Resource Planning: Everything You Need to Know

Focusing on people and how to best utilize time and their potential is what makes it possible for organizations to excel. Without complete visibility of workforce, time employees have to spend on projects, and the necessary steps required to finish the job, your projects and plans would not succeed. In this article, you will have an overview of resource planning and it will be explained why project management is necessary. You will also learn techniques on expert resource planning to utilize and maximize your most important and limited resources.

Importance of Resource Planning

Resource planning is the most essential process for any project management and is the central activity of human resource management no matter how small or large the enterprise. Managing any project requires managing available resources. You need to understand the resources a project needs for completion before developing precise project plans. A well-resourced project saves time, with limited resources you might miss important milestones, but by using the wrong resources for the project you will not be able to meet expectations or get the job done.

Resource planning is commonly associated with human resource management (HRM) and planning.

Optimizing the Resource Planning Process

Resource planning involves the utilization of available resources, that includes workforce, materials, equipment, and capital. By the term “resources” we generally mean all the things that you depend on in order to successfully complete a project or deliver your product or services.

First of all, you need to identify the resources required for your project. What type of skilled people do you need for project tasks? Whether your internal employees will be sufficient for the project or you will need to contract resources from external sources? Do you have the required materials, and equipment? This step needs documenting project details, assigning roles and responsibilities and organizing teams based on capabilities.

Next, you need to calculate the cost keeping in mind the duration of the needed resources for the entire project.

Finally, you will make a resource schedule and calendar to determine whether you have the required resources to complete the project on time. All tasks must be assigned to a specific resource.

Resource Planning Tools and Techniques

Resource management involves different processes for organizing and managing teams. Resource planning strategies involve the use of human and non-human resources to meet deadlines within a given budget. Software tools have greatly helped simplify resource planning. There are a number of free and paid software available online for resource management.

There are a number of different techniques available to assist resource planning and manage project teams, including the following:

Resource Meetings: Short and frequent action-oriented meetings.

Resource Leveling: Optimizing resources, resolving issues regarding under/over-allocation of resources.

Resource Smoothing: Optimizing resource allocation without affecting the way overall path.

Resource Availability and Utilization: Ensuring allocated resources are actually available.

Resource Capacity Planning: Determining whether all project teams are optimally equipped with equipment and skilled manpower and if the available resources are sufficient to get the job done.

What to Include in Your Resource Management Plan?

Resource plans determine how to allocate, control, and use resources. A resource management plan advises project managers on the use of materials and equipment. Human resource plans determine which type of skilled people you need to complete a project, and the quantity, cost, and scheduled duration of their services. Before implementing your project plan, you will organize the resource plan to assign every individual specific and relevant task. A detailed resource plan includes the following information:

Resource Identification

Resource Cost

Resource Requirements

Roles and Responsibilities

Resource Quantity

Resource States

Resource Organization

Resource Calendar

Resource Issue Log

Efficient and profitable projects can be achieved by well organized internal structure properly managed by resource planning. Good resource planning can help you manage deliverables throughout project execution. Internal efficiencies and risks that set deadlines back, project budget tracking, and monitoring of a project’s billable to non-billable ratio can all be identified with the help of resource planning. All these insights are necessary and crucial for helping you understand your resource needs, so you can scale them up or down as required for future projects.