Plan for necessary resources to perform the project.

Defining project resources (e.g., labor, machinery/equipment, materials, and methods) and quantities needed to perform project activities, builds on the initial estimates and provides additional information that can be applied to expand the WBS used to manage the project.

The top-level WBS developed earlier as an estimation mechanism is typically expanded by decomposing these top levels into work packages that represent single work units that can be separately assigned, performed, and tracked. This subdivision is done to distribute management responsibility and provide better management control.

Each work package or work product in the WBS should be assigned a unique identifier (e.g., number) to permit tracking. A WBS can be based on requirements, activities, work products, or a combination of these items. A dictionary that describes the work for each work package in the WBS should accompany the work breakdown structure.

The resource plan must include planning for staff with appropriate training and experience to evaluate supplier proposals and participate in negotiations with suppliers. The resource plan identifies the project resources expected from the supplier, including critical facilities or equipment needed to support the work. The resource plan may be revised based on the supplier agreement or changes in conditions during project execution.

Typical Work Products

1.    WBS work packages

2.    WBS task dictionary

3.    Staffing requirements based on project size and scope

4.    Critical facilities and equipment list

5.    Process and workflow definitions and diagrams

6.    Project administration requirements list

Subpractices

1.    Determine process requirements.

The processes used to manage a project must be identified, defined, and coordinated with all relevant stakeholders to ensure efficient operations during project execution.

The acquirer must determine how its processes interact with supplier processes to enable seamless execution of the project and successful acquirer-supplier relationships. Considerations include the use of a common process across multiple suppliers and the acquirer or the use of unique but compatible processes. At the very least, processes should be compatible across interfaces.

2.    Determine staffing requirements.

The staffing of a project depends on the decomposition of project requirements into tasks, roles, and responsibilities for accomplishing project requirements as laid out in the work packages of the WBS.

Staffing requirements must consider the knowledge and skills required for each identified position, as defined in the Plan Needed Knowledge and Skills specific practice.

The acquirer determines its staffing requirements, including staffing for solicitation and supplier agreement management activities and staffing expected by the supplier to complete its portion of the work as defined in the WBS.

3.    Determine facility, equipment, and component requirements.

Most projects are unique in some sense and require a set of unique assets to accomplish project objectives. The determination and acquisition of these assets in a timely manner are crucial to project success.

Lead-time items must be identified early to determine how they will be addressed. Even when required assets are not unique, compiling a list of all of facilities, equipment, and parts (e.g., number of computers for the personnel working on the project, software applications, and office space) provides insight into aspects of the scope of an effort that are often overlooked.

The acquirer considers what it may need to provide for acceptance of supplier deliverables and for transition and support of the acquired product.

The acquirer must also identify and ensure that facilities or equipment to be provided to the supplier for project work are accounted for in the project plan.