5 Reasons Why Resource Management is Important

Resource management helps managers get the most out of their projects’ people, tools, and equipment. That’s crucial because without resources, there’s no one and nothing to tackle the heaps of tasks that come standard with every new project. And why else is resource management so important? Well, with a resource plan you get the benefit of:

• Seeing where your resources are and what they are doing.
• Eliminating the danger of overbooking resources when task scheduling.
• The ability to spot problems early on with time to sort them out.
• Using less resources more efficiently.
• Making project planning more transparent and helps avoid miscommunications. 
• Getting a more complete picture of how projects are progressing.

Clearly, the entire process and its benefits of resource management is difficult to condense down to bullet points. And to that end, this article will go over everything you need to know about managing organizational resources. We’ll explain the importance of resource management. And demonstrate just how crucial this process is to the health of your organization and project portfolio. That way your company can start reaping the benefits immediately.

What is Resource Management?

Let’s start with a simple definition of resource management.

As an aspect of project management, resource management is the process of planning, scheduling, and allocating organizational and project resources in the best possible way. From the beginning stages of your projects right up to the very end. Its ultimate aim is fulfill project, task, or organizational goals. While ensuring the utmost efficiency of resources along the way.

With all project management, managers need to know if there’s enough capacity and the proper means to bring projects to life. Resource management can guarantee that you’ll not only have the right resources to achieve your objectives, but you have the right resources that will take your projects to the next level. All while minimizing potential scheduling conflicts, project bottlenecks, and the ill effects of resource over- and under-utilization.

Why are Resources Important?

In project management, resources are the workforce, equipment, and tools that are used to make work happen.

Resources can be human or non-human. For example, Tom the contractor, Gillian the manager, bulldozer #570, a DSLR camera, or Meeting Room Sierra.

A resource can also be consumable or reusable. For example the saw that cuts the wood, and the actual wood itself. For most project managers, their main concern is reusable resources. Because that’s where the bulk of their project budgets is spent.

Because resources exist in every field, so does the need for resource management. Without them, there’s no way to deliver that website to your client. Or complete the work promised upon your bid. Resources make the projects go round! Here’s a few real-life examples of resources in action.

• For a construction company, a resource can include a special piece of equipment or tools.
• A software company would need computers and developers.
• An event manager might need caterers and a venue.
• For a lab, you have rooms for experiments, specialized tools, materials. 

What are the 3 Major Components of Resource Management?

For managers to get resource management done right, they must first understand the process. And as project and program needs differ, so can the ways to manage resources. While Here are the main types of resource management.

1. Resource allocation – A way to block out resources’ time periods. This ensures that you have capacity for work activities and that no one is double booked in the process.
2. Forecasting – This looks not only at current projects, but future projects, with a bigger emphasis on getting the right resource for the right job.
3. Resource leveling – Balancing supply and demand is essential in the business world.

Why is a Resource Management System Important?

While maximizing efficiency is the official credo of resource management, maybe you have a different goal in mind. Here’s a few common ways a resource management system helps organizations meet their goals.

• See how project resources are engaged. And pinpoint strategies to improve utilization.
• Gain transparency in the planning process.
• Forecast resource availability for future projects.
• Strategize which projects are most feasible to take on.
• A way to create a resource capacity plan
• Track project progress.
• Choose the right projects for your portfolio.
• Spot gaps in capacity and decide if your company needs to outsource or hire freelancers.

Why is Resource Management Important?

So with the basics behind us, let’s delve into why it’s necessary to spend all this time planning out and allocating resources.

Maximize Resource Efficiency

In order to get the most out of your resources, it’s essential to track their utilization. This helps your see how much time your people and tools are engaged in any given task. And will help make the most out of the resources available to you.

Resource utilization is the percentage of the resource’s working time (Busy time) within a certain time period (Available time). This can be achieved through this formula:

Resource utilization = Busy time / Available time

This is an important metric in understanding whether or not your resources are working at maximum efficiency.

Why does it matter?

Utilization tracking and planning is the number one thing to consider if you are planning your team and its resources. It’s especially important if your resources have concurrent tasks or if they work on multiple projects simultaneously. This provides you with insight on resource availability and allows you to find the best match between tasks and your resources.

Both over and underbooking your team can lead to negative outcomes. For example, studies found that on days when people experience more challenges, they also tend to feel more positive and engaged in their work. This means your team should feel challenged in order to be more productive.

On the flip side, it has been found that over utilizing a resource and an extreme workload can lead to employee overloading. However, research indicates that when managers carry out management practices that promote job control (such as resource management), it reduces the risk of burnout.

TLDR:

• Better utilization means a happier and healthier team, helping to reduce burnout and stress.
• Resources are used to their maximum potential, keeping projects on time and on budget.
• It helps project managers keep an eye on the project, reducing oversights and double-bookings.
• Changes and hiccups can be caught more quickly, preventing problems from getting worse.

Bird’s-Eye View of Your Projects and Portfolio

Contemporary project management is tricky. Offices in different locations. A number of ongoing projects. Hundreds of different resources with different tasks. Without resource management, it’s a catastrophe waiting to happen.

Effective resource management strategies will give you an overview of everyone and everything. And an overview gives you control over what’s going on.

To do so, it might be wise to take a cue from the ancient Romans. Their concept of dīvide et imperā, (usually translated to “divide and conquer”) can help give you an overview:

1. First, divide the plan into different views.
2. Then, manage the resources within each view.
3. Finally, take a peek into the general resource plan to see if everything’s adding up.

Congrats! You are now essentially the modern-day Julius Caesar of resource organization.

Why is it important?

In project management, you should aim to have a better overview of everything. This will help you see exactly where your project’s at, what still needs to be done, and by when. It turns out, an overview will help you manage your team better and give you more efficiency.

Whether you decide to follow the ancients’ method, or get modern software to do the heavy lifting, an overview will give you a bird’s-eye view of your projects. This will allow you to have better visibility, which can ultimately increase efficiency.

TLDR:

• An overview allows you to track team and project progress, giving everyone better visibility and keeping you all up-to-date.
• You can see how efficient your team and resources are, allowing you to make better predictions for future projects.
• Overviews give you more control. Which helps you to conquer all required tasks.
• Looking at your resources from a different angle can increase your efficiency, especially when dealing with dozens of resources spread-out across the country or world.

Prevent Miscommunication Mishaps

With resource management, every (human) resource is able to view their tasks. Every project manager can see how resources are allocated. This means planning is transparent both ways.

And transparency is to planning like the weekend is to the workweek. Without it, it’s just Monday-Friday. And we all know what can happen when it’s all work and no play. You’ve seen “The Shining,” right?

It’s no wonder that miscommunication is the #1 reason why projects fail. Yet, resource management with an ERP or a “lite” version like Ganttic will provide you with better transparency. Helping to avoid such misunderstandings.

Why is it important?

There are both practical and theoretical reasons why you’d want your project management process to be transparent.

Misunderstandings are often unavoidable. Especially if you are working in an organization with simultaneous projects and managers. And while workarounds for this are abundant, they don’t always get the job done.

It’s easy to create a Gantt chart from your Google calendar. Or make a project management sheet in Excel. But without dedicated resource planning software, you opening yourself to a host of other problems.

Resources will get overbooked. Task statuses will be changed over and over again. And no one will be sure what the “right” version of the project plan is. This can mess things up with your team, bosses, and stakeholders.

The other reason why you should aim for transparency is the engaged workforce that comes with it. With links between organizational transparency, credibility, and organizational accountability. There’s plenty of proof transparent communication drives employee engagement.

TLDR:

• More transparency helps prevent avoidable miscommunication mishaps between team members, managers, and clients, keeping everyone up-to-date and on the same page.
• Project transparency is beneficial to everyone involved. It increases employee engagement and stakeholder trust.
• Transparency can reduce email noise, eliminating confusion and freeing up your inbox’s storage.
• A central resource management tool can give an entire organization transparency, allowing controlled access to every team member.

See the Here and Now, or the Future

Crystal balls. Tarot cards. Tea leaves. Resource management?

Though it may seem like the odd one out, managing resources can really help you predict the future. And unlike the others, it can be a lot more reliable.

It turns out, planning your resources gives you the ideal opportunity to understand the actual timeline of a project. The phases, the tasks that need to get done, and the resources that are required to make miracles happen. Planning lets you account for all of this, before they even occur.

Why is it important?

By planning out your resources, you have a better idea of where your team and equipment are located. And what they’re up to. Whether that’s means checking in on booked machines, client meetings, incoming shipments, or Roy the accountant.

But no one likes a micromanager. And people tend to work better without having their employers standing over their shoulders. Plus, who has time for this anyway?

The good news is that resource management helps you track resources without leaving your office. Because with an online, up-to-date live tool, it means everything is planned and accounted for. Allowing project managers to quickly and easily check the availability and utilization of a resource. This is helpful if a plan changes quickly and alternative arrangements need to be made. And trust us, this will happen!

Also, this works well it comes to equipment scheduling as well. Because a resource management application can help you check in on your machines, drones, and vehicles. You’ll not only know exactly where they are and what they’re working on, but you can check in on when they are due for a maintenance checkup or their annual servicing.

TLDR:

• Resource planning lets you understand the actual project timeline, helping with long-term planning and making more accurate forecasts.
• With it, you get a better idea of what your resources are doing and where they are located. Making it easier to sort out unexpected problems.
• Bottlenecks can be ironed-out before they occur. And when changes are made in advance, you can focus on the current tasks on hand. This means a more efficient use of your time and less stress.

Let’s You Take Control

As a successful project manager, you not only need to see what’s going on with your various projects, but you also need to have control about what’s going on. Being able to track your resources’ progress is essential. But without the correct tools to help you, you can’t actually take control and manage what needs to get done.

Nowadays there are a plethora of tools that recognizes the importance of resource organization and planning. You can start with a simple resource Gantt Chart, or a spreadsheet in Excel. Or you can move onto software that’s more adapted to your needs, once you decide to move beyond Excel.

Why is it important?

Planning out and managing your resources gives you a clear understanding of who is doing what, where, and how long before they finish.

You can see who has more downtime and who can be reallocated to help out on other tasks. Are there enough people, machinery, and other resources to finish a task? Or do you need to hire someone else? Having all this info gives you a feeling that you have a control over a project. While alsazaqso ensuring that you have your resource capacity management all taken care of.

Having control means you’re the captain of your ship. The projects and tasks are for you to manage. Not the other way around.

How Do You Benefit?

• Resource management tells you where your resources are and what they are doing. Giving you not only an overview, but control of the whole process. This ensures that nothing is forgotten and issues can be solved ahead of time.
• Control allows you to measure resource performance. Which helps you make the best choices for your company. In turn, this can help grow and expand your business.
• Being in control lets you stay calm in times of emergencies, company shakeups, and times of uncertainty.
• There are resource planning tools made specifically for this purpose. Which can take the pressure off of the project manager and help you succeed. Find the best one for your needs!

Benefits of Resource Management

While we’ve discussed the practical necessity of managing resources, but for most people, the more important question is why? How does this process

Helps you See the “Big Picture”

Resource management is a continuous activity. But when you plan it out, you are better able to have a bigger picture of the entire process. For the short and long term.

With a resource management plan in tow, not only will you be able to grasp what’s going on in the present. But have a better idea of the future.

You can measure the performance of your resources, which makes for more accurate forecasting. This can help you choose the best direction for your company. So instead of running into problems, you can see what lucrative opportunities lay beyond the horizon.

Keep Better Track of Employees Skills and Availability

Who’s the best person to do a job? Which employee has the tech stack that this particular client requested? Will a crew of mechanics be available next August?

These are all questions that project managers need to know the answer to. As these questions are essential to delivering projects and completing the work. However, for most project managers, this information is too difficult to keep track of in their heads. So to to do their own jobs, having a resource management system is important because it reduces their own mental strain. As well as answeing all these questions for them.

By keeping resources’ availability, skills, certifications, days off, together with the project schedule, client demands, and budget info, you have a single source of truth.

Creates a Happier Team

So, when managers encourage more participative information sharing, employees feel more engaged with their work. So with greater transparency, you’re essentially creating a better workforce.

However, to achieve that kind of transparency, you need a tool that allows controlled access to every team member. Unfortunately it can get quite expensive if the tool is priced per user. Which is why you should aim to find one that is priced per resource.

That way you’ll only pay for the resources in use. More transparency and less money, makes for a better business!

Better Forecasting

Sometimes we all need a little guidance. Whether it’s consulting a book, talking with a mentor, or more increasingly, asking ChatGPT.

Maybe resource management can’t tell you who to marry. But it can tell you if one potential project is better than another. Simply by comparing your resource costs to your expected return. It can also tell you if it’s possible to take on another project at all. By looking at your resources’ future capacity to check for feasibility.

Utilization can also be extended to planning nonhuman resources. You can track the downtime or efficiency of a piece of heavy machinery, for example. This can help with long-term planning, and allow you to nip a problem in the bud. If you know that you will be using a specific machine extensively, you can make arrangements for repairs or replacements ahead of time.

Plus, with modern resource  management software, there’s plenty of ways that you can track time. Just choose the option that suits you best!

Fixes Problems Ahead of Time

Plans can also show the bottlenecks of the projects: upcoming holidays, overlapping vacation days, scheduled repairs, mandatory safety trainings. Long-term planning can help you prepare for the future and make adjustments in advance. By fixing the problems when they are still “invisible,” you can prevent them from getting worse.

Taking the time to plan and organize your resources now means “future you” will be better prepared and more able to focus on everyday tasks. You can thank yourself now for all the free time you will have.

Start Managing Your Resources Today!

If there is just one thing you take with you from this article, it is the fact that resource management is essential to your organization. Not only is it beneficial for your team, company, and projects. It can also help to avoid unnecessary headaches.

Luckily, these days there are many tools available to make your life easier. Starting with a simple Gantt Chart, to Microsoft Excel, to actual resource management software. Whatever it is, start with something. Meet your goals and take control of your projects by finding the best tool for you.

Take this opportunity to be the best project manager you can be. Make planning transparent and get a grasp on your resources and projects. “Future you” will thank you.