{"id":2689,"date":"2014-10-27T08:29:24","date_gmt":"2014-10-27T08:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cmwlab.com\/blog\/?p=2689"},"modified":"2025-04-15T08:47:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T08:47:23","slug":"short-guide-for-project-managers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cmwlab.com\/blog\/short-guide-for-project-managers\/","title":{"rendered":"Workload Management Made Easier: A Short Guide for Project Managers"},"content":{"rendered":"Overworked and confused employees eventually become unproductive<\/a>, even resentful employees. To avoid overwhelming employees with too much workload and task conflicts, thereby destroying morale, workload management must be in order. This begins with proper resource allocation and identifying the issues that must be addressed to optimize resource and workload management.\r\n

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\r\n\"CMW<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\"Guide\r\n\r\n

Workload management issues in a nutshell<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\nResource allocation<\/i><\/b>\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nResource allocation is defined by PM Hut\u2019s PMO and Project Management Dictionary as the scheduling of activities and allotment of resources required by those activities to meet the constraints of resource and project time availability.\r\n\r\n

\r\n\r\nAs for the types of resources, Education Portal defines these to include things such as labor, tools and equipment, technology, machinery, real estate, and natural and financial resources. The goal of resource allocation is to assign a company\u2019s available resources in the most economic way possible.\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nIn this article\u2019s case, the resources are people, and workload management refers to proper workload allocation for optimum project performance.\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nTo begin the resource allocation process, the project manager first needs to answer three crucial questions regarding:\r\n\r\n\r\n
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  1. Deliverable<\/i><\/b><\/li>\r\n\r\nWhat are the client\u2019s issues\/problems? What does the client need\/want? Answering these questions will help you to determine the deliverables and the scope of work, which, according to Enterprise PM, sets the precedent for further planning.\r\n\r\n\t
  2. Time<\/i><\/b><\/li>\r\n\r\nWhat are the client\u2019s deadlines? Establishing deadlines helps to delineate the time available to get the project done, which then dictates how long each task\/sub-task should get done vis-\u00e0-vis how long they can actually get done.\r\n\r\n\t
  3. Workload<\/i><\/b><\/i><\/b><\/li>\r\n\r\nHow many people will you need? Who are the best people to handle each task? Are they available? If not, when? And how much more tasks can they take on? Determining the human resources available to handle tasks and how much they can handle without negatively affecting the project\u2019s time limits is best done before delegating. After which, you can move on to formulating the best people-tasks combination to maximize performance and workforce usage.\r\n\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIn Gary Chin\u2019s Project Management for the Accidental Project Manager slide presentation, he enumerates three things needed to create a schedule: tasks, durations, and predecessors. To properly allocate resources and workload, you will need to identify these, as well as define them.\r\n\r\n

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