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amp circuits, and still others required a specialized 277/480-amp circuit. When

she informed the contractor of this discovery, she found that he had only installed
15-amp circuits and wasn’t aware of the other power requirements.

Jill assessed the number of circuits she needed for each of the remaining servers
and their power requirements, and the total came to seventeen 15-amp, ten 20-
amp, and two 277/480-amp circuits. Next she went back to the contractor to get
an estimate of the cost for the 29 new circuits. That estimate came in at $17,500!

Finally, with much trepidation, she went to the project sponsor, explaining that
she had overlooked the power requirements and that additional monies were
required to complete the project.

In retrospect, Jill realized she should have used subject-matter experts to help
determine the server and circuit requirements.

Interproject Work

Remember that when you’re allocating resources you’ll need to take interproject
dependencies and interproject resource contention into consideration.

Interproject dependencies occur when you need the completed deliverables from one
project in order to work on the current project. For example, perhaps your
organization is constructing a new highway lane on an existing highway in your city.
However, there are other projects associated with this one (part of the program) that
must be completed before you can finish the highway lane construction. One of those
projects is performing the environmental studies on the ground where the new lane is
planned. Another might be digging a trench to lay fiber-optic cable along the highway.

Both of these projects must be completed before you can begin your project. Thus, you
have an interproject dependency.

It’s important to meet with the project managers from the other projects and
understand their schedules and risks. You should also discuss with them the possibility
of removing dependencies wherever possible. Make certain that you are receiving up-
to-date status reports on the other projects so that you can track the key dependencies
and keep your project on schedule or take corrective action where necessary.

Interproject resource contention is similar in nature to the overallocation problem
discussed previously. Your resource may be scheduled for similar tasks on other
projects. You’ll need to work in coordination with the project managers on those other
projects to schedule the resource so that they are available to both of you when needed.

Personnel Management

Managing a project team differs from managing a functional work group. Project teams
are temporary, and getting everyone to work together on a common goal can be

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