed collections, join our Free Academy of Project Management.
