Resource management is the practice of planning, scheduling, and allocating people, money, and

technology to a project or program. In essence, it is the process of allocating resources to achieve the
greatest organizational value.

Importance of resource management:

Resource management is all about transparency so you can see, monitor, and attain what is required to
deliver projects. It also enables you to minimize both idle time and overutilization of resources. With full
visibility both work and resources, you can more effectively schedule, plan, and manage your resources,
aligning them with the right projects at the right time.

It Is easy to see the importance of resource management by understanding the disadvantage of not
having it. Without the right data, resource managers have little control over their projects and no way of
understanding:

Planning and scheduling – Understanding what resources are available and when

Available and required skills – Assessing the skills of each person and whether additional skills (or
people) need to be added

Resource utilization – Knowing where people are already committed and if those allocations are
appropriate

Resource capacity – Understanding true capacity to do work, recognizing that not all time can be utilized

Resource prioritization and allocation – Identifying those prioritized initiatives that the most attention
and possibly specialized skills

Resource management ensures resource managers have on-demand, real-time visibility into people and
other resources so they can have greater control over delivery

Keep in mind that resources are not only the people; resources are also the:

Technology / tools needed to enable people to execute tasks

Budget required to fund the project

Locations and specialized equipment

Resource management also demands a close inspection of schedules and timelines. It is important to
bring all of these elements together with the goals of the business

Benefits of resource management:

Organizations that focus on establishing or improving their resource management capability reap
benefits nearly immediately. While these benefits may vary depending on the organization and the steps
taken, it is common to discover that projects are more frequently delivered on time and on budget.

When you have the data you need to plan and schedule, you can allocate people based on their skills
and availability. Managers are able to set the right expectations with their customers when they
understand current workloads, timelines, priorities, and budgets.
Instead of saying yes to everything with no regard to capacity, resource managers can more accurately
schedule projects based on realistic, real-time data. Resource managers can make smarter decisions
about how to staff their teams, both in terms of headcount and required skills to execute current and
upcoming projects.

There is another key benefit derived from having the right resources working on the right projects at the
right time: happier employees. A common challenge companies face is having too few people to work on
too many projects.

Over-utilized employees quickly become frustrated and disheartened. They feel overwhelmed with their
workloads, which frequently results in disengagement, decreased productivity, and poor performance.

With more predictability and consistency, attainable workloads, and optimally utilized skill sets,
employees are more apt to feel valued and satisfied

Resource management brings control to the chaos, ensuring managers are equipped to maximize
resources and reduce unnecessary costs. You have the data you need to understand project and
personnel costs for more accurate budgeting and planning. You are also able to maintain an ideal team
of people – optimizing resources across projects based on skills and capacity.

Ultimately, the greatest benefit of resource management is the effective and efficient delivery of projects
to the end customer. Customer satisfaction improves when teams are able to fulfill project requests on
time and as expected. Confidence in the ability to execute projects builds momentum, becoming a
differentiator and providing a strategic advantage