Goal: Estimate resource needs - Project

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Goal: Estimate resource needs

Applies to: Microsoft Office Project 2007

By now you have identified the project scope (scope: The combination of all project goals and tasks, and the work required to accomplish them.), including setting up the task list and estimating the task durations. You can use this information to make preliminary estimates, identify requirements, and start your staffing and procurement processes to acquire the resources (resources: The people, equipment, and material that are used to complete tasks in a project.) that you need.

Tip This article is part of a series of articles within the Project Map that describe a broad set of project management activities. We call these activities "goals" because they are organized around the project management life cycle: Build a plan, track and manage a project, and close a project.

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Calculator keys and figures of human resources

number 1 Identify and estimate resource requirements After you establish the scope (scope: The combination of all project goals and tasks, and the work required to accomplish them.) and objectives (objective: The quantifiable criteria that must be met for the project to be considered successful. Objectives must include, at least, cost, schedule, and quality measures. Unquantified objectives increase the risk that the project won't meet them.) and set up the task (task: An activity that has a beginning and an end. Project plans are made up of tasks.) list in your project plan, you are ready to plan resources.

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The following process can help you identify the types and quantities of resources that you need to implement the project:

Review the project scope and task list Identify the project's requirements for people, equipment, material resources (material resource: The supplies or other consumable items that are used to complete tasks in a project.), and cost resources (cost resources: Resources that don't depend on the amount of work on a task or the duration of a task, such as airfare or lodging.) by reviewing the project scope and task list.
Obtain historical resource and duration information Collect information from earlier project files, from databases, and from people who worked on similar projects. Look especially for information about the types and numbers of resources that were used, as well as the actual duration (duration: The total span of active working time that is required to complete a task. This is generally the amount of working time from the start to finish of a task, as defined by the project and resource calendar.) of tasks.
Consider how the resource numbers affect durations The number of resources assigned to a task often influences the duration of the task. In most cases, particularly for production tasks, two resources can complete a task in half the time it takes a single resource to do it. Adding more resources to tasks is called "crashing" the project and, taken to an extreme, can be a risky way to complete a project, because of the extra costs and inefficiencies that can result.
In other instances, such as with design tasks, adding resources does not guarantee that the duration will decrease.
Consider how the resource capability and quality affect durations The capabilities and experience of the resources assigned to a task can significantly influence the duration of the task. For example, a team member with five years of experience can typically be expected to complete a task in less time than a team member with two years of experience.
Review and refine the duration estimates Use the information that you collect about this project and similar projects to refine your duration estimates for the project tasks. The accuracy of the estimate for resource requirements depends on the accuracy of your task duration estimates.
Identify the resource types and quantities needed After you gather all of the information that you need, identify the types of resources (people, equipment, and materials) and the quantities needed for each resource. Also identify any specifics and assumptions (project assumptions: Factors that, for planning purposes, are considered to be true, real, or certain. Assumptions generally involve a degree of risk.) that you use about each resource's job title, skill set (skill set: A particular resource's skills.), experience, capability, quality (quality: The degree of excellence, or the desired standards, in a product, process, or project.), or grade (grade: A rank or category assigned to a material resource that denotes functional use but not level of quality. A low-grade resource is not necessarily a low-quality resource.).
Use an expert to review your resource requirements Use an experienced and knowledgeable team member to review the estimates for task duration and resource requirements.
Use a portfolio management tool If you are using Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2007 (Project Portfolio Server: The Web-based user interface that is used with Project Server to help organizations achieve maximum portfolio value through managing investments and evaluating them against performance metrics and business objectives.), you can track projects and align resource needs through initiation and the approval process before you implement them. As you begin new projects and assign resources, you can assess them against the goals of the organization.
You can learn more about Office Project Portfolio Server 2007 by reading the product overview.

Number 2 Change a duration Use the information that you collect about this project and similar projects to refine the task duration (duration: The total span of active working time that is required to complete a task. This is generally the amount of working time from the start to finish of a task, as defined by the project and resource calendar.) estimates. The accuracy of your duration estimates directly affects the accuracy of the resource requirements estimate.

Change a task duration

Number 3 Develop proposed resources At this point, you are ready to list the resource types and quantities. For human resources, you know the job titles, skill sets, and experience level. You know the type, brand, cost, and capacity of the equipment resources that are needed. You know the amounts of consumable materials (material resource: The supplies or other consumable items that are used to complete tasks in a project.) that are required. You can enter and compile this resource information in Microsoft Office Project 2007 and submit it as part of your resource proposal.

Click all of the following that apply:

Draft a proposed resource list if you want to record preliminary resource information. As resources are approved and obtained, you can replace the placeholder resource (placeholder resource: A temporary resource name that is added to a project plan to help estimate the types and numbers of resources needed. With placeholder resource names, you can develop your project proposal and obtain approvals.) names in the proposed resource list with the actual resource names. You can even make preliminary task assignments and schedule resources.
Add generic resources to your project if you are using Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 and you want to add placeholder resources to the team. You can specify the skills that are needed for a task assignment, rather than specifying the actual person needed on the assignment.
Add non-enterprise resources to your project if the resources that you want are not enterprise resources (enterprise resources: Resources that are part of an organization's entire list of resources. Enterprise resources can be shared across projects.). You can replace these resources with enterprise resources later if necessary.
Add resources to the enterprise resource pool if you are using Microsoft Office Project Web Access and you want to add resources who are a part of your organization's enterprise resources. These resources can then be scheduled most effectively across your organization's projects.
Create a budget for the resources in your project if you already know how much money that you want to spend on resources.

Number 4 Obtain approval for your estimated resources Submit your resource proposal to stakeholders (stakeholders: Individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project or whose interests may be affected by the project.) to obtain approval for the resource estimates.

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After you identify the types and quantities of people, equipment, material resources (material resource: The supplies or other consumable items that are used to complete tasks in a project.), and cost resources (cost resources: Resources that don't depend on the amount of work on a task or the duration of a task, such as airfare or lodging.) that you need to implement your project, you might need to obtain approval for staffing and procurement from stakeholders (stakeholders: Individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project or whose interests may be affected by the project.) within your organization or from outside customers. If you are bidding for this project, the following process can help you set the requirements, assumptions (project assumptions: Factors that, for planning purposes, are considered to be true, real, or certain. Assumptions generally involve a degree of risk.), and budget for your proposal:

Develop the resource requirements statement This statement specifies the types, qualities, and quantities of resources, as well as specifying the assumptions about the resources (resources: The people, equipment, and material that are used to complete tasks in a project.). The resource requirements statement can be a printout of the Resource Sheet view (view: The combination of one or more views [Gantt Chart, Resource Sheet, and so on] and if applicable, a table and a filter. Use views to work with information in a variety of formats. There are three types of views: Charts or graphs, Sheets, and Forms.), along with resource notes (note: Explanatory text that you can attach to a task, resource, or assignment.), if appropriate.
Develop the staffing strategy Taking into consideration your organization's policies and procedures for staffing, develop your strategy for using existing team members, borrowing resources from other departments, and recruiting new team members. Include your interview and selection criteria.
Develop the procurement strategy Taking into consideration your organization's policies and procedures for procurement, describe your strategy for procuring outside goods or services, soliciting bids, and selecting the best contractors, equipment, and materials for the project.
Use an expert to review the resource proposal Use an experienced and knowledgeable team member or colleague to review your resource proposal, along with any other information required by the staffing, procurement, or proposal process.
Submit the resource proposal for approval Be available to provide further information to stakeholders or customers who are evaluating the proposal.
Use a portfolio management tool If you are using Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2007 (Project Portfolio Server: The Web-based user interface that is used with Project Server to help organizations achieve maximum portfolio value through managing investments and evaluating them against performance metrics and business objectives.), you can track projects and align resource needs through initiation and the approval process before you implement them. As you begin new projects and assign resources, you can assess them against the goals of the organization.
You can learn more about Office Project Portfolio Server 2007 by reading the product overview.

Number 5 Update the resource estimates based on approval After you obtain approval for using resources and receive new information about them, you can update your resource estimates.

Click all of the following that apply:

Update the draft resource list if you are using the Resource Sheet view in Project 2007 to record preliminary resource information. As resources are approved and obtained, you can replace placeholder resource (placeholder resource: A temporary resource name that is added to a project plan to help estimate the types and numbers of resources needed. With placeholder resource names, you can develop your project proposal and obtain approvals.) names with actual resource names. You can even make preliminary task assignments and schedule resources.
Add generic resources to your project if you are using Project Server 2007 and you want to add placeholder resources by specifying the skills that are needed for a task assignment, rather than the actual person needed.
Add non-enterprise resources to your project if the resources that you want are not enterprise resources (enterprise resources: Resources that are part of an organization's entire list of resources. Enterprise resources can be shared across projects.). If necessary, you can replace these resources with enterprise resources later.
Add resources to the enterprise resource pool if you are using Microsoft Office Project Web Access and you want to add resources that are a part of your organization's enterprise resources.
Replace a resource assignment if you need to replace a resource in your resource list, to reflect changes made during the approval process.
Remove a resource assignment if you need to remove a resource in your resource list, to reflect changes made during the approval process.
Update the budget for the resources in your project if you already know how much money that you want to spend on resources, but you need to make some adjustments to this amount.

Number 6 Add supporting information about a resource or project Add more information in the form of notes, documents, and links to Web pages.

Click all of the following that apply:

Add a note to a task, resource, or project to include a small amount of information directly in your project. Also, you can add a file from another program to a project note.
View and upload documents if you want to link supporting documents by using Project Server 2007.
Create a visual report if you want to use Microsoft Office Visio 2007 or Microsoft Office Excel 2007 to create reports that you to analyze and report on resource usage, at any phase of your project planning.

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