Resources Flashcards
What are the 6 processes in Resource Mgmt?
- Plan resource mgmt
- Estimate activity resources
- Acquire resources
- Develop team
- Manage team
Control resources
What do processes do in resource management?
Identify, acquire, and manage the resources needed for the successful completion of the project.
- Want to ensure that resources will be available to the project manager and project team
Which process group phase strengthens the team members’ commitment to the project?
Planning
Participation adds to their expertise to the process
What is the role of the PM in resource mgmt?
- Coordinate the appropriate authorities to supply the resources for the project
• Physical and human - Develop team skills and maintain team satisfaction/motivation
- Problem solving and conflict management
What does this resource mgmt impact?
Most things, though there is an emphasis on how using motivated team members and using resources to the fullest will:
- Make costs efficient - Make scheduling efficient - Eliminate risks
What difference aspects influence teams?
- Environment
- Locations of team members
- Communications
- Cultures
Trends and emerging practices in resource mgmt
Popular resource mgmt methods today: - Lean - JIT - Kaizen Emotional Intelligence - PM needs to improve inbound and outbound competencies - Emotional intelligence is a good indicator of a successful team Self-organizing Teams - PM provides team with a suitable environment and adequate support Virtual Teams: - Communication technologies (email, audio conferencing, social media, web-based meetings, video conferencing) - Advantage: ○ Not held back by location ○ International projects ○ Low cost - Disadvantage: ○ Lack of team building ○ Gaps in knowledge
Considerations for tailoring Project Resource Mgmt
- Diversity of team
- Physical location of resources, people, etc
- Industry-specific resources
- Acquisition of team members
• Especially if there are certain skills needed or if team members are external - Development and management of team
- Life cycle approaches
• These approaches can impact the communications, cost, resources, and schedule management
What is the Plan Resource Management Plan?
The components of the pm plan that provides guidance on how project resources should be categorized, allocated, managed, and released
What charts exists to communicate team roles and responsibilities?
- Hierarchical Chart - shows positions/relationships in a graphical, top-down format
- Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) - illustrates the connections between activities and project team members. Shows that 1 person is responsible for 1 task to avoid confusion.
What are the types of hierarchical charts?
- Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Deliverables broken down into work packages, shows high-level responsibility - Organizational breakdown structure (OBS)
Arranged according to an organization’s depts, units, or teams with their work listed under each - Resource breakdown structure (RBS)
For physical resources. Each descending level represents a higher detail of the resource until the detail is fine enough to use with the WBS
What is a RACI chart and why is it useful?
It is a Responsibility Assignment Matrix chart that reviews roles by who is:
- Responsible
- Accountable
- Consult
- Inform
Useful as it ensures a clear assignment of roles and responsibilities when the team consists of internal and external resources
What is a text oriented format chart? What is it well suited for?
Usually in outline form, these docs provide info such as :
- Responsibilities
- Authority
- Competencies
- Qualifications
AKA position descriptions and role-responsibility-authority-forms
Well suited for laying out team member responsibilities that require detailed descriptions
What are resource requirements?
The types and quantities of resources required for each activity in a work package.
What are examples of resources?
- Team members
- Facilities
- Equipment
- Materials
- Supplies
- Other
Why may the resource selection be limited?
- Collective bargaining agreements
- Subcontractor personnel
- Matrix project environment
- Internal/external reporting relationships
Which resource ensures the project gets the best resources possible in the required timeframe?
Functional Manager
What skill is very useful to have when acquiring resources?
- Negotiation • Interpersonal and team skills • Many projects need to negotiate for the required resources, with varies parties ○ Functional managers ○ Other project managers ○ External organizations and suppliers
What does the develop team process do?
- Empowers team members to work hard and work well with eachother
- Improves teamwork
- Enhances interpersonal skills
- Motivates employees
- Reduces attrition
- Improves project performance
What characteristics does training involve?
- It can be formal, or informal
• Formal = classroom, online, computer based
• Informal = on the job, shadowing - Lack of skills can be developed as part of project work
- Training costs could be included in the project budget or supported by the performing organization if added skills will be useful for future projects
How can you evaluate a team’s effectiveness?
- Improvements in skills that allow individuals to perform assignments more effectively
- Improvements in competencies that help team members perform better as a team
- Reduced staff turnover rate
- Increased team cohesiveness where team members share information and experiences openly and help each other improve the overall project performance
What are the team development stages in the Tuckman Ladder?
- Forming: initial stage where members learn about project and responsibilities
- Storming: team begins to address the project work, make decisions, and the approach
- Norming: team members begin to work together and support each other
- Performing: the team functions as a well-organized unit
- Adjourning: the team has completed the work and moves on from the project
When are team building strategies the most effective?
When team members work from remote locations and don’t have much face to face contact
Describe the manage team process
- Process of tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues, and managing team changes to optimize project performance
- Requires a range of communication and leadership skills
What are conflict sources?
- Scarce resources
- Scheduling priorities
- Personal work styles
Describe how to manage conflict management?
- Early and usually in private
- Using a direct, collaborative approach
- Disciplinary actions, when disruptive conflict continues
How to reduce conflict management?
- Team ground rules
- Group norms
- Solid project management practices
• Communication planning
• Role definition
What are conflict resolving techniques?
- Withdraw/avoid: postponing issue to be resolved by others
- Smooth/accommodate: emphasizes areas of agreement
- Compromise/reconcile: search for solutions that bring some satisfaction to all parties
- Force/Direct: push viewpoints at the expense of others, usually through a power position
- Collaborate/Problem Solve: incorporate multiple viewpoints and insights from difference perspectives
What is work performance information?
Work performance data analyzed in comparison with pm plan and project docs
What are the steps used to resolve resource-related problems?
- Identify
- Define
- Investigate
- Analyze
- Solve
- Check
