How do resource smoothing and resource leveling differ from each other?
Resource smoothing aims to maintain original project deadlines while increasing project costs. On the other hand, resource leveling does not alter the existing resource capacity but instead emphasizes rescheduling, which may have an impact on project deadlines.
The accompanying diagram, sourced from the APM Body of Knowledge, provides a comparison between the two approaches.
Resource levelling and smoothing options (APM, 2019, p. 179)
© Association for Project Management (APM) (2019) APM Body of Knowledge (7th edn), Princes Risborough: APM.
At a more significant level of impact, certain projects undergo more than just rescheduling or resource allocation adjustments. They may undergo a reevaluation of their project scope by the project sponsor. This involves a broader analysis of the entire project and requires reconsideration of how time, cost, and quality interact within the project.
A prime example is the review of large-scale infrastructure projects like railways. Such projects often undergo rescaling due to increased costs, resulting in significant deviations from the original plans. The consequences of these revisions can affect the client and a wider range of stakeholders and may even result in the loss of subsequent work opportunities (Kerzner, 2009, p. 529).
Now, let’s consider MTD, the water installation events company, and the Glasgow event that you have been following in the course videos thus far. When examining the provided figure, do you think it would be feasible to implement a resource leveling approach in this scenario?
Share your thoughts and join the discussion below.
© The Open University
Considering MTD water installation during the Glasgow event.
It won’t be feasible to implement a resource leveling approach in the scenario as it would affect the project deadline. MTD is a water installation event company which means they deal with strict deadlines from clients. The stakeholders of the events has already planned and are anticipating the commencement of their event and so it won’t be feasible to reschedule.
Considering MTD and the Glasgow event, it would not be feasible to implement a resource levelling approach in this scenario, as the MTD water installation project falls under a strict timeline of completion, with events and stakeholders already anticipating the date of completion. Therefore, it would be more feasible to implement a resource smoothing approach, as the timeline for completion would remain the same, even if there would be an increase in thee operating and running costs.
Using the MTD project, the best approach will be Resource Smoothing because it takes into account the fact that the project needs overtime to be able to meet up with schedule. Using the Resource levelling approach will be for when/if the time needed for is extended, which will have an effect on the project cost.
Applying a resource leveling strategy to MTD’s water installation events is definitely feasible, however it would not be as simple as it would be in a manufacturing scenario. In this instance, resources are individuals with various schedules and skill sets rather than tangible components or commodities that can easily moved about and assigned as needed. Nevertheless, there are still methods for allocating resources so that the business can achieve its objectives as effectively as possible.
Having an adequate supply of skilled labor accessible for every event is one technique to implement resource leveling. This can entail assembling a “resource pool” of laborers with diverse skill sets and assigning them to projects.
To illustrate the timeline of each event and identify potential conflicts before they become a problem, it would also be beneficial to think about utilizing a Gantt chart or other comparable tool. In addition, MTD can think about employing cross-training to make sure that several employees possess the abilities required for every event in the event that an employee becomes unavailably absent.
Resource smoothing aims to maintain original project deadlines while increasing project costs. On the other hand, resource leveling does not alter the existing resource capacity but instead emphasizes rescheduling, which may have an impact on project deadlines.
In this case scenario, resource smoothing is best option for MTD because deadline has been fixed and they need to deliver on the said date. They have to adhere strictly to the agreed time of delivery between them and the client.
With MTD’s project, resource levelling is not an option because this tampers with the project’s deadline which shouldn’t be as the project appears to be an emergency one, hence, resource smoothing is best, though with increased cost, experts are introduced at some point of the project, helping deliver the project within deadline and also delivering within the wanted capacity.
For the MTD project it can be feasible to use resource levelling. The Project is divided into sub projects and phases. As the phases progresses projects that match these resources are brought on board to perfectly execute the whole project on budget.
– Chijioke Obioma, Team 5, Cohort 13
For the MTD water installation event, opting for resource smoothing is the preferred approach over resource leveling. This choice is grounded in the recognition of MTD’s adherence to stringent project timelines, dictated by customer orders and the designated event schedule. Implementing the leveling approach, which involves altering the delivery timeline, carries the risk of adversely affecting the event. MTD’s project commencement and conclusion are intricately tied to the event timeline, making any adjustments to their timeline a potential disruptor to the overall event schedule. Therefore, it is advisable to invest in deploying additional resources, incurring increased costs, rather than compromising the timeline integrity for both MTD’s project and the overarching event timeline.
Olive Chiamaka Sadiq
Team 2
Cohort 13
For the MTD water installation event, opting for resource smoothing is the preferred approach over resource leveling. This choice is grounded in the recognition of MTD’s adherence to stringent project timelines, dictated by customer orders and the designated event schedule. Implementing the leveling approach, which involves altering the delivery timeline, carries the risk of adversely affecting the event. MTD’s project commencement and conclusion are intricately tied to the event timeline, making any adjustments to their timeline a potential disruptor to the overall event schedule. Therefore, it is advisable to invest in deploying additional resources, incurring increased costs, rather than compromising the timeline integrity for both MTD’s project and the overarching event timeline.
The discussion on the possibility of applying a resource leveling approach To the MTD water installation project
According to Usman Ghani (2022), Resource leveling is a project management technique that involves resolving over-allocation or scheduling conflicts to ensure a project can be completed with the available resources. Resources include the time, materials, or tools needed to complete a project. This definition concurred with the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) definition which states that resource leveling is a technique to help you (project managers) better accommodate resource constraints by adjusting the start and finish dates of a project. In doing so, you can make realistic project deadlines without overworking your team and increasing the total cost of the project. Given the above, it is safe to say that resource leveling is not an appropriate approach to the MTD issue. MTD is an organization with a global outlook and the water project is not a stand-alone project. The issue with the MTD project borders on resource augmentation which is the process of increasing the resources available to an organization to improve its performance or capabilities. This can include adding physical resources such as equipment or personnel, increasing access to financial resources, or investing in new technology
The issues with the water installation project are:
• The need for additional toilets
• Shortfall in the volume of water supplied
• The need to put an extra buffer in place
• The need to use water tankers as a contingency support
• Having an interface with the local authorities to increase the volume of water, and
• Adherence to the client’s timeline
The issues itemized above can be resolved using the resource smoothing approach, also known as time-constrained scheduling, it is a technique used to optimize resources to deliver a project without changing the delivery date. Smoothing will use free/total float and will not change the critical path. The constraints of using resource smoothing are:
• A possible delay in the completion of certain activities.
• Likely a demand for a few extra resources.
• The challenge of the activity dependencies not adequately changed
• A possible difficulty in adding more tasks or removing strain tasks.