Good resource management is the key to completing a project on time and on budget. Project managers (PMs) need to be prepared to make a lot of important decisions during a project, all of which are critical. Even if a project has top quality resources and a business has deep pockets, without proper resource management, neither will be able to succeed. Resource management is the process of allocating resources in order for a company to complete its work in the most efficient way possible.
Resource plan:
As one of the core components of project planning, a resource plan should contain every aspect that pertains to every resource necessary for your project from beginning to end. In addition to helping you determine the resources you need at hand, planning your project is arguably the most efficient way to organize for the appropriate and effective use of such resources.
Collaboration increases productivity:
Apart from reducing the possibility of errors, collaboration among team members works to increase productivity. Using a tool that allows your team to collaborate and foster creativity and productivity is vital for the effective management and success of a project.
Agility in response to change:
It’s inevitable that there will be changes during a project, either in budget, resources, or requirements. It’s therefore crucial that you implement a prioritization methodology before your project begins, so that consistent resource planning decisions can be made by all project managers.
Gain visibility over resources:
Tracking your project helps you monitor progress, report to stakeholders and manage your resources. Planning, allocating and reallocating resources is best done with a simple and effective resource management tool. Your resource management software should track the performance of individual resources to help you identify over or underutilization.
Prepare for the worst:
Unfortunately, there usually are times when things go wrong with project resource management. Anticipating potential disasters and having procedures in place to mend them should they occur is, therefore, important to the success of any project.
Know future requirements:
Apart from helping you to optimize resource utilization, having a list of the projects planned at hand also helps your recruitment drive. Knowing the support skills you need to acquire beforehand allows you to give your recruitment division sufficient lead time to identify appropriate resources. While it eases the allotment of resources, an accurate forecast of the skills and resources necessary helps you to not only have a balanced portfolio but also know the budgeting requirements.
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