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Portfolio managers are often tasked with balancing the resources supporting the current project portfolio with new project requests. In a program, approving new change requests often requires additional resources or an adjustment in resources working on projects. Managers need to understand their organization’s resource capacity and determine how to balance demand with capacity. The past few articles have demonstrated how to build the model, and after modeling an organization’s resource capacity, managers can apply the tool to portfolio management. The first resource management article described an IT organization struggling with managing technical resources across a portfolio of projects. By developing the resource management model, the portfolio manager was able to objectively model resource commitments and determine resource availability. The portfolio manager used the model to objectively demonstrate current resource commitments and helped senior management prioritize their projects by incorporating resource estimates into the four-step project request process. 1. Initiate the Project Request The key to managing resources with demand is controlling the projects that enter the project portfolio. Without a change-control process, the organization will not be able to adequately monitor or manage the resource commitments. Institutionalizing a change-control board process in an organization devoid of a structured process requires significant top-down influence and decision making. Once the change-control board is established and resources recognize work is approved and prioritized by the change-control board, the resource management model can be effectively incorporated. Requests for new projects are initiated with a change-control form and supplemental project charter. The project charter provides the organization with a better understanding of the project context and the change request formally communicates high-level requirements. Upon reviewing the request, the portfolio manager needs to assess the type and quantity of resources required to complete the project. In the technical infrastructure organization example, system developers, architects and project managers collaborated to successfully deliver projects within the portfolio. Based on the nature of the work, project managers could effectively manage two to three small- to medium-sized project requests, while larger initiatives required dedicated project management. Technical architects and system developers were allocated to multiple projects in fractional units. The portfolio manager provided a high-level resource estimate for each request and compared it to the organization’s resource capacity.
2. Compare request to resource capacity
Since the resource management model incorporated each resource’s role into the pool definition, the portfolio manager could quickly sort on project manager, system developer, technical architect and other project roles to determine if the capacity of different resources in the portfolio. Figure 1 identifies the project management team’s resource capacity.
Figure 1: Project Management Team Capacity In Figure 1, the team of nine project managers only has limited capacity in March and has more after May. In the third quarter, the resource availability increases. Examining the model also reveals the organization already has some over-allocated project management resources. A quick scan of the individual resources in the model will reveal who has the available capacity for the project. 3. Communicate Request Impact to Project Request After the portfolio manager has assessed the availability of resources based on the request, the manager needs to communicate the impact to resources. One approach is to report the current resource model capacity and model the new project requests. By adding the new project requests to the model and assigning resources, the portfolio manager can quickly determine if the portfolio has sufficient capacity or will require additional resources. The resource graphs in MS-Project graphically convey the impact. 4. Accept or Reject Request After the request has been analyzed, the change-control board can accept the request with current capacity, accept the request with additional resources or reject the request. In the technical infrastructure organization, new resources were not frequently added to support new project requests. If resources were not available, the requests were either delayed until resources were available or low-priority projects were postponed and resources were reassigned. The decision process was supported with the objective data that demonstrated when the pipeline was full. Instead of blindly accepting new project work, the portfolio manager was able to understand the impact to resources before accepting the request. The past four articles provided an overview of a resource management model. The model allows organizations to assess the impact to resources before accepting or rejecting new project work for the portfolio. Portfolio managers and PMO managers are encouraged to experiment with the model with their organizations. Senior management will still expect organizations to accept requested projects. By incorporating resource model metrics into the change-control process, the organization can successfully communicate resource needs instead of complaining about a lack of resources. This article was written by Andy Makar and originally published on Gantthead.com
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