How do you measure and report the value and impact of your project resources?
Resource management is a key aspect of project management that involves planning, allocating, and monitoring the use of human and physical resources to achieve the project objectives. A resource management plan is a document that describes how the project team will manage the resources throughout the project life cycle. It covers aspects such as roles and responsibilities, resource availability and allocation, resource calendars, training needs, and performance measurement. In this article, we will discuss how to create a resource management plan and how to measure and report the value and impact of your project resources.
The first step in creating a resource management plan is to identify the resource requirements for your project. This means determining what types of resources you need, how many, when, and for how long. You can use various tools and techniques to identify resource requirements, such as work breakdown structure, scope statement, activity list, network diagram, resource breakdown structure, and expert judgment. You should also consider the project constraints, assumptions, risks, and dependencies that may affect the resource availability and demand.
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Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez
World Champion in Project Management | Thinkers50 | Sustainability Transformation Program Director | PMI Fellow & Past Chair | Professor | HBR Author | Executive Coach
Besides the traditional approaches to identifying resources, I recommend a new concept to get the right people in your project: ask for volunteers. Volunteers are the most engaged people; they are excited to work on the project and see the value for them by committing to support your project; they will be there in good and bad times.
The next step in creating a resource management plan is to estimate the resource costs for your project. This means estimating how much money you need to spend on acquiring, using, and maintaining the resources for your project. You can use various tools and techniques to estimate resource costs, such as analogous estimation, parametric estimation, bottom-up estimation, three-point estimation, and reserve analysis. You should also consider the project budget, funding sources, cost baseline, and cost management plan.
The third step in creating a resource management plan is to allocate and schedule the resources for your project. This means assigning the resources to the project activities and determining when they will start and finish their work. You can use various tools and techniques to allocate and schedule resources, such as resource leveling, resource smoothing, critical path method, critical chain method, and resource optimization techniques. You should also consider the project schedule, milestones, deliverables, and resource calendars.
The fourth step in creating a resource management plan is to monitor and control the resources for your project. This means tracking the actual resource usage and performance against the planned resource baseline and taking corrective actions if necessary. You can use various tools and techniques to monitor and control resources, such as performance reviews, variance analysis, earned value analysis, change requests, and issue logs. You should also consider the project status, quality, scope, and stakeholder expectations.
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Joel Carboni
Sustainability Disruptor & Project Management Trailblazer | Founder and President at GPM | Advocate for Regenerative Development
A great practice in monitoring and controlling resources is to conduct regular resource audits. Resource audits involve reviewing the allocation of resources and assessing their efficiency and effectiveness in meeting project objectives. This can help identify areas where resources are being underutilized or overburdened, and allow for adjustments to be made accordingly. Resource audits can serve as a proactive measure to prevent resource shortages or bottlenecks before they occur.
The fifth step in creating a resource management plan is to measure and report the value and impact of your project resources. This means evaluating how well the resources contributed to the project outcomes and benefits and communicating the results to the relevant stakeholders. You can use various tools and techniques to measure and report resource value and impact, such as key performance indicators, balanced scorecard, return on investment, benefit-cost ratio, and stakeholder feedback. You should also consider the project objectives, deliverables, and lessons learned.
The final step in creating a resource management plan is to update and improve the resource management plan based on the feedback and lessons learned from the previous steps. This means revising the resource management plan to reflect the changes and improvements that occurred during the project execution and closure. You can use various tools and techniques to update and improve the resource management plan, such as change management, knowledge management, continuous improvement, and best practices. You should also consider the project closure, documentation, and handover.
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