1. Ken Delcol PMP, PEng
Project World Toronto 2012
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2.  Attendees will leave with an alternative
approach for implementing resource planning
in their organization.
◦ Identify key areas that need to be addressed when
developing a resource plan
◦ Identify pitfalls to be avoided when developing a
resource planning process
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3.  Learning Objectives
 Introduction to Psion
 Why resource planning is important
 The Problem
 The Journey
◦ First Pass
◦ Second Pass
 A new Way
◦ How do we plan?
◦ Setting up to do resource planning
 Recommendations
 Take Away
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4. Omnii WORKABOUT PRO 3 IKÔN
Our most modular Flexible, adaptable Rugged PDA, ideal for
rugged product with Mobile Computer for a mobile delivery, field
dozens of flexible
variety of applications service and more
options
NEO 7535 7530
IP65, rugged mobile Ultra-rugged to operate
For light industrial, computer suited to in freezers and other
retail data collection the toughest extreme environments
environments
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5. 8515 8525 8530
Small form-factor
IP66 and hardened against extreme
computer for use where
temperatures, for use onboard fork trucks
space is an issue
any place from warehouses to ports and
beyond
8580 8590
Full PC Power running WindowsTM XP, with
the rugged reliability and flexibility of a
VMT
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6. Psion is a leading global manufacturer of Rugged Handheld and Vehicle-
Mounted Computers, with a rich history of mobile innovation
SUPPLY CHAIN & BUSINESS &
LOGISTICS ENTERPRISE MOBILITY
Including… Including…
Air, Ports & Rail Field Service &
Yards Asset Management
1980 Cold Chain 199 Courier & Postal
8
Warehouses & Retail & Direct Store
Distribution Delivery
Centers
…And Many More! …And Many More!
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7.  Profits and growth are driven by new products
◦ The key is knowing when to commit to new projects
 Standing Assumption
 Psion is people constrained, not expense/capital
constrained
◦ Resource Planning Requires
 Identification of resource supply and demand issues well
in advance
 Clear, consistent, reliable
 Cross-functional process for allocation of resources to
projects
 Single, reliable and well-understood
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8.  Executives were not confident they could start a
new project because
◦ No consistency in resource planning approach
 Executives constantly changing the way they view the world
 Project, project types, product, portfolio, program, etc
 Functional managers with their own personal view towards
resource planning
 Fiscal planning rate and hours varied across departments
 Inconsistent definition of what work needs to be planned vs
not planned
◦ Multitasking of resources across various projects with no
 Visibility
 Clarity on priorities
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9.  2007 and earlier
◦ Solution Characteristics
 Excel
 Functional orientation
 Challenges
◦ No cross-functional coordination
 Reinforced “functional silo’s”
 No single fully integrated plan for a project
◦ Spreadsheet nightmare
 Everyone else’s spreadsheet is wrong!
 Project estimates ≠ Functional estimates
 No concept of supply and demand
 People are allocated based on availability
 Updating nightmare
 Done once a year
 Does not support changing business needs
 Time to run a what if scenario – 5 to 7 days
 Painful to set up

10.  IT to the rescue with MS Project Server
◦ Common resource database and project definition!!
◦ Initial introduction of supply and demand
 Challenges
◦ Batch operation – cube build time
◦ Updates take a long time
 Individual projects hold the information
◦ What if scenarios both for budgeting and resources
still required Excel
◦ Product stability issues
◦ People are allocated based on availability rather
than demand
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11.  Psion was no further ahead based on the first
two attempts
◦ General feeling was we did not have the right tool!
 A new tool will solve everything!!!!
 Sound familiar??
◦ A third attempt was to be made …
◦ However a decision was made to view the problem
from a different perspective
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12.  Split the solution to resource
planning into three areas
◦ Key Goal: simplicity in execution and
maintenance
Easy to solve  Tool Selection
 Touched on briefly in this presentation
 Tool Configuration/Set Up
 Tool and organization dependent
 Topic of interest for this presentation
Most difficult to solve
 How are you going to use the tool
 People and process dependent
 Tool Independent
 Topic of interest for this presentation
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13.  Three solution areas
◦ 1) Tool Selection
 A common resource and project pool that is shared
across all projects with live data
 No files, no separation, no batch manipulation of data!
 Its all about the tool’s features
 This is where everyone spends their time and money
◦ 2) Tool Configuration/Set Up
 How the organization fundamentally structures work and
resources
 A necessary evil of a tool
 People want to minimize the time and the money spent here
 This is for the IT gurus not for the real people doing work!
 This attitude is what gets the organization into trouble.
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14.  Three solution areas (Continued)
◦ 3) How are you going to use the tool
 How the organization plans resources i.e. a common
lexicon, level of detail, and approach
 The tool can help to support once the process is understood.
 Nobody wants to spend time here since its about getting
agreements on how to do work!!
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15.  Integrated Database Solution
◦ P6 v7.8 has the capability with real time results
 Major Concern
◦ How do we use P6 without creating a monster!
 Drive for simplicity1 and clarity of process and data
 Psion does not have an army of planners!
◦ Psion company characteristics
 Functional Managers like to be in control
 Make things complex
 Stress the uniqueness of their function over others
1 Einstein: “Everything should be made as simple as possible …
but no simpler.”
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16.  Started with how you fundamentally organize
your projects when doing work and NOT how
you want to analyze them
◦ Structure is repeated over and over across other
systems
◦ Core to the business
 Allows for easier maintenance
 For Psion work is organized by the product and then the
projects
◦ How you analyze your projects will constantly evolve!
◦ Organizing structure in P6 is called the EPS node
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17. Overview of EPS Node New Product
Development
Projects
Resource-Constrained
(non-development)
Projects
High-level multi-year
portfolio / project view
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18.  How do you want to analyze your projects?
◦ Set project characteristics at the project level
 Project characteristics flow down to the resources and the tasks
 Avoids specialized resource groups and task classifications
 Slice and dice the projects for analysis
 Highly configurable
◦ P6 Solution are Project Codes
 Limited the number – total 9
 Focused on the key ways the business is analyzed
 Code headings include
 Project Status
 Product Type that the project is associated with
 Project Type
 Project Complexity
 Business Line
 Estimate Accuracy
 Project Scope
 Time Collection Enable Flag
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19.  Resource Structure
◦ Goal: create a common structure for all functional
groups
◦ Roles
 Starting with job titles and pay bands
 Psion had 96 roles for 191 people
 Reduced to 14 roles across Engineering, Operations and
Marketing
 Five core roles of – Manger, Specialist, Functional Lead,
Management, Generic
 Introduce generic planning role
 Used for medium- and long- term planning
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20. Functional Grp ABC Functional Generic
Manager – FG.ABC
Functional-Role
Group Lead – FG.ABC Generic
Joe
Sue
Specialist– FG. ABC
Karen
Frank Resource
Bob
Specific
Deb

21.  Resource Structure
◦ Goal: create a common structure for all functional
groups
 Identify resource characteristics that are used to
analyze/group people independent of project and
functional group e.g. locations, company, etc
 Highly configurable
◦ P6 Solution - Resource Codes
 Used in place of roles
 Reduces the number of roles by avoiding specialized groups
 Allows for classifications to be introduced
 Provides cross-functional group analysis
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22. Overview of Resource Role + Codes
Role
(Primary)
Resource Codes
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23.  Provide standard views and reports to promote
consistency
◦ Overview
 Overload and under-load reports
◦ Assignment
 Functional
 Person, Project
 Project, Person
 Project
 Function, Person
◦ Key Message
 Everybody uses the same views and reports for resource
allocations, over/under loading
 PMO creates custom reports on as needed basis
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28.  Calendars
◦ Global vs Project vs Resource
 Provide a board suite of global calendars
 Avoid project and resource specific calendars
 Too much maintenance work
 Time
◦ Need to understand the number of hours in a year,
week, month and its impact when calculating FTEs
 Project Settings
◦ Agree on how progress is tracked when using
resources
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31.  Goal
◦ Define resource demand at the appropriate levels of
detail through the life-cycle of a project
◦ Describe resources in the supply pool to enable
matching of supply to demand most effectively
 Approach
◦ Develop a rolling wave planning philosophy for
resources - labour, expense and capital
◦ Foster collaborative planning – force the
discussions
 Clear communication of demand/supply
requirements and status
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32. Planning Horizon
Today +3 mths +6 +9 +12 +15 +18 +21 > 24 mths
Projects
Active
Legend
Functional Generic
Function-Role Generic
+ Resource Specific
Resource Specific
Projects
Planned
Active Projects:
BudgetaryProjects: in progress
Planned Projects are
 Projects:
Projects Short-term (0-3PDV Resource demand
 are included in mths)
 Projects are approved to proceed
Budgetary
budgetary expressed as Resource Specific
is not yet not yet
Projects
but have plans – started
approved to proceed
 Resource demand estimated toResource demand
 Longer-term (>3 mths)
 Resourceis planned at Functional-Role Generic
Functional-Role Generic level,
demand estimated to
Functional Generic level Resourcethe Resource
and, selectively toselectively at
level, and, the
Specific level level
Specific
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33. Step 1: Project Managers …
Step 2: Functional Managers …
 review and confirm resource
demand  review and confirm resources
for Planning Horizon; planned for all Projects in
Planning Horizon;
 identify supply issues in Planning
Horizon
November Planning Horizon
Week-1 Week-2 Week-3 Week-4 Dec Jan Feb
Step 3: PMO …
Step 4: PMO …
 identifies Resource Management Step 5: PMO …
planning issues during Planning  convenes meeting to
Horizon: resolve Resource  transfer timesheet
Management planning actuals into planning
 Generic resources not assigned; and scheduling tool
issues identified in
 Specific resources over- Step 3.
assigned.
 communicates these issues to PM’s
and FM’s

34.  What about non-development project work?
◦ Solution
 Level of Effort and/or Constrained project
 Overhead
 R&D – floating time lines
 Sustaining – capped with designated specific resources
 Few people are actually allocated to the projects
 Anyone can charge to the project for unplanned work
 How do you show long term demand??
◦ Generic Resource
 What about unplanned work in a project?
◦ Activity to capture the hours between time reports
 Adjust schedules once identified
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35. Resource Assignment view – by Person and Project
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36. High-level Resource Demand vs. Supply view
Department shows planned
available capacity
Department shows planned
over-allocation of resources
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37. High-level Resource Supply – Graphical View (1)
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38. High-level Resource Supply – Graphical View (2)
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39. High-level Resource Supply – Graphical View (3)
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40.  Need to take your time and think about
◦ How resources are planned and tracked
 Independent of your tool
◦ How the organization is fundamentally organized
to do project work
 Then look at how projects are analyzed
◦ How resources are structured
◦ How subtleties are going to be dealt with
 Need a consistent and simple approach when dealing
with exceptions
◦ Selecting a tool that gives access to live data
 NO batch operations
◦ Always keeping it simple
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41.  Attendees will leave with an alternative
approach for implementing resource planning
in their organization.
◦ Identify key areas that need to be addressed when
developing a resource plan
◦ Identify pitfalls to be avoided when developing a
resource planning process
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42.  This presentation has focused at dispelling
the misguided belief in a be-all-and-end-all
technical solution.
◦ Rather you were provided an alterative approach
that is based on:
 Balancing human processes/behaviours vs. tool-based
capabilities, and
 Built on a foundation of simplicity and clarity.
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