What is resource management?

Resource management, or resource planning, is the process by

which businesses plan, schedule, and allocate resources in
order to achieve the highest organizational value. Those
resources can be intangible, such as skills and time, or
tangible, such as equipment, materials, and finances.

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Essentially, resource management means planning so that the
right resources are assigned to the right tasks at the right
time. Managing resources involves creating schedules
and setting budgets for people, projects, equipment, and
supplies.

Why is resource management

important?
The resource management process is crucial to the success of
any business because it reduces cost and wasted effort. By
following resource management techniques, you gain insight
on what's required to complete products and deliver projects,
as well as the skills to make it happen regardless of external
factors.

Resource management:

 Eliminates waste: With proper resource management,

you can maximize resource efficiency across a variety of
categories, ensuring that none of the equipment, space,
or material you've invested in goes unused.
  Optimizes time: Resource planning ensures the team
members you've hired understand their roles and spend
their time on projects that add the most value. Instead of
saying yes to everything, resource managers can
schedule and prioritize projects based on real-time data.
 Minimizes risk: Poor resource allocation can lead to
situations where a business does not have enough
available resources (e.g. labor, raw materials, equipment)
to meet its objectives or fulfill its obligations. Resource
management reduces this risk.
 Maximizes profit: Even if your sales are high and
your pricing is perfect, poor resource management can
result in excess costs further upstream, cutting into your
bottom line.

Resource management areas

While it is often used in reference to project management,
resource management applies to many other areas of business
administration. A small business, in particular, will pay
attention to resource management in a number of areas:

 Finances – Can we meet current expenses? Can we

afford to invest in new equipment or staff training? Are
our funding sources reliable?
 Staffing – Do our team members' skills line up with the
work at hand? If not, should we train them, or higher new
team members? Will we have enough staff if we get that
new client, and if so, what skills will those people need to
have?
 Physical space – Is the company’s office or
manufacturing space configured so that other resources
can be managed for maximum efficiency? Are we
 expanding too quickly relative to demand for our
products, or not quickly enough?
 Equipment – Do we have the equipment needed to do
what’s required in the most cost effective way? If so, are
we leveraging the full potential of that equipment to
achieve our goals?
 Technology – What software or devices do our employees
need to communicate effectively and execute tasks?
Should financial resources be reallocated to fund what’s
missing?

Resource management techniques

Resource managers employ a variety of techniques to There
are a variety of ways to think about resource management.
Two of the most popular resource management techniques are
resource leveling, resource smoothing, and resource
forecasting.

Resource leveling

Resource leveling is a resource management technique

designed to avoid shortages or excess inventory by keeping
the stock of project resources at a level that avoids both
problems. Specialized resource management software can
help determine that level with tools that use real-time data to
provide resource forecasting and risk management.

Resource leveling also used in reference to the time it takes to

complete a project. With leveling, the start and finish dates are
adjusted so that they mesh with resource availability. Leveling
might extend the project timeline, but with a view toward
eliminating excess costs along the way.
Resource smoothing

Resource smoothing is a resource management solution that

relies on scheduling. That is, resource smoothing attempts to
meet a specified deadline while avoiding peaks and valleys on
the resources. While resource leveling is focused on achieving
the right amount of each resource, the goal of resource
smoothing is a constant rate of resource demand and/or
resource utilization over time.

Resource forecasting

Whereas many resource management techniques concern

themselves with allocating resources in the present, resource
forecasting predicts the resources needed in the future and
creates a resource management plan to account for them.
Using your current capacity, upcoming projects, and external
trends, accurate forecasting solutions help project managers
identify future conflicts and opportunities to ensure your
resource allocation and utilization are aligned with your long-
term goals.

At its simplest level for small businesses, resource

management is about making sure that a company is using its
talents and materials wisely and effectively.

What are the benefits of resource

management?
Some of the benefits of resource management include
eliminating waste, maximizing ROI, gaining transparency
across your business, and being more adaptable to unexpected
changes.
What are some resource management
examples?
Examples of resource management include reassigning
employees to higher-priority projects, organizing digital assets
in a cloud computing system, or creating a budget and release
schedule for a product rollout.

What is the first step of resource

management?
The first step of resource management is to identify a project
and determine which resources are needed to complete it.