Understanding Generic Resource Requests

When project managers plan their projects, often they don't know the extent of the resource requirements, such as the number of resources they need. A generic resource is a labor resource who does not have an employee ID. These generic resources hold resource pool capacity and serve as role-oriented placeholders for resources during the project-planning phase.

You must have PeopleSoft Program Management installed to use generic resource requests in PeopleSoft Resource Management. In PeopleSoft Program Management, a project manager builds a team by using the Project Resource Plan component (PGM_RESOURCE_LIST). If your organization does not use service orders to create resource requests through the Manage Generic Resources functionality in PeopleSoft Program Management, then a pool manager builds a team based on generic resources.

You create a generic resource request in PeopleSoft Program Management by selecting a resource status of Requested on the Resources page or Resource Detail page. This action sends the generic resource request to the Pool Manager Workbench in PeopleSoft Resource Management with a status of Pending Approval if the Pool Manager Approval required check box for the Generic Resource Approval required option is selected on the Resource Management Options page for the business unit. If that option is not selected, or if the user who is requesting the resource is the required approver, the generic resource request is sent to the Pool Manager Workbench with a status of Allocated. The system populates the qualifications, keywords, and notes on the generic resource request with the qualifications, keywords, and notes from the Update Generic Resource Qualifications page for the generic resource.

You can either fulfill the generic resource request with a named resource, or you can simply allocate capacity.

The Pool Manager Workbench - Fulfill Request page is the starting point for managing generic resource requests, approval, and fulfillment. Using this page you can:

  • Approve or reject a generic resource request.

  • Perform a search using Resource Matching.

  • View resources who are already associated with the resource requests.

  • Search for specific resources to evaluate their fit scores for a generic resource request.

  • Drill down to details about generic resource requests, resource profiles, assignments, and schedules to enable you to finalize staffing decisions.