Projects are primarily complex, with several unexpected challenges. There’s also the challenge of ensuring you have all the resources necessary to complete a task on time and within budget. In this blog post, learn how project resource management (PRM) can help alleviate these difficulties and increase your chances of success.
Resource management or project resource management is used to schedule or plan your work. It is the most significant contributor to successful project delivery. But engaging in resource management is not an easy task. If you haven’t planned your resources, you will face delays, overbooking, and other difficulties in your work.
What is Project Resource management?
Project resource management (PRM) is a component of project management that plans, organizes, measures, and manages tasks. In a nutshell, it helps to determine which resources are required and when so the project can be completed. This is also a fancy way for project managers to describe the critical functions that must be performed to complete the job. The primary goal of project resource management is to efficiently plan, allocate, and schedule the work.
Project resource management not only helps to determine how projects will be completed, but it also helps to predict project costs and timelines. It will track the productivity of each team member or piece of equipment and assist you in taking proactive steps to maximize their strategic utilization. Effective project resource management clearly shows who is doing what and how much time it will take to complete the task.
Understanding and Preparing Resources for the Project:
A resource is defined as anything that can be planned or booked to complete the project. In project management, the resource is the main thing to manage. Resources vary differently depending on industries and projects.
Recognizing and preparing a variety of resources are essential. This can include human resources, such as the number of employees and their specific skills. It can also refer to non-human resources such as equipment, space, computers, etc.
There are different types of resources to consider when managing projects. This could be:
- Financial
- Staff
- Technology
- Equipment
- Space
Here is a further breakdown for preparing resources to engage in the resource management process effectively:
- Define resource requirements:
To plan a budget for resource preparation, you must first define your resources. Following that, you will need to work on your project budget estimate, which will require you to estimate the project’s activities, resources, and duration.
- Prepare resource plan:
Create a high-level resource plan using the resources identified in resource requirements. This will almost certainly necessitate making assumptions. However, you should be able to estimate early in the budget what resources you will need to get the project done under the budget.
- Discuss labor requirements with human resources:
If you have a specific set of skills required for your project, don’t wait to talk to human resources about your resource needs. This will give HR a good idea of your requirements, allowing them to start looking for potential candidates, both internal and external.
- Discuss material and equipment requirements with procurement
If you know of material and equipment that will be required to complete the project, then start discussions with the buyers in the procurement department. This will allow them to source the material and equipment to find the best lead time and price.
The Process of Project Resource Management
Project managers usually spend most of their time managing project resources. Investing time in effective project resource management will pay dividends with your project. Proper resource management plays a significant role in project success, and having confidence that you will get the job done right, on time, and under budget is priceless. But better project resource management needs an ultimate process to execute the tasks. The project management body of knowledge (PMBOK) identifies the five steps in project resource management.
The five processes in (PMBOK) are described below:
- Resource Planning:
To determine the resource requirements for a project to be complete, you first need to understand the work. What are the desired outputs? What budget do you need to fix? How many staff do you require? Experience level of staff and so on. It requires a proper listing which is also called resource planning. Resource planning is an important task that needs to be done before proceeding to any project. The main goal of resource planning is to identify the type and quantity of the resources required in a project.
At the end of the resource planning step, you should be able to craft the relevant staff descriptions, estimate the budget, and project timeline you need to execute the project.
- Estimate Resource Allocation:
Once you have identified what resources you need, you will get more specific about the resource scheduling, like how much time your team dedicates to project delivery. Resource allocation entails assessing available resources, capacity, and the resource schedule. It also includes the tasks that must be completed to identify team members with the most relevant skills. It also ensures they have all the project resources when required.
There are two methods of estimating project resources in two ways according to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK):
Top-down:
If your project management plan calls for a fixed budget, start with that and allocate human and equipment resources based on the most critical roles required for project success.
Bottom-up:
Calculate how many hours are needed to complete each requirement and how many hours each person or piece of equipment will need to contribute. This is the most effective way to start the project resource allocation to get maximum results.
- Acquire Resources:
Once you have done with allocating project resource tasks, the project schedule is consulted to determine when the resources are needed. You now need to get the right resources onboarded. It means you now must acquire the tools and equipment to be purchased and hire the project team positions and the right workers to complete the project.
This phase mainly includes how you will hire the persons to complete the project. According to the (Pmbok), there are mainly two methods through which you can appropriately acquire resources:
Hire Externally:
You can advertise the job description for your project role. However, employee referrals are a great way to attract new hires. You can also consider contract-based positions to complete a project on time.
Hire Internally:
If you have strong relationships with employees within the organization, you can make an opportunity for someone looking for a different role. Otherwise, you can work on a trusted colleague’s reference.
Also in this step, you will also need to target the equipment and supplies for your project. So it is best to obtain multiple quotes from vendors to find the best products and equipment at the most reasonable prices that fit the project schedule.
- Development and Team Management:
Development and team management is the most challenging step for project resource managers. Most projects require additional knowledge to complete their deliverables. It’s essential for the project management team to obtain this knowledge on appropriate points in the project timeline. According to PMBOK, cultivating conditions guides people to deliver their best work. It includes:
- Create a peaceful environment for workers to promote trust.
- Find out what makes people happy so you can help them to stay motivated.
- Celebrate the wins.
- Make sure your team learns and improves from their mistakes.
It’s also essential to set clear expectations for people’s duties and collect information about your project management without being burdensome.
- Evaluate Resources:
The project resources must require control procedures to ensure they are used efficiently and complete the required task. It’s essential to consult the plan regularly to ensure that resource evaluation is going according to plan. It will also prevent you from future mishaps.
PMBOK calls this step “Control resources” to make sure you don’t lose sight of performance:
- Always keep a resource management list and compare actual hours and costs to estimated hours.
- Engage your team regularly to ensure they are on the same page with the work.
- Share your suggestions for spending cuts to get back on track.
Acquiring and Managing Resources on the Projects:
One of the most significant benefits of hiring a team is that your company’s projects will now have a team managing and organizing everything related to the project. If you don’t have a good team, project management duties will most likely be performed by a manager who isn’t experienced in complete project management. The skills required to manage a project aren’t always the same as those required to manage people.
- Partner identification:
Create an adequate job description by listing what you want your employees to be responsible for and comparing it to other job descriptions. Define your needs completely. It will be helpful for you to create a perfect job description.
- Qualification:
It’s also a good idea to discuss with any internal stakeholders what kind of experience and qualifications you want your new team to have. Do detailed research on your project and what qualifications are needed to tackle the project efficiently.
- Selection:
When you come across a potential candidate, don’t forget to make a list of project-related questions. You have met the right candidate if the candidate can effectively answer those questions.
Overview:
Project resource management is a skill that every project manager must master, and it is easily attainable with the right tools and techniques. A resource management solution enables effective project planning, scheduling, and resource allocation while maximizing profit. Moreover, effective project resource management can transform your project mess into a walk in the park.
It only depends on how effectively you will manage your resources. Although it is possible to deliver a project without a plan, it will not produce high-yielding results. In a nutshell, project resource management will assist you in meeting your project objectives by utilizing your resources wisely.
