ELC 347 DAY 9

Agenda Questions Assignment #4 Not Corrected  Only had two submissions Capstone Proposal Overdue  Had three submitted  Only one accepted Group Progress Report Overdue We are at a crisis!!!  At this rate many will not make through this course Exam 2  2 A’S, 2 B’s and one non-take Group Project Meeting (30 Min) Discussion on Resource Management Managing resources with Microsoft Project

Resource Management How do I compete with everybody else who needs resources? Where do I find people when I can’t hire new employees? What does time cost me in terms of resources? How can I make up for missing resources?

Resource Management Outline Human resources  The challenge today  Cost of Human resources Capital Resources  Elements of Cost  Duration and cost Managing the Resource Profile  Tools for resource management  Resource leveling methods The Final Plan

The Human resource The Most Critical Resource Require the most attention Techniques don’t manage successful Projects …people do

The Human Resource Challenge Today Contract employees  Contractors Advantages Higher hourly rate No overhead (benefits, training etc) No hiring costs No responsibility to a contractor after project completion Generally highly motivated and very proficient

The Human Resource Challenge Today Contract employees  Contractors Disadvantages No continuity within a company structure Putting contractors and permanent personnel on the same team  Pay issues  Insider versus outsider animosity  Suspicion from long term employees To overcome create “shared experiences”  Celebrations

Human resopurce challene As a leader you must provide  Direction Keep the team focused  Guidance Coach your team along  Support Back your team  Encouragement Cheerleading

Cost of Human Resource 4 factors to consider  Salaries Cost versus specificity  Benefits Paid leave, Health care 2 to 2.5 time salary  Fees Cost of hiring  Time to manage High maintenance employees

Capital Resources Everything cost something! Two major areas  Direct costs Vary with productive efforts Wages, Overtime, materials, Contractors  Indirect Costs Fixed and periodic Insurance, utilities, marketing, Start-ip

Duration and Costs When looking at the relationship between efforts and direct cost for an activity we have two important points of distinction  Normal point Lowest direct cost  Full crashed point Least duration with lower cost The relationship is different for most activities and is really ever linear.

Duration and cost Fully Crashed Normal

Criteria for selecting activities to Crash Must be on Critical Path Precedes Multiple activities Long Duration Lower Cost per period gained Early in the project (sunshine rule) Low-skill Labor-intensive Subject to common problems

Time/Cost Tradeoff Add in Indirect costs Sum the costs Find the “sweet spot”  Min Total Cost  Optimum duration point If you are at the Optimum Duration point further Crashing of the activity cost more money!

Managing the Resource Profile The resource profile describes the rate at which resources are consumed over time.  Level profile is best  Reality is different

No level resource allocations Creates issues  “hurry up and wait”  Excessive expenses  Priority changes  Adds Stress to team members

Profile Management Tools Slack and Float  Select activities not on the critical path and transfer resource to smooth the profiles  Move the peaks into the valleys

Backwards Pass Use to calculate Slack  LAS -> Latest Acceptable start time  LAF -> Latest Acceptable finish time  TS -> total slack  LAF = LAS + Duration  LAS = LAF -Duration EPSDUREPF Activity LASTSLAF

An example of forward pass 000 Start F 044 D C Finish 055 A I J 448 E H G 549 B EPSDUREPF Activity LASTSLAF

An example of backward pass 000 Start F D C Finish A I J E H G B EPSDUREPF Activity LASTSLAF

Calculating Slack Total Slack  Slack along entire path  TS = LAF – EPF of the same activity Free Slack  Slack available at the activity  FS = EPS of the following Activity –EPF of this activity

An example of backward pass 000 Start F D C Finish A I J E H G B FS= 5-5=0 FS= 12-9=3 FS= 16-12=4 FS= 8-8=0 FS= 15-23=2 EPSDUREPF Activity LASTSLAF

Time-Scaled Networks Time Proceeding (3)C (4)E(2)End(3) C (4) A (5)D (5)

Resource Leveling Time Proceeding (3)C (4)E(2)End(3) C (4) A (5)D (5)

Resource Leveling (step two) Time Proceeding (3)C (4)E(2)End(3) C (4) A (5)D (5)

Resource Leveling (step 3) Time Proceeding (3)C (4)E(2)End(3) C (4) A (5)D (5)

The Final Plan Resource leveling occurs after  The 3 lines of defense Relieve the critical path Sharpen your pencil Crash activities  Optimum duration is found  Within deadline Resource leveling  People  Bottleneck facilities Do reality Check After leveling  Redo CPM and recalculate slack