A project resource is any asset that is needed to complete a project. Resources are usually classified as people resources or physical resources.
People resources refer to the actual people doing the project work, managing the project, advising, or assisting. This includes knowledge and skillsets as well as the budget and time necessary to complete tasks.
Physical resources are all the non-human resources needed such as goods, materials, equipment, software, and licenses.
Developed in the planning stages of a project, a resource management plan should describe how project resources are acquired, allocated, monitored, and controlled. Additional planning for physical resources might include lead time, delivery, storage, inventory, disposition, and other logistics. Environmental sustainability and the organization’s use of materials and natural resources are more considerations.
Like scope, schedule, and budget, resources are estimated during planning and then continuously managed throughout the project. Any adverse event, risk, or change to a project will affect the triple constraint and thus resources will have to be adjusted. For example, if a project needs to be delivered sooner, additional resources are needed to meet that delivery. If the project’s budget is suddenly cut, resources may be cut or positioned differently.
There is always an implicit or deliberate intention to minimize the waste of resources and maximize the value of the project deliverable.
Want to learn more about Project Management? See my Project MGMT publication for these 30 key PM topics:
Projects, lifecycle, management, manager, methodologies, the triangle, stakeholders, deliverable, team, charter, scope, budget, schedule, planning, baselining, milestones, dependencies, resources, risk, procurement, communication, ceremonies, integration, backlog, whiteboard, closure, software tools, office(r), code of ethics, body of knowledge
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