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Resource Calendar

5 minutes 5 Questions

A resource calendar is a visual tool used in project management to track resource availability and allocation. It displays resource work patterns, including working hours and non-working days, such as vacation days and holidays. Resource calendars help project managers identify potential resource conflicts and optimize resource assignments across tasks, ensuring that the project gets the right amount of labor, equipment, and materials needed to complete tasks on schedule. Updating and maintaining resource calendars allows project managers to make informed decisions about resource allocation, resulting inmore accurate project timelines and budgets, and improved productivity.

Guide to Resource Calendar per PMBOK Guide 7th Edition

Introduction: The Resource Calendar refers to a schedule documenting the availability, capability, and capacity of the resources that are required for project tasks. It's a significant tool in project management that helps in making efficient utilization of resources.

Importance: A Resource Calendar is vital to project management as it aids in managing the availability of physical and human resources, maintains better cost control of the project, and prevents over-allocation or under-utilization of resources.

Functioning: It indicates when and how long a specific resource, such as a team member or a piece of equipment, is available to work on project activities. In creating a resource calendar, it is necessary to consider elements like working hours, public holidays, vacations, and resource skill sets.

Exam tips: When addressing Resource Calendar questions on a PMP exam, be aware that the Resource Calendar is usually created after the project schedule. Remember, it serves to adjust the project schedule to fit the availability of resources. Also, it is helpful to familiarize yourself with practical examples of how Resource Calendar can be implemented. Particularly understand scenarios of resource over-allocation and strategies to rectify such situations.

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PMP - Resource Allocation Example Questions

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Question 1

Two project team members are unavailable for one week due to a company-wide training session. Which is the correct action for the project manager to take in this situation?

Correct Answer: Update the resource calendar to indicate that the two team members are unavailable and plan around their absence.

Whenever there's a change in resource availability, the resource calendar should be updated to reflect these changes. This allows the project manager to plan around this absence and take necessary preventive actions to ensure that the project stays on track. Proceeding with the project schedule without adjusting for the unavailability of the team members disregards the fact that two team members are unavailable which can create unwanted risks and delays. Asking the team members to work extra hours before and after the training session can overwork team members and lead to exhaustion or burnout, which could hamper their overall productivity. Postponing the whole project because of the unavailability of two members is not a productive approach as it could cause unnecessary delays in the project timeline and could be problematic for other stakeholders.

Question 2

A project manager recently started a new project and is working with the human resources department to assign a specific technician. They discover the technician is available only during 50% of the required hours. Which is the best solution?

Correct Answer: Update the resource calendar to show the limited availability and allocate additional resources as required.

The best solution in such a scenario is to 'Update the resource calendar to show the limited availability and allocate additional resources as required.' The project manager should consider the technician's available hours and plan accordingly. If the required hours are more than what the technician can provide, additional resources should be allocated to ensure the project continues to progress efficiently. The other options are not ideal. Ignoring the technician's limited availability and demanding their full time is not realistic, as it goes against the technician's availability. On the other hand, making another technician completely available may not always be achievable due to potential constraints in resource availability. Lastly, decreasing the overall project scope to fit within the technician's limited availability can adversely affect the project's outcome and does not address the issue of resource allocation.

Question 3

A holiday was declared by the government, and it falls on a crucial project milestone delivery date. As a project manager, how should you modify the resource calendar?

Correct Answer: Update the resource calendar to reflect the holiday and reschedule the milestone delivery date.

The best course of action is to 'Update the resource calendar to reflect the holiday and reschedule the milestone delivery date.'. This approach ensures that all team members are aware of the sudden holiday and the date change to the crucial project milestone. This will also aid in future planning. Ignoring the holiday and asking the team to work does not respect their entitlement to time off and may result in decreased morale and productivity. Likewise, rescheduling the milestone but not updating the resource calendar could lead to confusion and misinformation, as team members might not be informed about the change. And simply informing the client about the holiday but keeping the same milestone delivery date could escalate to a situation where the client's expectations are not met, which could be detrimental to the relationship.

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