How to Streamline Resource Availability within Project Management

Elena Humeniuk

PPM Consultant

Studies show that 20% of project failures are due to weak resource management. These stats may surprise you if you manage different projects and tasks with unique deadlines and resource needs. By understanding resource availability, you can quickly deal with these problems. In addition, this will also enable you to increase your team’s efficiency and project success rate.

Any project fundamentally depends on resources like human and financial assets. For smooth project execution, you must know what resources are available and how to allocate them accordingly. This article will provide the best practices to improve your resource management strategy.

Understanding Resource Availability

What is resource availability?

“Resource availability” refers to how accessible vital resources (like materials, tools, or staff) are for accomplishing the project. This entails identifying what resources are currently available at your disposal.

In addition, you must consider different ways to assign your resources efficiently to other tasks and projects in parallel. Poor management of resources can cause timeline delays and late delivery and lead to project failure.

The importance of resource availability

Projects can get delayed if you are not aware of the resources at hand. In this regard, it is very important to increase efficiency by following the proper resource allocation practices, which will eventually help with the following:

• Optimizing the utilization of resources
• Minimizing project risks
• Reducing delays
• Increasing productivity

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Role of the Resource Manager

This whole process relies heavily on the resource manager. They must ensure that the required resources are available and that the necessary resources are utilized to the maximum capacity across different projects. A resource manager also ensures that the available resources are not overburdened or underused by striking a balance that benefits both the project and the organization.

Challenges of Managing Resource Availability

Over-Allocation of Resources

Using resources from more than their capacity (on multiple projects) is called over-allocation. Simply put, insufficient resources lead to lower performance and more project delays. Defining proper resource availability and allocations helps teams to manage their work properly.

Poor Communication Between Teams

Poor communication creates uncertainty about the resources that are accessible. This applies especially to big companies with many divisions. By combining resource management systems with proper collaboration tools, teams facilitate a smooth exchange of resource requests.

How to Track Resource Availability in Project Management

In today’s busy corporate environment, tracking resources by hand is obsolete. Whether you’re managing a small team or working in a large enterprise, having the right resource management software can make all the difference.

Resource Management Software

Effective resource management software must be adopted to manage resource availability effectively. With solutions like PPM Express, you can analyse available resources and manage their allocation effectively. These solutions display resources in the context of projects and departments.

Collaboration Tools

It’s essential to consider that resource management is about assigning tasks and maintaining communication and collaboration. Tools such as Microsoft Teams, integrated with resource management software, can enhance team collaboration and ensure that everyone is aligned on the availability of resources.

Resource management involves more than just task assignments; it also requires fostering communication and teamwork. By integrating resource management solutions with tools like Microsoft Teams, you can strengthen team efficiency and ensure that everyone is aware of the availability of resources.

PPM Express

PPM Express is a cloud-based platform that shows all project-related info in a single view. You may integrate it with other software like Project Online and Project for the Web, Azure DevOps Boards, Jira Software, Microsoft Planner, Smartsheet, and Monday.com, among other project management tools, to provide a unified perspective.

PPM Express is a comprehensive portfolio management platform that allows you to consolidate all your current project data from different platforms into one dashboard. This feature will provide you with overall visibility, transparency, and clarity on the progress of the projects. This platform also provides 200+ pre-build Power BI reports for Project Online and Project for the Web.

Major PPM Express Features

The following are the key features of PPM Express:

• PPM Express provides a comprehensive and integrated view of all project and portfolios in one place.
• This platform can relate to several project portfolio management tools to assist you in managing your workflow.
• It helps you easily plan, prioritize, and manage projects, programs, and portfolios.
• It helps with the effective management of resources to ensure that the team stays productive.
• It provides single-click access to all project information, timelines, and backlogs for complete transparency.
• It supports enhanced analytics by providing more than 200 pre-build Power BI reports for decision-making.
• It supports ideation and innovation management, handling ideas from inception to implementation.

Benefits of PPM Express

• Unified project visibility and consolidated view of all project portfolio management activities.
• Improved decision-making with real-time insights across the entire portfolio.
• Automated integration of work management solutions.
• Efficient resource management, ensuring productivity and minimizing bottlenecks.
• Advanced reporting and analytics.
• Enhanced transparency & accountability, reducing communication barriers and keeping everyone aligned on project goals and progress.
• Improved project prioritization and portfolio management, ensuring alignment with business objectives.
• Support for innovation management and implementation of new initiatives.

Resources Management Best Practices

• Prioritization Based on Business Impacts

  It is important to prioritize projects competing for the same available resources based on their business relevance and impact. It is essential to begin resource allocation onto initiatives that connect to critical strategic objectives. This allows the most significant projects to secure the required resources to realize their targets.

• Resource Monitoring & Utilization

  Gone are the days when a weekly resource meeting would suffice. With modern resource management tools, PMOs can monitor resource utilization in real-time. This allows resource managers to quickly reallocate what resources are available if a particular project faces unexpected delays or if the workforce is being underutilized. Today’s resource management tools enable an instant overview of resource utilization. If a project experiences delays or underutilization, project managers can instantly reallocate based on available resources.

• Forecasting Future Needs

  Many people do not realize the importance of forecasting in resource management. Enterprise resource management software enables you to forecast future resource availability based on existing and planned projects. These tools enhance the effectiveness of resource allocation, offer insight into multiple projects, and identify potential difficulties. Intuitive user interfaces simplify resource availability management in many systems, providing a smooth experience for the PMOs.

Conclusion

Investing in proper and efficient resource management software and following best practices can make resource allocation more efficient.

By addressing what resources are available and how they are managed, you’ll ensure that your projects run smoothly, your team stays productive, and your organization reaches its strategic goals. Keep searching and maximizing to facilitate growth in your resource management!