HKSM

Pre-assignment is the early allocation of specific people or resources to a project due to prior commitments, contracts, or critical expertise. It secures key capability and creates constraints the team must plan around.

Key Points

• Identifies people or resources committed to the project before or during planning.
• Often driven by the charter, contracts, sponsor directives, or organizational policies.
• Acts as a constraint that influences scope, schedule, budget, and risk.
• Requires verifying authority, availability, and fit for the intended roles.
• Must be documented in the resource management plan, calendars, and logs.
• May reduce staffing risk but can limit flexibility and increase costs.

Purpose of Analysis

• Understand how pre-assigned resources affect the plan, including timing, cost, and quality.
• Confirm legal, contractual, and policy compliance before integrating commitments.
• Assess competency fit against role requirements and plan for any skill gaps.
• Identify risks, dependencies, and constraints introduced by fixed allocations.
• Determine whether additional acquisition, training, or negotiation is needed.

Method Steps

• Collect source documents: charter, contracts, staffing agreements, and sponsor directives.
• Validate authority, start/end dates, and conditions attached to the pre-assignment.
• Map individuals or resources to defined roles and competency needs.
• Confirm availability windows, capacity, location, and time zone constraints.
• Analyze impact on schedule, cost, risks, and quality; run what-if scenarios if needed.
• Address gaps via onboarding, training, procurement, or scope adjustments.
• Update the resource management plan, calendars, RACI, and relevant logs; communicate decisions.

Inputs Needed

• Project charter and business case.
• Contracts, MSAs/SLAs, and staffing agreements.
• Sponsor directives, governance rules, and HR policies.
• Role descriptions, skills matrix, and competency criteria.
• Resource calendars and availability data.
• Budget, rate cards, and funding constraints.
• Organizational charts and stakeholder register.

Outputs Produced

• Updated resource management plan and staffing approach.
• Initial team roster and responsibility assignments (e.g., RACI).
• Updated assumptions and constraints logs.
• Risk register entries related to fixed or scarce resources.
• Procurement strategy updates if external resources are pre-assigned.
• Revised schedules and resource calendars reflecting allocations.
• Change requests if baseline or scope adjustments are required.

Interpretation Tips

• Treat pre-assignment as a formal constraint, not a suggestion.
• Verify fit-for-purpose; escalate or negotiate if skills or timing do not match needs.
• Model alternatives to confirm feasibility and impact on critical path and costs.
• Plan for backups to avoid single points of failure.
• Revalidate at phase gates and major changes as priorities evolve.

Example

A sponsor names a specific architect and a vendor project manager for a new initiative. The project manager verifies the contractual authority and availability, maps them to roles, and confirms their start dates. Analysis shows the architect is available only part-time for the first month, which would delay design. The team adjusts the schedule, adds a junior architect for support, plans a brief onboarding, updates the resource plan and calendars, and logs a risk about limited availability.

Pitfalls

• Accepting pre-assignment without verifying authority, availability, or competency.
• Ignoring onboarding needs, lead times, or knowledge transfer.
• Overlooking cost rates and budget impacts of named resources.
• Failing to record constraints and assumptions in plans and logs.
• Bypassing procurement or conflict-of-interest checks when vendors are named.
• Not planning contingencies for absence, turnover, or performance issues.

PMP Example Question

During resource planning, the sponsor informs you that two subject matter experts are already committed to your project by contract. What should you do first?

1. Add them to the team and finalize the schedule immediately.
2. Validate the commitment, confirm availability and authority, and record the pre-assignment as a constraint in the resource management plan and assumptions log.
3. Ask the sponsor to change the contract so you can select different resources.
4. Start procurement to acquire additional SMEs regardless of current needs.

Correct Answer: B - Validate the commitment, confirm availability and authority, and record the pre-assignment as a constraint in the resource management plan and assumptions log.

Explanation: Pre-assignment should be verified and documented, then integrated into planning as a constraint. Acting without validation or forcing contract changes is premature.