466 Chapter 12 • Resource Management

Discussion Questions
12.1 This chapter suggests that there will be a dominant con- resources first. Explain how each of the following heuristics
straint for most projects. How does considering this help works and give an example:
in putting together a resource schedule? a. Activities with the smallest slack
12.2 For many projects, the key resources to be managed are b. Activities with the smallest duration
the project team personnel. Explain in what sense and c. Activities with the lowest identification number
how project team personnel are often the project’s critical d. Activities with the most successor tasks
resource. e. Activities requiring the most resources
12.3 What is the philosophy underlying resource loading? What 12.7 Multitasking can have an important negative impact on
does it do for our project? Why is it a critical element in your ability to resource-level a project. When team members
effectively managing the project plan? are involved in multiple additional commitments, we must
12.4 Explain the concept of resource leveling. Why is it an be careful not to assign their time too optimistically. In fact,
important consideration? What are the key steps involved it has been said: “Remember, 40 hours is not the same as one
in this process? week’s work.” Comment on this idea. How does multitask-
12.5 Discuss the nature of “time/cost trade-offs” on projects. ing make it difficult to accurately resource-level a project?
What does this concept imply for our project management 12.8 This chapter suggests that “most managers will be
practices? confronted with the problem of dealing with resource allo-
12.6 When resource-leveling a project, several heuristics can cation across multiple projects.” How can project managers
help us prioritize those activities that should receive resolve this challenge?

Problems
12.9 Consider a project Gantt chart with the following condi- 12.11 Refer to the Gantt chart in Figure 12.23. Bob and George
tions (see Figure 12.22). Susan is your only programmer are carpenters who have been scheduled to work on the
and she is responsible for Activities 3 and 4, which over- construction of a new office building. Just before the start
lap. In resource-leveling the project so that Susan is only of the project, George is injured in an accident and cannot
working a maximum of 8 hours each day, what would the work this job, leaving Bob to handle his own activities as
new Gantt chart look like? What would be the new project well as George’s. Resource level this Gantt chart with Bob
completion date? now responsible for Activities 3, 4, 6, and 7. What is the
new projected completion date for the project?
12.10 Referring to Figure 12.22, how would splitting Activity 3
on May 1 to complete Activity 4 and then finish Activity 12.12 Referring to Figure 12.23, because George is unavailable,
3 affect the revised project completion date? Show your suppose you have the opportunity to hire two new carpen-
work. Do you recommend splitting Activity 3 or allow- ters to perform George’s tasks (shortening them by 50%).
ing Susan to first complete it and then perform Activity 4? What would be the new projected completion date for the
Which strategy would allow the project to finish sooner? project? Would it be worth it to you to hire two replace-
Why? ment carpenters instead of just one? Show your work.

FIGURE 12.22 Problem 12.9

Source: MS Project 2016, Microsoft Corporation
 Problems 467

FIGURE 12.23 Problem 12.11

Source: MS Project 2016, Microsoft Corporation

For Problems 12.13 to 12.17, consider a project with the follow- 12.13 What is the critical path in the project? Draw an AON
ing information: diagram.
12.14 Float data is missing from two of the tables. Complete
Activity Duration Predecessors this after you have created your network diagram.
A 3 — 12.15 Calculate the total resources required for this project,
B 5 A and create a resource loading table highlighting the
activity float.
C 7 A
D 3 B, C 12.16 Assume that the maximum resource hours available per
week are 10. Which weeks are overcommitted?
E 5 B
12.17 What options are available for you to resource-level the
F 4 D project? Recreate the resource loading table.
G 2 C 12.18 Consider the following partial resource-loading chart.
H 5 E, F, G Suppose that you can commit a maximum of eight
resource hours per day.
a. What are the dates on which project resources are
Activity Duration ES EF LS LF Slack overallocated?
A 3 0 3 0 3 — b. How should the resource-loading table be reconfig-
ured to correct for this overallocation?
B 5 3 8 5 10 2 c. Now suppose that the maximum number of resource
C 7 3 10 3 10 — hours per day you can commit is reduced to six.
D 3 10 13 10 13 — How would you reconfigure the resource-loading
table to adjust for this number? What would be the
E 5 8 13 12 17 4 new project completion date?
F 4 13 17 13 17 — 12.19 Suppose you have the following information about
Project Cross-Talk.
G 2 10 12 15 17 5
H 5 17 22 17 22 — Resource
Activity Duration Predecessors Assigned
Resource A 5 — Beth
Hours Total
B 5 A Sam
Total Needed Resources
Activity Duration Float per Week Required C 6 A Jenny
D 13 B, C Sam
A 3 weeks — 6 18
E 6 B Jenny
B 5 weeks 2 4 20
F 4 D Frank
C 7 weeks — 4 28
G 9 C Bill
D 3 weeks — 6 18
H 2 E, F, G Kate
E 5 weeks 4 2 10
F 4 weeks — 4 16
G 2 weeks 5 3 6
H 5 weeks — 6 30
Total 146
468 Chapter 12 • Resource Management

Consider the project Gantt chart shown in Figure 12.24. Jenny work on Activity G, in addition to her other
Identify the resource constraints in the network. Who are assignments. How will adding Activity G to her
the resources who have been incorrectly (over) assigned? responsibilities affect the project completion date?
What evidence do you have to support this view? c. Suppose only Sam is capable to performing Activity
a. Is Jenny really a resource bottleneck due to her assign- G, in addition to his other current assignments. How
ment to Activities C and E? Why or why not (Hint: will resource-leveling the project because of Sam and
remember the slack in the project schedule)? his resource conflicts affect the project completion
b. Suppose Bill quit the company at the start of the proj- date?
ect and left you short-staffed, forcing you to have

FIGURE 12.24 Problem 12.19

Source: MS Project 2016, Microsoft Corporation

CASE STUDY 12.1

The Problems of Multitasking

An eastern U.S. financial services company found itself eventually grew to become big problems. The schedule
way behind schedule and over budget on an important continued to lag, and employee morale began to bot-
strategic program. Both the budget and schedule base- tom out.
lines had begun slipping almost from the beginning, and Following their recognition of the problem, the
as the project progressed, the lags became severe enough first step made by the consultants was to get top man-
to require the company to call in expert help in the form agement to renegotiate the work assignments with the
of a project management consulting firm. After investi- project team. First, the core team members were freed
gating the organization’s operations, the consulting firm from other responsibilities so they could devote their
determined that the primary source of problems both full-time attention to the program. Then, other support
with this project in particular and the company’s proj- members of the project were released from multitasking
ect management practices in general was a serious fail- duties and assigned to the project on a full-time or near
ure to accurately forecast resource requirements. In the full-time basis as well. The result, coupled with other
words of one of the consultants, “Not enough full-time suggested changes by the consultants, was to finally
[human] resources had been dedicated to the program.” match up the project’s schedule and activity duration
The biggest problem was the fact that too many of estimates with a realistic understanding of resource
the project team members were working on two or more needs and availability. In short, the program was put
projects simultaneously—a clear example of multitask- back on track because it was finally resource-leveled,
ing. Unfortunately, the program’s leaders developed particularly through creating full-time work assign-
their ambitious schedule without reflecting on the avail- ments for the project team that accurately reflected the
ability of resources to support the project milestones. need to link resource management with scheduling.12
With their excessive outside responsibilities, no one was
willing to take direct ownership of their work on the Questions
program, people were juggling assignments, and every- 1. How does multitasking confuse the resource avail-
one was getting farther behind in all the work. Again, in ability of project team personnel?
the words of the consultant, “Project issues would come 2. “In modern organizations, it is impossible to elimi-
up and there would be nobody there to handle them [in nate multitasking for the average employee.” Do
a timely fashion].” Those little issues, left unattended, you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?
 Case Study 12.2 469

3. Because of the problems of multitasking, project a project task is not the same thing as one week
managers must remember that there is a differ- on the baseline schedule. Please comment on this
ence between an activity’s duration and the proj- concept. Why does multitasking “decouple” activ-
ect calendar. In other words, 40 hours of work on ity duration estimates from the project schedule?

CASE STUDY 12.2

“First Come, First Served”: Resource Challenges for Sunrise Restoration†

Sunrise Restoration and Remodeling is a small, pri- budgeted project amount and actual costs spent. The
vately-owned construction business specializing in commission is paid upon project completion. Therefore,
restoring residential properties that have been dam- the project managers are constantly seeking the cheap-
aged by fires and floods. Sunrise has a few dedicated est resources they can find without sacrificing quality
project managers working diligently to oversee clean-up standards and they want to finish projects as quickly as
and reconstruction for many properties at a time. Each possible. It is up to the project managers to find subcon-
customer’s project is unique, depending on the extent tractors for their projects and they do not like to share
of damage and scope of work. Once Sunrise sends an with the other Sunrise project managers. For completing
estimator out to assess the scope of work, the project is work, they also want to use the in-house technicians as
transitioned to a project manager for completion. much as possible because the labor hours billed to their
Much of the restoration work is completed by expert projects are much lower than the subcontractor rates.
construction workers who are subcontracted by Sunrise It is obvious that the Sunrise project managers are
Restoration. It is very challenging to find high-quality, competing among each other for external resources: low-
reliable, consistent, and available contractors with the cost, high-quality, and fast subcontractors. Additionally,
number of homes in need of repairs. Sunrise has worked they are experiencing increasing conflicts as they all want
with many companies only to find that they cannot use to utilize the same two Sunrise technicians. Company
them again because they rushed through a job and the owners established a “first come, first served” policy when
quality of work was terrible. Their database of approved it came to project managers reserving the two in-house
contractors is very limited and diminishing. They are technicians. Often, the first project manager to assign a
constantly looking for new subcontractors, but finding technician to a specific job site on a specific day and time
good options is usually the result of trial and error. This has priority for that technician to work on their projects.
inconsistency and lack of available subcontractors has led One project manager, Tyler, was getting very frustrated
to challenges in providing realistic time estimates for jobs with another project manager, Ken, for continuously tak-
(different contractors provide varying time estimates). ing both technicians for his own jobs, leaving Tyler’s job
Completing jobs on schedule has been challenging. sites without technician support. Ken often called the
Due to the continuous demand for technical con- technicians and got verbal confirmation of their availabil-
struction resources, Sunrise has recently hired two techni- ity for weeks at a time, leaving them available for every
cians on staff full-time. These technicians are generalists other project manager for only a few hours each week. As
who can perform many construction activities, but they a result, Tyler’s subcontractor costs and total project costs
each have their own restrictions according to levels of were quickly rising, and so were his frustrations.
expertise and physical limitations from past injuries. Sunrise also owned equipment, stored in their
Therefore, although each technician is available 40 hours warehouse, to be utilized for cleaning or drying dam-
per week, they are not able to complete some tasks. Techni- aged job sites. One morning, Tyler called one of the
cians are intended to be a supplemental human resource, technicians, Dave, to go pick up an industrial air mover
working in addition to the subcontractor experts. and a dehumidifier from the warehouse before meeting
Sunrise Restoration and Remodeling wants to him at a job site. Dave agreed. (Per Sunrise’s “first in
keep project costs low and profit margins high. To incen- line” policy, Tyler verified at 5:00 pm the day prior that
tivize project managers to keep costs down, the owners the equipment was there to use.) Soon enough, Dave
pay project managers a commission for coming in under called Tyler explaining that the equipment was not at
budget and a percentage of the difference between the the warehouse because Ken took it to use for one of his
†
This case was prepared by Jennifer Morin, University of Central
Florida. Used by permission.
(continued)
470 Chapter 12 • Resource Management

projects. Ken got to the warehouse first. Now, Tyler’s invest in some fancy project software. You know it’s up
project would experience a one-week delay because no to you to find your own subcontractors as well. Come
other work could be done until cleaning is completed back to me when you have a solution instead of a pile
(a 3-day long task) and Tyler won’t have a technician of problems.”
available for his projects until early next week.
Frustrated, Tyler brought his concerns to the Sun- Questions
rise owner: “I don’t know why we have to share techni- 1. Describe some of the resource constraints that Sun-
cians. The process for assigning them on a first come, rise and its project managers are facing.
first served basis isn’t working for me. It’s not working 2. Is Sunrise’s current method of prioritizing resource
for getting cleaning equipment to my job sites, either. I assignments viable? Why or why not?
think we need to buy another set of cleaning systems. 3. How could technology alleviate some of Sunrise’s
We also need more technicians. On top of everything resource management issues?
else, Ken has now started poaching my subcontractors 4. Would Tyler’s suggestion to hire additional tech-
for his jobs—he took my tile guy yesterday. We are con- nicians and purchase more equipment solve the
stantly competing for the same resources.” resource problems at Sunrise? Why or why not?
The owner responded to Tyler, “Well, this is the 5. Put yourself in Tyler’s position and create a one-
way we’ve always done things and nobody else has ever page proposal for the Sunrise owner. Outline the
complained. A little competition never hurt anyone. I current issues briefly with corresponding detailed
like that you all have a sense of urgency to get your jobs recommendations for action. Your actionable
completed, but I don’t have any more money to hire improvements must be specific, address your
technicians or buy more equipment. What if I were to (Tyler’s) concerns, align with the owner’s priori-
get the extra people and cleaning machines, but they ties, and outline the benefits of your solutions in a
just sat idle in the warehouse? I can’t afford that. I’m persuasive manner.
open to suggestions, but I don’t have a lot of money to

Internet Exercises
12.20 Access www.fastcompany.com/magazine/87/project- For each of these examples, cite evidence of the types of
management.html. What suggestions does the author constraints you have identified. Is there evidence of how
offer for managing the pressures to multitask? The author the project is working to minimize or resolve these con-
suggests the need to “multiproject.” What is her point straints?
about the idea of learning how to multiproject? 12.22 Access Web sites related to the Boston tunnel project
12.21 Search the Web for examples of projects that suffer from known as the “Big Dig.” Describe the problems that the
each of the following: project had. How did resource management play a role in
a. Time constraints the severe delays and cost overruns associated with the
b. Resource constraints project?
c. Mixed constraints

MS Project Exercises
Exercise 12.23 Resource
Refer to the following activity network table. Enter this infor- Activity Duration Predecessors Assigned
mation using MS Project to produce a Gantt chart. Assume that
C. Debug 5 B Wilson Pitts
each resource has been assigned to the project activity on a full-
time (8 hours/day or 40 hours/week) basis. D. Design interface 6 A, C Sue Ryan
E. Develop training 5 D Reed Taylor

Resource Exercise 12.24

Activity Duration Predecessors Assigned
Using the information from Exercise 12.23, produce a resource
A. User survey 4 None Gail Wilkins usage sheet that identifies the total number of hours and daily
B. Coding 12 A Tom Hodges commitments of each project team member.
 MS Project Exercises 471

Exercise 12.25 12.30 When adopting resource-leveling heuristics, which of the

following are relevant decision rules?
Refer to the activity network table shown in Exercise 12.23. Sup- a. The activities with the least slack time should have
pose that we modified the original table slightly to show the fol- resources allocated to them first
lowing predecessor relationships between tasks and resources b. The activities with the longest duration are the best
assigned to perform these activities. Enter this information into candidates for receiving extra resources
MS Project to produce a Gantt chart. Assume that each resource c. Activities with the fewest successor tasks should have
has been assigned to the project activity on a full-time (8 hours/ resource priority
day or 40 hours/week) basis. d. Activities with the highest WBS identification num-
bers are the first to receive available resources
Resource 12.31 One of the benefits of resource-loading charts is that they:
Activity Duration Predecessors Assigned a. Represent a method for finding available activity
A. User survey 4 None Gail Wilkins slack
b. Graphically display the amount of resources required
B. Coding 12 A Tom Hodges as a function of time
C. Debug 5 A Tom Hodges c. Help resolve resource conflicts in multiproject settings
D. Design interface 6 B, C Sue Ryan d. All of the above are benefits of using resource-loading
charts
E. Develop training 5 D Reed Taylor 12.32 Your customer has requested a minor change to the proj-
ect that “shouldn’t impact the schedule.” How should
a. Using the Resource Usage view, can you determine any warn- you respond?
ing signs that some member of the project team has been a. Authorize the change to maintain good customer
overassigned? relations
b. Click on the Task Usage view to determine the specific days b. Refuse the change because you wish to avoid scope
when there is a conflict in the resource assignment schedule. creep
c. Evaluate the impact of the change against the other
Exercise 12.26 project constraints.
d. Involve top management to determine the best course
Using the information provided in Exercise 12.25, how might of action
you resource-level this network to remove the conflicts? 12.33 Resources should be estimated against which entity:
Show how you would resource-level the network. From a. The deliverables level of the WBS
a schedule perspective, what is the new duration of the b. Critical project constraints
project? c. The Risk Breakdown Structure
d. The schedule activities
PMP CERTIFICATION SAMPLE QUESTIONS 12.34 When are the resource requirements estimated?
a. After the activities have been defined but before the
12.27 The project manager identifies 20 tasks needed to com-
schedule has been developed
plete her project. She has four project team members
b. After the schedule has been developed but before the
available to assign to these activities. The process of
activities have been defined
assigning personnel to project activities is known as:
c. As soon as the scope statement is agreed to by the
a. Resource leveling
customer
b. Resource loading
d. After the deliverables are contracted
c. Finding the critical path
12.35 Resource leveling is a method to:
d. Creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
a. Make sure everyone working on the project
12.28 The correct definition of resource leveling is:
has approximately the same amount of work to
a. A graph that displays the resources used over time
accomplish
on a project
b. A technique in which start and finish dates are
b. The process of applying resources to a project’s
adjusted based on resource constraints with the goal
activities
of balancing demand for resources with the available
c. The process of creating a consistent (level) workload
supply
for the resources on the project, driven by resource
c. Use a calendar to identify the working days and shifts
constraints
on which each specific resource is available
d. A project schedule whose start and finish dates reflect
d. None of the above
expected resource availability
12.36 The objectives of resource smoothing are:
12.29 Project resource constraints can involve any of the follow-
a. To determine the resource requirements so that they
ing examples?
will be available at the right time
a. Poorly trained workers
b. To allow each activity to be scheduled with the
b. Lack of available materials for construction
smoothest possible transition across resource usage
c. Environmental or physical constraints of the project
levels
site itself
c. Both a and b are objectives of resource smoothing
d. All the above would be considered examples of proj-
d. Neither a and b are objectives of resource smoothing
ect resource constraints
472 Chapter 12 • Resource Management

Answers
12.27. b—The act of assigning personnel to specific project activ- 12.32. c—Any change request must be evaluated against project
ities is usually referred to as resource loading. constraints (especially resource constraints) to ensure that
12.28. c—Resource leveling involves smoothing, or creating it will not affect the delivery date.
consistent workloads across the project schedule for the 12.33. d—resources are estimated against the project’s sched-
available resources. uled activities.
12.29. d—Project resources can include people, physical condi- 12.34. a—it is common to estimate resource requirements after
tions, and material resources; therefore, all the examples the activities have been defined but before the schedule
cited represent project resource constraints. has been developed.
12.30. a—As a useful resource-leveling heuristic, the activities 12.35. b—resource leveling is a technique for adjusting start and
with the least slack time should have resources allocated finish dates based on resource constraints.
to them first. 12.36. c—both a and b are objectives of resource smoothing (also
12.31. b—Resource-loading charts are a graphic means of iden- referred to as resource leveling).
tifying resource requirements as a function of the proj-
ect’s duration; they can help visually identify overloads
or inefficient undercommitment of resources.