Acquire Resources process in project management ( PMP ) is the process of getting the people, space, tools, materials, supplies, and other things you need to finish a job. The best thing about this process is that it clearly defines how to choose tools and assign them to the right tasks. During the job, this process is done as needed at different times. Figure below shows the process’s inputs, working tools and methods, and results.
The project’s resources can come from inside or outside the organization doing the project. Functional or resource managers are in charge of assigning internal resources. The procurement methods bring in outside resources.
Acquire Resources: Inputs
Project Management Plan
The following are some of the parts of a project management plan:
- The resource management plan tells you how to get the things you need for the job.
- There is information in the procurement management plan about resources that will be brought in from outside the project.
- The cost baseline tells us how much the whole job will cost.
Project Documents
It’s possible to use the following project documents as inputs for this process:
- The project schedule lists the tasks and when they are supposed to begin and stop. This helps you figure out when the resources need to be gathered and made available.
- There are lists of times when each resource needed for a project is available for that project on resource calendars.
- The resource requirements list the things that need to be bought.
- In the Acquire Resources method, the stakeholder register may show what resources stakeholders want or need for the project.
Enterprise Environmental Factors
Among other things, the following Enterprise Environmental factors can affect the Acquire Resources process:
- Existing information on organizational resources including availability and competence levels;
- Marketplace conditions;
- Organizational structure; and
- Geographic locations.
Organizational Process Assets
Some organizational process assets that can affect the Acquire Resources process are, but aren’t limited to, policies and methods for getting resources for the project, as well as a repository for historical information and lessons learned.
Acquire Resources: Tools And Techniques
Decision Making
In the Acquire Resources process in project management ( PMP ) , you can use decision-making tools like multicriteria decision analysis and selection criteria to choose real project resources or the project team. It is possible to rate or score possible resources (like deciding between internal and external team resources) using a multicriteria decision analysis tool. The criteria are given different weights based on how important they are, and these weights can be changed for different types of materials. Use these examples of choosing criteria:
- Availability
- Cost
- Ability
Interpersonal And Team Skills
You can use negotiation, among other social and team skills, in this process. A lot of projects have to negotiate to get the tools they need. in Acquire Resources process in project management ( PMP ) might have to talk to:
- Functional managers
- Other project management teams within the performing organization.
- External organizations and suppliers.
The project management team’s power to persuade others is a big part of figuring out how to divide up the resources. So are the politics of the groups involved. For instance, persuading a functional boss that the project is important may lead them to give the best resources to it instead of other projects that are competing for them.
Pre-assignment
It is called “pre-assignment” when the physical or team tools for a project are known ahead of time. You might find yourself in this situation if the project depends on the skills of certain people or if certain resources were identified as part of a competitive plan. Pre-assignment could also include team members who were already given jobs in the Develop Project Charter Process or other steps taken before the first Resource Management Plan was finished.
Virtual Teams
Using virtual teams opens up new ways to find people to join a project team. When people work together toward a common goal, they form virtual teams. These teams do their jobs without meeting in person very often. Technology like email, voice conferencing, social media, web-based meetings, and video conferencing has made it possible for people to work together virtually. Because of virtual teams, it’s possible to :
- Put together teams of people from the same company who live in different parts of the world;
- You can add someone with specialized knowledge to a project team even if they are not in the same area;
- Take on workers who do their jobs from home;
- Put together groups of people who work different days, hours, or shifts;
- Include people who can’t move around easily or who have problems;
In a virtual team setting, planning how to communicate becomes more and more important. Setting clear standards, making it easier to communicate, coming up with ways to settle disagreements, involving people in decision-making, understanding cultural differences, and sharing success may take more time.
Acquire Resources: Outputs
Physical Resource Assignments
There is documentation of the physical resource assignments that lists the materials, tools, supplies, places, and other physical resources that will be used for the job.
Project Team Assignments
Documentation of team duties keeps track of who is on the team and what their job is on the project. As part of the documentation, there may be a project team directory and names added to the project management plan for things like the project organization charts and dates.
Resource Calendars
A resource Calendars lists the working days, shifts, beginning and ending times of regular business hours, as well as weekends and public holidays, when each resource is available. To estimate resource utilization, you need to know what resources (like team resources, tools, and material) might be available during the time you want to do an activity.
Resource calendars also show what times and for how long the project’s identified team and real resources will be available. This data could be about a project or an action. This includes taking things like resource knowledge and/or skill level, as well as different places, into account.
Change Requests
There needs to be a change request from the project manager whenever the Acquire Resources process leads to changes (like the schedule changing) or when suggested corrective or preventative actions have an effect on any part of the project management plan or project documents. The Perform Integrated Change Control method takes change requests and reviews and decides what to do with them.
Project Management Plan Updates
People in the company have to fill out a change request for any changes they want to make to the project management plan. This process may lead to changes to parts of the project management plan, such as, but not limited to:
- Resource management plan
- Cost baseline
Project Documents Updates
Because of Acquire Resources process in project management ( PMP ) , project documents like, but aren’t limited to, the following may be updated:
- Lessons learned register
- Project schedule
- Resource breakdown structure
- Resource requirement
- Risk register
- Stakeholder register
Enterprise environmental factors Updates
Updated enterprise environmental factors include, but aren’t limited to, the amount of used consumable resources and the resources that are available within the company.
Organizational Process Assets Updates
The Acquire Resources process updates organizational process assets such as documents about getting, assigning, and allocating resources.
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