From the course: Project Management Foundations: Schedules

Replace overallocated resources - Microsoft Project Tutorial

From the course: Project Management Foundations: Schedules

Replace overallocated resources

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- [Instructor] Another way to balance workloads is to reassign work to other people who have more time available. Replacing resources not only reduces over allocations you can also use this approach to shorten the schedule. This method works only if you have other people with the right skills available. First, look at the people who are over-allocated on your project. For example, the graphic designer is over-allocated working on screenshots and illustrations at the same time. Then, see if there are people with the same skills to take on some of the over-allocated assignments. Depending on the constraints on your project or your company, you can consider other employees, contractors or third-party vendors. If you find people with the right skills who are available at the right time, go ahead and start the procurement process as soon as you can. Once you're sure you have the replacements lined up, change your schedule to reassign the over-allocated work. In this example, say, you find an illustrator to handle the training guide illustrations. Now the graphic designer can work on screenshots while the illustrator works on illustrations. Be sure to let your over-allocated resource know you've gotten them some help. The upside to this approach is significant. The work you reassign occurs when it was originally scheduled. This approach looks like it won't increase the length of the project, but that isn't always the case. Here are some considerations to keep in mind when procuring replacement resources. Replacements could be less experienced so they might take longer to complete the work. They could deliver lower quality or they could need support from the very people you're trying to offload. If you find skilled replacements, they could come with a higher price tag. When you're on the hunt for replacements, scrutinize their abilities and costs. When you come up with options, evaluate them to see which one is most appropriate for your project. If a replacement will take longer, do a what if change to your schedule to see if reassigning the work is better than other options. If the replacement costs more, calculate the extra cost to see if it fits within the project budget. Suppose Jane Salvez is overloaded on her first writing assignment in the sample project. One option is to look for another writer to take over. Another option is to look for someone who can help her. In this example, no other writers are available. However, you find an intern who can track down design documents, test the written instructions and make minor edits. Reassigning work to other people is a great way to balance workloads, usually without lengthening the schedule but it works only if you have additional resources with the right skills available.

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