Page 68 - The Six Sigma Project Planner

Resource Availability
At this point in the project planning process, all resources have been identified,
approved, and procured. You know who is to be on your team and what equipment
and materials you are acquiring to achieve project goals. In today’s business climate, it’s
rare for people to be assigned to one project from start to finish with no additional
responsibilities outside the scope of a single project. Sharing resources with other areas
of the organization or among several projects requires careful resource management to
ensure that the resource will be available to your project when it is needed.

Calendars
Project and resource calendars identify periods when work is possible. Project calendars
affect all resources (e.g., some projects are 24/7, while others work only during normal
business hours). Resource calendars affect a particular resource (e.g., a team member’s
personal schedule) or category of resources (e.g., work allowed by a union agreement).
The availability of a work resource throughout the project can be specified in a number
of ways:
• Set the work resource’s working days and times.
– What is the normal workweek for the resource?
– Scheduled time off (vacations, travel, holidays, etc.)
– Available substitutes
• Specify a work resource’s starting and ending dates for the project.
• Specify a work resource’s varying unit availability throughout the project. E.g., is
the resource available to the project 100% of the time for some period and 50%
for other periods?
Resource availability is commonly shown on a resource calendar. This is simply an
ordinary calendar that has additional information about when the resource will be
available for project work. Computer groupware programs such as Lotus Notes™ or
Microsoft Exchange™ allow people to share their calendar information with others.
Calendars for other resources or for people who do not have access to groupware can be
constructed manually and included in the project planner.

When compiling work calendars, be sure to allow adequate lead and lag times for the
resource. For example, a key person may agree to work on the project providing she is
given at least a week’s notice so she can reallocate her other work. Or there may be a
two-week lag from the time a piece of equipment is ordered until it is delivered, set up,
and ready to use. A place is provided in the Appendix for resource calendars (p. 211).

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