07 Activity 2

1. Client: “We want a completed project by next month.”

You: “Can you give us some details about exactly what you need in the project deliverable?
Client: “You understand what we want. Just deliver that.”

Requirements aren’t detailed enough

Even if you have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish at the conclusion of the project,
having well-defined requirements and outcomes is essential. Because enumerating precise
needs from clients or the team might be challenging, project managers may make this error to
get started quickly. This allows you to construct a detailed project plan. However, without
defined needs, creating a project plan and appropriately allocating resources might be
challenging. Your team may map a route that misses a crucial customer demand. This implies
you’ll have to go back and modify your work at some point during the process, with the prospect
of having to rewrite a substantial section of the project after the first deadline has passed. Your
plans are wrecked.

2. You: “Ok, team. Phase 1 is due by next Monday. It is important. Let’s do it.” No further
information.

Failing to United the Team

A properly expressed project intent is necessary in addition to a clear set of project criteria. The
project and its relevance are not properly defined and conveyed to the team, which is a typical
mistake. While the project manager may be aware of the project’s value, it must be
communicated to the team. It’s crucial to have a good communication plan in place so that
everyone in the team is aware of what’s going on. Before you begin resource scheduling in
project management, you should understand why the project is significant, what the major
objectives are, and how it will benefit the firm.

3. You: “How long will it take to finish phase 1?”

Team member: “I don’t know. Maybe 3 days.”
You: “Sounds good!”

Time estimates that aren’t well-founded

Project management is incomplete without time management. The project will fail without it,
regardless of what resource scheduling software or project plan you have. Time estimations that
are not well based are a typical time management mistake. These estimates will be used to
allocate resources and establish timeframes. If the projections are inaccurate, there is a
substantial chance of time and expense overruns.

4. Client: “I know you said you won’t be done with this phase until Monday, but we really need it
by Thursday. What do you have to do to get it to us by then?”
You (checking plan which shows this is impossible): “I really don’t think we can do that”
 Client: “Just get it done.”
You: “Ok”.

Pressure causes inaccurate time estimates.

Keeping with the topic of time estimates, giving false timetables owing to customer or
management pressure is a typical error. Of course, everyone wants to finish their projects as fast
as possible, but underestimating time to provide consumers optimistic predictions can only
cause problems with your project resource scheduling and lead to disappointment. This blunder
raises concerns about risk management and time management. You will not only upset your
overall project strategy, but you will also destroy your customer relationships and trust if you
offer a deliverable by an unreasonable date.

5. Client: “When will the project be done?”

You: “If everything goes according to plan, we will have the project complete in 3 weeks. So…3
weeks.”

There isn’t any formal risk management strategy.

When a company has a risk management plan in place, it is more than 50% more likely to
succeed than if it uses an ad hoc approach. The development of a comprehensive risk
management strategy at the outset of a project is crucial. Every project entails some amount of
risk. It’s conceivable that the availability of some resources is in doubt. Your resource
management will suffer if you don’t. There are no strategies in place to address this threat. Your
time estimates should include these risk assessments. Other risks, such as unrealistic timetables
or scope adjustments, should be considered as part of your risk management approach. This
ensures that you are aware of any prospective concerns, which you can then factor into your
resource allocation.

6. Project Teammate: “The equipment we had scheduled for this week is down for emergency
Maintenance. We’re going to have to shift the deadline on this phase.”
You: “I’m tired of excuses. I don’t care what delays there are – I want this delivered on time.”

Refusal to Change
We plan for a purpose, yet issues may always happen during your project. Being adaptive is
essential for dealing with problems and being successful. This flexibility should be evident
throughout the project, not just in the schedule. Make judgments on your process, team,
resources, strategy, and software, but keep some wiggle space in mind. Another scheduling
approach may function better or be more suitable with specific parts of the project. Adjustments
in resource availability may demand plan changes. Clients or team members may give you
negative feedback. Pay attention to their advice and take it on board. You might want to stick to
Your original strategy. People learn new things and receive fresh ideas as the project proceeds,
which might help them better comprehend the project. This can help you stay on track, avoid
difficulties in the future, and make team members feel like they’re contributing more.
7. You: “Next week, we begin phase 2. Bob is in charge of that part of the project, so go to him
for direction on Monday.”
Team Member: “Bob is leaving for a trip to Palawan this weekend with his family. He won’t be
here next week.”

Tracking Time Off Incorrectly

Resource scheduling in project management requires knowing what resources you have access
to at certain times. There will always be unknowns regarding which resources you will have
access to and when they will be accessible, but it is vital to account for what you do know. One
of the most common mistakes managers make when designing a strategy is incorrectly recording
time off. This mostly refers to project participants, but it may also apply to machinery,
computational resources, and physical places. As the project evolves, it’s vital to account for
when a resource may be unavailable.

8. You: “Next week, we have two offsite representatives coming in for a two-day meeting on the
current phase of the project. We will be meeting in the big conference room because it’s the
only space that will fit all of us.”
Bob: “That room is taken for meetings with a big new client next week. We can’t have our
meeting there.”

Failure to Set Aside Required Resources

Developing a project plan requires knowing which resources you’ll need and when you’ll need
them. Reserving them, on the other hand, is a distinct procedure. Failure to make those
reservations is a resource scheduling issue that can lead to irritation and delays. To support this,
your business must have resource scheduling systems in place. It’s possible that this is a function
of your project management software or an online resource scheduling system. These
technologies make it easier to reserve resources such as rooms, equipment, or people, as well as
to keep track of when others have done so to avoid disputes.

9. Work Estimator: “I’ve seen projects kind of like this before, so I think it will probably take 30
hours of work to get this part of the project done”
Meanwhile…
Work Implementer to her team: “There are a couple of really tricky things in this project. They
only gave us 30 hours, but it will take more like 40”

Poor estimations for implementation

For resource planning and scheduling, accurate predictions of how long each step of a project
will take are critical. People may begin predicting times for elements of the project that they are
not working on after a while. Even with the best of intentions and prior information, this can
lead to erroneous estimations and schedule disruptions.
10. You: “There are three major meetings we need to have at the beginning of this project: an all-
hands general kickoff meeting for everyone to meet and discuss our goals, a designers
meeting, and a managers meeting.”
Your online resource scheduling system:
Monday: Manager Meeting
Tuesday: Designers Meeting
Wednesday: All Hands Meeting

Dependencies Undefined
Poor communication and an inadequate evaluation of the risks connected with any project can
lead to mistakes. When there is a lack of understanding of the time required for each component
of a project and how each component interacts with one another, resource issues are easy to
arise. Most of these errors can be avoided with clear communication, explicit descriptions of the
requirements, and system connections. Endeavor, as well as the adaptability to deal with the
inevitable adjustments that will occur along the route.