As a project manager, you have a lot on your plate. Not only do you need to manage the project's progress, but you also need to ensure all the necessary resources are being utilised efficiently. Large projects add another level of complexity to the project manager's workload and create a further need for fast and effective resource-planning strategies.
In this article, we'll discuss some of the best ways to manage your resources so that your large project can run as smoothly as possible.
What is resource planning?
Resource planning is a critical element of organisational management and productivity. It involves strategically allocating resources - including people, money, equipment, materials, and technology - to achieve your business objectives. For a Professional Services business, resource-planning typically refers to managing the capacity of your people. When done well, resource planning can make the difference between projects being delivered successfully and last minute scrambling to find people to execute on work that is already behind schedule.
There are a few key factors to consider when reviewing your resources:
Utilisation targets
Utilisation is defined as the amount of an employee's available time that's used for, billable work, expressed as a percentage. Targets are typically set at an individual level, with senior members having lower targets due to having more management or business development responsibilities. For example, a junior consultant may be set to 95% utlisation target, and a leader of a small firm may still carry a 50% target.
Your targets will also be industry-specific, but by defining a goal, you can inspire your team to increase their productivity or reward success. Being able to track your utilisation against your target at a glance with powerful software allows firms to stay one step ahead and appropriately assign resources going forward.
Daily, weekly, or monthly resourcing
What unit of time will you use to plan? Weekly is often the most popular, as it balances a hands-off approach with the ability to take action swiftly when needed.
The length of project plays a major role here. If your typical project lasts a few weeks, daily resourcing may make the most sense. If your projects span years, then weekly may become too cumbersome and create too much data entry, but monthly would make sense. For example, you allocate 50% of a team member’s time per month to a specific project for a period of 12 months.
Projected burn
In order to predict if your project will go over budget, project managers can calculate the projected burn using the formula “Worked + Resourced = Projected Burn”. This creates an added benefit to keeping resourcing realistic and up to date - it shows you in advance if you need to have a conversation with a client or if your fixed-price pricing was too low.
To streamline this process, some software will automatically generate predictive projected burn reports using previous timesheet data and future planned resources.
Why is resource planning important for large projects?
Resource planning is crucial for project managers, particularly on large projects. These strategies allow project managers to accurately measure the necessary resources needed for a successful project and make informed decisions about budgeting and resource allocations.
Here are a few ways that resource planning helps organisations run successful large projects.
What problems can be avoided with robust resource planning?
We’ve discussed the benefits of resource planning, but it’s also important to understand the issues you can avoid with accurate planning.
Clash of resources
Whether using a resource planning spreadsheet or a dedicated software program, a good resource planning strategy will lay out when and where your resources are being used, preventing double-bookings, delays and over-resourcing, which can cause employee burn-out.
Lack of accountability
Companies that struggle with Project Managers following a process to obtain resources for their projects can use a resource-planning software to require PM’s to allocate resources for a specific amount of hours in order to actually get that resource.
Inadequate risk assessment
By consciously planning your resource requirements, you can factor in sicknesses, annual leave and unexpected delays. A good resource-management system will show leave, holidays, and other scheduling conflicts.
Resource planning strategies for large projects
Project managers must formulate an efficient strategy when planning resources for large projects. This begins by utilising resource management solutions to aid in planning, organising and managing the project’s resources. Here are the core planning stages for any large project:
Identify the resources needed
Shadow resourcing or placeholder planning can be used to identify all of the resources needed for a large project ahead of time. This includes a detailed plan for activities, timelines, and costs. Then, once you have shadow resourced your project, you can swap them out for the appropriate staff with the capacity to take on this work.
When it comes to large-scale projects, you need to consider the budget for salaries, equipment, materials, and other resources required to complete the project. Additionally, it is important to consider any external resources that may be needed, such as consultants or contractors.
Determine the priority of resources
When planning large projects, it’s essential to determine the priority list for resources. Discussing with the teams and individuals affected by the project can help identify who needs to be available first or who may have scheduling conflicts during important sprints.
Pain points need to be identified early in the process so that changes can be made to the timeline before it becomes an issue. In addition, allocating resources in order of priority can help avoid any last-minute fires or delays that might otherwise occur.
Use previous projects as a reference
At any organisation, previous projects can be beneficial as a source of information and reference when it comes to resource planning for larger projects. The past remains one of the best indicators of the challenges we may face. When resource planning, it is essential to work with your experience and recognise patterns in order to prevent potential issues that could arise in the future.
Use project management tools
Gone are the days of managing even the most basic of projects using complex and unwieldy spreadsheets. Such a rigid system cannot account for the multiple inputs, dependencies, and changes that occur regularly during a project's duration - making it difficult to track progress accurately. Project management software is a must for any large project.
Identify and estimate potential shortfalls
Being able to assess the existing capacity of your resources is a must for project managers of large projects. This can be done quickly by filtering through all resources that meet requirements based on criteria such as role, competency, location, and more via a dedicated resource management tool. Then, through demand capacity planning, any excesses or shortfalls can be identified and estimated.
Schedule appropriate resources for different project stages
The project manager's job is to determine the necessary personnel and resources needed for a successful project. This job involves identifying what type of skills, qualifications and experience is required, as well as ensuring the availability of resources at any given time.
Once these decisions have been made, they need to assign tasks to the right people, manage their workloads and ensure resources are allocated to the most suitable stages.
