Project Time Management – Part 3 Activity Resource Estimating

When estimating resources you will need some items. The activity list from the activity definition phase will be needed. It identifies the schedule activities for the resource that are estimated. The activity attributes will help provide the data input for the resource for each scheduled activity. We will also need a resource availability list. This list will tell us what resources are available and when. Resources might not be in the same geographical location. Scheduling will be an issue if this is not taken into consideration. In the beginning, both experienced and non-experienced personnel can be considered. Near the end, experienced personnel will be needed most. The pool of resources should be narrowed to those that are knowledgeable about the project. The last part needed is the Project Management Plan. We need the schedule of the project to coordinate the schedule of the resources.

Items needed:

1. Activity List
2. Activity Attributes
3. Resource Availability schedule
4. Project Management Plan

There are several tool and techniques that one can use to do the estimating. Most have been discussed before. Two that are important is Expert Judgment and Bottom-up estimating. People with knowledge in resource planning and estimating can provide the expertise needed for this phase. It would also help if the experts also worked on similar projects. Bottom-up estimating is breaking down the work to the smallest levels. The resource needs for each of the detailed work is estimated and the aggregated into a total figure.What should we get out of this exercise in estimating? We should have identified and described the types and quantities of resources required for each component in the WBS. This means that each activity will have the necessary items scheduled to complete that activity. If an activity does not have the necessary resources to complete the activity you have not completed this phase. When the estimating is done, updates to activity attributes and resource calendars will be an output. A resource breakdown structure will be created from this phase. The RBS is a hierarchical structure that lists the identified resources by category and type. A final output of this phase is changes. Resources might not be available when needed for the planned activity. Changes might be needed for the activity. These changes will need to be reviewed by the Integrated Change Control process.