End Resource Management SmackdownsHow To Make Allocating a Breeze

Who do we have in our audience?

● Agency DPM?● In House DPM? ● How long have you been a Digital PM?

○ <1 | 5 | 10 | 20+● How many other Digital PMs are there in

your organization?○ 0 | 1 | 5 | 10 +

● Who has unlimited resources and never has a resource conflict ever?

Goal

Provide prescriptive guidance on making resource management within a digital agency/organization as smooth as possible

Agenda

● About Me● Reason for Resource Smackdowns● How to Avoid the Smackdowns

About MeWho is this person talking to you?

Josh Zapin, CSM, PMP:● Nearly 20 years of building digital

applications/websites/teams● Director of Operations/Production/Project

Management for several agencies and eCommerce organizations

● Scrum Certified (CSM) for 5 years; PMI (PMP certified) for 14 years

● Started Corvus3 to consult Digital Agencies/Orgs on improving operations

Who is this person talking to you?

Who is this person talking to you?

People are what you need to make it happen

But there aren’t enough people to make it happen

UNLIMITED RESOURCES

RESOURCE CONFLICTS

RESOURCE ALLOCATION

Resource AllocationHow to end smackdowns in 3 steps

PEOPLE

PROCESSTOOLS

Three “lenses”

1

2

PEOPLE

Improvement pillars follow a linear pattern

1

Step #1 - PeopleSomebody has to worry about it

Who are involved? Who owns it?

Organizational Overseers:● Chief Operations Officer● Director of Project

Management/Production

Resource Requesters:● Project Managers● Producers

Resource Owners:● Technology Director● Creative Director● Chief Technology Officer● Chief Creative Officer

Someone has to sweat the resource allocation details

Ideally, it’s not an “in the trenches” PMs/Producers:● Need someone to see “above” the project at

hand● Adherence to the organization rather than a

particular project● Must be objective about resource needs

Who should own it?

Organizational Overseers:● Chief Operations Officer● Diretor of Project

Management/Production

Resource Requesters:● Project Managers● Producers

Resource “Owners:”● Technology Director● Creative Director● Chief Technology Officer● Chief Creative Officer

As a last resort: A Project Manager

In smaller organizations, it could be a Project Manager if:● There is only one PM in the group● There is a PM with Director/Manager

wherewithal/desires

PEOPLEDefine who is involved/Make

someone responsible

PROCESS

Improvement pillars follow a linear pattern

1

2

Step # 2 - ProcessAllocations need regular nurturing

Conflicts occur when you least expect it

Problem:Their project was having trouble and needed temporary .net help ASAP

Solution:My project had .net developers and could spare a few to help out

New Problem: How do you make sure you don’t mess up both projects?Solution:A weekly resource allocation process to deal with change

Solution: Allocate at a regular interval (weekly)

Notes:● Each shape represents

WHAT will be done● WHO will do it is noted in

the the “swimlane” for that process. They can span multiple roles

● WHEN a process will be done is noted in the columns

● Processes could have many tasks that aren’t detailed

● Sub-processes have more processes where other roles are, potentially, responsible

How to read swimlane flowcharts

Regular Allocation: Who is involved?

Regular Weekly Allocation: What is being done?

Regular Allocation: When to do it?

PEOPLEDefine who is involved/Make

someone responsible

PROCESSMake it

regular/boringTOOLS

Improvement pillars follow a linear pattern

1

23

Step # 3 - ToolsBring it all together and make it scalable!

Should you store resource allocations in your head?

Keeping resource allocations in your head is a bad idea

● You forget● It’s not visible to a larger group that shares the

responsibility● Hit-by-the-bus theory of management breaks

down

There are a lot of tools out there

K.I.S.S.(Keep It Simple, Stupid)

Start simple: Use a spreadsheet

Spreadsheets are simple: ● Columns/Rows/

Numbers/Calculations● Flexibile● Shareable/Collaborative

in real time● “Free”

Start with the team

The Team

List out their function

What they do

Keep things organized

Extra Credit:

Separate Sheets by

Team

Detail out what they’re doing

What they are

doing

Detail when they are doing it?

When they are doing it

Indicate how long it will take to do

How long it will

take to do it

Include a total too

Look to the future from the organization perspective

Get this sheet for free!

http://corvus3.com/dpmsummit2015

PEOPLEMake someone

responsible

PROCESSMake it

regular/boring

TOOLSMake it scalable

Improvement pillars follow a linear pattern

1

23

Key TakeawaysWhat you really need to do to end the smackdowns

If nothing else, remember these three things

● Resource Allocation is a role within an organization; even if you can’t dedicate someone, someone needs to be responsible for it (and it shouldn’t be a PM).

● To make sure it gets handled appropriately, you need to bank on a consistent process. Something that is done every interval (recommended weekly) the same way and has room to handle conflicts

● Leverage a tool to insure that it is trackable and scalable and doesn’t get in the way. A spreadsheet is a good way to start.

Thank you!

Josh Zapin, PMP, CSM@jzapinjzapin@corvus3.comhttp://www.corvus3.com

Meetup: Rocky Moundtain Digital Project Managers