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Module 7 Paper

OGL 324: Resources in Project Management

Dana Barnett

1 Dec 2021
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Introduction

A challenge I encounter in my daily projects when it comes to resource

management is the uptick in remote or telework due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In

module 4 we discussed the technical use of this type of work and how it impacts team

environments. Remote work doesn’t only impact team relationships it can have a

major impact customer relation, project alignment, and other communication means.

The new telework trend can have major impacts on resource managements. Currently

my workplace has seen an increase in the negative attributes associated with the

resourcing of virtual teams within out project management team. These include

funding for home workstations, team member turnover, product and system upgrades,

and time. This is not to take away from many of the pros related to the remote

workforce as well.

When considering the equipment portion of the resource allocation for projects

when our team moved to virtual teams many of our employees could not remove

workstations from the office physically. Although we have made serious movements

towards the use of laptops, the most issued computer is still a desktop. This meant that

we had to upgrade and provide new laptop options for at home use or, refund personal

costs associated with employees procuring their own equipment. This was large

upfront cost that needed to be mitigated to stay on schedule. Also needed to add

virtual conferencing equipment such as external microphones and cameras. This was
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not factored into the initial yearly budget and was a large purchase to ensure our

employees had what they needed to stay on target for project goals.

Now that we are remote the team relations become a major issue, not only with

working as a cohesive team but also large member turnover. This generated a large

human resource management issue impacting the allocation of team member costs

causing a volatile area. This was due to not only team member struggling to adapt to

the remote working style but also team member finding that as more remote options

became available, they were able to move into new positions. Both issues come down

the work center culture that became more and more distorted as the time went on.

Communication was down, burn out was high as team members adapted to managing

schedules on their own and some members felt isolated as they worked from home

independently. AS this occurred it also became apparent that as members left our

hiring range became less limited to local area and we started reaching out beyond our

local area. As we searched for new talent the typical salary range then increased to

bring on new talent.

As we moved into a rhythm it became apparent that some of our systems where

not equipped for the needs of virtual work. The teams had limited access to video

conference tools and shared system access. This generated the needs to upgrade to

better products to support the needs of the team. This not only came with allocating

resources to online team programs, but some required additional training on how these
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new systems operated which in incurred the cost associated with training. Although

there were plenty of options for free online training through YouTube and other areas

of the newfound communication systems, the teamwork and communication as well

as customer service training also needed to be adapted to fit this new work

environment.

The challenges faced with the resourcing needed to move into the virtual team

environment are the same for many organizations as they moved into this new

‘normal’ that came with the pandemic. They were not without the pro’s that were

associated with moving into virtual work. Adapting to virtual work provided our team

with more flexibility, reduced commute time for many team members, reduced

possibility of travel costs for conferences and training, reduced operating cost of

facilities, and as mentioned before made it easier to recruit new talent from outside

our local area. All the challenges we faced we were able to overcome through

planning practices, controlled change, accurate budgeting assessments and teamwork.

Conclusion
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Overall, the challenges have made out organization more effective and more

adaptable. With the use over the whole team where able to work through the resources

to ensure mission success was obtained. As this trend continues the organization can

use the data obtained from these years expedited needs into a more reformed

repeatable process. Building on current products that have been allocated to created

more usable products in the future.