Resource (project management)

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In project management, resources are required to carry out the project tasks. These can be people, equipment, facilities, funding, or anything else capable of definition (usually other than labour) required for the completion of a project activity. [1] The lack of a resource can therefore be a constraint on the completion of the project activity. Resources may be storable or not storable. Storable resources remain available unless depleted by usage, and may be replenished by project tasks that produce them. Nonstorable resources must be renewed for each time period, even if not used in previous periods. [2]

Resource scheduling, availability, and optimisation are considered key to successful project management.

Allocation of limited resources is based on the priority given to each of the project activities. Their priorities are calculated using the critical path method and heuristic analysis. [3] For a case with a constraint on the available resources, the objective is to create the most efficient schedule possible - minimising project duration and maximising the use of the resources available. [4]

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Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. The primary constraints are scope, time, and budget. The secondary challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and apply them to meet pre-defined objectives.

A real-time operating system (RTOS) is an operating system (OS) for real-time computing applications that processes data and events that have critically defined time constraints. An RTOS is distinct from a time-sharing operating system, such as Unix, which manages the sharing of system resources with a scheduler, data buffers, or fixed task prioritization in a multitasking or multiprogramming environment. Processing time requirements need to be fully understood and bound rather than just kept as a minimum. All processing must occur within the defined constraints. Real-time operating systems are event-driven and preemptive, meaning the OS can monitor the relevant priority of competing tasks, and make changes to the task priority. Event-driven systems switch between tasks based on their priorities, while time-sharing systems switch the task based on clock interrupts.

Time management is the process of planning and exercising conscious control of time spent on specific activities — especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity.

Project planning is part of project management, which relates to the use of schedules such as Gantt charts to plan and subsequently report progress within the project environment. Project planning can be done manually or by the use of project management software.

Critical chain project management (CCPM) is a method of planning and managing projects that emphasizes the resources required to execute project tasks. It was developed by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. It differs from more traditional methods that derive from critical path and PERT algorithms, which emphasize task order and rigid scheduling. A critical chain project network strives to keep resources levelled, and requires that they be flexible in start times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Critical path method</span> Method of scheduling activities

The critical path method (CPM), or critical path analysis (CPA), is an algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities. A critical path is determined by identifying the longest stretch of dependent activities and measuring the time required to complete them from start to finish. It is commonly used in conjunction with the program evaluation and review technique (PERT).

Project management software (PMS) can help plan, organize, and manage resource tools and develop resource estimates. Depending on the sophistication of the software, it can manage estimation and planning, scheduling, cost control and budget management, resource allocation, collaboration software, communication, decision-making, quality management, time management and documentation or administration systems. Numerous PC and browser-based project management software and contract management software products and services are available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Program evaluation and review technique</span> Statistical tool used in project management

The program evaluation and review technique (PERT) is a statistical tool used in project management, which was designed to analyze and represent the tasks involved in completing a given project.

In economics, resource allocation is the assignment of available resources to various uses. In the context of an entire economy, resources can be allocated by various means, such as markets, or planning.

In project management, a schedule is a listing of a project's milestones, activities, and deliverables. Usually dependencies and resources are defined for each task, then start and finish dates are estimated from the resource allocation, budget, task duration, and scheduled events. A schedule is commonly used in the project planning and project portfolio management parts of project management. Elements on a schedule may be closely related to the work breakdown structure (WBS) terminal elements, the Statement of work, or a Contract Data Requirements List.

In computer science, priority inversion is a scenario in scheduling in which a high-priority task is indirectly superseded by a lower-priority task effectively inverting the assigned priorities of the tasks. This violates the priority model that high-priority tasks can only be prevented from running by higher-priority tasks. Inversion occurs when there is a resource contention with a low-priority task that is then preempted by a medium-priority task.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft Project</span> Project management software

Microsoft Project is a project management software product, developed and sold by Microsoft. It is designed to assist a project manager in developing a schedule, assigning resources to tasks, tracking progress, managing the budget, and analyzing workloads.

<i>Critical Chain</i> (novel) Book by Eliyahu Goldratt

Critical Chain is a novel by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt using the critical chain theory of project management as the major theme. It is really a teaching method for the theory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schedule</span> Planning of tasks and events

A schedule or a timetable, as a basic time-management tool, consists of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place, or of a sequence of events in the chronological order in which such things are intended to take place. The process of creating a schedule — deciding how to order these tasks and how to commit resources between the variety of possible tasks — is called scheduling, and a person responsible for making a particular schedule may be called a scheduler. Making and following schedules is an ancient human activity.

Project workforce management is the practice of combining the coordination of all logistic elements of a project through a single software application. This includes planning and tracking of schedules and mileposts, cost and revenue, resource allocation, as well as overall management of these project elements. Efficiency is improved by eliminating manual processes, like spreadsheet tracking to monitor project progress. It also allows for at-a-glance status updates and ideally integrates with existing legacy applications in order to unify ongoing projects, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and broader organizational goals. There are a lot of logistic elements in a project. Different team members are responsible for managing each element and often, the organisation may have a mechanism to manage some logistic areas as well.

In project management, resource leveling is defined by A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge as "A technique in which start and finish dates are adjusted based on resource limitation with the goal of balancing demand for resources with the available supply." Resource leveling problem could be formulated as an optimization problem. The problem could be solved by different optimization algorithms such as exact algorithms or meta-heuristic methods.

A glossary of terms relating to project management and consulting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Project management triangle</span> Model of the constraints of project management

The project management triangle is a model of the constraints of project management. While its origins are unclear, it has been used since at least the 1950s. It contends that:

  1. The quality of work is constrained by the project's budget, deadlines and scope (features).
  2. The project manager can trade between constraints.
  3. Changes in one constraint necessitate changes in others to compensate or quality will suffer.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to project management:

Drag cost is a project management metric developed by Stephen Devaux as part of the Total Project Control (TPC) approach to project schedule and cost analysis. It is the amount by which a project's expected return on investment (ROI) is reduced due to the critical path drag of a specific critical path activity Task or other specific schedule factor such as a schedule lag or other delaying constraint.

References

  1. "What is resource management? | Project, Programme and Portfolio". www.apm.org.uk. 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  2. "Project Management Basics: Resource Management". www.projectinsight.net. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  3. "What is the Critical Path?". 2020 Project Management. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  4. "Show the critical path of your project". support.office.com. Retrieved 2019-04-01.