Resource Allocation, Smoothing and Cost Schedules

Lecture slides on resource allocation as the review and modification of the ideal activity plan, which revises stage or project completion dates and produces the activity schedule, the resource schedule and the cost schedule. Covers the identification of resource requirement by taking each activity in turn and listing what it needs against the expected level of demand, the uneven histogram that results and the smoothing required, since a profile that demands more of a resource than is available cannot stand, and the two smoothing devices of adjusting start dates and splitting activities. Explains priority rules for resource-limited work, activities that could proceed simultaneously being ordered by simple criteria such as shortest critical activity first, and the Burman priority list, then the human side of allocating individuals by availability, criticality, risk and training. Closes on the cost schedule and its categories of staff cost, salary and overheads, and team building.