The Importance of Resource Management
“People are our most important asset!”
If people really are the most important asset a company has, you would think they would work very hard to manage and invest in their people, yet so many companies struggle to truly manage this resource.
Many times, resource planning is done too late in the process to make a difference and the result is behind schedule and over cost projects. Even if proposal and project managers want to plan their resources, the reality is that most resource planning is done ad-hoc with Excel files at the project level. There is no consideration of skills or what other projects need and there is no clue what new work will require from a resource perspective.
It does not have to be that way.
Here are 7 simple tips to help increase the efficiency of managing resources across the enterprise.
- Have a centralized repository for all resource plans that is accessible to all stakeholders
- Create a skills catalog so that the right resources will be available when (and where) you need them
- Forecast resources throughout the project lifecycle, don’t just start at contract award
- Use a single pool of resources across your company not just on one project or portfolio
- Plan at the project level and roll-up to the enterprise – do not forecast by department only
- Provide stakeholders real-time resource demand and KPI reports as well as role based dashboards
- Don’t plan your most important resources on disparate excel spreadsheets
How are you answering these questions today and how much time does it take to get an answer? Is that answer one you can trust? With ERP tools like Unanet you will have the information you need to get the right resources on the projects at the right time.
Download our white paper "How to Produce an Accurate Forecast" for more information on resource management.