9. Project Resource Management

Question 1

Define Project Resource Management.

Answer 1

• identify, acquire, and manage the resources needed for the successful completion of the project.
• Ensure resources will be available

9. 1 Plan Resource Management
10. 2 Estimate Activity Resources
11. 3 Acquire Resources
12. 4 Develop Team
13. 5 Manage Team
14. 6 Control Resources
    * PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, 9 - Project Resource Management, p. 307*

Question 2

9.1 Plan Resource Management.

Answer 2

(P) - The process of defining how to estimate, acquire, manage, and use team and physical resources.

Benefit: Establish approach and level of management effort needed for managing project resources based on type and complexity of project

• Performed once
• PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, 9.1 - Plan Resource Management, p. 312*

Question 3

9.2 Estimate Activity Resources.

Answer 3

(P) - The process of estimating team resources and the type and quantities of materials, equipment, and supplies necessary to perform project work.

Benefit: Identifies resources (type, quantity, characteristics) required to complete project

• performed periodically as needed

Question 4

9.3 Acquire Resources.

Answer 4

(Ex) - The process of obtaining team members, facilities, equipment, materials, supplies, and other resources necessary to complete project work.

Benefit: outlines and guides the selection of resources and assigns them to their respective activities

• Performed periodically as needed

Question 5

9.4 Develop Team.

Answer 5

(Ex) - Improve competencies, team member interaction, and the overall team environment to enhance project performance.

Benefit: results in improved teamwork, enhanced interpersonal skills and competencies, motivated employees, reduced attrition, and improved overall project performance

• Empowers team members to work hard and work well with each other
• Performed throughout

Question 6

9.5 Manage Team.

Answer 6

(Ex) - The process of tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues, and managing team changes to optimize project performance.

Benefit: influences team behavior, manages conflict, and resolves issues

• Performed throughout as needed

Question 7

9.6 Control Resources.

Answer 7

(M&C) - 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.

Benefit: Ensure assigned resources are available to the project at the right time and in the right place and are released when no longer needed.

• Performed throughout

Question 8

9.1 Plan Resource Management. - ITTO

Answer 8

TT: organizational Therory - info regarding how people, teams, and other organizational units behave. Flexible leadership

O: Resource Mgmt Plan, Team Charter (clear guidelines for team members.), Project Doc updates

Question 9

Estimate Activity Resources - ITTO

Answer 9

O - Resource requirements

O - Project Documents Updates

O - Basis of Estimates

O - Resource Breakdown Structure- hierarchical representation of resources by category and type.

Question 10

Acquire Resources - ITTO

Answer 10

O - PM Plan Update

O - Project Doc updates

O - Project team assignments (records team members and their roles)

O - Physical resource assignments (records material, equipment, supplies, location and other physical resources needed)

O - Resource Calendars (identifies when each resource is available)

O - Change Request

O - EEFs update (resource availability, organizations consumable resources that have been used)
O - OPAs update ( acquiring, assigning, allocating resources)

Question 11

9.4 Develop Team - ITTO

Answer 11

O - Team Performance Assessments (training, team building, and colocation, PM team makes assessments of teams effectiveness)

O - PM Plan updates

O - Project Doc updates

O - Change requests

O - OPAs updates

O - EEFs updates

Question 12

9.5 Manage Team. - ITTO

Answer 12

O - Change Requests

O - PM Plan Updates

O - Project Doc Updates

O - EEFs updates

Question 13

9.6 Control Resources. - ITTO

Answer 13

O - Work Performance Information

O - Change Requests

O - PM Plan Updates -

Cost & Schedule baseline

O - Project Document Updates

Question 14

Identify key concepts for Project Resource Management.

9.3 Identify key concepts and trends in project resource management, including tailoring and special considerations for agile/adaptive environments

Answer 14

tl;dr

• [more than physical]
• [resource types are different]
• [leader + manager]
• [influences matter]
• [development is key]
• [effectiveness and efficiency]

quotes

• [more than physical] Project resources include both physical resources (equipment, materials, facilities, and infrastructure) and team resources (individuals with assigned project roles and responsibilities).
• [resource types are different] Different skills and competencies are needed to manage team resources versus physical resources.
• [leader + manager] The project manager should be both the leader and the manager of the project team, and should invest suitable effort in acquiring, managing, motivating, and empowering team members.
• [influences matter] The project manager should be aware of team influences such as the team environment, geographical location of team members, communication among stakeholders, organizational change management, internal and external politics, cultural issues, and organizational uniqueness.
• [development is key] The project manager is responsible for proactively developing team skills and competencies while retaining and improving team satisfaction and motiviation.
• [effectiveness and efficiency] Physical resource management is concentrated on allocating and utilizing the physical resources needed for successful completion of the project in an efficient and effective way. Failure to manager and control resources efficiently may reduce the chance of completing the project successfully.

PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, Appendix X4 - X4.6 - Key Concepts for Project Resource Management, p. 676

Question 15

Identify tailoring considerations for Project Resource Management.

9.3 Identify key concepts and trends in project resource management, including tailoring and special considerations for agile/adaptive environments

Answer 15

• Diversity. What is the diversity background of the team?
• Physical location. What is the physical location of team members and physical resources?
• Industry-specific resources. What special resources are needed in the industry?
• Acquisition of team members. How will team members be acquired for the project? Are team resources full-time or part-time on the project?
• Management of team. How is team development managed for the project? Are there team members who have special needs? Will the team need special training to manage diversity?
• Life cycle approaches. What life cycle approach will be used on the project?

PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, 9 - Project Resource Management, p. 311

Question 16

Identify considerations for Project Resource Management for agile/adaptive environments.

9.3 Identify key concepts and trends in project resource management, including tailoring and special considerations for agile/adaptive environments

Answer 16

• Projects with high variability benefit from team structures that maximize focus and collaboration, such as self-organizing team with generalizing specialists.
• Collaborative teams may facilitate accelerated integration of distinct work activities, improve communication, increase knowledge sharing, and provide flexibility of work assignments in addition to other advantages.
• Collaboration boosts productivity and problem solving
• Less time for centralized decision making
• Physical resources, agreements should be made so that resources are supplied on time

PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, 9 - Project Resource Management, p. 311

Question 17

Identify and describe techniques for developing a project team.

Answer 17

• Colocation - placing many or all of the most active team members in the same physical location.
• Virtual teams - use technology to create an online team environment.
• Communication technology - shared portal, video conferencing, audio conferencing, and email and chat.
• Recognition and rewards - will be effective only if they satisfy a need that is valued by that individual.
• Training - all activities designed to enhance the competencies of the project team members.
• Individual and team assessments - assess team members’ preferences, aspirations, how they process and organize information, how they make decisions, and how they interact with people.

PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, 9.4.2 - Develop Team: Tools and Techniques, pp. 340-342

Question 18

Identify and describe techniques for managing conflict.

Answer 18

• Withdraw/avoid. Retreating from an actual or potential conflict situation; postponing the issue to be better prepared or to be resolved by others.
• Smooth/accommodate. Emphasizing areas of agreement rather than areas of difference; conceding one’s position to the needs of others to maintain harmony and relationships.
• Compromise/reconcile. Searching for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to all parties in order to temporarily or partially resolve the conflict. This approach occasionally results in a lose-lose situation.
• Force/direct. Pushing one’s viewpoint at the expense of others; offering only win-lose solutions, usually enforced through a power position to resolve an emergency. This approach often result to a win-lose situation.
• Collaborate/problem solve. Incorporating multiple viewpoints and insights from differing perspectives; requires a cooperative attitude and open dialogue that typically leads to consensus and commitment. This approach can result in a win-win situation.

PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, 9.5.2 - Manage Team: Tools and Techniques, p. 349

Question 19

Identify and describe techniques for resolving resource-related problems.

9.4 Identify techniques for developing a team, managing conflict, and resolving resource-related problems

Answer 19

• Alternatives analysis. Alternatives can be analyzed to select the best resolution for correcting variances in resource utilization.
• Cost-benefit analysis. This analysis helps to determine the best corrective action in terms of cost in case of project deviations.
• Perfromance reviews. Performance reviews measure, compare, and analyze planned resource utilization to actual resource utilization.
• Trend analysis. Trend analysis examines project performance over time and can be used to determine whether performance is improving or deteriorating.

PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, 9.6.2.1 - Data Analysis, p. 356

Question 20

What is a resource management plan?

9.5 Understand the components of a resource management plan and data representation techniques for managing project resources

Answer 20

The component of PM plan - provides guidance on how project resources should be categorized, allocated, managed, and released.

PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, 9.1.3.1 - Resource Management Plan, p. 318

Question 21

What are the components of a resource management plan?

9.5 Understand the components of a resource management plan and data representation techniques for managing project resources

Answer 21

• Identification of resources
• Acquiring resources
• Roles and responsibilities
• Project organization charts
• Project team resource management
• Training
• Team development
• Resource control
• Recognition plan

PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, 9.1.3.1 - Resource Management Plan, p. 319

Question 22

Types of Charts

Describe data representation methods for project resource management.

Answer 22

• Charts - document/communicate team roles and responsibilities
• Hierarchical charts- shows positions or relationships in graphical, top-down format
  
  • Work breakdown structure (WBS) - shows deliverables broken down into work packages and shows high-level responsibility
  • Organizational breakdown structure (OBS) - arranged according to organization’s departments, units, or teams with their work listed under each
  • Resource breakdown structure (RBS) - physical resources; Each descending level represents a higher detail of the resource until detail is fine enough to be used with WBS
• Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) (example: RACI chart) - illustrates the connections between activities and team members Shows that only one person is accountable for any one task to avoid confusion.
  
  • RACI (responsible, accountable, consult, inform) - common type of responsibility assignment matrix. Defines involvement of stakeholders in project activities. Clarifies roles and responsibilites
• Text-oriented formats (example: outline) - Detailed description of team member responsibilities

PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, 9.1.2.2 - Data Representation, p. 316

Question 23

Trends and Emerging practices for Project Resource Management

Answer 23

1. Resource Management Methods - Lean, JIT, Kaizen, and others
2. Emotional Intelligence - improve inbound (internal) and outbound (others) competencies
3. Self-organizing teams - Agile teams, functioning with an absence of centralized control.
4. Virtual Teams - contribute efficiently; international project
   
   1. Con- inconsistencies, lack of team building, gaps in knowledge

Question 24

Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS)

Answer 24

Hierarchical representation of resources by category and type

Question 25

Negotiating with parties:

• Functional Managers
• Other project management teams
• External organizations and suppliers

Answer 25

Functional Managers - Ensures that project recieves the best resources

Other project managment teams - within performing organization may provide resources

External organizations and suppliers - may provide specific team or physcal resources

Question 26

Pre-Assignment

Answer 26

When physical or team resources are determined in advance, they are considered pre-assigned

Question 27

PM Role in Develop Team

Answer 27

• Primarily PM’s role
• Identify, build, motivate, lead, and inspire teams to achieve high team performance
• Inspire creativity, build trust, generate synergy, encourage empathy, resolve conflicts.
• Improve trust
• Improve knowledge and skills of team members and productivity

Question 28

Tuckman Ladder (5 stages of development)

Answer 28

1. Forming - team members meet and learn about the project and their formal roles and responsibilities.
2. Storming - team begins addressing project work, technical decisions, and project management approach. Can be counterproductive if team is not open to other ideas
3. Norming - Team members begin work together and adjust their work habits and behaviors to support team. Trust each other
4. Performing - Teams reaching this stage, function as well-organized unit.
   
   1. Adjourning - Team completes work and moves on from project. Occurs during closing phases or completed deliverables

Question 29

Team development

Answer 29

• Increases team performance → increases meeting objectives
• improved skills
• improvements in competencies
  
  • reduced staff turnover rate

Question 30

Team Building

Answer 30

quick, or elaborate

valuable with remote members

• TT in Interpersonal and team skills under develop team

Question 31

PM Role in Manage Team

Answer 31

• Provide challenging assignments to team members in a way that’s sensitive to the ability of those members
• Provide recognition for high performance

Question 32

Managing Conflict

Answer 32

• inevitable in project
• sources of conflict: scarce resources, scheduling priorities, and work styles
• conflicts should be address in private. Direct, collaborative approach
  *

Question 33

5 Techniques for Managing Conflict

Answer 33

1. Withdraw/Avoid - postpone the issue to be resolved by others
2. Smooth/Accommodate - Emphasized areas of agreement rather than differences
3. Compromise/Reconcile - Search for solutions that bring some satisfaction to all parties
4. Force/direct - push viewpoints at the expense of others, power position
5. Collaborate/Problem Solve - Incorporate multiple viewpoints and insights from different perspectives

Question 34

PM role in Control Resources

Answer 34

Largely responsible for this process

• Specify resources needed
• Manage any changes to resources
• Ensure that they’re being utilized in the appropriate way

Question 35

Problem Solving Steps:

Answer 35

1. Identify Problem
2. Define Problem
3. Investigate - Collect data
4. Analyze - Find root cause
5. Solve
6. Check

Question 36

Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)

Answer 36

Shows connections between activities and team members Shows that only one person is accountable for any one task to avoid confusion.