I once experienced a project horror story wherebya piece of equipment was snowed in at a previous project, delaying the project by several weeks until a transport vehicle could get to the stranded machine. Since there are relatively few of these around, the project either had to wait or additional costs had to be incurred to procure another one.
Managing these types of project resource issues are part of the day to day work of a project manager. Questions like: Is the resource up to the task? Is its production level adequate? Is it prone to malfunction? Is it available at the right time?
To make sure you’ll never experience the horror stories that I have, here is a comprehensive list of project resources.
- Labor
- Tools
- Equipment
- Materials
- Steel
- Concrete
- Wood
- Plastic
- Brick
- Cloth
- Gravel
- Chemicals
- Supplies
- Software
- Database
- Cell phone
- Laptop or iPad
- Vehicle
- Shipping vehicle
- Boat, plane, etc.
- Packaging materials
- Office supplies
- Marketing material
- Measuring devices
- Work clothing
- Rain or cold weather gear
- Thermometer
- Heating / cooling equipment
- Environmental mitigation supplies
- Safety supplies
- Air quality
- Poison
- Burn hazards
- Fall hazards
- Materials testing
- Construction equipment
- Excavator
- Compactor
- Dump truck
- Crane
- Asphalt paver
- Welding machine
- Surveying equipment
- Fence
- Doors, windows, carpet, etc.
- Paint and painting supplies
- Inspection reports
- Design reports
Do you have any others to add? Let us all know in the comments.
About Bernie Roseke, P.Eng., PMP
Bernie Roseke, P.Eng., PMP, is the president of Roseke Engineering. As a bridge engineer and project manager, he manages projects ranging from small, local bridges to multi-million dollar projects. He is also the technical brains behind ProjectEngineer, the online project management system for engineers. He is a licensed professional engineer, certified project manager, and six sigma black belt. He lives in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, with his wife and two kids.
