Resource Scheduling
Resource scheduling in project management is the process by which a set of actions and methods are utilized by a company to effectively match the necessary resources the tasks and projects that require them to see a job through to completion. The other part of resource scheduling that is important to keep in mind is that the project manager must also take into account when the resources will be available and thus schedule project tasks accordingly. For instance, if a task is scheduled before the resources are actually available for the workers, time will be lost and the project will be delayed. A better use of time would be to schedule those parts of the project that can be completed with the resources available and then to proceed to the parts of the project that can be completed when the other resources become ready for use. Projects thus do not have to proceed in a linear fashion and can be broken up into parts depending upon what is needed when and where (Project Management Institute, 2017). Different factors can come into play in various scenarios: for example, some resources may depend upon independent contractors arriving with the needed materials or on workers finishing an assembly; they may depend on equipment that is being used for a different project (and thus project managers must communicate with one another to know when equipment is available and when it is not). It can depend upon rooms and facilities being open for usage or being closed because of maintenance, repair...
In short, there are many variables that must be considered when scheduling resources in project management (Larson & Gray, 2014).
The benefits of resource scheduling are that it allows for a project to proceed in a time efficient manner. Projects can be implemented in stages with various parts going ahead with the resources that are available so long as these stages do not depend upon an earlier stage in the process being completed. The essence of this benefit is that it allows projects to be proportioned and divided into independent parts so that the whole operation is not stalled because of specific resources that are not yet obtained. The challenges associated with resource scheduling are that communication has to be operating at a high level and the project manager must have a good understanding of the project overview so that it can be understand what parts of the project can be started and what must be held off while time permits.
Two methods that can be useful in resource scheduling are cloud computing (Zhan, Liu, Gong et al., 2015; Singh & Chana, 2016) and day-ahead resource scheduling Zamani, Zakariazadeh & Jadid, 2016). Cloud computing resource scheduling method is helpful because it allows all project managers and stakeholders to have access to and see the same data so that messaging and communication can be more easily conducted. Cloud computing better facilitates the raising of awareness among stakeholders and allows everyone…
