Managing Resources across Multiple Projects

Friday,  January 13, 2006 or May 12, 2006, 9am - 4pm

See detailed hour by hour agenda for this session.

The goals of resource management include:

  1. Finding resources to staff projects.
  2. Keeping resources productive on high priority tasks.
  3. Identifying critical resource shortages that create delays and bottlenecks in projects.
  4. Upgrading resource skills.
  5. Hiring new resources to fill project vacancies.
  6. Satisfying clients by finishing projects on time within budget.
  7. Allocating scarce resources between competing projects.
  8. Transitioning resources between projects.

Managing resources across multiple Projects requires resource demands for new projects coming down the pipeline and for existing projects currently underway. Having the resources to staff projects for clients involves advance preparation and training to have the right skill mix to meet the demands for new technology. Staffing projects for upcoming client projects requires knowing when existing resources will come free from existing projects.

Capabilities of both Microsoft Project standalone and Microsoft Project with Project Server will be discussed. Use Microsoft Projects Server to centralize project data and simplify the management of resources across many projects. Participants will have hands-on access to Project Server through Microsoft Project. This session will help managers who are managing project leaders and allocating project team members to projects. In the this session,  participants will learn to:

  1. Forecast Resources demand for new and existing projects
  2. Standardize resource definitions with resource pools.
  3. Forecast resource needs for new projects.
  4. Analyze resource workloads across multiple projects.
  5. Allocate resources to projects and tasks.
  6. Determine progress on current projects.
  7. Select strategy for managing resources across multiple projects
  8.  

Click to register for the Jan.13, 2006 course

email me with your questions

7. Managing Resources across Multiple Projects agenda
Friday, Jan. 13, 2006, 9am - 4pm
Jan 13, 2006 Topic Managing Resources across Multiple Projects agenda
9am Meet challenges of resource management
  • Find resources to staff projects. 
  • Keep resources billable.
  • Upgrade resource skills.
  • Finish projects on time within budget.
  • Satisfy clients.
  • Manage Resources cost effectively.
  Standardize resource definitions to allow workload analysis across multiple projects

Both enterprise and local resource pools will be covered.

  •  
  • Standardize Resource definitions with enterprise Resource Pool. 
  • Define outline codes for resources with Outline Codes. 
  • Standardize resource definitions so resource workload can be analyzed across multiple projects with Resource pool. 
  • Add generic and specific resources to resource pool.
9:30am Forecast resource needs for new projects
  • Setup templates for activities which consume resources. 
  • Forecast project start dates. 
  • Add generic resources to resource pool. 
  • Assign generic resources to get a long term forecast of resource requirements. 
  • Forecast completion date based on staffing levels. 
  • Replace generic resources with specific resources. 
  • Review workload for each specific resource .
10am Coffee 
 10:15 am Analyze resource workload across multiple projects with consolidation
  • Select strategy for managing multiple projects.
  • Consolidate projects with Resource pool.
  • Consolidate projects with Insert -> Project.
  • Catalog multiple projects as summary Tasks.
  • Upgrade-to Project Server.
  • Catalog current projects with Executive Overview.
  Allocate resources to projects and tasks
  • Request specific resources from resource manager.
    Review availability of specific resources with Workload Analysis by Week.
  • Link projects to resource pool.
  • Identify specific resources that fill each role with Resource group.
  • Establish team size with Unit Availability.
  • Replace generic resources with specific resources.
  • Identify overloads with Percent Allocation.
  • Forecast completion date based on staffing levels.
  • Review workload for each resource with View -> Workload Analysis.
11:15 Track progress through project cycles with master project
  • Track Initiation phase with Super project. 
  • Project Execution. 
  • Project Wrap-up. 
  • Report project status to management with Management progress view.
12noon Lunch break  
1 pm Allocate resources to projects
  • Setup project control office. 
  • Maintain project management methodology. 
  • Centralize time reporting system with Timesheets. 
  • Standardize estimating knowledge in spreadsheets.
 1:45 pm Manage resources cost effectively
  • Plan Skill Acquisition. 
  • Build core competencies. 
  • Develop existing resources. 
  • Recruit new resources. 
  • Allocate resources to projects.
2:30pm Coffee
2:45 pm Build planning capability in organization
  • Improve project management support within organization. 
  • Overcome obstacles to planning. 
  • Recognize levels of achievement. 
  • Establish project management training courses. 
  • Plan small projects to build skills for bigger projects. 
  • Form project managers user group. 
  • Support project planning with positive feedback.
3:30 pm Improve project delivery capability
  • Setup project management methodology 
  • Validate planning methodology and standards. 
  • Practice setting up a project template. 
  • Understand stages of project management improvement with SEI 5-Level CMM model.
  • Identify opportunities for improvement. 
  • Improve project estimating reliability. 
  • Discover better methods and technology. 
  • Adopt best practices from other organizations.

Click to register for the Jan.13, 2006 course
email Brian Mullen with your questions

Updated: Oct 18, 2005