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Project resource demands are often inconsistent throughout the life of the project leading to times when resources are over-allocated.
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Quick reference
Resource Over-Allocation
Project resource demands are often inconsistent throughout the life of the project leading to times when resources are over-allocated. The project manager and core team must resolve the over-allocation to prevent a delay or reduction in the quality of the deliverables.
When to use
As all elements of the project plan are brought together, it is often found that the resources required for one task overlap with what is needed for other tasks. This cannot be determined until all the tasks have been estimated, resources assigned and the project tasks scheduled. Resolving these over-allocations is often called resource levelling. Proactively managing these occurrences will ensure the best solution based upon the project goals and objectives. In addition, the resources may have been levelled at the time of project plan approval, but as some tasks are delayed and others are accelerated, conflicts can arise where none had been. Again, resolution should be proactive to ensure the project objectives are met.
Instructions
When project planning is near completion, check for resource over-allocation. Project management software can help with this. Whenever a project activity significantly changes schedule, either a delay or acceleration, check again for resource over-allocation.
For each constrained resource, analyze resource allocation.
This is often done with a spreadsheet where the required number of hours or weeks of work by a resource type for a a task are assigned to the time period in which the task is to be accomplished. This can also be done graphically. Check for conditions where the required amount of resources exceeds the resources available to the project.
If over-allocated, replan one or more of the tasks.
First consider doing all the replanning within a single task. By isolating the resolution to one task, it has a minimal impact on the rest of project planning. Things that could be done to replan a task are to change the assigned resource, change the “definition of done,” or change the timing of work within the task.
If still over-allocated, change the project schedule using float.
If the over-allocation cannot be resolved within one task, change the timing of tasks using the over-allocated resource. Change timing of selected tasks so that they occur in times when the resource is under-allocated. Do not reschedule critical path tasks, rather reschedule tasks that have float. This will consume float.
If still over-allocated, request changes to project boundaries.
If the problem cannot be resolved within the project, go to stakeholders for permission to change the boundaries. You could extend project schedule, descope the project, or exceed the budget. This is the last step after you have first taken the project management steps listed above.
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- 00:05 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
- 00:06 Let's talk about a common concern when planning project resources, and
- 00:10 that's resource over-allocation.
- 00:14 First, let's be sure we understand what can cause this problem.
- 00:18 Project work is often lumpy.
- 00:20 What I mean by that is that due to the project schedule, a project team member
- 00:24 may have lots of work one week and virtually nothing the next.
- 00:27 The workload for an individual or a resource pool is seldom constant, so
- 00:31 the project manager tries to level the resource requirements.
- 00:35 This is often one of the most difficult project planning tasks.
- 00:38 Resources are assigned to different tasks, and they have different skill sets so
- 00:42 they are not really interchangeable.
- 00:45 Schedules are moved around to change when a resource is needed, and
- 00:48 then the next thing you know, the critical path is impacted.
- 00:52 There are several automated tools to help project managers do this work, but
- 00:56 they often take a long time to setup,
- 00:58 and they're only as good as the assumptions put into them.
- 01:01 The computer may say that all the software designers have the same skill set and will
- 01:05 take the same amount of time to code a module, but you know that that's not true.
- 01:09 Maria can do it in half the time it takes Alex.
- 01:12 So the computer solution may not be any more accurate than doing it manually.
- 01:17 There are four factors that should be considered when addressing
- 01:20 resource allocation issues.
- 01:21 Understanding these will lower the risks associated with resource allocation.
- 01:25 The first factor is the number of resources you have available to work on
- 01:29 the project at any one time.
- 01:30 This may vary from day to day or week to week.
- 01:33 The second factor is the skill set or capability of each of those resources.
- 01:37 Are we talking about the summer intern or is it our senior subject matter expert?
- 01:42 The third factor is the schedule start and finish time for a task.
- 01:45 Is it on a the critical path or
- 01:46 is there a float that would allow us to reschedule the tasks?
- 01:50 The final factor is whether the resources also have other work assigned to
- 01:54 them in addition to the project work.
- 01:56 And what is the priority of that work with respect to the project priority?
- 02:00 So let's go through a scenario and
- 02:02 look at how to resolve a resource over-allocation problem.
- 02:05 In this case, we have three tasks that all use resources from the same resource pool.
- 02:10 And we'll assume that all of our resources have the same skill set for now.
- 02:14 The first task requires 2 people for 4 weeks.
- 02:17 The second task requires 3 people for 8 weeks.
- 02:20 And the third task requires 3 people for 3 weeks.
- 02:23 This information has come from the task planning and
- 02:25 estimating details provided by the core team members.
- 02:28 As the project schedule is developed, it turns out that each of these tasks start
- 02:33 on different weeks and there is some overlap.
- 02:35 Task 1 starts on week 1.
- 02:37 Task 2 starts two weeks later in week 3.
- 02:40 And task 3 starts two weeks after that in week 5.
- 02:44 When we add up all the requirements,
- 02:46 we find that we need two people in weeks 1 and 2, five people in weeks 3 and 4,
- 02:50 six people in weeks 5, 6 and 7, and then three people again in weeks 8, 9, and 10.
- 02:57 And here is the problem, we only have five people in the resource pool.
- 03:00 Of course, we could say just suck it up, work harder,
- 03:03 work overtime, work weekends, just make it happen.
- 03:06 But instead, let's see how we can resolve this issue with our project planning.
- 03:11 Let me show you options for leveling the resources.
- 03:14 I suggest you go through these three approaches in this order
- 03:17 because this is the order of ascending risk and impact on the project.
- 03:21 The first approach is to try to modify task planning for one task.
- 03:25 Re-plan the work to reduce the required resource level at the time of the resource
- 03:29 over-allocation.
- 03:31 So in our case, we'll try to re-plan work in task 2.
- 03:35 Instead of three people working on the task each week for eight weeks,
- 03:39 we'll have three people on weeks 4 and 2, two people on weeks 5, and
- 03:42 6, and 7, and then four people on weeks 8, 9, and 10.
- 03:46 Same amount of work, we just shifted around a little bit within the task.
- 03:50 This has the minimum impact to the project because nothing else needs to change in
- 03:54 any other task.
- 03:55 The re-plan is controlled within just this one task.
- 03:59 But sometimes it's not possible to re-plan the work within a single task and
- 04:02 still complete the task deliverable in the allotted time.
- 04:06 That takes us to the next approach.
- 04:08 This one is to modify the schedule of at least one of the tasks.
- 04:12 It should go without saying that you don't wanna modify any critical path tasks, but
- 04:17 instead use some of the float that's available to tasks that are not on
- 04:21 the critical path.
- 04:22 In our example, we've been told that task 3 is not on the critical path.
- 04:27 In fact, it does not need to finish until task 2 finishes,
- 04:30 which means it has three weeks of float.
- 04:33 Therefore, we will use two of those weeks.
- 04:36 We stretch task 3 out, so instead of three people for
- 04:39 three weeks it will be two people for four weeks and one person for one week.
- 04:45 Task 3 still finishes before task 2, so the critical path has not been changed.
- 04:50 This reduces the number of resources required in weeks five, six, and
- 04:54 seven while increasing the numbers in weeks eight and nine.
- 04:57 But it has also increased the schedule risk to the project,
- 05:00 since task 3 has less float available.
- 05:02 However, if it had a lot of float to begin with,
- 05:05 using some of it to resolve the resource allocation problem is wise.
- 05:09 By eliminating resource risk with a minor increase in schedule risk,
- 05:12 the overall project is reduced.
- 05:15 The third approach is to change the project boundaries.
- 05:18 The project manager must go begging to the stakeholders for more time, or more money,
- 05:23 or more resources.
- 05:24 I only use this approach if I've not been able to resolve the problem with the first
- 05:28 two approaches.
- 05:29 In our example, if we find that task 3 requires three people each week and
- 05:33 task 2 cannot use four people within one week,
- 05:36 we are then forced to ask for a week extension.
- 05:40 Or we could have asked for a sixth resource during weeks five,
- 05:43 six, and seven.
- 05:44 Either way, it's back to the stakeholders for a change in the project constraints or
- 05:48 boundaries.
- 05:49 Resource over-allocation frequently occurs when planning a project.
- 05:53 If you know about it ahead of time, you can proactively reduce it.
- 05:58 Select one of the approaches shown, but
- 06:00 don't immediately go whining to the stakeholders.
- 06:02 First, re-plan the task you can re-plan and then use your float wisely.
- 06:07 After exhausting those options available to you in the core team,
- 06:11 then go back to the stakeholders and ask for a change in the boundaries.
- 06:16 Over-allocation will likely occur at some point in your project.
- 06:19 Use these approaches to manage that issue when it arises.
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