Project Controlling | Resources
Problem Statement
To identify and mobilise the right personnel resources to deliver the project scope to the specified quality, on time and in budget.
Goals
Ensure that:
- the necessary resources are identified and planned,
- the cost impact of the resources is calculated and included in the budget,
- actual resources are captured, and the forecast total resources is up-to-date.
Approach
Once the project charter has been prepared the following steps are taken:
- discipline-specific resources required to deliver the scope are identified,
- resources are planned over time to adhere to the project schedule,
- availability of the resources at the required time checked and, if available, reserved,
- actual resources required are captured, deviations highlighted, and total resource requirement based on work to complete forecast.
Benefits
Resources are identified and planned, availability checked, and only when available will the project be started. By controlling actual against planned, considering physical progress, deviations will be highlighted so that appropriate action can be taken. This gives early-warning to potential negative impacts to the project and/or project portfolio.
Process Implementation
Teamwork is essential. The teamwork between Project Management and Project Controlling as part of Project Services is summarised as follows:
Use Case
Chen, head of manufacturing, was preparing his budget. In addition to operational staff resource requirements, he was asked to provide experts to support major investment projects that would deliver an increased manufacturing capacity.
Operational staff resource planning was based on benchmark data linked to production output. The question was how to estimate the resource backfill required to support the investment projects.
We gained access to the project portfolio via the Project Portfolio Management Office (PPMO) and identified prioritised projects that would require support from Chen’s organisation. Project Charters, each with an estimated resource requirement, had been prepared for multiple projects. These were consolidated by the PPMO, and from that we were able to identify the functional resources required of him. Chen had been involved in the prioritisation process, but this was the first time he was able to assess the impact to the individual departments.
We established a process whereby Chen:
- was provided with a summary of the project demand over time for functional resources with which he was able to align with the respective department heads,
- was regularly updated of changes to the demand for project resources,
- maintained overall control of staff resources in his organisation.
By gaining an overview of project demands for staff resources, Chen can regularly update his resource planning. This allows him to make informed prioritisation decisions based on both alignment to organisations goals and availability of staff resources.
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