The Resource Plan identifies the physical resources that are needed to complete the project successfully and schedules their usage during the project implementation period. Obviously, in order to develop a resource plan, every activity and task should have been identified. Generally, the resource planning should be performed in parallel with the development of the activities schedule, since the determination of the resource requirements affects directly the estimation of the activities/ tasks duration (refer to 7.4.1.4).
In order to develop the Resource Plan, the following steps should be followed (Figure 7-8):
| ● | Identification of what types of resources (labour, equipment, material) and in what quantities are required in order to perform project activities and tasks |
| ● | Development of Resource Schedule by estimating when and for how long each resource is going to be utilised |
Figure 7-8: Steps to be followed for the development of the Resource Plan
For simple projects the development of a Resource Plan may be limited to entering only the resource name against the project activity on the Activities Schedule. However, for larger and more complex projects, a detailed resource plan should be completed to ensure that the resource allocation is both accurate and appropriate.
It should be noted that the assignment of sufficient resources – both in terms of quantity and appropriateness – is a critical factor for the successful outcome of the project. The assignment of less human resources than actually needed to perform certain activities/ tasks, as well as the assignment of resources who do not possess the appropriate skills and expertise to perform their duties, are two of the most common reasons for project failure.
There are various software packages in the market, such as MS Project and Primavera Project Planner (P3), which can be used to develop, monitor and control a detailed resource plan. However, for the purposes of this Guide a simple tool for developing a resource plan is provided in Annex 7-1 (in excel format) in order to be used by people who do not possess or are not competent in using the relative commercial software. The tool consists of two Sheets: one used for the preparation of the “Resource Schedule” and the other for the assignment of resources to project activities/ tasks, named as “Resources vs. Activities”. This tool can be used also for tracking resource usage during the project implementation period (refer to 7.5.2).
The following paragraphs describe analytically the steps to be followed in order to develop a Resource Plan.