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TEAMFLY120 ELEMENTS OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

• Resource name—Can be individual resource or class of resource.
• Hierarchical structure (parent/subordinate)—A resource breakdown struc-

ture (RBS).
• Information about the resource (some of this can come from or be linked to

an HR database).
• Resource’s skills.
• Productivity by skill (rare—with good reason—see below).
• Charging and billing rates.
• Availability schedule.

Assignment Database

This consists of knowing what the resources are working on. Again there can be
several levels of detail, such as:

• What projects are they assigned to?
• What work within the projects (tasks) are they assigned to?
• What level of effort is planned?
• When is that effort planned?

Time Capture

This consists of capturing the actual time spent on project (and nonproject) work.

• In its simplest form, time charged to projects.
• In more detail, time charged to work items.
• Allocating charges to cost accounts (chargeback).

Performance Measurement

This consists of comparing actual charges to planned charges. To be effective,
there must also be a measurement of the actual work accomplished. We often call
this Earned Value analysis.

Resource Assignment and Scheduling Protocols

We expect our computer software to provide certain assistance in allocating and
scheduling resources. However, to date, most of these systems have been less
than satisfactory and are rarely used in practice. Here are some of the options: