A researcher at your organization has several patents and unique skill sets. How do you maximize the use of this human resource for your portfolio?

Resource histograms are visualization tools for analyzing resource demand versus capacity, not a mechanism for assigning or maximizing a unique individual's contribution.

Minimizing dependency on a key individual reduces the portfolio's ability to leverage their unique skills and patents, which is counterproductive.

Soft booking commits a resource tentatively to components without a hard lock, which is ideal for a unique researcher whose availability may shift. This ensures their patents and expertise are planned into active components while leaving room to respond to changing portfolio needs.

Negotiating longer hours is a resource exploitation approach, not a portfolio-level strategy, and does not address alignment with portfolio priorities.