What is resource management?

Effective resource management depends on an organisation’s ability to create a resource management plan–typically managed or owned by a resource manager. The resource management plan is primarily used to manage human resources—the project team made up of individual employees with assigned roles and responsibilities. But resource management plans should also address other essential resources, including equipment, spaces, finances etc. In fact, the first step of creating a resource management plan is identifying and cataloguing all the resources necessary to complete the project.

Essential factors in creating a resource management plan include the following:

Resources are the primary concern when creating a resource management plan. As such, most of the time in the early phases of resource planning should be spent creating a detailed list of all the necessary people, skills, tools and other resources vital to the success of the project. Aim to be thorough; the more accurate this list, the better it will serve the resource management plan.

Timeframes for each resource help inform schedules. Estimate, as accurately as possible, how much time will be needed for each resource, and use that information when setting deadlines and timelines.

Effective resource management planning doesn’t only include concrete constraints related to scope, schedules and cost; it should also incorporate intelligent, informed assumptions. These assumptions can be about what resources will be available and when but should be clearly identified as assumptions within the plan. This will help distinguish them from the more reliable constraints which should serve as part of the plan’s foundation.

Finally, an effective resource management plan will clearly assign roles and responsibilities for all human resources included in the strategy. Unambiguous assignments help ensure that everyone involved knows who is responsible for what, and when they can expect tasks to be completed.

In the second phase of resource planning the project manager begins to review the necessary project tasks and pair them with the resources identified in the previous phase. In terms of human resources, make sure that tasks are being assigned based not only on availability, but also upon skill sets and capacity.

With resources assigned, the next step is to determine how much time each task will require and create schedules accordingly. While budgeting time, be careful not to over or under schedule; too little work creates disengaged employees, while too much can lead to burnout.

Considering other commitments and demands on resources along with the goals of the current project, the project manager next works to officially schedule resources for specific tasks. Scheduling resources helps create accurate estimates of completion dates.

They say that no plan survives contact with reality. With this in mind, monitoring projects is an essential aspect of resource management planning. Regularly check in with the resource management tool and compare the actual performance with established resource-allocation estimates. If there are bottlenecks, misalignment of resources, areas where the project has stalled or other issues, then constant monitoring will allow the project manager to identify and resolve these issues before they can derail the project.

Once the project has been completed, the final step in creating a resource management plan is the retrospective. Review the estimates established during the early planning stages and compare them to the actual resources that were used. Identify where estimates could be improved, and where resources may have performed differently than expected. It is here that project managers can refine their approach for future projects, so reviewing and considering all factors is important.

Effective project management depends on an organisation’s ability to properly allocate, assign and guide resources. However, the more complex the projects, the more difficult and demanding resource management can become. The ServiceNow Resource Management application organises and simplifies this aspect of project management. The end result? Accurate resource predictions, real-time transparency and improved allocation across all resources and projects.

ServiceNow Resource Management includes the following features:

• Resource allocation workbench
  The workbench provides visual insights detailing resource requests and allocations.
• Resource plan
  Using the resource plan feature, project managers can use relevant data to create detailed resource management plans for any project.
• Operational resource plans
  Resource managers have a single UI to manage all resource plans whether task-based or operational.
• Resource reports
  Reliable, data-focused reports share real-time updates related to resource utilisation.
• Time sheet portal
  With the time sheet portal feature, human resources can record the time on tasks daily even on mobile devices, submitting these time sheets with the click of a button.

These and other features allow project managers to enjoy a range of benefits, including:

ServiceNow resource management provides real-time information across every available resource.

By working within a single, centralised application delivering consistent resource management to all relevant people, projects and systems, organisations enjoy more accurate results and clearer insights.

ServiceNow Resource Management matches resources with business needs, using calendars, schedules, flexible allocation and other tools and integrations.

Check out ServiceNow Resource Management and see how the right resources at the right time can revolutionise your business.