Best Practice 3: Assigning Resources to All Activities

Key Questions

  1. What resources are specified and assigned to the activities? At what level of detail are resources specified (for example, as labor categories, organizations, or individual names)?

  2. Are significant material and equipment resources described in the schedule?

  3. Do summary activities or milestones have resource assignments?

  4. How were resource estimates developed for each activity?

  5. Has analysis ensured that resources are sufficient and available in each work period when needed?

    1. Is obtaining scarce resources to accomplish the work potentially difficult?
    2. Are more resources required than are available for some work periods? What is the plan for resolving resource deficiencies?
  6. Has resource leveling been performed?

  7. To what extent are the resource estimates in the schedule consistent with those in the program cost estimate?

Key Documentation

  1. Basis of estimates for resource assumptions that align with resource estimates within the cost estimates.

  2. A resource allocation planning document that defines resource profiles and tables for unique resources derived from the schedule.

  3. Resource output from scheduling software across all project schedules.

Likely Effects If Criteria Are Not Fully Met

  1. Information on resource needs and availability in each work period assists the program office in forecasting the likelihood that activities will be completed as scheduled. If the current schedule does not allow insight into the current or projected allocation of resources, then the risk of the program’s slipping is significantly increased. Overallocated resources result in inefficiency (for example, staff are less productive because of extended overtime) or program delay from unavailable resources.

  2. Resources must be considered in the creation of a schedule because their availability directly affects an activity’s duration.

  3. A schedule without resources implies an unlimited number of resources and their unlimited availability.

  4. If there is no justification for allocating and assigning resources, the schedule will convey accuracy falsely.

  5. Unrealistic peaks in forecasts of resource assignments represent the need for large amounts of resources near the end of work streams to finish deferred or delayed work on time. Often the quantity of resources and funding required at the peak is unrealistic.

  6. If resource leveling causes enormous delays in the program finish date—for example, by many months or years—then the original resource assumptions, network logic, or activity durations must be examined for pragmatism.

  7. Automatic resource leveling can lead to inefficient output by delaying activities if only partial resources are available and preventing activities from being partially accomplished while waiting for the full complement of resources to become available.

  8. Incorrect resource assumptions (usually in the form of unwarranted optimism) will lend unreasonable credence to a resource-leveled schedule, and the resulting schedule will convey a false sense of precision and confidence to senior decision makers.

  9. A schedule that has not reviewed and resolved resource use issues is not reliable.

  10. If the baseline schedule does not identify the planned resources, it cannot be used to make important management decisions, such as reallocating resources from activities with significant float to critical activities that are behind schedule.

  11. If the schedule does not have resource assignments, management’s ability to monitor crew productivity, allocate idle resources, monitor resource-constrained activities, and level resources across activities is severely limited.