For project and resource-based organizations, effective resource management is a game-changer. Resources are your most important asset so use them effectively and they will propel your projects forward with unparalleled efficiency.
Resource management is all about getting the right people working on the right things at the right time. And what does this lead to?
With streamlined resource management, teams will hit deadlines more often, you will reduce the risk of project delays and reduce costs. Employee burnout is reduced due to better workload balancing and resource bottlenecks are spotted earlier so they can be dealt with.
So, read on to learn some of the benefits of resource management and why it’s the secret sauce your organization needs to get right.
Table of contents
Why is resource management important
Resource management is an absolute must-have because it’s the key to unlocking your organization’s full potential and ensuring success in a fiercely competitive landscape. Without it, you’re sailing blindly, risking inefficiency, wasted resources, and missed opportunities. It gives you the tools and information to ensure you optimally allocate your people to maximize productivity and reduce costs.
But it’s not just about saving money. Resource management ensures that workloads are balanced and distributed fairly among team members. This prevents employees from feeling overwhelmed and contributes to a healthier work-life balance, reducing stress and burnout.
Resource management challenges
In the recent State of Project Management report, resource management was cited as the 3rd biggest challenge organizations face and yet it can deliver some of the biggest benefits.
In organizations we work with, we find a tendency to over-complicate the resource management process, focus on the wrong things and have an over-reliance on spreadsheets for resource management.
With resource management, the 90:10 rule applies, you get 90% of the benefits of resource management by focusing on some very simple to apply resource management best practices.
Benefits of resource management
Now we have covered the importance of resource management and why you need to get it right, let’s consider the benefits.
Clear view about the people and skills you need
Without an idea of what resources and skills you need over the coming months you are shooting in the dark. A capacity plan will show you the gaps between what resources and skills you have now and what you need to hire to get your projects done.
At Kelloo we believe this is the number one resource management benefit.
You can build a simple capacity plan in a spreadsheet if you have a handful of resources and projects. As you grow, consider using resource capacity planning software.
Resource forecasting is often called capacity planning and this is the terminology we typically use at Kelloo.
A resource forecast lets you clearly see what skills you are short of and if you have enough people to get your projects done.
Tools like Kelloo let you quickly build a resource forecast so you can spot skill and resource shortfalls or overloaded teams and explore possible solutions.
Understand what you can achieve with the people you have
Organizations constantly over estimate their ability to deliver work given the resources they have.
We see this time and time again. The sales team wins a new project, and the CIO commits to delivering it. Committing to new projects and when they can happen are made on gut feelings rather than hard facts.
Resource management gives you insight into your organization’s capability to deliver on projects – and to say “no, we can’t do that project by then”.
Spot bumps in the road earlier
Resource management lets you spot resource constraints, bottlenecks and issues early. This gives you time to develop strategies to reduce the impact on your projects.
Tools such as heatmaps provide a visual representation of your resources availability, workload and utilization enabling you to zero in on teams, skills or resources with problems.
What if planning then lets you then play out different options on resource levels, hiring, resource allocation and project timings to find solutions to your problems.
Kelloo's resource management tools
Resource planning, forecasting and reporting in one place. We help you get the most from your projects and people.
Get the right people working on the right projects
High-performing organizations use resource portfolio management to optimize their resource usage. They re-evaluate their portfolio and project priorities regularly to ensure their resources are working on the right projects.
They do this by reviewing how their resources are allocated against their strategic priorities.
This simple step makes it easy to validate if your resources are still working on the right projects and spot opportunities for moving resources onto higher value work.
Better utilized resources means happier resources
It is often the resources that bear the brunt of poor resource management.
Organizations commit to projects that are under-resourced and make promises to customers that can’t be met with the resources available.
This leads to stressed resources who are more likely to burn out.
But there is an answer – keep track and report on your utilization and capacity.
This helps you spot resources that are constantly in demand (pinch points) and roles that have high levels of utilization.
For example, Kelloo shows resource utilization in line with the resource plan so you can easily see the impact of plan changes on your resources.
Reduce project costs
Resource management is the process of utilizing resources efficiently and effectively. Using the right resource on the right project can have a huge impact on a project’s ROI.
Here is how resource management can help cut project costs:
- Less last minute hiring of expensive contract or temporary staff.
- Spot opportunities for using lower cost resources on projects.
- Better utilization of staff means resources have less slack time on projects.
React better to changes
Urgent work requests come in, priorities change and people leave. Resource management helps you understand the impact of changes and how you can reallocate resources, adjust resource levels and shift project timelines to keep things on track.
A great tool for this is to use what if scenario analysis. This lets you model things like changes to headcount or changes to project timelines and see the impact.
Let project managers plan projects and resource managers plan resources
Often overlooked, but one of the biggest benefits of resource management is separating resource management from project management.
- Project Managers operate at a project-level. They are responsible for getting projects completed by the project team.
- Resource Managers operate at an organization level. They are responsible for ensuring there are enough resources to complete all the projects that need to be done.
Companies usually start to notice the impact of poor resource management when they grow.
In a small organization, it’s possible for project managers to also perform the resource management activities such as working out who should be allocated to what project and hiring needs.
But when there are more projects, resources and more PMs, it’s a good time to introduce a resource manager to your team.
Resource management software
There are many moving parts to an effective resource management process and most organizations find the answer is to use resource management software. Check out our resource management software buyers guide to look at some resource management solutions to consider.
