What is resource leveling

The critical path - This method is used to calculate the minimum duration of the project. It estimates the early start and finish dates for the activities and the late start and finish dates of the activities without considering the resource limitations. Critical Chain Method - This process adds the duration buffers to the critical path and the feeder process. It adds dummy activity to balance the overall path.

Pure Resource leveling - This is the technique that is used to straightway balance the available resources with the demand of the resources. Resource smoothing - It is similar to leveling in which there are specified limits to the resource requirements. For example, if a resource is required for 47 hours for the first 3 weeks and 22 hours for the next 2 weeks the resource smoothing will "smooth" the process for 38 hours per week for the 5-week duration.

Fast Tracking and crashing - There are 2 procedures used in emergencies such as Fast-tracking and Crashing. At this point, we recommend each and everyone who has read this article to go and explore more in learning and get a PMP certification.

StarAgile is a training partner for PMI to provide online training for the professionals in this area. StarAgile has excellent consultants to train professionals. To enquire about the training and for registrations click on the links provided in this article. Drop Your Query. Get A Coupon Code. Select Classroom Live Virtual online. What else do I need? Search APM. Home Resources Find a Resource Difference between 'resource smoothing' and 'resource levelling'.

Posted in Project controls. Join APM. Using Project Dashboards. What are Timesheets? Why Do We Need Timesheets? What is Human Resource Planning? What is resource leveling on a project? Filing as a Professional Service Corporation. After using resource leveling to resolve overallocation conflicts, you can use resource smoothing to even out the project schedule. To make the most out of limited resources, you can use the resource leveling technique to distribute available resources to help projects finish on time.

Use this strategy in tandem with customized templates for your team, such as IT templates or marketing templates , to plan and schedule your projects.

Resource leveling relies on having solid resource management skills, but work management software can help you take your project coordination to the next level.

Resources Project planning What is resource leveling? What is resource leveling? Depending on your team needs, here are possible outcomes: If the goal is to keep the current project deadline, more resources may need to be made available. When to use resource leveling Resource leveling prevents resources from being spread too thin while ensuring projects still have what they need to succeed.

To optimize your resources Resource leveling lets you get the most out of the resources you have on hand. To minimize deficits Resource leveling prevents significant project delays, thereby minimizing the losses in costs and labor. To prevent task overloading Overallocation of resources leads to overwork , which can be overwhelming for team members. To ensure the quality of a project output Leveling allows you to manage both resources and client expectations by maintaining the same level of quality for project deliverables.

Example two: Obtaining additional resources The IT team has been responding to a large number of IT requests to deal with a virus that infected company computers. Try our daily standup meeting template Project resource leveling Adding project resource leveling to your arsenal of skills will help you become a more effective leader.

Fast tracking There are times when projects must be delivered on or before the deadline to satisfy client requirements. Critical chain method The critical chain method is an updated version of the critical path method.

Read: How to prioritize your most important work Resource leveling tools Resource leveling will become easier with more experience. Here are some tips for making more precise estimates: Make estimations in a team to reduce personal biases Include potential project risks in the estimation process Estimate in ranges rather than specific values to cover a wider set of possibilities Use the same estimation technique each time to yield more consistent estimates The better the initial resource estimates, the less drastic the resource leveling will be if issues occur later on.

Resource leveling vs. Try work management software. Related resources.