PHR / SPHR Exam For Dummies
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The PMP Certification Exam will expect you to know about completing the scheduled work. Completing the scheduled work requires a variety of resources. Some of the common categories include the following:

  • People

  • Equipment

  • Material

  • Supplies

Facility space is sometimes considered a resource. After all, if you need a particular site or room for specific activities and that site is in high demand, you probably want to consider it a resource and treat it as such.

Estimate Activity Resources. Estimating the type and quantities of material, human resources, equipment, or supplies required to perform each activity.

To determine the resources needed for each activity — and, therefore, each work package — start with your schedule management plan, which will inform you of the levels of accuracy you need for resource estimates as well as the units of measure (gallons, yards, hours, and so forth). Next you will consult your activity list and activity attributes.

You should also consider using a resource calendar, which can be as simple as looking at team member availability. Of course, a resource calendar can be quite complex. Information you might compile for a resource calendar includes

  • Skill levels of human resources (such as Junior, Intermediate, and Expert)

  • Geographic location, such as where the work will take place

    This is particularly important if a resource (such as a lab or training room) is in high demand.

  • Percent of time the resources are available, such as hours per week

  • Corporate calendars that show company holidays or other nonworking times

  • Information on multiple shifts or constraints on the number of hours per day a resource can be used

You should consult the activity cost estimates because the cost of resources can be a determining factor in how to resource your project. Risks can also contribute to decisions on resources.

For example, if you need ten servers for a project, but they are functioning only as overflow or redundant servers for an inventory system, you can probably select a lower-quality and less-expensive server. However, if you need ten servers for a mission-critical project where lives are at stake and there is a high impact of failure, you should use the highest-quality servers you can buy.

As you can see, the needs of the project and the various resources have a lot to do with the information necessary to determine resource requirements.

Some of the EEFs you should consider are the skill sets available in the organization and also the level of commitment of those resources. Many organizations suffer from equipment bottlenecks or resource constraints on a few key resources. You need to plan for these potential obstacles to build an accurate schedule.

OPAs that you can use include policies for staffing, outsourcing, renting or leasing equipment, and information from previous projects.

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