The resource management role is very important on projects using earned value management because understanding work effort is crucial to estimating and collecting accurate performance data.
Large projects may have a dedicated individual responsible for scheduling and allocating work to people. It’s a big job, because the availability of resources can change at short notice. That’s why resource management is so important to the smooth running of major projects – and all projects.
There is a lot of jargon used for resource management. In this article we’re taking some of the major terms and explaining them so you can talk to your team and resource management experts with the same language.
Resource types
There are different types of project resources: non-human, human and generic. These are broad ways to explain the resources. The exact jargon of your resource management tool of choice might categorize them differently, but they’ll mean a similar thing.
Non-human resources are things that you need to procure to get the project done. Examples include machinery, plant, raw materials, and also cash. They could also be services you are buying in or software licences, for example.
Human resources are named people who staff your project. This could include contract resources if you are augmenting your project management staff by adding in additional experts. It will also include your in-house project team members and stakeholders. Anyone who has a role to play on the project and will be allocated to tasks should be set up in the scheduling tool so their work can be assigned to them.
Generic resources represent people, but not named people. Examples include:
- IT developer
- Tester
- Site foreman
- Copywriter
- Lawyer
- Quality engineer
And so on. As you can see, these are role descriptions rather than someone’s name. There might be several people who fit the bill and could fill the role. Generic resources should be used with care as you can only get accurate resource spend and plans when you have specific individuals allocated to tasks. However, while you are building out your project schedule there are times when it’s useful to pop in a generic resource until you have a specific person for that work.
You can add generic resources to Primavera P6 so they exist in the tool for when you need them.
Resource pools
A resource pool is a group of resources available to be assigned to work. Tools like Primavera P6 allow you to assign resources from the pool, which could include everyone in the organization. We have a tip on how to make that manageable without having to scroll through the whole company each time you want to add someone to a task.
Resources pools can draw information from other sources, such as your enterprise people management system, to save you from having to maintain two lists of staff. You can also create resource pools for different departments and draw from those pools if that suits your needs more effectively.
Resource pools can be set up to include an element of approval for tasks, so that if you assign work to someone in the pool, they or their manager see and has to approve the work for it to be accepted as one of their tasks.
Resource roles
Each individual has a role that they plan on the project. When you allocate a resource to a task, it’s the role you want primarily. If you are laying concrete, you want someone doing the job who has the skills of concrete mixing. An individual can have a primary role and then additional roles so that they could be allocated to multi-disciplinary work on the project.
Read next: See an example of how this works in practice when you want to assign multiple roles to a resource.
Resource calendars
Each human resource has a personal resource calendar. This shows their work availability so you can assign them to tasks on the days that they are working. If you have an international team, make sure that international non-working days and holidays are reflected in your calendars, unless you have arrangements in place for those overseas individuals to be available in the working time of your country.
Non-human resources can also have calendars if it makes sense to do so. For example, if you only have one concrete mixing machine and it is shared across several projects, the calendar will show when the resource is available for use on your project. It’s a way of booking the resources for when you need them in the same way as you would secure a person’s time.
Resource codes
Resource codes are a way of grouping and filtering resources. Create a code, and then you can add individual resources to it to help you find them again later.
Resource codes have values assigned to them. Each value has a description to help keep things clear. You can assign multiple resources to a code. For example, the resource code ‘subcontractor’ would be a way of organizing all the individual resources who work for subcontractors.
Think of these codes as a way to add rich data to the record of an individual person. Codes can be thought of as a bit like categories: you can group resources by them, report on them and they serve to add a different dimension to how the data is represented in the schedule.
Those are some of the main terms you’ll come across when dealing with resource managers and schedulers on your projects. The PMO may be responsible for maintaining some of this like resource pool information or setting up resource codes in the system.
Whatever the set up in your business, it’s time to get familiar with how resource management works. Skilled Primavera P6 staff can help you and your team make the most of the people and equipment you have by making sure you have systems set up for resource allocation and management. The benefit is better estimating and management information to help you lead your projects, so it’s worth making sure your tools are set up in the most efficient way!