I chose chapter (6) resource utilization because it is directly connected to the company profitability, project success and customers satisfaction. The various types of resources are mandatory to produce the end deliverables. It constrains the accomplishment of the objectives by delaying the schedule if it is not utilized optimally. Many projects are suffering from exceeding the level of available limited resource which negatively affect the implementation of the project schedule. At that point, a special previsions might be taken to speed up the work such as hiring additional resources or contractors. From the real work life, adding additional resources might not be approved easily by the client or the upper management (CEO or CFO) due to the overall cost strategy.
Here where this chapter helped me to understand more in depth the resources optimization techniques that will prevent the possible conflicts that will affect the deadlines of accomplishing the projects. Those conflicts might happen because of twofolds: the over or under allocation of resources and the fluctuated utilization of the resources especially when they are limited.
Technically it is possible to move forward on several tasks at the same time, but if we can’t apply the same resources for all of those tasks simultaneously, then the work will not be done. In this case, the Resource Leveling and Resource-Limited Scheduling methods can be applied to adjust the activities starting and finishing dates based on available resources. These methods help to balance the project's needs with resource supplies. When those techniques applied, the critical path length extended as one of the result, but that reflect the reality of the project environment not because of the delay in any manner, rather because only certain resources are available and can’t work on the same activities at the same time. By creating the expanded timeline with taking into account the available resources, this may provide a space for schedule compression by having resources work overtime in order to make up the expansion of time that might happen because of the limited resources.
Technically it is possible to move forward on several tasks at the same time, but if we can’t apply the same resources for all of those tasks simultaneously, then the work will not be done. In this case, the Resource Leveling and Resource-Limited Scheduling methods can be applied to adjust the activities starting and finishing dates based on available resources. These methods help to balance the project's needs with resource supplies. When those techniques applied, the critical path length extended as one of the result, but that reflect the reality of the project environment not because of the delay in any manner, rather because only certain resources are available and can’t work on the same activities at the same time. By creating the expanded timeline with taking into account the available resources, this may provide a space for schedule compression by having resources work overtime in order to make up the expansion of time that might happen because of the limited resources.
On the previous lecture’s lab, we learned how the project management information systems can provide a powerful management features. It helps to consolidate the resources to show who does the work and when. It gives the ability to use resources effectively by assigning the resources to the tasks.
I chose chapter (9) closing project because it is necessary for a project manager to wrap up the project, evaluate it, get everyone paid and move on to new one. A few years ago, I experienced several projects that never ended because of different reasons such as:
- A project that has been initiated then turned to be a business process because of the ambiguous objectives or infinite ending date.
- A project has been terminated by the client and the performance bond liquidated because the contractor ran out of cash liquidity.
- A design-build project stayed for more than 5 years in design phase because of feature creep.
- A contractor who have been terminated because of conspiracy between the sub-contractor and client, then the project failed.
- A contractor who have been in reimbursement mode and was not able to complete the project because the mother company bankrupted.
The above cases drove me to learn more about how the projects should move smoothly into the final phase of the project life cycle in order to be officially closed and signed off by the client.
Once the problems are cleared, there are several activities that need to be performed in order to get the project closed. One of the most important actions that I learned from this chapter is how to identify and document the lessons learned. I would consider it as the greatest gift that the project manager can have not just at the end of the project but through out the entire duration of the project.
In every project, there are positive results of the lessons learned that we want to continue doing it in future works and negative results that should never happen again. It typically impacts the cost, time, work scope, quality, process and moral of the team. The lessons learned must be documented during the entire project by establishing a real time log to document the lessons and provide a smooth access to distribute, reassess and discusses the lessons by the project’s stakeholders.
In every project, there are positive results of the lessons learned that we want to continue doing it in future works and negative results that should never happen again. It typically impacts the cost, time, work scope, quality, process and moral of the team. The lessons learned must be documented during the entire project by establishing a real time log to document the lessons and provide a smooth access to distribute, reassess and discusses the lessons by the project’s stakeholders.
The other important key for the project manager is to keep the project alive through measuring and monitoring the client satisfaction in order to avoid the termination of the project. No matter what, the project manager must close the project.