Resource Acquisition

Resource Acquisition: Building Your Dream Team

The Big Picture - Like Planning a Birthday Party!

Imagine you’re planning the best birthday party ever! You need to figure out:

• How many helpers do you need? (Estimate Activity Resources)
• How do you get those helpers? (Acquire Resources Process)
• How do you make sure everyone does their job? (Control Resources Process)
• How do you use your helpers wisely? (Resource Optimization)
• How do you see who’s busy when? (Resource Histogram)

That’s exactly what Resource Management is in project management! Let’s dive in!

1. Estimate Activity Resources

What Is It?

This is figuring out what you need and how much of it to finish each task.

Think of it like packing for a trip:

• Going to the beach? You need sunscreen, towels, and swimsuits.
• Going camping? You need a tent, sleeping bags, and flashlights.

Different activities need different stuff!

The Simple Formula

Activity + What's Needed = Resource Estimate

Real Example

Activity: Paint the living room

Key Tools for Estimating

1. Expert Judgment - Ask someone who’s done it before!
2. Bottom-Up Estimating - Break big tasks into small pieces
3. Analogous Estimating - “Last time we needed 5 people, so probably 5 again”

Remember This!

“You can’t bake a cake without knowing you need eggs, flour, and sugar first!”

2. Acquire Resources Process

What Is It?

Now that you know WHAT you need, it’s time to GET IT!

This is like going shopping for party supplies:

• Some things you already have at home (internal resources)
• Some things you need to buy or borrow (external resources)

Three Ways to Get Resources

graph TD
    A["Need Resources"] --> B["Internal: Use Your Team"]
    A --> C["External: Hire New People"]
    A --> D["Procurement: Buy Equipment"]
    B --> E["Resources Acquired!"]
    C --> E
    D --> E

Real Example

Project: Build a Mobile App

Key Activities

1. Negotiate for team members from other departments
2. Recruit new talent if needed
3. Contract with vendors for equipment
4. Pre-assign resources early for critical tasks

Pro Tip

“The best resources go fast! Start acquiring early, or you’ll get leftovers.”

3. Control Resources Process

What Is It?

This is making sure your resources are working well and available when needed.

Imagine you’re a coach during a soccer game:

• Are all players on the field?
• Is anyone tired and needs a break?
• Do we need to substitute someone?

That’s controlling resources!

The Control Loop

graph TD
    A["Monitor Resources"] --> B{Everything OK?}
    B -->|Yes| C["Keep Going"]
    B -->|No| D["Take Action"]
    D --> E["Adjust Schedule"]
    D --> F["Get More Resources"]
    D --> G["Solve Problems"]
    E --> A
    F --> A
    G --> A
    C --> A

What You’re Watching

Real Example

Problem: Your lead developer got sick for 2 weeks.

Control Actions:

1. Reassign tasks to other team members
2. Extend the deadline slightly
3. Bring in a temporary contractor
4. Update the project schedule

Remember This!

“A good project manager doesn’t just plan—they adapt!”

4. Resource Optimization

What Is It?

Making the best use of your resources. No waste. No overload.

Think of it like a puzzle—fitting all the pieces perfectly so nothing overlaps and nothing is missing!

Two Main Techniques

Resource Leveling

Problem: Too much work for too few people at the same time.

Solution: Spread the work out over more time.

Before Leveling:
Week 1: [████████████] 12 hours (TOO MUCH!)
Week 2: [████] 4 hours

After Leveling:
Week 1: [████████] 8 hours
Week 2: [████████] 8 hours

Trade-off: The project might take longer, but people won’t burn out!

Resource Smoothing

Problem: Same as above, but you CAN’T extend the deadline.

Solution: Move tasks within their “float” time (extra time available).

Task A: Must finish by Friday
        [Can start Mon-Wed]

If everyone's busy Monday,
start Task A on Tuesday instead!

Trade-off: Less flexibility, but deadline stays the same!

Quick Comparison

Real Example

Situation: You have 3 developers but 5 tasks due the same week.

Resource Leveling: Push 2 tasks to next week. Project ends later, but team is happy.

Resource Smoothing: Start 2 tasks earlier (they had extra time anyway). Same deadline!

5. Resource Histogram

What Is It?

A picture that shows how busy your resources are over time.

Like a bar chart showing how many cookies are in each jar!

What It Looks Like

Hours
  |
10│    ████
 8│    ████████
 6│████████████████
 4│████████████████████
 2│████████████████████████
  └─────────────────────────
    Week1  Week2  Week3  Week4

Each bar shows how many hours someone is working that week.

Why It’s Helpful

Reading the Histogram

graph TD
    A["Look at the Histogram"] --> B{Bars Too High?}
    B -->|Yes| C["Apply Resource Leveling"]
    B -->|No| D{Bars Too Low?}
    D -->|Yes| E["Assign More Work"]
    D -->|No| F["Perfect! Keep Going"]

Real Example

Your Designer’s Histogram:

Action: Move some Week 2 & 3 work to Week 4!

Putting It All Together

The Complete Flow

graph TD
    A["Start Project"] --> B["Estimate Activity Resources"]
    B --> C["Acquire Resources"]
    C --> D["Control Resources"]
    D --> E["Optimize Resources"]
    E --> F["Check Resource Histogram"]
    F --> G{Everything Balanced?}
    G -->|No| D
    G -->|Yes| H["Project Success!"]

Remember These Key Points

1. Estimate = Figure out what you need
2. Acquire = Get what you need
3. Control = Make sure it’s working
4. Optimize = Make the best use of it
5. Histogram = See the big picture

Quick Summary Table

You’ve Got This!

Resource management isn’t scary. It’s just like:

• Planning a party (who do I need?)
• Shopping (where do I get them?)
• Coaching a team (is everyone doing OK?)
• Playing Tetris (making everything fit)
• Reading a chart (seeing the big picture)

Now go build your dream team and make your project a success!