Plan Resource Management establishes the approach to resource management for the entire project. Its primary outputs are the Resource Management Plan and the Team Charter. The Resource Management Plan defines: how resources will be identified and acquired, the roles and responsibilities of all project participants, the organisational chart (showing reporting relationships), how resource needs will be estimated and planned, how team members will be trained and developed, how performance will be assessed, and how resource management processes will be controlled.

The Team Charter is a document that establishes the team's operating norms — the ground rules by which the team will work together. It covers communication expectations, decision-making processes, conflict resolution approaches, meeting norms, and accountability frameworks. A well-developed Team Charter reduces conflict and ambiguity later in the project by establishing shared expectations upfront.

Key tools in Plan Resource Management:

• Expert judgement: Drawing on experience of resource requirements from similar past projects and subject matter experts in relevant technical domains.
• Data representation — RACI chart: The Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) maps project activities to team roles, using RACI codes (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) to define who does what for every deliverable or activity. The RACI ensures every piece of work has exactly one person Accountable and at least one person Responsible.
• Organisational theory: Understanding how different organisational structures (functional, projectised, matrix) affect resource availability, authority and team dynamics — which directly informs resource planning assumptions.

Estimate Activity Resources determines the type, quantity and characteristics of resources needed to perform each activity in the activity list. This process links directly to Estimate Activity Durations in Schedule Management — the duration of an activity depends on the resources assigned to it, and the resources required depend on the duration target. These two processes iterate together until consistent, feasible estimates are reached.

Resources are estimated at the activity level — not just at the project or phase level. For each activity, the PM must determine: how many person-hours of what skill level are needed, what physical resources (equipment, materials, facilities) are required and when, and what constraints apply to resource availability (shared resources, calendar constraints, geographic locations).

Bottom-up estimating is the most accurate technique here — estimating resources at the individual activity level and aggregating upward through the WBS. It requires a well-defined activity list and produces a Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) — a hierarchical list of resources organised by category and type that provides the structure for resource planning, tracking and reporting.

Acquire Resources is the process of obtaining the team members, facilities, equipment, materials and other resources needed to complete project work. It runs throughout execution — resources are acquired progressively as different project phases begin, not all at once at project initiation.

Acquiring team resources presents unique challenges in most organisations because project managers typically have limited authority over resource allocation. In functional and matrix organisations, team members are assigned by their functional managers — the PM must negotiate for the right resources with the right availability. This negotiation is a core PM competency that directly affects team quality and project performance.

Pre-assignment occurs when team members are identified and committed to the project during the initiation phase — often because their specific skills are what justified the project, or because of contractual requirements. Pre-assigned resources are known before the project planning begins; their availability is typically committed but should be verified rather than assumed.

Virtual teams — team members who work in different locations, time zones, or organisations — require specific management approaches. The PM must address: communication infrastructure (collaboration tools, meeting platforms), cultural and time zone differences, trust-building without face-to-face interaction, performance visibility without physical co-location, and the risk of isolation and disengagement that remote working creates.

Develop Team is the process of improving team competencies, team member interaction, and the overall team environment. It is the most human-centred process in all of PMBOK — it focuses on building the psychological safety, cohesion, skill and motivation that enable a group of individuals to function as a high-performing team. The primary output is an assessment of Team Performance: how well the team is functioning, whether performance standards are being met, and what further development is needed.

Training and development: Identifying and addressing team members' skill gaps through formal training, coaching, mentoring and on-the-job learning. Training costs are project costs and must be planned and budgeted. Skills gaps that cannot be addressed through development within the project timeline may require resource replacement or procurement of specialist support.

Team-building activities: Structured activities designed to strengthen relationships, build trust, improve communication and develop shared norms. Effective team building is not a one-time event — it requires ongoing investment throughout the project lifecycle, particularly during and after periods of conflict or significant change.

Colocation: Placing team members in the same physical location to improve communication, collaboration and team identity. War rooms (dedicated project spaces where the whole team works together) are a colocation technique. While remote work has become standard, colocation during critical project phases can significantly accelerate team development and reduce communication friction.

Recognition and rewards: Formally acknowledging and rewarding team member contributions. Effective recognition systems must be: genuine (not formulaic), timely (close to the contribution), specific (about what was done and why it mattered), and aligned to team values. Public recognition in front of peers is typically more motivating than private financial rewards for many team members.

Manage Team is the process of tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues, and managing team changes to optimise project performance. Where Develop Team is proactive (building capability and cohesion), Manage Team is more reactive and ongoing — addressing performance issues, resolving conflicts, navigating interpersonal dynamics and making decisions about resource changes when performance problems cannot be resolved through development alone.

Performance appraisals within projects: Formal and informal assessments of individual team member performance against agreed expectations. Project PMs often contribute to functional performance reviews of team members, even when they do not have direct line management authority. These contributions are a formal communication channel between project performance and individual career progression.

Conflict management: Conflict is inevitable in projects — resource constraints, schedule pressure, different professional perspectives and personality differences all create friction. The key insight from PMBOK is that conflict is not inherently negative — well-managed conflict can improve decision quality, surface important issues and strengthen team relationships. The PM's responsibility is to manage conflict constructively, not to eliminate it. See the full conflict resolution styles section below.

Emotional intelligence (EI): The PM's ability to recognise, understand and manage their own emotions and the emotions of others. High EI enables PMs to navigate the interpersonal complexity of team management — particularly during high-stress periods where anxiety, frustration and interpersonal tension are elevated. EI is explicitly referenced in PMBOK as a tool and technique for Manage Team.

Control Resources is the monitoring and controlling process that ensures physical and team resources are available as planned, that actual resource usage is compared to the resource management plan, and that corrective action is taken when significant variances are identified. It focuses primarily on physical resources — equipment, materials, facilities — though it also covers team resource utilisation monitoring.

Control Resources addresses situations such as: equipment arriving late or failing before work is complete, material quality not meeting specification, resource over-utilisation causing burnout, resource under-utilisation creating idle cost, and changing resource requirements as scope evolves. Each situation requires a different corrective response — from supplier escalation (for late physical resources) to schedule adjustment (for resource conflicts) to team reallocation (for utilisation imbalances).

Resource optimisation: Two techniques from Schedule Management are applied here in a resource management context. Resource levelling resolves over-allocations by adjusting activity timing — potentially extending schedule duration. Resource smoothing uses activity float to reduce demand peaks without extending the schedule. Both aim to produce a resource plan that is feasible within available capacity.