You’ve probably read quite a few texts on project management – from simple tips to comprehensive manuals. However, one important aspect is often overlooked: the importance of resource management. So let’s take a closer look at how resource management can contribute to the success of your project portfolio.

In this article you will find out what resource management means, why it is so important, what tasks a resource manager has and how you can keep your resource planning under control with effective work management in monday.com.

What is resource management

Resource management involves planning, scheduling and allocating resources such as people, skills, capital or equipment in preparation for an upcoming project. The aim is to optimise the use of your resources in order to create added value for your company.

As a rule, resources are divided into two main categories:

• Material resources include anything you can see or touch, such as labour, machinery, property, software or money.
• Intangible resources are conceptual in nature. These include, for example, intellectual property (such as technology patents), ideas or special competences that are required to complete tasks.

Why is resource management important in project management?

Resource management is essential as it allows you to plan and estimate exactly what you need to complete a project. This approach to avoiding waste increases efficiency and allows resources to be reused and recycled as required.

Imagine a concrete example of how you would use resource management in project management:

Suppose you are developing a new software application for a customer and have three months to complete the work. At the start of the project, you plan the competences and availability of your team and allocate tasks accordingly. You keep track of progress and eliminate potential bottlenecks before problems arise.

 

 

 

If a team member is absent, you can quickly transfer their tasks to another colleague. If a laptop breaks down, you have a replacement ready immediately to avoid delays. You deliver the software on time and within budget, which impresses your customer so much that they come back to you for future projects.

This is resource management in practice. It saves you and your team time, money and effort.

What does a resource manager do?

A resource manager is similar to a project manager, but with one crucial difference:

• As a project manager, you focus on creating and assigning tasks to achieve a goal.
• As a resource manager, you are responsible for providing the resources required to complete these tasks.

What resource management techniques are available?

There are six main techniques in resource management that will help you to work effectively.

1. Resource forecast

Resource forecasting is about predicting the future demand for resources. Accuracy in your predictions means less waste and faster, more cost-effective realisation.
To be able to make this forecast, you need to know your project life cycle in detail and know what resources are available to you. A work management solution can give you the overview you need and provide easy access to your projects and resources in one place.

2. Resource planning

Resource planning helps you to determine which resources you need to complete your project and ensures that everything is in the right place at the right time. With solid resource planning in monday.com, your team stays organised, efficient and ready to tackle any challenge.

3. Allocation of resources

Resource allocation is about optimising the use of available resources. This means you assess all available resources, analyse how they can be used efficiently and then deploy them to support your team in their work.

4. Renewed resource planning

Resource planning again involves creating a well thought-out plan of when and where resources such as employees, equipment and facilities should be deployed. You focus on organising all your resources within a schedule to ensure that tasks and projects are completed on time and without conflict. An important tool for this is the resource calendar, which you can use to plan, manage and allocate all your project resources in order to meet project milestones and deadlines.

5. Resource equalisation

When balancing resources, managers uncover underutilised or misdirected resources and redeploy them to optimise efficiency.

6. Resource smoothing

The aim of resource smoothing is to distribute resource utilisation as evenly as possible over time. If this is implemented well, project managers can continue to meet project deadlines and targets while minimising fluctuations due to over- or under-utilisation of resources. With this technique, you change the start and end dates of activities within a project to avoid peaks and troughs.

monday work management can significantly simplify the process of forecasting, allocating, planning, balancing and smoothing your resources with a user-friendly and visual interface. Try it out for free today and see for yourself!

What types of resources are there in project management?

In general, as a resource or project manager, there are five different types of project management resources.

We will go into more detail about these five different types in a future article, but here is a brief overview:

What are the advantages of resource management?

Resource management may seem like an extra step in the project process, but it is crucial to making the best use of your resources. Here are the key benefits you’ll enjoy if you invest in resource management early on:

1. Avoidance of unforeseen problems

59% of service companies see the inability to predict the need for project resources as a major challenge. By taking the time to understand your available resources and how you can utilise them, you can identify potential problems in advance and save yourself and your team a lot of trouble.

2. Minimisation of team burnout

Good resource management prevents you or your team from being overloaded, which could affect productivity. It ensures that everyone has exactly what they need and when they need it, which is particularly important when team members are working on multiple projects.

3. Increase team effectiveness

By optimising resource allocation, your team can complete tasks on time, there is less waste and you are more likely to complete your projects on time and on budget.

4. Safety net in case of problems

If your project does not achieve its goals, for example due to a lack of resources, good planning and management show that you have done everything in your power. This strengthens stakeholders’ trust in you.

5. Increase in operational efficiency

Managing and monitoring resource allocation helps you to better understand your team’s resource consumption. These insights facilitate precise planning for future projects.

How monday.com helps you to manage your resources efficiently

monday work management makes the complex act of resource management easier by allowing you to centralise all your resources. This allows you to track in real time how resources are being used and who is responsible for them.

On the user-friendly work management platform monday.com, you can:

• Plan, schedule and allocate resources to flexibly adapt to changing priorities, with views that show you the current status of each resource at a glance.

• With the workload view, you can easily visualise and track how many hours each team member needs for each task to quickly identify overloads and underloads and proactively manage your team’s working time. This view also helps you to monitor the use of resources and equipment.

• Keep an eye on your project budget and track your expenses with our financial overviews.

Conclusion

In this blog, we have highlighted the importance of resource management in project management and shown how crucial efficient resource management is for the success of a project. From avoiding unforeseen problems and minimising team burnout to increasing team effectiveness, providing a safety net in the event of problems and improving operational efficiency.

monday.com simplifies resource management by providing a central platform on which all resources can be clearly displayed. Whether it’s planning, allocating or monitoring resources, monday.com provides the tools and views needed to keep an eye on everything and manage it efficiently.

Start your resource management with monday.com and take advantage of the many benefits.

We are your experts for monday.com solutions. If you have any questions or need support in implementing monday.com in your company, we will be happy to help. Our team will help you get the most out of the platform so that you and your team can carry out your projects successfully and efficiently. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us – we’ll be happy to help!

Source: monday.com