I think you will agree, a solid resource management process is essential for any resource or project based organization.
But some people struggle to build a resource management process that works.
Are you one of them?
Or they build something in spreadsheets, only to find it doesn’t give them what they need.
The thing is, it doesn’t need to be this way.
This is a precis taken from the original article published at https://www.kelloo.com/ultimate-guide-to-resource-management/
Visit the full article to learn how to set up a resource management process that really works.
It explores resource management topics such as how to do resource management, the benefits of resource management and how to choose resource management software. And look at ways to combine agile and portfolio management techniques with resource management.
Five home truths about setting up a resource management process
1. Setting up a resource management process can seem overwhelming. But start with the basics and build your capability over time.
2. Little changes to how you work make a big difference to your bottom line, your projects and your people.
3. Resources are the largest cost in most organizations, so a small improvement in resource allocation and usage has significant benefits.
4. It’s a common misconception that organizations who run agile developments don’t need to do resource management. They do but the focus shifts.
5. A small investment in resource management tools can make the resource management process a lot less painful.
Why is resource management important?
All organizations are resource constrained.
Meaning they have a limited supply of resources to use on projects.
So to be successful, you need to ensure you are making the best use of your resources. This means taking steps to ensure:
- Organizational priorities drive which projects you choose to do.
- Your resources are working on the right projects.
- Resources neither have too much or too little work to do.
- You have the right mix of skills across your teams.
- You understand the headcount you need over the coming months.
Who should do resource management?
Most organizations need to do resource management. What changes is the level of rigor and detail involved.
Smaller organizations with a handful of resources might be able to handle resource management using an informal process.
However, as resource headcount increases and the number of projects grows the resource management puzzle becomes increasingly complex.
And things don’t need to grow that much before resource management becomes an essential part of the organizations toolkit.
What does this mean for you?
If you can answer yes to any of these 6 questions you likely need a robust resource management process.
- You run multiple projects at the same time.
- You share resources across projects.
- Your resources work on both projects and normal business activities (BAU).
- Resources make up a large part of your project costs.
- You often commit to projects that you do not have the resource for.
- Projects often run late due to resource constraints.
Resource management in an agile environment
Many proponents of agile argue that resource management is no longer necessary in an agile environment. However, this is too simplistic a view.
Agile teams rarely work in isolation and often work on projects alongside non agile teams.
Organizations still need to forecast what resources they need to recruit and make commitments to what projects they can deliver.
With agile resource management the focus shifts.
- The capability of teams become the focus rather than individual resources.
- Focus on resource capacity rather than utilization.
- Assign teams to projects not resources.
- Restrict the number of projects being executed at one time by prioritizing and queuing projects.
Resource management in an agile environment is in many ways easier, but no less important.
What are the benefits of resource management?
Effective resource management brings immense benefits to the organization, the projects it runs and its resources. Chapter 5 of our guide takes a deeper dive into the benefits of resource management.
Organization
- Transparency so that everyone understands the capacity of the organization to deliver work.
- Visibility into desired resource pool size and skills mix needed for the projects you want to deliver.
Projects
- Improve project delivery by ensuring you have enough resources for the projects you are working on.
- Understand and manage the impact of project delays on resources and other projects.
Resources
- Prevents resource burnout by avoiding over allocation.
- Stops resources becoming roadblocks where they are the only people with key skills.
Project management vs. resource management
Although different disciplines, project management and resource management are highly dependent.
While most organizations have reached a reasonable level of maturity in project management, many organizations struggle with resource management.
And the brunt of this failure is felt by the project managers.
Project managers run projects.
They ensure that people know day to day what they are meant to be doing to help the project on its journey.
So this involves low level scheduling of work, managing risks, managing costs etc.
Resource managers do resource management.
Their focus is people.
And their responsibility is to ensure the organization has enough resources with the correct skills to work on projects it wants to run.
Project managers are highly reliant on resource managers and good resource management is a prerequisite for running successful projects.
Most organizations prioritize implementing project planning and management over resource management.
They do this because resource management is often the harder puzzle to solve.
Resource management and portfolio management
As mentioned earlier, most organizations are resource constrained.
So when it comes to running projects, they can only do so much with the resources they have.
Which means they only have so many levers they can pull to ensure they meet their organizational goals:
Project levers
- Which projects they select to execute.
- The timing of their projects.
Resource levers
- Their resource levels.
- Resource skills mix.
- How they choose to allocate their resources.
Resource management is an integral part of the portfolio management process. It helps organizations make decisions about what they can achieve with the resources they have.
Sometimes this may mean delaying projects, cancelling projects or re-deploying resources to higher priority projects.
This is a precis taken from the original article published at https://www.kelloo.com/ultimate-guide-to-resource-management/
Visit the full article to learn how to set up a resource management process that really works.
It explores resource management topics such as how to do resource management, the benefits of resource management and how to choose resource management software. And look at ways to combine agile and portfolio management techniques with resource management.
