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Each time you update your Resource Schedule, you should review it to identify problems or potential problems with resource allocation. Identifying resource allocation problems will allow you to take corrective actions to ensure that the resources are optimally assigned to tasks in order to get the results you want.
Since Resource Schedule is changing constantly you have to analyze it each time you correct and refine it. In order to identify resource allocation problems it is suggested that you take following steps:
| 1. | Review the assignments of resources to project activities/ tasks to make sure that all activities/ tasks are sufficiently covered and that the most appropriate resources are assigned to perform each activity/ task (refer to 7.4.2.3). |
| 2. | Check for overallocated14 [ Overallocated is a resource that is scheduled to work more than the available time it has for.] or underallocated15 [ Underallocated is a resource that is working less time than its full capacity. ] resources to ensure that neither too much nor too little work has been assigned. |
| 3. | Review the variances between a resource’s planned and actual work to make sure that the work on the project is progressing as you expected, since it is very important to effectively balance workloads over time and distribute work among resources. For example, if you find out that a resource has spent more time to do the work than initially expected, this means that there might be a change in the scope of the task or a change in the quality of work the resource is doing or finally that the resource is not efficient enough. |
| 4. | Review cost variances per resource or per task, since unexpected costs can signal a change in scope or quality that should be addressed. For example, an unexpected cost overrun on a task assignment can indicate that more work was needed for performing the task than expected or that the resource was unable to complete the work planned and may need to be replaced. |
After you have identified resource allocation problems you should take some actions to resolve them in order to get the best performance and results from resources. Before you try to resolve allocation problems, it is recommended that you save a backup copy of the initial resource schedule, so that you can refer to it as you are making changes that may affect other resources or tasks.
 The process of managing resources workloads to fix overallocations is called Resource Levelling. In order to resolve resource overallocations you can take the following actions:
| ● | Delay an assigned task until the resource has the time to work on it. Try to delay a task that is not on the critical path and has lower priority than others. Besides, if you want to add delay without changing the finish date of other tasks or the project finish date, review available slack and add delay less or equal to that slack time. |
| ● | Control the resource availability throughout the life of the project. Generally, there are three ways to control a resource’s availability in order to complete all the assigned work on time: a) Increase the resource’s working days and times by changing the resource calendar (i.e. reduce days off or time off) b) Change the date that a resource is beginning to work on the project or the date that a resource is leaving the project c) Increase the percentage of resource’s availability in the project. For example, you can change the availability of a resource in a given time period from 50% to 80% or 100%, provided that this is possible taking into account its other engagements. |
| ● | Assign overtime work to resources to shorten the duration of a task (if it is effort-driven) and meet short-term deadlines. In this case you have to ensure that overtime costs can be afforded by the available budget. |
| ● | Reduce scope on a task to eliminate the overallocation for the resource assigned to it. If you reduce scope, the task’s duration and the amount of required work will decrease. However, make sure that the change still reflects realistic time requirements for the task. |
| ● | Interrupt work on a task when you have two tasks that occur simultaneously in the schedule and use the same resource. In this case you can split one of the tasks so that part of the work occurs before the other task starts and then begins again when the other one finishes. |
| ● | Assign an additional resource to divide the work on a task between a resource already assigned to the task and another resource(s). |
| ● | Replace a resource with another one that is better able to complete the task on time (e.g. faster or larger equipment or a human resource with more available time). |
| ● | Remove assignment from an overallocated resource if a) there are other comparable resources assigned, b) you have an underallocated resource who has time to work on the project, c) there is another resource available which is more cost-effective. |
 In order to resolve resource underallocations you can take the following actions:
| ● | Control the resource availability throughout the life of the project. If a resource is not needed as much as you had planned you can a) decrease the resource’s working days and times by changing the resource calendar in order to lower your project costs as well, b) change the date that a resource is beginning to work on the project or the date that a resource is leaving the project c) decrease the percentage of resource’s availability in the project. For example, you can change the availability of a resource in a given time period from 100% to 80% or 50%, so that it can be used in other projects. |
| ● | Increase a task duration (if scope on a task has increased), which will also increase the amount of required work, to eliminate the underallocation of the resource assigned to it. |
| ● | Assign additional tasks to an underallocated resource to reduce the workload of another overallocated resource. |
 After adjusting resource assignments you should check the critical path to ensure that the finish date of the project was not extended and that non-critical tasks haven’t become critical without any serious reason. You should also review the project costs to ensure that they don’t exceed the planned budget. If you have reassigned tasks among resources, make sure that these changes haven’t created additional overallocations or underallocations for other resources. Besides, if the same resources are also assigned to work on other projects, you should check the impact that these changes might have on the other projects. Finally, do not forget to inform the affected resources about the adjustments you have made to their assignments.
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