Resource Over-Allocation

Quick reference

• 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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