‫د افغا ستان پران س پوهنتون‬

‫پوهنتون آزاد افغا ستان‬

Afghanistan Open University (AOU)

Project Management

Resource Management/Utilization
Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you will be able to understand and explain:
1. “Resource” and its types
2. Resource Management, its aims and benefits
3. The resource planning and management process and steps
4. Resource Allocation
5. Resource Leveling
6. The importance of Resource Leveling
Resource
A Resource is anything that is required/needed to achieve the
planned/established/predetermined goal/purpose.
Ex. People, tools, equipment, supplies, energy, time, skill,
knowledge etc.

Money as one of the most important resources, used to buy

other resources e.g. commodities, food, equipment, fabric,
wood, fuel, electricity etc.

According to Adam Smith, resources are scarce, use them with

utmost care. (Efficient and effective deployment of resources)
Resource

Source: UNDP handbook on planning monitoring and evaluation for Development Results (2009,p55)
The Triple Constraints of Projects

Project management is the

application of knowledge,
skills, tools, and techniques
to project activities to meet
the project requirements.
Scope (PMI,1980s)

Quality
 Resource
• A useful or valuable possession or quality that a person or organization
has. Ex. money, time, or skills. Cambridge Dictionary
• Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which
are technologically accessible, economically feasible and sustainable
and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Wikipedia
• In economics, it is defined as goods or services used to produce other
goods and services that meet human needs and wants. Also referred to
as four factors of production—land, labor, capital and entrepreneur.
• In the context of business and economics, a resource is any factor that
is necessary to accomplish a goal or carry out an activity.
Types of Resource
Other than tangible and intangible, resources could be classified as:
1. Human resources
• Employees (Skilled/unskilled)
2. Non-human
• Financial (Money/Budget/Capital)
• Material (Inventory /Physical)
• Idea or method (Procedures / Technology)
• Equipment (Machine/ Tools)
• Information (Fact & Figures/Records)
• Time (Project duration/activity time)
• Natural resources
Resource Management
“Management is the process of efficiently
achieving the organization goals by
coordinating the activities of other people.”

Resource Management is the efficient and

effective deployment of an organization's
resources in the most efficient way possible.

Project resource management process

includes to identify, acquire, mange and
control the resources needed for the
successful completion of a project.
Resource Management
What other knowledge areas are connected to the resource
management?

• Human Resource Management (HRM)

• Procurement Management

• Time Management

• Conflict Management

• Management Information System (MIS)

 Resource Management
• At what stage of project life the resources are managed?

Project Life Stages

Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring & Closing
Evaluation
• Plan resources • Acquire resources • Control resources • Release the
• Identify the • Develop team resources
resources • Manage team
• Estimate activity
resources
Aims of project resource management
• Optimize the allocation of resources to projects

• Manage resource costs

• Balance internal and external resources

• Develop staff capabilities

• Allocate staff to work they have the skills for

• Provide staff with interesting and challenging work

Benefits of good project resource management
• Deliver more projects with the same or fewer resources

• Increase resource utilization

• Deliver more projects to schedule

• Reduce requirements for external staff

• Reduce uncertainty in staff scheduling

• Understand strategic delivery capability

• Identify skill and resource shortfalls at the earlier stage

Steps in the resource management
Resource management includes the following steps:
1. Identifying the requirements and planning the resources
2. Identifying resources (Internal/external)
3. Action/Execution
4. Controlling/Evaluation
Plan Resource Management

• It is the process of defining how to estimate, acquire,

manage, and use the resources.
• This process is performed once or at predefined points in
the project.
• It is used to determine and identify an approach to ensure
that sufficient resources are available for the successful
completion of the project.
Estimate Activity Resources
• It is the process of estimating team resources and the
type and quantities of materials, equipment, and supplies
necessary to perform project work.
• This process is performed periodically throughout the
project as needed.
Acquire Resources

• It is the process of obtaining team members, facilities,

equipment, materials, supplies, and other resources
necessary to complete project work.
• This process is performed periodically throughout the
project as needed.
Develop Team
• It is the process of improving competencies, team member
interaction, and the overall team environment to enhance
project performance.

Manage Team
• It is the process of tracking team member performance,
providing feedback, resolving issues, and managing team
changes to optimize project performance.
• This process is performed throughout the project.
Control Resources

• It is the process of ensuring that the physical resources

assigned and allocated to the project are available as
planned, as well as monitoring the planned versus actual
utilization of resources and taking corrective action, as
necessary.
• This process is performed throughout the project.
Resource Allocation
• It is the assignment of the required resources to each activity, in the
required amount and timing.
• Resource allocation is also called resource loading.
• On some occasions, more than one type of resources may be
attributed to a specific activity.
IT Manager

Web page design

Marketing Manager

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Resource Leveling
• It is the process that ensures resource demand does not exceed
resource availability. (Resource demand matches resource availability)
• It is usually done by shifting noncritical activities within their
available slack.
• It attempts to make the daily use of a certain resource as uniform as
possible.

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Why is Resource Leveling important?

• In many projects, the quantities of the various types of

resources available to perform the project activities are
limited.
• Several activities may require the same resources at the
same time.

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 Why is Resource Leveling important?
• If sufficient resources are not available
when required, some activities may
have to be delayed until a later time
when resources are available for them.

• Therefore, resources can constrain the

project schedule.

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 Resource Leveling exercise
Resources cannot usually be hired on a day-to-
day basis to meet fluctuating requirements. If the
same quantity of painters must be employed
throughout the project, it may be necessary to pay
some painters when they are idle during periods
of low demand.

It is preferable to have a more uniform, or level,

application of resources.

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Resource Leveling exercise
As a result of this allocating the painters, the
project completion time is four days beyond its
required completion time, but all the activities
have been scheduled to start and finish to stay
within the limit of two painters.

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Takeaways message from the lecture
• A resource is any factor that is necessary to accomplish a goal or carry out an
activity.
• A resource could be classified as tangible and intangible, human and non-
human resources.
• Resource Management is the efficient and effective deployment of an
organization's resources in the most efficient way possible.
• Project resource management is to identify, acquire, mange and control the
resources needed for a project.
• Resource Management is carried out from the planning through execution to
controlling stage of project life span.
• Resource allocation and leveling is crucial, as the resources are limited.
Thank you