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Resource Planning For Your Business Plan

Identifying the resources you need to grow your business

Why Is Resource Planning Important

How to start resource planning, the bottom line, frequently asked questions (faqs).

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A business plan helps you organize your goals and growth plans for your business. Identifying business resources you'll be starting your business with already, and accounting for the resources you'll need to acquire after launching the business, is a crucial step in business planning.

Key Takeaways

• A business plan helps you organize your goals and growth plans for your business.
• Resource planning help you account for resources you have, plan for resources you need and ways to optimize their use
• You can plan for physical, people and technical resources in your business plan

Resource planning help you account for resources you have, plan for resources you need and ways to optimize their use. Among other things, even the most simple business plans are designed to walk you through the activity of describing every source and the exact dollar amount of your initial equity capital, as well as account for the equipment necessary to produce your products or services.

It can be difficult to accurately estimate your future resource needs, which is why this startup mistake is one of the most frequent contributors to young businesses running out of cash early on.

A very important section in your business plan is about the finances of your business, and that includes how much you hope to spend on resources you need to acquire and maintenance expenses on assets you own. Your plans for obtaining the necessary personnel, equipment, and cash to meet your capital expenses will need to be detailed throughout your business plan.

You may need financing from a bank or investors or will invest your personal savings in the business, and resource planning will come in handy for that too.

Resource allocation plans are what your potential investors and business partners are going to need to see before jumping on board with your new company.

There are different types of resources and you need to budget and plan for them accordingly. In describing each of the resources that you have and need for your business to reach profitability, position each of them in terms of the value it will bring to the company, both in the near term and down the road.

To figure out exactly which resources your business is going to need, and account for those in your business planning process, ask yourself these two crucial questions:

• Does starting and growing your business require having staff on hand? If your business relies upon output from people other than yourself and your business partners, you're going to need to allocate resources for hiring staff at fair market rates. 
• What type of equipment or fixed assets will your business need to get going? If your business is dependent upon purchasing or leasing equipment or other fixed assets like retail and office space, these are major considerations as you plan out your resource allocation.

Physical Assets

Depending on the nature of your business, you may have varying need for physical assets. However, in all likelihood you'd need some sort of office furniture and definitely some computers. Physical assets could also include office space, storefronts, manufacturing facilities and equipment necessary for your business. For example, if you own a baked good business, baking equipment like mixers and ovens would be physical assets you'd need to plan for.

Personnel and People

There are different types of people that can be a part of your business. People you hire, for example, can be employees or independent contractors and there are different cost implications for your business depending on whether you hire the former or the latter.

Investing in skills and capacities for people in your business is also an important part of resource planning.

How about mentors, key advisors, supplier connections, and other intangible resources for your business? These types of relationships whose value to your business can be immense, also need to be accounted for within your business plan as they'll have a very large impact on the future growth of your company.

Think of the massively positive effect your company would experience if you had a friend or family member that was a decision-maker at a large company who'd be your perfect first customer. It would undoubtedly be one of your key strategies for driving the early growth of your company. So, as you're planning your resource allocation, you'd naturally be spending in areas that make your young business more appealing to the target customers you want to serve.

Technical Resources

It is a good time to evaluate your technical resources and requirements as well. Some businesses rely more heavily on technology or intellectual property than others. Technology-dependent companies will need a strong IT network to get started. If building your own website won't be any trouble, then that's one major cost you'll be able to avoid as you get started with your company. Otherwise, you may need to allocate for web design, development, and other website-related expenses.

Regardless of your situation, don't be intimidated by the upfront costs of starting a business. Instead, keep in mind that in today's age, your product or service will only be as good as the technology that supports it, and if you buy or build low-grade gear, you’ll probably have to replace it in a few years anyway.

Clearly, there are a lot of different expenses to take into account as you allocate the resources for your new business. However, forcing yourself to go through this activity in extreme detail while building your business plan will save you a lot of headaches and potential failures in the future.

What are assets and resources in a business plan?

Resources can be anything that helps you operate or run your business. Assets are a type of resources that help you achieve you business. Assets can be cash, or physical assets such as equipment or intangible assets such as the brand of your business. In a business plan, you talk about the resources you have and the resources you need to acquire to help your business grow. You also account for your assets on your balance sheet. A strong balance sheet presented in your business plan can be appealing to potential investors.

Which components of a business plan are most useful to attract investors?

Each section of a business plan is important to potential investors. An executive summary gives your investors an elevator pitch to your business. Company description explains to them how your business is solving a market need, while market analysis shows investors you understand your industry and competition. Sections on organization, product details and marketing plans dig deeper into your vision for your business and how its organized. And the financial information component helps them see if you idea is worth putting their money into.

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Ultimate Guide to Resource Planning

By Joe Weller | June 7, 2018

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Focusing on how to best use people to achieve essential activities helps organizations drive themselves forward in the information economy. Without a realistic view of who makes up your workforce, how much time your people have to spend on project tasks, and what they need to get the job done, your project and business plans won’t succeed. This article features an overview of resource planning and explains why it is essential to project management. Plus, you’ll find a variety of free resource chart tools and learn more about expert resource planning techniques to start planning how you will maximize your most important — and most limited — resources.

Why Is Resource Planning Important in Project Management?

Resource management is an essential project management process and a core activity of human resource management — from large enterprise to small startups. Managing projects requires managing resources. Whether the project is developing a new software feature or the construction of a new building, resource planning directly contributes to the project’s end result. An over-resourced project wastes time, those with too few resources risk missing critical milestones, and those that use the wrong resources won’t meet expectations. Project managers need to understand what resources a project needs and what resources the project already has before developing accurate project plans.

The topic of resource planning, allocation, and management is often associated with people planning activities common to human resource management (HRM) and planning. Human resource management is an approach to acquiring, training, controlling, managing, and measuring people resources, and human resource planning is a strategy to add value to a business or organization by supporting people activities like training, compensation, safety, and communication. Resource planning is associated with different industries and approaches as well, including the following:

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): ERP refers to the combination of business processes and information that joins disparate functions of companies (like accounting and HR) with the manufacturing or product development and service-side functions of a business or organization. ERP software (like Microsoft Project) supports resource planning activity at Fortune 500 corporations and large companies that scale operations for thousands of projects including manufacturing.
• Material Requirements Planning (MRP): A planning and control system for inventory, production, and scheduling. MRP is an approach to handling material resources that involves converting a master production schedule into a detailed breakdown of the raw materials used in civil engineering, commercial real estate, and fabrication industries. Manufacturing and resource planning (MRP II) replaced MRP as the standard, and ERP expanded the reference to accommodate HR and financial activity.
• Utility Resource Planning: This activity involves estimating the demand to be met by the utility resource (for example, natural gas, the reliability of the resource, the costs of available resources, and government policies and regulations to consider).
• Integrated Resource Planning (IRP): A type of roadmap tool used for utility resource planning developed in collaboration with government agencies, industry advocacy groups, developers, and other project stakeholders.
• Natural Resource Planning: This refers to the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals. By contrast, distribution resource planning (DRP) refers to a method for planning orders within a supply chain

Agile Resource Planning Template

This resource capacity planning template includes a Gantt chart feature to visualize and plan resources for Agile software project sprints . Use this template to chart software development resources by quantity and skill type (for example, PMs, analysts, developers, designers, product managers, administrators, etc.). Modify the template to view the distribution of your team’s time and activities across your Agile sprint calendar (expressed in two week intervals in this template).  

‌   Download Excel Template Try Smartsheet Template   ‌

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Resource Management by Smartsheet empowers your people to more effectively manage teams across projects, track time accurately, and forecast with confidence so you can make better, more informed decisions with a clear view of every project.

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Optimize the Resource Planning Process

Project resource planning involves the allocation and utilization of different types of resources, including people, materials, equipment, and financial capital. The term “resources” generally implies all of the things that a project manager or business depends on to deliver products and services. In the context of this example, the term means human resources. People planning is different from physical resource planning.

First, identify the resource requirements for your project schedule: What type of skilled people do you need to complete project tasks? Will you use internal employees or contract resources from external vendors? Do you have the materials, software, and equipment to supply team members with to empower their work? This step involves documenting project roles and responsibilities, organizing project teams based on competencies, and creating resource control plans for managing change and relationships.

Next, determine the cost and duration of the needed resources across the entire project schedule. Use resource forecast techniques and tools, including project management software, to assist with creating an optimized resource plan. Decide on the range of competencies needed (by project task) and determine if you need to change project scope, plan additional training, or provide subject matter experts. This step is both quantitative (in that you use information such as previous project schedules, budgets and reports, and data analysis) and qualitative (due to the people planning component).  

Finally, create a resource schedule and calendar and determine if you have the resource requirements to complete the entire project schedule on time. Anticipate what-if scenarios to determine worst-case resource management scenarios. List individual project resource activity and make sure all tasks are assigned to a specific resource.

Using spreadsheet software to create resource plans has its limitations. Managing data manually increases the chance of forecasting errors. Project resource plans are living project documents, meaning real-time analysis of the data is critical to success. The risk of overwriting or deleting spreadsheet resource plans, or of creating multiple versions across a distributed project team, is high. Consider investing in project management software to stay on schedule and optimize your resource planning and management.

Project Resource Plan Template

Use this project resource planning template for multiple types of project and portfolio management scenarios. Schedule human resources and non-human resources (like material and equipment) in separate sections for easy analysis based on each project phase, from project origination to execution. Plan and estimate the cost for full-time employees, freelance consultants, contingent staffing, software, hardware, and more.

Resource Planning Tools and Techniques

Resource management software tools can automate tasks and track work hours against budgets, provide color-coded visualization charts to help monitor scarce resources in real-time, and share big picture data for portfolio managers to track what-if scenarios across multiple projects and teams. Resource management strategy includes various processes for organizing and managing project teams.

Resource planning involves the strategic use of human and non-human resources to develop products and services under deadline and budget restraints. Software tools help simplify resource planning, but the human element to project resource management requires more than technology to manage. Different techniques exist to assist resource planning and manage project teams, including the following:

• Resource Meetings: Short, frequent, action-oriented meetings give project managers a forum for discussing roles and responsibilities related to resource planning. The meeting focuses on sharing fact-based information and short-term planning for critical project activities and tasks. These meetings help create project culture and provide leadership with a frequent control for corrective action and clarification.
• Resource Leveling: This is a technique to optimize resource allocation by adjusting the project schedule over time to resolve conflicts caused by the over-allocation of resources. According to the PMBOK guide, these project schedule adjustments may affect critical path .
• Resource Smoothing: A technique to optimize resource allocation using free float (or total float) without affecting the critical path. The PMBOK defines free float as the “amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed or extended from its early start date without delaying the project finish date or violating a schedule constraint.”
• Resource Availability and Utilization: A resource planning technique to ensure that the project’s allocated resources are actually available. This is done by calculating the cost to use them, monitoring planned versus actual use of resources, and taking corrective action.
• Resource Capacity Planning: A planning technique used by portfolio managers that oversee resource planning and manage multiple projects. Capacity planning involves determining if the allocated resources are sufficient enough to complete new projects and determine if the amount of resources, or the level of skilled people, is sufficient on existing project teams.

What Is a Resource Planning Chart?

Resource planning software includes features to create resource planning charts like Gantt and RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed) charts to help project managers visualize, plan, and manage resources for the project schedule. Project managers use resource planning charts like Gantt charts to find the critical path, a color-coded network diagram that displays a sequence of activities through the project schedule, the duration of each task, and the longest path from the start of the first project activity to the end of the last activity. The PMBOK guide recommends using the critical path method (CPM) to determine the shortest possible duration of a project schedule.

Staff Resources Planning Template

Resource management involves assigning tasks, roles, and responsibilities to your project teams to clarify process and participation. This resource planning template combines a RACI matrix and a histogram feature. Use these tools to visualize and plan project activity and create an optimized project schedule based on staff resources.

‌ Download Staff Resources Planning Template – Excel

What to Cover in Your Resource Management Plan

Resource plans guide how to allocate, control, and use resources. In addition to this practical function, resource management plans can help earn stakeholder buy-in and get project budgets approved. A physical resource management plan advises project managers on the use of materials and equipment. Human resource plans specify the type of skilled people needed to complete a project, and the quantity, cost, and scheduled duration of their given activities. Before implementing your project plan, modify and organize the resource plan to assign every individual project task to the appropriate person. A sound resource plan includes the following information:

• Resource Identification: The type of people or material resource needed, name, title, source (if contracted), and the assigned project team.  
• Resource Cost: The direct or estimated resource cost.
• Resource Requirements: The information about the resources available, including when they’re available, any conditions, and the duration of their availability.
• Roles and Responsibilities: The specific function(s) that people resources perform for the project. This information might list the resource authority, including decision-making and approval authority.
• Resource Quantity: The amount of this type of resource (for example the amount of labor hours, equipment, or materials).
• Resource States: The current state of the resource (planned, requested, approved, denied, allocated, confirmed).
• Resource Locations: Where is the resource located, including virtual resources and co-located teams.
• Resource Organization: A graphic display of the project team and their relationship to other project team resources.
• Resource Calendar: The scheduled working days, shift hours, start and end dates for different project milestones, and scheduled holidays. Resource calendars identify the duration of work for specific resources.
• Resource Issue Log: The information on resource planning challenges, for example in acquiring skilled resources, and problem-solving steps that worked to keep project resource plans on track.

What Is a Resource Forecast?

A resource forecast is a quantitative assessment of conditions and events used to estimate the amount of resources, and the cost of a project’s planned, allocated, and actual resources. This forecast is based on information available when the resource plan is developed. Activity duration estimates forecast how long each project activity will take. This is a useful technique to determine cost and quantity of people resources required, expressed in hours, weeks, days, or months. PMI lists various forecasting tools and techniques in the PMBOK guide, including the following:

• Bottom-Up Estimating: Evaluate the small details, like individual project activity duration by resource, from an aggregate breakdown of the total scope of work. Use this technique to forecast the duration of individual assignments, or cost of skilled resources, by adding up all of the lower-level estimates of resource cost and consumption to determine a total estimate. This process is accurate but time consuming.
• Reference Published Data: Leverage published reports, articles from industry journals, and public data from organizations like PMI to create resource forecasts using this data to create estimates. This is a type of analogous estimating, which is defined in the PMBOK as “a technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity or a project using historical data from a similar activity or project.”
• Parametric Estimating: Project management software features an algorithm function to perform parametric estimating. Use this tool to forecast resource cost or estimate resource duration based on the project resource parameters and historical data.
• Three-Point Estimating: Use a realistic estimate, an optimistic estimate, and a worst-case scenario estimate of project labor to forecast resource costs by applying the average of the three estimates.

Team Resource Planning Template

Use this template to forecast your project team’s bandwidth (expressed as work hours) using a heatmap visualization. Customize the template to reflect your team’s availability based on resource allocation of work hours. This is a resource utilization tool designed to help you plan and manage your team’s demand and quickly populate data based on project hours allocated and utilized.

‌ Download Team Resource Planning Template – Excel

Improve Resource Planning Efforts with Smartsheet

Resource Management by Smartsheet is a powerful resource management software that helps to effectively manage the who, the what, and the when behind projects.

With Resource Management by Smartsheet, you can more easily build the best team for a project, keep project schedules and budgets on track, and confidently forecast business needs.

When teams have clarity into the work getting done and by whom, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Watch a free demo to learn more about Resource Management by Smartsheet.

Make better operational decisions with a powerful resource management tool.

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How to Prepare a Dynamic Resource Management Plan: Step-by-Step Guide

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Project teams often wonder how to allocate resources in project management properly. They compose a resource management plan to optimize asset utilization, whether for a single project or an entire portfolio of work.

Is it easy to create a plan that will significantly improve resource allocation in project management and be several steps ahead of competitors’ strategies?

In this straightforward guide, you’ll learn what a professional resource plan is, its importance and benefits, what you should look for in such a plan, and what steps should be taken to create a stunning one.

Let’s try to sort everything out.

What is a resource management plan?

What should be included in a resource management plan.

• Benefits of a resource management plan .
• How to create a resource management plan .
• 4 resource management plan best practices .

A resource management plan is a consistent strategy for scheduling, allocating, and evaluating resources over the course of a project’s lifecycle.

The ultimate goal of this plan is to maximize resource utilization, decrease wastage, and avoid schedule variance. 

It can be defined as a guideline and one of the key resource management best practices for managers and their teams. This plan may detail how they will acquire, predict, manage, control, and release all assets they need for a particular project.

Professionals in the project management field emphasize the importance of developing a resource management plan at the very beginning of a project’s lifecycle to avoid unnecessary problems later on.

One of the vivid examples is Brian E. Porter, a trainer of the American Management Association and consultant with more than 25 years of experience in PM. He claims :

Resource planning is an essential requirement for a project. In multi-project management, we might have the challenge of not having the resource that we want and when we want it. We can not get the exact individual that we’re looking for. So we must communicate our entire resource planning needs through a resource management plan.

• Acquired resources.
• Resource allocation strategy.
• Resource schedule.
• Project organization chart.
• Timeframes.
• Estimated costs.
• Contingency strategy
• Roles and responsibilities.
• Performance metrics.

An average project resource management plan usually includes the elements listed below. 

• Acquired resources. This is a kind of inventory of all assets that will be used for the successful completion of a certain project.
• Resource allocation strategy. This is about a certain way of how available resources will be allocated to different tasks. It typically involves assigning specific individuals or departments to particular activities.
• Resource schedule. This element of a plan involves a schedule that outlines when and for how long each resource will be needed throughout a project timeline.
• Project organization chart . Task and resource scheduling , team involvement, and reporting should be represented in a visual structure. It can be any convenient system but one of the most effective is an online Gantt chart .
• Timeframes. By tracking the time required for each resource, you’ll get a better idea of how each asset fits into your overall schedule.
• Estimated costs. It’s about budget issues associated with each resource (equipment rental, salaries, or other expenses).
• Contingency strategy . This plan should also contain a part for addressing resource shortages or unexpected changes in asset availability. It may involve adjusting the schedule or identifying backup resources.
• Roles and responsibilities. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities involved in resource management processes are also a vital element of such a plan.
• Performance metrics. This point is about establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure the effectiveness of resource management efforts and lead to adjustments when needed.

Let’s also define the vivid advantages of a plan for effective resource management .

Benefits of a resource management plan

When you possess a comprehensive resource management plan in project management, it gives you a multitude of undoubtful benefits. Below are the most conspicuous among them.

• Smart resource allocation . This type of PM plan helps allocate resources in the right manner. It fulfills the ultimate dream of project managers to optimize asset utilization while minimizing waste and extra expenses.
• Realistic schedules. A meticulously designed plan based on a resource calendar helps generate realistic project schedules. It identifies the required assets for specific tasks, taking into account their sequence and completion time.
• Well-balanced workload. One of the most demanded project assets is personnel. When individuals face an overwhelming workload and tight schedules, burnout becomes a significant issue. Strategic resource management planning and appropriate workload management tools can help distribute workloads evenly, promoting team motivation and engagement.
• Mitigated conflicts and risks. Unforeseen conflicts and sudden risks can disrupt projects and lead to project delays . A well-defined plan enhances risk assessment and conflict resolution by identifying potential resource constraints and bottlenecks. This clarity empowers employees to understand what their colleagues do.
• Accurate budgeting. Comprehensive information about resource needs and costs is essential for precise budgeting and efficient cost control.
• Performance monitoring. A resource management plan outlines a project’s path, enabling the comparison of completed activities against the schedule. It leads to better project performance evaluation.
• Reduced downtime. This type of plan promotes efficient allocation of project assets, reducing idle periods and preventing resource wastage.
• Satisfied project participants. A smart project resource management plan fosters transparency among managers, staff, and other parties involved. All stakeholders understand that resources are available when required. They have a clear visibility into ongoing and upcoming events.

Keeping this information in mind, you can begin the practical preparation of your future strategic masterpiece related to planning and organizing different resource types in project management .

How to create a resource management plan: 9 steps for a smooth process

There is no absolute rule or magic guide to creating a perfect resource management plan in project management. PM professionals rely on their knowledge base while project managers without experience most often use available guidance for exemplary planning. 

However, both can use a specific structure and stages that will help them prepare such a plan quickly and without unnecessary headaches.

It’s time to work it out step by step, so here we go.

• Initiate a resource identification and acquisition strategy .
• Act following your company’s resource-related policy .
• Visualize resources .
• Match the right resources to the right tasks .
• Choose a proper resource allocation method .
• Control deadlines .
• Keep workload under control .
• Make changes if necessary .
• Perform post-project analysis and report regularly .

1. Initiate a resource identification and acquisition strategy

In the realm of project management, the initial step in developing a resource management plan entails a comprehensive understanding of all project requirements and resources accessible within a company. This process traditionally involves assessing a project scope, core objectives, financial aspects, and schedules.

This vital information serves as the foundation for determining the precise resources indispensable for the successful execution of your project.

Project resources are usually categorized into the following groups:

• Workforce. These are usually personnel who provide their efforts to a project.
• Workspaces. It primarily refers to places for work, such as offices, meeting rooms, workshops, or any building where your team operates.
• Tools. It is about various physical instruments or software solutions necessary for managing project activities from A to Z.
• Supplies. They include any expendable materials, ranging from office stuff to fuel for buses.
• Finances. It’s about the total funds required for procuring any of the aforementioned resources.

Alternatively, as a reference, you can use a previous successful project to guide you. It will help you eliminate upfront PM work and accurately predict the current project’s chances of success.

2. Act following your company’s resource-related policy

Once you understand your asset needs and choose resource management techniques , it’s crucial to ensure they align with the resource policy of your organization.

Here are two typical examples:

• If a project requires hiring full-time, part-time, or contract personnel, you must consult with the HR department.
• If your project processes involve purchasing certain equipment, tools, materials, or software, you should engage with your finance team and a responsible procurement manager.

The key goal is to adhere to your company’s procedures and workflows while minimizing project disruptions.

3. Visualize resources

Professional visualization makes planning efforts much easier, especially if you need to improve the process of resource planning for multiple projects. While some managers still rely on Excel spreadsheets or simple Excel alternatives , smart resource management tools simplify the process by storing data in one easily accessed and easily viewed location. 

The truth is that modern resource management software allows teams to drill down into certain resources to understand their roles, rates, skills, or availability.

By the way, 79% of professionals surveyed within the State of Resource Management report (2022) are satisfied or highly satisfied with the specific resource management software they use.

One of the most demanded solutions for planning and managing resources online is GanttPRO.

This Gantt chart generator serves as a trustworthy assistant for PM professionals and enthusiasts who need a robust online platform without switching between different solutions. It enables precise task scheduling, efficient resource allocation, seamless team collaboration, and much more.

The software combines all essential PM features and guarantees that its users have a clear overview of their projects in one place.

At this point, you probably wonder how it works to generate a resource management plan. We’ll explore the next steps of resource planning using this Gantt chart maker as an example.

Project teams rely on GanttPRO while managing resources because it provides a handy Gantt chart with resource allocation for getting all things done as quickly as possible.

When you start using this platform, you gain confidence and professional motivation. Its functionality is user-friendly and intuitive. Additionally, there are ready-made Gantt chart templates available for various purposes to help users get started swiftly.

Why is GanttPRO a reliable choice for planning and managing project resources?

First of all, let’s turn to experts.

Ben Emmons, the director of special projects at MagMod, a company that produces flash modification systems, notes :

We needed a flexible project management tool since multiple departments had differing requirements and project complexity. Some projects were very short and needed to be initialized quickly and others were very complex requiring a critical path, resource management, and workload monitoring. GanttPRO provides the full spectrum of features without feeling overwhelming or being too expensive.

It was the example of using the Gantt chart maker for production planning and work tracking. However, GanttPRO is widely used in a variety of industries.

PM experts worldwide apply it for software development, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, resource management in construction , event planning, marketing resource management , and beyond.

George Rossle, a production manager at A+ Construction Pro is also totally satisfied with GanttPRO, applying it as construction project management software :

For us, GanttPRO is a basic tool for planning and management. We invite our colleagues to projects as well as create resources. We use the software for deadline management and time tracking, file sharing, and smart scheduling.

From experts’ thoughts, let’s move on to the GanttPRO functionality designed for planning and managing project resources.

To plan your project assets and manage them, you first need to divide your project into manageable activities and tasks. Each of them should have a fixed budget, due date, and start and end date.

GanttPRO comes with a work breakdown structure (WBS) that helps systemize tasks without extra effort. 

Having a clear structure of tasks, you will probably need to connect many of them. The convenient drag-and-drop feature allows you to visualize task dependencies in seconds, just like placing project milestones on a timeline.

After gathering your tasks in one place, it’s possible to invite project participants and fill your project with other resources.

GanttPRO users are allowed to invite team members and specify their roles, as well as set costs and calendars for them. 

Organizing virtual resources is also a matter of seconds. Then you can specify costs for all resources per hour, per item, or just cost.

4. Match the right resources to the right tasks

After thorough task organization, you can allocate relevant resources to certain activities.

In GanttPRO, assigning resources and setting their working hours to avoid overwork or downtime is a piece of cake. You may allocate one or several resources to each task.

5. Choose a proper resource allocation method

Project teams should be prepared for potential resource shortages and excesses of their assets while taking proactive steps to keep things in order.

Professional resource allocation methods assist them in resolving resource conflicts and preventing the underutilization or overuse of assets. These approaches help reduce missed deadlines, work disruptions, and project delays.

Among the various methods available, 4 are particularly in demand:

• CPM (the critical path method).
• CCM (the critical chain method).
• Resource leveling.
• Resource smoothing.

Whether you choose one method or a combination of them, effective resource allocation remains a critical success factor for your projects.

GanttPRO helps implement resource allocation methods and work on project asset utilization with the help of a handy Gantt diagram.

For instance, below you can see how to apply the critical path method. You’ll need just a click to visualize a critical path to let GanttPRO activate a sequence of critical activities, displaying it in red.

6. Control deadlines

Deadline control is also a crucial process that project managers should keep in mind when developing their resource organization plan. 

Remember that even one missed deadline can ruin your project performance and harm the work of your colleagues.

That is where GanttPRO also comes to the rescue as it assists project teams in:

• Maintaining schedules for completing each task.
• Managing deadlines.
• Monitoring teammates’ activity.
• Preventing project delays.
• Analyzing project data in one place.

Online notifications facilitate work distribution, allowing team members to finish their work promptly.

7. Keep workload under control

Resource workload management is crucial for maintaining budget compliance. 

Teams that permanently review and optimize resource allocation increase their project value and ultimately yield higher returns. This approach also helps minimize employee burnout.

In GanttPRO, you can easily perform resource and workload planning in a centralized way.

Here’s what Allan Cid, an experienced PM, thinks about it :

I like that I can create a workload for my team. This way, I can measure whether I give too much workload to a worker on a project or not. GanttPRO sorts out the hours used in different projects. So, if I have a worker working on Project A, Project B, and Project C, I can see what their workload looks like for a week or a day and reassign tasks if needed. That’s great.

Workloads of employees are automatically calculated. It’s easy to redistribute tasks between team members if needed.

The user-friendly drag-and-drop feature makes the process of reallocating project resources an easy thing. It looks beneficial when dealing with resource overload or underutilization.

8. Make changes if necessary

High-quality visualization simplifies resource management. Controlling project assets may involve repositioning them as high-value or high-priority projects come along. It may require the use of already booked individuals. 

Such repositioning is the basis of Resource leveling, one of the methods we mentioned above.

Because of its dynamic nature, this phase of creating a resource management plan persists throughout the project lifecycle. It highlights the significance of a PM tool that can display availability and enable task assignment with ease.

9. Perform post-project analysis and report regularly

Conducting post-project reviews is not always valued by managers as it is required, although this process is very important for understanding further progress and working with new projects.

It’s time when you can compare your projected resources and schedules to the actual assets used. 

Reporting is also a matter. In GanttPRO, real-time synchronization of information eliminates the need for manual report compilation. Users can generate two types of reports:

• Time log by people.
• Budget analysis.

Professional resource management software

Create a resource management plan with a handy Gantt chart.

4 resource management plan best practices

Specific steps and stages of developing a resource management plan may be changed, shortened, or complemented with extra steps. However, there are best practices that are beyond doubt.

Here are the core practices you may surely consider when generating your next project resource management plan.

1. The role of previous resource planning data

Storing data from past projects or similar practices is beneficial for future project resource planning. 

This data can include all changes and modifications, resource reallocation, tasks and events, as well as time utilization.

2. The significance of well-defined approach

Many powerful methods and techniques greatly assist businesses in creating effective resource management plans. Some of them were mentioned earlier.

In addition to those, it’s essential to consider the following approaches:

• Project-based planning. This approach means that resources are allocated to tasks with a focus on executing them efficiently, prioritizing the completion of a plan over its optimization.
• Resource-based planning . According to this approach, tasks are allocated to available resources. It is especially useful when companies operate on a tight budget, ensuring optimal resource utilization.

3. The power of professional resource management software

Effective resource management software minimizes or eliminates inconvenient manual planning, saving time and effort. It enhances accessibility and collaboration for the entire team. 

Project managers require real-time data updates and continuous access to resource visualization. Therefore, the advanced features of modern resource scheduling tools play a crucial role in this regard.

4. The aspect of managing uncertainty

Numerous factors can lead to deviations from planned outcomes.

Companies dealing with complex projects with significant human and material resources often encounter substantial uncertainty. This uncertainty may stem from the lack of essential information and various external or internal events capable of impacting workflow.

The central idea is that while uncertainty cannot be eliminated, it can be anticipated and managed. You can prioritize tasks, avoid rigid deadlines, and encourage team members to complete assignments promptly.

When faced with decision-making in uncertain conditions, try to forecast potential outcomes based on current actions or circumstances.

Flesh out an effective resource management plan with the best software

A carefully prepared project resource management plan is essential for smooth work management and process coordination. 

It may seem time-consuming to make it comprehensive and detailed. However, its obvious benefits and usefulness are worth the efforts spent on its creation.

Robust software solutions like GanttPRO provide teams with advanced online resource management tools for professional scheduling, real-time tracking, and analyzing all resource planning initiatives related to your project.

Frequently asked questions about a resource management plan

What are the components of a resource management plan.

A resource management plan may contain various components, depending on the nature of a certain project and other factors. Typically these components include acquired resources, a resource allocation strategy, schedules, an organization chart, timeframes, estimated costs, a contingency strategy, roles and responsibilities, and performance metrics.

Why is a resource management plan important?

A project resource management plan is important because it helps businesses efficiently allocate and utilize their resources, including personnel, finances, equipment, time, and other assets. It ensures that these resources are used effectively to achieve business objectives while minimizing waste and optimizing productivity.

Paolo Kukhnavets

Paolo writes about the exciting world of project management, innovative tools, planning strategies, time management, productivity, and more. He has a professional journalism education, over ten years of writing experience, and a vast bag of enthusiasm to comprehend and learn new things every day. In his other life, he is addicted to traveling, gym, and sci-fi movies. He cycles and runs a lot.

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A straightforward guide to resource planning (according to resource planners)

Learn how to build a resource plan with practical methods and tools so your team knows what work to do (and when to do it).

Table of contents

The process of planning resources helps answer two of the most important questions a project or resource manager can ask:

• How do I ensure the project gets finished without overworking my team?
• How can we deliver this on time and within budget?

In this introductory guide, you’ll learn what resource planning is, its importance, what you should look for in a resource planner, and where you should get started creating your resource plan.

We wrote and updated it on the back of several conversations with Float customers who work as resource managers, project planners, and operations managers at companies ranging from 2-3 people to over 10,000 and included a quick overview of creating your resource management plan based on our findings.

What is resource planning?

Resource planning is the process of determining what resources are required to deliver projects and then allocating and scheduling the work based on team capacity.

Planning your resources involves:

• Understanding who needs to work on what project and when
• Figuring out who is available to do the work
• Deciding what’s the best use of your team’s time
• Finding compromises between competing priorities (and project managers 😅)

For example, one of our customers ( Scholz & Friends ) runs weekly resource planning meetings that involve all the project managers in the agency.

They meet to ensure the following week’s schedule is clear for everyone, address any potential schedule conflicts or resource demands as a group, and make adjustments. They also ensure that team members with availability are assigned to tasks, and they all review allocations for the following week.

Once the decisions are solidified, they update Float with all allocations so that all the team members know what they are doing and when.

Why is resource planning important?

Effective resource planning provides a reliable basis to start projects and improves the chance of delivering them on time and within budget . Creating a comprehensive resourcing plan before the start of a project helps you:

• Increase efficiency, as you know what resources you need and how they’re allocated to project tasks
• Improve project success rates by matching the right skill sets to the right tasks
• Track capacity and availability so if unforeseen resource needs arise, you’ll be ready to address them
• Monitor progress to keep projects on budget and work on track. You can see what each person should be working on and for how long
• Plan and predict your resource availability for future projects, which helps your team become more organized in the long term
• Improve job satisfaction and retention in your team—less burnout or overwhelmed team members

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‍ Michael Luchen

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‍ Director of Product at Float

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Resource planning promotes focus by avoiding over-allocating projects to team members. It allows organizations to see if their current staffing is a surplus (they can take on additional projects) or if there is a shortage for the projects they want to take on—so it helps prevent over-hiring or under-staffing, optimizing the spend of a company.

Not only does it inform the re-prioritization of projects (“what’s best next?”), but it also quantifies the work so that organizations can prevent burnout.

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What happens when you don’t plan your resources?

Not planning your resources leads to overhiring and underutilization. Remember the former recruiter at a major tech company who shared that she and many of her colleagues had little to no work to do despite being at the company for several months—and then a few months later; there were mass layoffs and a hiring freeze? That’s a more common scenario than you’d think.  You might be wondering, “Why do these companies keep hiring and then not utilizing so many people?”

While there are many answers to this question, one major reason could be poor resource planning. Without a process for identifying required skills and forecasting people according to an organization’s needs, there will be over-hiring, misalignment of roles, and underutilization.

On the other hand, efficient resource planning ensures that you only hire when you need to and that your people’s tasks align with their roles. When done right, these tasks don’t just provide opportunities for growth for your team: your company also saves money and focuses on activities that can improve the bottom line.

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Start resource planning with the #1 rated platform on G2

Plan your team’s best work with Float’s resource management software. Get an accurate view of your team’s capacity to schedule tasks with confidence.

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How to create a resource plan: 5 steps in the resource planning process

We’ve spoken to several of our customers to understand how they go about planning project resources. Based on what we’ve learned and observed, we have outlined a process you can use to get started.

Resource planning is hardly ever a one-person activity. It might require organizing a resource meeting with project or operations managers. Alternatively, you could run async planning meetings in Slack (with the help of Notion docs) as we do at Float.

Whatever process you choose, your resource planning should look roughly like this 👇🏿

1. Lay out project tasks and the resources you have

Outline your project tasks and list your resources. Are some tasks of higher priority than others? Are there tasks that need to be frontloaded? Who is available to take on work? What resource is double booked?

For example, if you are using Float, you’d probably start by looking at your Schedule to determine availability like this:

2. Assign work based on availability, skills, and interests

Match tasks to team members who can take on work using your resource management tool.  When assigning tasks, consider the skills and interests of team members. Allocations in your resource management tool should be the single source of truth so everyone knows what they should be doing and when.

You can learn more in this post about resource allocation .

3. Consider the future demands on resources

An important (but difficult) step is predicting what work might come and having available people to do it. You need to plan for unexpected tasks that might arise in the future and allocate some extra time or resources to ensure you have people available to handle them.

4. Get feedback from stakeholders on proposed allocations

Unless a team member is assigned to your project exclusively, you should stay in contact with other PMs or functional leaders to keep tabs on the demands on the resource. Ideally, you should ask for feedback from the team members to avoid schedule conflicts and overbooking.  It could be as easy as sending a message before delegating a task to a shared resource.

5. Make adjustments to your resource plan when needed

You’ll need to update the resource plan regularly (we recommend once a week) as the project progresses because of unexpected changes, slow approvals, unforeseen scope adjustments, etc.

Do you need resource planning tools?

Yes, you do.

We might be a bit biased on this point because Float is a resource management software—but our answer actually comes from thousands of our customers who told us that even though spreadsheets and DIY solutions (including keeping it all in your head!) can do the job, they become a nightmare as your team grows.

For example, the capacity planning team at Scholz and Friends used to plan their resources in spreadsheets. As the agency expanded, they realized the tool was inadequate.

“Excel is great, but it can only do as much,” says Comfort Agemo, Senior Capacity and Freelance Manager at Scholz and Friends.

And even for smaller teams under 50 people, spreadsheets aren’t the easiest or most accurate tools to use( and often require one person who is an Excel pro to tame them).

“I’ve planned in spreadsheets in the past and there’s a couple of big issues. Probably the biggest one is how difficult it is to move things around. Most of the time, things change and the plan needs updating. Also, in spreadsheets, you typically edit numbers in cells - you can’t edit the allocation in context. The other big piece is that in spreadsheets, the calculations are often exposed to the user and can be accidentally edited or deleted by someone else,” says Alice Winthrop, senior product manager at Float.

Once you know how to pick tools, take a look at this list of the best resource management software we curated for you, complete with comparisons of features. You can also quickly download one of our free resource planning templates and streamline the process even further.

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Still using spreadsheets for resource planning?

Try built-for-purpose software that’s easy to use and get started.

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Consider the variable resource inputs you need to track over time—things like billable hours, skill sets, and ongoing tasks for each team member. Plus national holidays, personal leave, and sick leave. There are so many moving parts—and with resource planning software , you can track all that and more to have a bird’s eye view of resource capacity whenever you need it.

➡️ Learn how to evaluate tools and choose the best resource management software .

Once you know how to pick tools, take a look at this list of the best resource management software we curated for you, complete with comparisons of features.

5 key features to look for in a resource planning tool

If you are considering a resource planning tool, there are some must-haves and some nice-to-haves to take into account.

1. Multi-project organization features

You should be able to plan different projects in one tool and have a central view of how the allocations look as a whole. Ideally, the tool should provide the option to color code projects so it is easier to distinguish between them.

2. Real-time updates

Updates should happen in real-time so that as soon as something changes (like a team member calling in sick) and project timelines change, team members are notified of the new resource plan. For example, email or chat notifications will be sent to team members once you make changes to allocations in Float.

3. High-level view of teamwork schedules and resource availability

You should be able to visualize your entire team’s availability on one screen and decide how to assign (and reassign, if necessary) each task to a resource based on skill sets and capacity. For example, your system should give you an at-a-glance sense of key information like their daily project schedule, job titles, and work hours.

4. Forecasting and budget tracking

The resource planning tool you choose should help you track any project’s performance alongside its resources’ billable hours. Once you allocate more than that, the tool should clearly show you that you are over budget within your project budget report so you can take quick remedial action.

5. Project reporting tools for smarter decision-making

Another essential feature is a reporting dashboard where you can see precise analysis of project vitals like project budgets, resource utilization rates , and scheduled hours.

How to plan your resources in Float

We’ve been hinting (more like strongly suggesting 😉) that you use Float for your resource planning, and at this point, you’re probably wondering how it works.

Let’s show you 👇🏿

1. Create a data repository of your people (resources)

Create a centralized repository of your people to see information about their skills, roles, capacity, and locations at a glance. This inventory will help you track resources , organize your planning, find staffing gaps , and quickly determine the best person to work with.  

Now if you are considering using a spreadsheet, we are going to have to stop you right there. Spreadsheets offer limited functionalities and are inflexible for the constant changes in projects.  

Instead, you can use a resource planning tool like Float. You can add roles, include billable rates, set custom work hours and locations, and add their skills.

Here’s a detailed video on how to create your data repository👇🏿

2. Set up systems for managing capacity

Put systems in place that will keep you on top of your team’s capacity. Now these systems don’t require you to build something completely new or complex. For example, you can set leave policies in place to guide your team members when they need to take time off.

This is important because capacity is often nebulous. Project managers tend to think that the team has more availability than they actually do.

Take, for example, the 40-hour work week. These hours are rarely spent on work alone. There are meetings, admin tasks, ad-hoc project tasks , and in some cases, sick leave.

“It’s important to understand your organization’s baseline capacity when it comes to planning projects,” Michael Luchen, director of product says. “Think of admin and management tasks they might have to do. For example, if the design lead has to do admin work for an hour or two a day and then meet with team members for another hour, that should be allocated on their schedule.”

There are various systems you can set up to manage your team’s capacity .

• Create leave policies. Determine beforehand the specific conditions under which leave can be taken. This could be time off with pay for a limited number of days or a compulsory annual leave that must be taken every year, or sick leave when the team member falls ill.

➡️ Learn how to schedule and manage your team’s time off .  

• Import public holidays to your resource planning tool. At Float, we have 40+ workers across different continents. It’s quite common for team members to have a public holiday during a project. To avoid missing deadlines, we plan around holidays and don’t assign them tasks on their days off. Each team member’s holiday is set in Float and helps managers know when they’d be out before time.  

➡️ Learn how to set public and team holidays

• Manage PTO requests. Ensure that time off requests are reviewed before they are approved. This process should involve the manager of the team member as they would have a good idea of the person’s workload and can approve or decline the request.

➡️ Learn about time off approvals

• Encourage your team to sync their calendar to your resource planning tool. Meetings often take up chunks of the team’s time without project managers noticing. Stay on top of upcoming and recurring meetings so you have a realistic idea of your team’s capacity.

➡️ Learn how to sync your Google Calendar with Float

3. Forecast resources required and their availability  

Determine the people you need for your project based on the project requirements. What job roles are needed? What skills are needed? This will be a good time to refer to your resource repository.

Then find out if these people are available to work on your project. Are they already allocated to another project? Do they have some time off during your project?

➡️ Learn how to create resource breakdown structures for projects

Forecasting your resources is important because it shows you who you need on your team to complete your project. It also reveals staffing gaps and potential schedule conflicts.

However, this step is very speculative because humans can’t see into the future. Consider creating a tentative project plan. This approach has helped Georgia McGillivray , the former operations manager at MetaLab plan resources better.

“We’re able to plug tentative projects into Float and see three months into the future. That gives our executives and partnerships team a line of sight into how we’ll staff future projects and our ability to take on additional projects.”

➡️ Learn how to create tentative projects in Float .

‍ Emily Feliciano

‍ Creative Resource Manager at Atlassian

After years in the industry (both in-house and agency) and using everything from Excel spreadsheets to automated resourcing software, Float is effectively the most nimble and aesthetically appealing tool on the market. I work with creatives, and we need to look at data in a digestible way. Float makes it easy and efficient to do so. I love the customization options, tools that it integrates with, and how you can get both granular and high-level information. It’s been my top tool for years, and I always try to get new places to adopt it.

4. Match resources to tasks

Research shows that job satisfaction increases when individuals’ job roles align closely with their assigned tasks. Matching resources to tasks is an important step in your resource plan as it influences the performance and engagement of your team.

For example, Angela Faunce Leaf, executive producer at Tilt Creation + Production ensures that she assigns her people to work that complements their skills and helps them grow.

“Everyone has a core set of skills that may range from the remarkable to the adequate. And there are also parts of everyone’s job that they love, like, or hate. I try to build on this and get to know each team member’s preferences and priorities.”

She finds out what her team is interested in from conversations, regular check-ins with team members, performance reviews, and project post-mortems.

She also keeps track of interests using tags in Float .

“I also use ‘tags’ for some people to note special skills or interests. I am often surprised at how many folks have skill sets that no one knows about. I once worked with a project manager who was a food stylist in a previous job - needless to say, that fact was good to know and came in handy in a pinch.”

5. Review available data on project time

Look at past project data to understand how time was spent on previous projects. This retrospective approach is especially helpful when planning resources for projects with similar tasks. It will help you know if your previous plans were accurate or if they were far off the mark. You can also spot areas of improvement.

For example, you might notice that a bottleneck slows down the project just before the final product is delivered. When creating a new resource plan, you are better prepared to eliminate or avoid the bottleneck.

If you’re already tracking your team’s time on Float, you can find helpful insights in your Project and People reports.

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If you have not started tracking time spent on projects, the best time to begin is now. Time tracking in Float is simple and collaborative.

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➡️ Learn how Impression streamlines its resource planning and time tracking with Float

6. Review project reports regularly

The best-laid plans might not work out as you expect, and that’s fine.

For that reason, you should review project reports to monitor the health of your project. Are you over or under budget? Do you need to bring in a contractor to help complete specific tasks? Are any resources underutilized?

For Float users, Project and People reports will come in handy.

To access these reports, click the Report tab. Then navigate to Projects to see the health of your project.

The dashboard shows project information like scheduled hours, logged hours, estimated budget, and actual costs.

We recommend that you try resource planning software like Float. We have several features designed to help you plan better:

• Use tags to add skills, notes, and departments to each resource
• Gauge your team’s bandwidth using task hours and overtime indicators
• Drag and drop an allocation to move it to another person
• Budget expenses and compare actual costs with estimated costs
• Resize allocations to increase the daily hours or time range
• Split allocations and move one part to another team member

Resource planning made easy

If you’re still planning your projects with spreadsheets, chances are you’re not maximizing your team’s time or tracking budgets efficiently. This is exactly how project deadlines and budgets get thrown off track.

With a tool like Float, planning your team’s time and scheduling your resources can save you up to four hours a week!

But the real win comes from keeping every team member on the same page. They will know what projects they’re working on, when they need to be finished, and what the overall project pipeline looks like.

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📚 Everything else you need to know about resource planning

This was just the beginning of your resource planning crash course—we have a lot more to share with you: 👇

• A handpicked list of seven free resource planning templates to use right away
• Practical resource allocation tactics to deliver projects on time without causing burnout
• Resource loading best practices to keep team members’ utilization at healthy rates
• Steps to build a solid resource scheduling process for visibility into your team’s time
• A tactical how-to guide to set up an accurate resource forecasting process

The key components of resource planning are:

• Identifying project goals and requirements • Assessing available resources and their capacity • Allocating resources based on project priorities and resource constraints • Monitoring resource usage and adjusting plans as optimization is needed • Anticipating and mitigating potential resource shortages or bottlenecks

Resource planning offers several benefits:

• Improved resource allocation and utilization • Enhanced project efficiency and productivity • Better alignment of resources with organizational goals • Reduced costs and waste (of time, resources, expertise) • Increased transparency and accountability in resource management

The common challenges in resource planning—which can usually be solved via dedicated resource management and planning tool—include:

• Limited visibility into resource availability and utilization • Uncertainty and fluctuations in resource demand • Conflicting priorities and competing resource needs • Lack of integration between different departments or project teams • Inadequate tools or processes for resource planning and management

Related reads

The ultimate guide to people-centric resource management for healthy, happy teams.

Less guesswork, more getting things done: a tactical guide to capacity planning

From burnout to balance: using resource allocation to help teams do their best work.

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• What is resource management? A guide to ...

What is resource management? A guide to getting started

Resource management is the process of planning and scheduling your team’s resources and activities—essentially anything that helps you complete a project. Developing a resource management plan can give you visibility into team member workloads. Learn how to manage resources and improve team performance.

Making sure your team doesn’t feel overworked or underutilized is a challenge you’ll often face as a leader. It's easy to lose sight of your team's workload and bandwidth. That’s where resource management comes in. 

Developing a resource management plan can give you consistent visibility into your team’s workload. It allows you to balance all your resources effectively and to see the full picture of how your team will achieve its goals.

What is resource management?

Resource management is the process of planning out and scheduling your team’s resources to optimize utilization and ensure project success. A resource can include everything from equipment and financial funds to tech tools and employee bandwidth—basically, anything that helps you complete a project.

When you’re deciding how to manage or assign your team’s resources, consider a few questions:

What is the availability of each resource?

What are the timelines for each activity?

How many resources will be required to accomplish each activity?

Who is the best person to accomplish the activity effectively?

Effectively managing your resources ensures every project is well-equipped and every team member is appropriately allocated, paving the way for successful project completion.

How to effectively manage your team’s workload

Learn how to leverage work management to distribute work more effectively.

Why is resource management important?

Resource management allows you to make sure your team members are confident with the amount of work on their plate and equipped with the tools they need to accomplish each task. When resource management is done right, you’re empowering your team to produce high-quality work at a sustainable rate. 

Benefits of resource management

Let’s dig a little deeper into why resource management is critical to your team’s success. With effective resource management, you can:

Distribute work appropriately , ensuring all your team members are appropriately staffed—not overworked or underutilized.  

Spot potential resourcing problems in real-time and adjust accordingly, preventing staffing issues from impacting progress on projects.

Give your team clarity around their responsibilities and the responsibilities of their team members, limiting misunderstandings and promoting accountability. 

Set realistic project goals , reducing the likelihood of missing important milestones and increasing the chances of on-time project completion.

Enhance your team's profitability by optimizing resource utilization and ensuring projects are completed efficiently and within budget.

Improve future resource planning by drawing on the knowledge gained to better estimate and forecast bandwidth for upcoming projects.

Resource management techniques

Leveraging resource management techniques is all about finding the smartest ways to use your team's skills and resources. Let’s explore a few common types of resource management methods.

Resource allocation

Resource allocation is more than just allocating resources to tasks and projects; it's the process of choosing the best resource based on the project team’s skills and capacity. After all, good resource management isn’t just about making sure you have enough resources; it’s about making sure you have the right resources for the right projects. Resource allocation can help you achieve this by strategically matching your team's strengths, capabilities, and resource capacity to the specific demands of each project.

Resource utilization

Resource utilization involves using tools like utilization reports and time tracking software to identify your team’s capacity over a specific period of time. It’s a capacity planning technique that allows you to identify whether project resources are being underutilized or overallocated, so you can better manage workloads.

Resource forecasting

Resource forecasting is a resource management process that involves proactively predicting the resource requirements for future projects and initiatives. You can identify these needs by relying on past trends and project metrics, as well as your team’s current capacity and the needs of upcoming projects. Resource forecasting is typically done during the project planning stage and can help with risk management by identifying potential resource bottlenecks or gaps in your team's availability in advance.

Resource leveling

Resource leveling is a resource management solution designed to combat shortages or overallocation by leveraging underutilized resources. For example, this might mean shifting work from one team member’s plate to another who has similar skills and additional capacity. Or, it could mean taking advantage of skill sets that typically aren’t utilized, like having a website content writer create social copy.

Types of resource management

Effective resource management is pivotal in steering any organization toward its goals. This process involves a strategic approach to managing various essential resources. 

Here, we focus on three fundamental types: human, financial, and material resources. Each category plays a unique role in the broader spectrum of resource planning and is a crucial component of any resource management plan.

Human resource management (work resources)

Human resource management is the strategic approach to managing a company's most valuable assets—its employees. This involves not just recruiting and hiring but also integrating workflow and automation tools to streamline training, performance assessments, and career development planning.

Example: A software company might enhance its human resource management by using workflow automation to efficiently align its workforce with emerging technology trends. This ensures that developers are systematically trained in the latest programming languages and Agile methodologies. By automating parts of the training and development process, the company can quickly adapt to changes in the fast-paced tech industry.

Financial resource management (cost resources)

Financial resource management is the process of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling financial activities such as procurement and utilization of funds. It involves making smart decisions about allocating financial resources to various projects or departments. 

Example: Consider a multinational corporation that allocates budgets across different regions, taking into account local market conditions, operational costs, pricing strategies, and revenue projections. This strategic financial management helps to ensure high-priority initiatives receive the necessary funding and resources to thrive. These resources, such as consulting or other professional services, are instances of tactical spending that are helpful but not the main purpose of budgetary allocation.

Material resource management (material assets) 

Material resource management involves the efficient planning, sourcing, and utilization of physical resources required for business operations. It encompasses inventory management, purchasing, and supply chain optimization to support the entire project lifecycle, from initial planning to final delivery. 

The implementation of inventory management software is key in this process, as it provides real-time visibility and control over material resources.

Example: A manufacturing firm may use material resource management to ensure a steady supply of raw materials like metals and plastics. By doing so, the firm can avoid production delays and cost overruns, thereby maintaining product quality and meeting customer delivery timelines.

5 step resource management plan

A comprehensive resource management plan is essential for any organization looking to optimize its resources effectively. This plan involves a series of steps that ensure resources are deployed efficiently and comply with both the project lifecycle and overarching business goals. 

Below are the five key steps in developing a solid resource management plan.

Step 1: Resource planning and budgeting

The first step in effective resource management involves detailed resource planning and budgeting. This process includes forecasting resource requirements and matching them to the available budget. 

Example: A tech startup, XYZ Software, begins its journey by planning resources for its innovative project management software. They forecast the demand for qualified software engineers and marketers, set aside money for cloud infrastructure, and make sure their financial resources are distributed effectively between development and marketing.

Step 2: Identify resources (capacity planning)

Identifying the right resources is make-or-break for any project's success. This step, often referred to as capacity planning , involves understanding the availability and skills of your workforce, as well as the physical and financial resources at your disposal. It’s about decision-makers being able to match the right resources with the right tasks, ensuring that your human, financial, and material resources are aligned with your project's needs.

Example: XYZ Software conducts a thorough analysis of its team's skills and identifies the need for additional software engineers with expertise in cloud computing. The company also assesses its current financial resources to ensure sufficient funding is available for these new hires.

Step 3: Allocate resources

Once resources are identified, the next step is their effective allocation. This involves assigning resources to various tasks and projects based on their availability and suitability. Resource allocation ensures that every project gets the necessary resources without overburdening any single aspect of the business.

Example: XYZ Software allocates its existing team to initial development phases, while the newly hired cloud experts are tasked with building the cloud infrastructure. Financial resources are allocated to ensure both teams have the necessary tools and software licenses.

Step 4: Resource tracking

Tracking resources throughout the project lifecycle is essential for ensuring that everything is proceeding as planned. This involves monitoring the usage of resources, assessing if they are meeting the project's requirements, and making adjustments as needed. Effective resource tracking helps in identifying potential shortages or surpluses early, allowing for timely corrective actions.

Example: As XYZ Software's project progresses, they use project management software to track the time and resources spent on each aspect of the project. By doing so, they are able to make adjustments in real time by identifying areas where resources might be overutilized or underutilized.

Step 5: Resource optimization

The final step in the resource management plan is optimization. This involves analyzing the performance and usage of resources and making necessary adjustments to improve efficiency. 

Resource optimization might include implementing automation tools to streamline processes or revising strategies based on performance data. Using resources as efficiently as possible is the aim, which will help the organization succeed as a whole.

Example: After launching the first version of their software, XYZ Software reviews their resource usage data. They realize that automating certain testing processes can free up developer time. This enables the team to focus more on critical tasks, thereby optimizing their use of human resources for future updates.

10 resource management best practices

Follow these ten best practices to boost your team’s productivity, hit project goals, and achieve a balanced team workload. 

Use a work management platform to streamline the planning process and ensure consistent, efficient allocation of resources across projects. While traditional resource management tools, like Gantt charts or spreadsheets, are useful ways to track capacity, their limited scope can’t match the extensive capabilities offered by a comprehensive work management platform. 

Measure available resources by gauging team capacity and necessary tools. This will help you ensure realistic resource allocation and avoid rescheduling issues.

Set start and end dates so you get a realistic timeframe for how long each task will take and set realistic expectations for your team. 

Know your employees’ skill sets so you can determine the best resourcing for each task. 

Set clear, accessible project goals to help you prioritize your team's work and drive high-impact work forward.

Help your team increase their utilization rate by automating routine, low-impact tasks so your team can focus on actionable, strategic, and billable work. 

Adjust resources as necessary because tasks, project timelines, and priorities change.

Keep some team bandwidth open for new work or priorities that might come up. 

Check in on your team to ensure each team member feels their work volume is fair and achievable. 

Connect your resource management plan to your operational plan in order to effectively manage your team's time and align daily tasks with strategic objectives. 

Manage your resources more effectively with a work management platform

To ensure you’re allocating resources effectively and aligning them to your wider organizational goals, use a work management platform. By centralizing project details and team capabilities in one platform, you can ensure efficiency, clarity, and alignment at every project stage.

Resource management FAQs

Have more resource management questions? We’ve got answers.

What is a resource management plan?

A resource management plan can help you manage and assign every type of resource you need for your project. An effective plan outlines the specific resources (including human resources, financial resources, technical resources, and physical resources) and activities necessary during the course of a project or initiative. 

Why is creating and implementing a resource management plan important? 

A resource management plan will guide you by giving a holistic view of all of a project’s moving pieces: budget, staffing and workload requirements, and tech stack limitations—allowing you to easily manage, schedule, and assign every resource while maximizing resource availability. Learning how to manage resources will empower you (and your team) to run projects effectively.

Should I create a resource management plan for my project?

The short answer is yes. Resource management in project management isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have to support your team and prevent burnout. The benefits of resource scheduling far outweigh the time it takes. 

The number of projects your team can handle, along with the quality of each, depends on it. As a project leader, resource management is your opportunity to optimize efficiency, prevent overwork, and effectively manage your team’s workload.

What is a resource management plan template?

A resource management template is a reusable guide that helps you manage team bandwidth over the course of a project. It shows you everything your team is working on—so you can see how full everyone’s plate is, if they can take on additional work, or if they need help to get project tasks done by the deadline. Thanks to your template, you don’t have to waste time setting up a resource management plan for every new project. Instead, you can just copy the template, fill it in, and start working.

What are the steps to creating a resource management plan? 

To create an effective resource management plan, leverage a tool like a work management platform, which will give you easy insight into what everyone on your team is working on, what resources are available, and how to prevent team burnout. Then, follow these steps:

Define the project’s goals to gain clarity on what each project entails and make it easier to know what resources you need and how to assign them. 

Align on the project scope by meeting with project stakeholders to define how much time and resources you should dedicate to the initiative. That will give you the best sense of the project plan and help you decide what resources are best suited for the job.

Identify the types of resources you’ll need —such as bandwidth, equipment, software, and project budget—so you can then identify what resources you have available.

Identify available resources by checking each resource you previously needed against what you have already available. Depending on the project scope, you might have to adjust your resource level and deprioritize other work to avoid putting too much on your team’s plate.

Kick off your project by clearly communicating the resource plan to your team, ensuring everyone understands their roles and the resources at their disposal.

Periodically check in on project progress to see how the project is progressing and whether you need to make adjustments to your resourcing strategy.

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Resource Management: Process, Tools & Techniques

Businesses, nonprofits and even government agencies execute projects to improve the efficiency of their operations and achieve strategic goals. These projects require a variety of human and non-human resources such as raw materials, equipment and machinery, which need to be managed.

What Is Resource Management?

Resource management is the process of estimating what resources will be needed to complete a project, acquiring them, making a schedule for their allocation and monitoring their utilization during the execution of a project, program or portfolio of projects. Usually, the project manager or project management office (PMO) oversees this process, but some organizations have a resource manager who specializes in this area.

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Resource Planning Template

Use this free Resource Planning Template for Excel to manage your projects better.

What Is a Resource Manager?

A resource manager is a member of a project team or PMO who is responsible for leading the process of defining resource requirements, estimating costs, procuring resources and ensuring they’re properly allocated and utilized. One of its key responsibilities is to develop a resource management plan to guide the resource planning efforts of the organization.

What Is a Resource Management Plan?

A resource management plan is a document that describes all the different guidelines, operating procedures, tools and methods an organization uses to manage its resources over the execution of projects. For example, it should itemize project resources, indicate their estimated costs, a resource schedule for their allocation and supplier information, among other details.

However, a resource management plan doesn’t need to be a static document. You can use resource management software like ProjectManager to visualize your resource schedule, allocate resources and monitor their costs in real time. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

Types of Resource Management

There are three broad resource management categories: project resource management, enterprise resource management and human resource management. As its name suggests, project resource management is the process of overseeing the use of resources such as labor, materials and equipment for the completion of project tasks. Enterprise resource management, on the other hand, consists of using these resources to manage the everyday operations of a business .

Enterprise resource management can be further divided into industry-specific types of resource management such as construction resource management and manufacturing resource management. Lastly, human resource management focuses on allocating human resources for both project and enterprise resource management.

Types of Project and Organizational Resources

Project resources can be simply defined as anything needed to execute project tasks , including the people executing the work. Here are some examples of project resources.

• Raw materials
• Human resources
• Machinery and equipment
• Financial resources
• Information and data

Why Is Resource Management Important?

Resource management is an important process for many disciplines such as project management , portfolio management and business management. Here’s how it helps in each of those fields.

Project Resource Management

Resource management is critical when managing projects. It’s important to identify your resource requirements during the initiation and planning phases of the project life cycle so you can estimate costs and create a project budget . Then it’s important to ensure you schedule the right resources at the right time so your project plan is completed on time.

Program and Project Portfolio Resource Management

Resource management is even more important for project portfolio management than it is for managing individual projects. The reason is program managers, portfolio managers and project management offices (PMOs) need to ensure they allocate resources strategically to manage multiple projects simultaneously. For example, they can minimize costs by using the same resources across projects.

Enterprise Resource Management

How you manage your business resources greatly affects its ability to function and grow beyond project or enterprise resource management, especially if you’re in resource-intensive industries such as professional services, construction or manufacturing.

Managing resources effectively has a myriad of benefits for your business such as helping you cut down costs, streamlining your operations planning and maximizing your profits.

What Is Resource Management Software?

Resource management software is a set of digital tools that can help with the stages of the resource management process. For example, ProjectManager is project resource management software equipped with tools such as Gantt charts , dashboards, timesheets, workload management charts and resource utilization reports.

There are many desktop-based and online resource management software alternatives, all of which offer a different functionality. For that reason, we’ve reviewed the best resource management software alternatives so you can make an informed decision.

Resource Management Tools

While most of these resource management tools started as analog charts, documents and diagrams, they’ve evolved and are now part of resource management software that can be used for either project or enterprise resource planning .

• Gantt chart: A Gantt chart helps organizations make a schedule for any project they’re executing and allocate resources such as team members, materials or equipment.
• Timesheet: Timesheets track employees’ work hours for payroll processing. They can either be used for tracking the time they spend completing project tasks or simply log hours from their work shifts.
• Workload management chart: A workload management calendar helps team leaders understand how work is allocated among their team members, so they can distribute the team’s workload evenly.
• Resource histogram: A simple bar chart that helps understand how resources are utilized over time.
• Resource breakdown structure: A chart that helps organizations break down projects into individual tasks and specify the resources that will be needed to execute each of them.
• Resource calendar: Resource calendars help organizations estimate what resources will be needed to complete a project on time.

Resource Management Process

As stated above, resource management is an ongoing process that starts during the project planning phase and continues until project closure. This is known as the resource management life cycle, which is made up of four stages that project managers should understand to properly manage project resources.

• Resource analysis: The process of gauging your current resource availability to determine what resources are missing for executing a project or action plan.
• Resource planning: A resource plan explains what your project resource requirements are and how they’ll be met. More importantly, it guides the team when it comes to resource management, so it should include information such as general guidelines, a description of your project resources, their quantities and when they’re needed.
• Resource scheduling: You then need to ensure that those resources are readily available. To do so, you’ll need to simply align your resource schedule with your overall project schedule and have a solid supply chain in place.
• Resource allocation: Resource allocation is an ongoing process that’s simply defined as picking the right resources at the right time to achieve project tasks. For example, there are critical tasks that need to be prioritized when creating the resource schedule.
• Resource tracking: You’ll need to keep track of the performance of your team. Use timesheets, workload charts and other resource management tools to track the work of your team members.

Most project managers use resource management software to help them as they move from one phase of the resource management process to the next.

Benefits of Resource Management

Resource management tools and techniques help organizations establish a resource management process or framework that can bring numerous benefits such as:

• Accurately defining the project resource requirements greatly facilitates the budgeting process and helps avoid unexpected costs, delays and other issues during the project execution
• Effective resource management helps maximize resource utilization rate and resource efficiency which have a direct impact on the profitability of a business in industries like construction and manufacturing
• Resources can be strategically allocated to finish projects in time when they’re behind schedule
• Resource planning allows organizations to ensure they’re well-equipped for future challenges, such as meeting estimated customer demand or implementing long-term projects and programs

Resource Plan Template

Now that we’ve learned about the different resource management phases and the techniques you can use, you’re ready to get started with resource management. This free resource management plan template is a good tool for beginners. It allows you to list your resources and keep track of their availability and costs.

However, our resource plan template must be manually updated and shared with the team. That’s time-consuming, which is why most project managers use resource planning software to help streamline the process.

Resource Management Techniques

Project managers implement the following resource management techniques to forecast , plan, allocate, level and optimize resources during the execution of a project.

Resource Forecasting

Project managers must do their best to estimate what resources are needed for a project and how those resource requirements fit with the organization’s current plans. To do this, you must define your project scope to identify all project tasks and their required resources.

Resource Capacity Planning

The resource capacity of an organization refers to the maximum amount of work it can accomplish with its current available resources over a period. Resource capacity planning is the process of ensuring resource capacity is sufficient to execute a project.

Resource Loading

A resource allocation technique that consists of determining the maximum number of work hours employees can be allocated and ensuring that 100% of their time is utilized throughout a project.

Resource Leveling

Resource leveling is the process of re-assigning work to a project team to solve overallocation or scheduling issues. By thoroughly understanding what your team members can offer, you can assign tasks based on their abilities to maximize resource efficiency.

Resource Utilization Tracking

Careful resource planning is equally as important as resource tracking. Project managers need to keep track of resource utilization to spot any resources that aren’t being used efficiently. Then they can simply reallocate those resources or change the resource management plan.

Resource Smoothing

Resource smoothing simply consists of delaying non-critical tasks to complete a project on time with the available resources. This is done by using the slack or float on each of those tasks to delay them without affecting the critical path. By delaying non-critical tasks, you can move your resources to complete critical path tasks and circle back to the least important activities.

Free Resource Management Templates

We’ve created over 100 free project management templates for Word and Excel which help plan, schedule and track projects. Here are some that can help with the resource management process.

Resource Capacity Planning Template

This free resource capacity planning template helps you list your team member’s names, indicate their total available work hours and hourly pay rate, assign work to them and automatically calculate their labor costs and resource utilization rate.

This resource plan template for Excel helps you visualize employee work hours using a calendar-like timeline, which makes it ideal for allocating organizational resources across projects over time.

Timesheet Template

This timesheet template for Excel is a project time tracking tool that allows organizations to log the work hours team members spend working on tasks for payroll processing.

Resource Management Tips & Best Practices

Here are some key tips and best practices that can help you avoid common resource planning mistakes.

Identify Resource Constraints Before Planning a Project

A resource constraint is any condition that limits the availability of resources for the completion of project tasks. For example, a piece of equipment might be scheduled for maintenance , or team members may be allocated for multiple projects, limiting their availability.

Assemble a Cross-Functional Team to Identify Resource Requirements

In most cases, these projects will require an organization-wide effort and an extensive use of resources. It’s important to assemble a cross-functional team and involve key stakeholders in the resource forecasting stage to obtain a holistic and accurate view of project resource requirements.

Consider the Level of Effort of Your Project Beyond Project Tasks

In project management, the level of effort of a project refers to all the supporting activities that are needed to complete project tasks, such as transporting resources from a warehouse to the job site or training employees.

How ProjectManager Helps With Resource Management

Resource management was developed to manage the resources in your project, which requires visibility into resource availability, workload and more. ProjectManager is project management software that gives you real-time data to make more insightful decisions when managing resources.

Plan Resources With Interactive Gantt Charts

Resources and costs can be scheduled with tasks on our Gantt chart project view . Once you set a baseline, you can also consult the planned versus actual progress of your overall project to get a heads-up if there’s a problem with resources. The progress bar tells you the progress being made on a specific task according to the planned effort. If you’re not meeting your baseline, reallocate your resources to stay on track.

Manage Workload and Keep Teams Productive

Your team is your most valuable resource. You can set up your team’s availability, workdays, holidays and PTO regardless of where they work. Once they start working, you don’t want to burn them out or leave them idle. Our color-coded workload page lets you see at a glance whether your team members are overallocated or under-allocated. A balanced workload leads to a more productive and happy team—and happier teams are more productive.

Track Your Resources With Real-Time Dashboards and Reports

You’ve planned your resource management, but as you execute the project, you have to monitor those resources. If you don’t keep an eye on how you’re using resources, you risk going over budget or missing deadlines. Our real-time project dashboard automatically collects live data and displays it in colorful graphs that chart six project metrics. In one click, you can generate reports that go deeper into the workload, time, costs and much more. All reports can be filtered and shared with stakeholders as you see fit.

Our software helps you plan, manage and report on project resources. You can allocate and track resource costs, see your team’s availability to make assignments and monitor everything with dashboards that act as instant status reports. Get everything you need to manage resources all in one place.

Related Resource Management Content

• Best Resource Management Software Rankings
• The Ultimate Guide to Resource Planning
• Resource Scheduling in Project Management
• What Is Resource Allocation? Resource Allocation Tips
• What Is Resource Loading & Why Does It Matter
• 5 Must-Have Resource Management Tools

When you’re managing resources on a project, there are a lot of balls to keep in the air, and that process can get complicated and confusing. However, with the right online tool, you’re able to plan, monitor and report on your resources with great control and accuracy. ProjectManager is online project management software that gives you the tools you need to steer your project to successful completion. Try it for yourself.

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What is Project Resource Management? [Comprehensive Guide]

Managing resources effectively within a project is a challenge for many project managers. 

Too little visibility, limited resources, or poor communication. These can all hinder effective resource management. 

But the right strategies and tools can get you out of this tricky pit. 

In this article, you’ll learn how to manage project resources correctly. You’ll learn about:

• Top resource management techniques
• 6 best practices for creating a resource management plan
• How to use tools and software in project resource management

What is project resource management?

Project resource management is the process of planning, allocating, and monitoring resources like people, budget, equipment, and materials. 

Thus it ensures a project team has everything it needs to complete  the project on schedule and within budget.

Benefits of project resource management for agencies

Project resource management is critical to delivering a project on time. 

Managing resources correctly ensures that projects are never starved of resources and are delivered on time. 

Here are three reasons why resource management is so important:

1. Increases the chances of project success

Teams can deliver projects on time when they have everything they need.

Allocating the required resources ensures that a manager can estimate the project timeline and budget more accurately. 

In addition, by assigning resources at the planning stage, a manager can ensure predictable quality.

All these factors combine to help deliver a project successfully.

2. Prevents burnout

Without sufficient manpower, you’ll often see overworked team members.

Overworking leads burn out. If you don’t tackle this challenge upfront, your team may have retention challenges. 

Hiring new people is always more expensive. According to a Society for Human Resource Management study , finding and training a replacement costs six to nine months of an employee’s salary.

A clear resource plan ensures you can efficiently distribute work across your entire team. 

3. Identifies resource bottlenecks

In small businesses, people resources are often shared across projects. 

Poor visibility into a team member’s schedule leads to scheduling conflicts and project delays.

In enterprise companies, a resource coordinator coordinates resource allocation across projects. They too need a clear overview of who’s doing what, and when. 

The relationship between resource and project management

Project management steers a project from beginning to end. Resource management ensures you have all the necessary resources and use them effectively to meet the project’s objectives.

Poor project resource allocation leads to:

• Tight deadlines and heavy workloads
• Overworked team members who put in long hours
• Poor quality output as team members are under stress to deliver

Thus, effective project management requires effective resource management.

To plan a project, project managers must know what resources are available and when.

For example, if a project manager doesn’t know when a key team member is available, they can’t effectively plan tasks for that team member.

Resource managers also need to be aware of project priorities, timeline, and objectives to allocate resources effectively. 

Project resource manager vs project manager

Both project resource managers and project managers play crucial roles in project planning and development. But they have different focuses. 

Types of resources

You need various resources to achieve your project goals. These resources serve as the foundation of any task you undertake.

Here’s a breakdown of the different resource categories:

Finance relates to the money you set aside for a project. 

This includes project budgets, investments, and other funds that keep your project running smoothly. Manage these project costs well to optimize all other resources.

Human resources

Human resources are the people on your project team including external consultants. 

Their skill sets and expertise move the project forward. Make sure you assign the right roles to the right people.

Facilities and space

Every project requires a physical space, be it an office, a construction site, or a workshop. Choose a space where your team can work efficiently and safely.

Equipment and tools

The right tools and equipment can define your project’s success. 

These may mean machinery for construction or software for IT tasks. 

Tech and materials

Tech resources might include software or digital platforms, while materials can be different, including construction supplies or textiles.

What’s the project resource management process?

Here are five essential steps for a simple project resource management workflow: 

Let’s look closely at each step.

Step #1: Analyze your resources

Begin by taking stock of what you have. 

List out all available resources, be it people, technology, money, or materials. Then, understand the skills, expertise, and capabilities of your team members. 

This initial analysis sets the groundwork for future resource planning and allocation.

With Toggl Plan, you can set up and oversee unlimited Team timelines. You create teams by project, competencies, or department.

A Team timeline shows a team member’s schedule across projects and planned time off. The availability overview panel gives you an overview of a team member’s capacity and workload.

The Team timeline and the Availability Overview together gives you a clear overview of  who can take on more work.

Step #2: Create a resource plan

Next, you can start drafting your resource plan . 

A resource plan outlines what resources you’ll need at different stages of the project. 

To create a resource plan:

• Define resource requirements based on the project scope.
• Identify resources and their availability with reference to the project’s timeline.
• Assign resources to tasks on the project timeline. 
• Identify resource risks and bottlenecks.

Using a resource planning tool like Toggl Plan is a fast and efficient way to create a resource plan.

Step #3: Allocate resources

Based on the project plan, look at the existing resources and team members to identify who’s available and can take on work.

Allocate these people and resources to the project.

You may also need to initiate hiring or outsourcing if a necessary resource is unavailable.

With Toggl Plan, it is super easy to assign tasks to team members. You can even assign a task to multiple team members…

Step #4: Create a resource schedule

Based on your resource plan, you may need to adjust the project schedule to match resource availability. 

A resource schedule is published once team members or other resources are booked for a project. This schedule shows the dates on which a resource is unavailable for other projects.

This helps project teams:

• Prevent scheduling conflicts with other projects
• Plan vacations and time off better
• Manage team member workloads better

Toggl Plan’s Team timelines and Availability overviews are automatically updated if a project’s schedule changes. This ensures that your resource schedule is always up to date.

Step #5: Track resources

Your last step is to monitor resource utilization and workloads. 

Resource utilization measures how efficiently a project’s resources are used. Resource workload refers to the amount of work or tasks assigned to a particular resource over a specific period of time.

These metrics tell you if your team members and other resources are over or under-utilized.

Together you can use these metrics to spot potential resource risks. This insight gives you enough time to adjust your project and resource plans even in case of emergency changes.

Resource management techniques

Here are three essential project resource management techniques that you should know about.

Resource allocation

Resource allocation is the process of finding the best available resources and assigning them to projects.

With resource allocation, managers look at the available skills and capacity to book project resources.

However, most project managers don’t have a clear overview of their project resources. According to PMI , this results in wastage of up to 12 percent of project resources.

With a resource capacity planning tool like Toggl Plan, you get a bird’s-eye view of your team’s work allocation plans.

  Toggl Plan’s Team timelines make it easy to visualize your team’s work schedule. Learn more about resource planning in Toggl Plan.

Visibility into your team’s long-term capacity helps you:

• Identify team members who can take up more work so you can allocate them to projects
• Identify resource bottlenecks and manage project risks  
• Make hiring or outsourcing decisions to make up for the skills and capacity that your team lacks

Workload management

Once you’ve allocated team resources to a project, the next step is workload management.

What is workload management?

**Quotation** “Workload management is the process of distributing work efficiently across your team members.”

This process ensures that no one in your team is over or underworked.

In a study, Indeed.com found that more than half of the respondents felt burned out and struggled to find work-life balance. 

The Availability Overview in Toggl Plan provides a quick glimpse of available resources. With this data, you can distribute tasks more effectively. 

Toggl Plan also helps you manage workloads through:

• The Team Timeline: See your team’s daily tasks with the Team Timeline. You can easily spot who’s free and who’s busy for the day.

• Drag & drop functionality: If tasks change or need shifting, use the drag and drop feature. Move Gantt chart timelines easily to balance your team’s work and avoid overallocation. 
• The Progress Overview feature: Compare estimated vs. actual effort to see how your project is doing. This helps you monitor project progress and change what doesn’t work before it becomes an issue. 

You can also use Toggl Track to manage workloads better:

• Real-time workload tracking: With Toggl Track, you see how long tasks really take. No more guessing. If something takes extra time, you’re the first to know.
• Improve future projects: Use time data from old projects to plan new ones. This way, you get a clearer idea of how long things take and can plan smarter. 

The two techniques you can use to manage your team’s allocation and workloads are:

• Resource leveling : The process of planning your work schedule according to the available resources is called resource-leveling. It gives you a clear overview of what you can achieve with the available resources.
• Resource smoothing : The process of planning your work schedule within the required time while avoiding peaks and troughs in demand is called resource smoothing. Generally, delaying non-essential tasks is the preferred way to smoothen out your resource workloads.

Resource forecasting

It’s critical to allocate resources and keep an eye on your workloads.

But it’s equally important to predict resource requirements for the future.

What is resource forecasting?

“Resource forecasting is the process of anticipating your organization’s resource needs over a future period.”

Forecasting helps teams:

• Identify resource gaps and bottlenecks and take early action to mitigate these risks.
• Manage stakeholder and customer expectations by pointing out the identified people gaps.
• Demand resources early during a project’s life cycle so that HR has sufficient time to hire new people.

But resource forecasting is easier said than done. 

Many project managers struggle to get it right. This might happen due to: 

• Lack of past data: They might not have info from old projects. Without it, forecasting what’s needed is difficult. 
• Project scope shifts: Projects can change as they go. If they do, the resources they thought they needed can change too.
• Poor communication: If their team doesn’t communicate well, they might miss or mix up resource needs. This makes forecasting tough.

What can make resource forecasting easier is Toggl Plan’s Zoom Level feature. 

Toggl Plan’s Zoom Level lets you zoom in for daily details or zoom out for a weekly, monthly, or annual view. 

Adjust the zoom to see tasks up close or the entire project team simultaneously. This helps easily see the long term availability of of your resources.

6 project resource management best practices

Now let’s look at six project resource management best practices that help your project run smoothly.

Know your team’s capabilities

Always be aware of what each member can do.

It’s not just about roles. It’s also about strengths, skills, and experience. When you know what your team excels at, you can assign project tasks that fit them best.

Avoid resource overloading

Don’t pile too much on anyone’s plate. 

If a team member is stretched too thin, they can get burned out and make mistakes. Instead, distribute tasks fairly and keep workloads manageable.

A tool like Toggl Plan helps you see who’s available and when. Its Team Timeline feature shows the exact daily capacity for each member. 

Distribute tasks using this information to ensure proper resource utilization. 

Keep communication sharp

Clear communication is the backbone of any project. 

Always ensure everyone is on the same page and aware of their responsibilities. 

Use tools or platforms that encourage regular conversations and updates. 

This way, there’s no confusion, and everyone stays informed. A well-informed team makes fewer mistakes and meets more deadlines. 

Track actual time spent on tasks

When you know how long tasks take, you can plan better and set realistic deadlines. 

That’s why it is important to track time spent on tasks. With a tool like Toggl Track, that is super simple. 

With just a few clicks, you can track all project work and get valuable metrics into how you spend your work hours. 

With this level of visibility, you can refine your planning and ensure projects stay on course. 

Understand true capacity

To easily estimate true capacity, consider the time allocated to non-project, admin tasks such as meetings, training, and reporting.

Gain a complete overview of your team’s time helps you gauge real work capacity.

Plan with time off in mind

When assigning tasks, factor in vacations, holidays, and personal days. 

Toggl Plan has a handy Time Off feature. This feature lets you mark days when someone’s off to make sure no tasks overlap with breaks. 

This helps to easily avoid scheduling conflicts and keep projects on track even when team members are away.

Project resource management tools and software

Project resource management tools help allocate resources more efficiently, minimize overloads, and predict potential roadblocks.

Here are some common tools for boosting resource management.

• Timeline tools: These are your project’s visual maps. 

At a glance, you can see when tasks start and end, and who’s responsible. Timeline tools help you spot delays before they become big problems.

• Project resource planning tools: Resource planning tools show who’s available and when. 

With them, you balance workloads better and make sure no one’s swamped or has too little work.

• Project resource management tools: Project resource management software combines features of both timeline and resource planning tools. 

With them, you get a complete view of your project, from project timelines to resource availability. 

You can plan, track, and adjust as your project progresses.

Free project resource management templates

A project resource management template simplifies your resource management process. 

It gives you a ready-made framework to organize and monitor project resources. 

With a project resource management template, you save time and effort when planning your resources.

Here are three commonly used resource management templates that you can use to manage projects.

Team availability tracker

This template helps you visually track your team’s off time, including vacations and public holidays. Once you know who’s available, you can easily allocate them to a project.

Get this template

Resource allocation tracker 

Using this template, you can allocate resources to projects. Plus, you can see the dates when they have the capacity to take up more work. 

Resource workload tracker

Track the estimated work hours of all your employees using this template. Visualize workloads to identify who’s overworked and who has the capacity to take on more projects.

Start managing resources with Toggl Plan

Toggl Plan is a simple, visual, online work management tool for creative agencies, consultancies, and software teams.

Its timelines make it easy to visualize your project timelines and team schedules. 

Unlike spreadsheets or complex software tools, Toggl Plan is easy to get started with. And keeping project information up-to-date takes even less work. 

The result?

You and your team can focus on creating successful projects. Sign up for a free Toggl Plan account and see for yourself.

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What is Resource Planning and Why is it Important?

“How many and what resources do I need for the coming weeks, months, quarters, or years”? “Should I hire more people to meet future demands or leverage sales efforts to keep everyone occupied with work”? “How can I avoid billing loss and control project costs before it’s too late?”

These are the pertinent questions that stakeholders ask themselves on an everyday basis. To get the correct answers, we need efficient resource planning.

Without implementing the proper process and technique, making any decision will be like throwing darts in the air.

Resource planning can address these challenges in today’s dynamic business conditions. It helps plan resources intelligently from the ground up and continuously optimize your workforce. However, taking a shortcut and failing to make a timely decision will adversely affect the organization’s business objective.

This guide is curated for enterprises to gain a detailed understanding of resource planning in project management.

Let’s dive deep into it.

Resource planning definition

Resource planning is the process of identifying, forecasting, and allocating best-fit resources , i.e., human resources, equipment, assets, facilities, and more, to the projects at the right time and cost.

It also ensures the efficient and effective utilization of resources across the organization. In other words, it’s the strategic planning process to make the best use of resources depending on their capacity/availability and deliver every project within time and budget.

Let’s take an example: your firm is an IT company, and you have a software development project in the pipeline received from a global client for a long-term horizon.

Here, project managers will look after the client’s requirements, assess the scope of the project, and will also predict and evaluate the resource demand. As a part of the process, they will request resources from resource managers to fulfill this demand.

The resource managers will now assess the new requirement, find out the gap between the demand and the available workforce, and look for different ways to fill this gap. This will include hiring a new workforce from the market or juggling resources available within the organization. Thus, the ability to forecast requirements and develop a strategy to plan, allocate, schedule, and utilize the resources and their competencies effectively is termed resource planning.

Once you know what resource planning is, let’s understand its importance in project management.

Importance of resource planning in project management

According to a PMI survey , “26% of companies with a dedicated resource planning solution can estimate and allocate resources to deliver projects on time.”

Thus, resource planning is a crucial part of the project management process as it plays a key role in a project’s success.

Here is a list of the benefits and how planning resources makes a difference in the project management landscape:

Allows resource planning for pipeline projects

Creating more projects in the pipeline is desirable, but not having enough resources to execute them causes project bottlenecks, delays in meeting deadlines, and impacts the quality. An intelligent resource plan and timely forecasting help managers predict all pipeline project requirements in advance.

Thereby, resource managers can either allocate a cost-effective global resource or hire an on-demand or permanent workforce with a suitable skill set. This helps reduce last-minute hiring activities, which can lead to cost escalation and compromise quality.

Bridges the capacity gap proactively

Demand forecasting, one of the significant pillars of resource planning, identifies the excess or shortage of resources by comparing the resource demand against the existing capacity. Based on this data, managers can implement the right resourcing treatments to bridge the capacity and demand gap.

CASE I: Excess of resources

When the resource demand decreases vis-a-vis available capacity, it results in excess resources. This excess capacity can be mitigated by bringing future project work ahead, adjusting timelines, redeploying resource capacity in other projects, etc.

CASE II: Shortfall of resources

When the resource demand is higher than the capacity, there is a shortage of resources. It can be resolved by exploring two different resourcing channels.

Internal Channels:

Internal recruitment focuses on the employees already on a firm’s payroll. This includes selecting an employee from the bench based on their skills and qualifications or transferring resources from different projects.

External Channels:

If the required skill is absent in the organization’s internal network, then the resource managers hire the resources from external sources. It includes hiring resources through recommendations/networks and recruiting freelance/contingent workforce from partner vendors.

Minimize project resource costs significantly

According to the Deloitte Global Cost Survey 2020: “Reducing project resource cost takes precedence over other business initiatives.”

Allocating the right resources to the right project ensures the timely delivery of the project within the budget. If resources are underqualified, a delay in project timelines is inevitable, and if overqualified, it can spike project costs . However, with an effective resource planner, managers can make data-driven decisions to eliminate the deployment of over/under-skilled resources on project tasks.

This will enable managers to implement suitable resourcing measures at the right time. For instance, they can allocate a cost-effective global/local resource or a benched resource to a task. Moreover, they will have enough lead time to conduct planned hiring in place of last-minute activities and create the right resource mix that suits the project budget.

Forecast and maximize profitable resource utilization

Resource planning and forecasting provide foresight into utilization within a project. A structured resource plan includes mobilizing resources from non-billable to strategic/billable projects for increased revenue based on their skill set. This prevents under or overutilization of resources and helps improve productivity and employee satisfaction.

Furthermore, an efficient resource scheduler allows managers to view the resource’s present and future allocations on one platform. They can also have a periodic check on forecast vs. actual resource utilization report and accordingly, optimize the utilization levels of the resources.

Read More: What is Resource Utilization and its Significance?

Ensures competent resource allocation across a matrix organization

Resource planning in project management helps managers gain a centralized view into all resource-related information, such as skill sets, cost rate, location, resource capacity, among others. This visibility and a systematic resource-requesting process help managers leverage the shared service model of a matrix organization. Thus, they can filter and load the appropriate resources to the project/tasks across departments.

Further, it empowers managers to allocate global resources from low-cost locations and control project costs. Moreover, the advanced resource scheduler ensures that strategic resources are not assigned to only high-priority projects but are uniformly distributed across the enterprise. This ascertains competent resource allocation in projects and allows resources to work on different assignments and improve their portfolios.

Delivers project on time and within budget

PwC Project Management Insights states that “30% of projects fail due to a lack of resources.”

The benchmark for successful delivery is meeting project deadlines and avoiding budget overruns. Efficient resource planning ensures that all project resourcing requirements are identified and fulfilled. This also involves periodically reviewing project performance throughout their lifecycle as resource demand fluctuates occasionally.

However, by using forecast vs. actual reports, resource utilization heatmap, etc., managers can monitor and control project budgets. Regular monitoring will ultimately lead to accomplishing the most critical project metrics, such as client satisfaction, higher retention, enhanced work rate, and increased brand loyalty.

Let’s gain insight into the critical elements of resource planning.

Essential components of resource planning template

A robust resource planning software will enable managers to effectively manage resources, mitigate risks, and drive projects to success. Here are some salient features that are foundational to efficient resource planning.

Multi-dimensional resource planner

Identifying the project’s resource requirements is a fundamental aspect of resource planning. This involves analyzing the quantity and type of resources required, i.e., human or non-human. Moreover, it also includes a thorough evaluation of the skills, competencies, and subsequent proficiency levels needed for accomplishing projects and subsequent tasks.

With a multidimensional resource planner, managers have visibility into resource profiles across multipe dimesions such as as team, departments, location, etc. It empowers them to allocate appropriate resources in real time to the projects. In other words, it allows managers assign the best-available-best-fit instead of the first-visible-first-fit resource, enabling competent allocation for all projects.

Project pipeline planning

Once a pipeline project reaches a certain probability stage, the manager estimates the resource requirements and initiates the requisition process. The corresponding resource manager then begins the fulfillment of the request. But first, they must analyze if the organization possesses adequate internal resources to start the project. Therefore, the resource manager compares the existing resource capacity against the project demand from multiple perspectives such as role, department, team, skills, etc.

This meticulous evaluation helps firms identify the shortages or excesses ahead of time. Accordingly, managers can apply appropriate resourcing strategies such as training/upskilling, out-rotation and backfill strategy, or staggered hiring for niche resources. This approach minimizes wasteful hiring/firing cycles to ensure that the right resources are available for projects at the right time and cost.

Resource utilization forecasting

Resource forecasting techniques enable firms to optimize billable and strategic utilization. It allows mobilizing resources from non-billable to billable or strategic work. Resource planner helps to control project financials by comparing forecasted with actual utilization . It also detects and proactively mitigates under and over-resource utilization.

Further, managers can refer to comprehensive utilization reports, color-coded heatmaps, etc., to identify under/overutilization of resources. Consequently, they can implement resource optimization techniques such as levelling and smoothing to ensure optimal profitable utilization and productivity.

Resource capacity planning

Forward planning resource demand for current and pipeline projects is essential to avoid last-minute scuffles for competent professionals. With robust resource capacity planning, organizations can analyze the enterprise’s resource capacity vs. project demand gap. This foresight helps identify resource excess or shortage and implement corrective steps to bridge the gap.

In the case of a resource shortage, managers can facilitate proactive strategies such as re-training employees or hiring a contingent workforce. Conversely, when there is a resource excess, they can bring forward the project dates. Simultaneously, capacity resource planning helps minimize bench time by adjusting timelines or selling excess capacity at discounted rates and building an optimized project team that is future-ready.

Read More: What is Resource Capacity Planning? An Ultimate Guide for Every Project Manager

Bench management

With a resource planner, managers can gain early foresight into the workforce that will land on the bench due sudden ramp-down activities. For instance, when a project finishes and the next one begins, managers are prepared well in advance and can proactively allocate these resources to suitable project vacancies on time.

Resource managers can look into project vacancy reports and plan work for resources before they hit the bench. This will reduce bench time between projects for most resources and improve the organization’s bottom line. Additionally, with efficient bench management, managers can provide training or shadowing opportunities to selected employees to enhance their billability.

Reporting using real-time business intelligence

Modern resource planners provide real-time business intelligence reporting and analytics to fast-track decision-making in a rapidly changing business environment. These configurable dashboards and custom reports empower end-users to slice and dice relevant information effortlessly and present insights through visually intuitive graphs and reports.

Moreover, intelligent BI uses a combination of security rights, portal designs, and filters, allowing the end-user to view relevant data and prevent information overload. Additionally, it will enable managers to tailor reports to gain visibility into data matching their specific requirements. This streamlined accessibility empowers managers to make faster decisions and improves the overall resource health index.

What-if analysis for resource simulation

What-if analysis within a resource planner allows firms to build and simulate different resource scenarios in a multi-project environment. This helps managers to compare different scenarios and their potential outcomes. Accordingly, the manager can form different resource mixes, with the revenues earned, to find the most profitable project.

Thus, after deriving the best scenario, managers can apply it to the resource plan. Moreover, what-if analysis also helps prioritize profitable projects based on criteria like budget and timeline. As a result, it enables organizations to manage multiple projects’ demands with limited resources.

Creating an efficient resource plan is essential as it optimizes resource utilization, minimizes wastage, and ensures financial stability throughout the project. Here is a detailed step-by-step breakdown of the same.

How to create an efficient resource plan in 7 steps?

Here are seven distinct steps by which managers can create an efficient project resource plan:

Step 1: Understand client and resource requirements

At the outset, managers kickstart the resource planning process by thoroughly understanding both the project requirements and the resources available within the organization. This includes assessing the project scope, objectives, timelines, and budget.

Based on that, project managers can gauge the resource requirements in terms of skills, types, and number. This initial evaluation helps managers determine whether the existing skills and competency of the workforce align with the overall project goals and take appropriate corrective measures. Therefore, it helps avoid any last-minute firefighting, ensuring successful project delivery.

Step 2: Fulfill the project demand by identifying the gap

After a project manager determines the project requirements, the next step involves requesting the necessary resources from resource managers to fulfill the project demand. Resource managers play a pivotal role in assessing the capacity versus demand gap.

They meticulously analyze shortages or excesses of resources from multiple perspectives, i.e., role, skills, competency, etc. This proactive approach enables organizations to foresee resource challenges, allowing for strategic planning and resource allocation.

Step 3: Implement appropriate resource strategies to bridge the gap

After identifying the shortage and excess of resources, managers must take proactive measures to bridge resource gaps in the short or long term. This visibility into resource gaps allows sufficient lead time for the managers to initiate forward planning and take appropriate resourcing measures to bridge the gap.

For instance, in case of shortages, organizations may facilitate re-training/upskilling resources, juggling project priorities, or hiring a permanent/contingent workforce to avoid last-minute hiring/firing costs. Conversely, when the resources are in excess, managers can either bring forward project dates or sell excess capacity to optimize the utilization of every resource and ensure successful project delivery.

Step 4: Allocate the right resources to the right project

Effective resource allocation is a critical step in the planning process. By leveraging the centralized view and advanced filters, managers can strategically allocate resources based on availability, skills, competencies, and interests. This ensures that managers align the right skilled workforce with appropriate expertise to projects for optimal project success.

Managers can also create the right resource mix of senior/junior employees or contingent/permanent workforce, depending on the project requirements. It will help them control the project budget without compromising the quality of deliverables. This way, the company can consistently complete projects on time and within budget by allocating the most suitable resources.

Step 5: Consider factors that affect resourcing strategies

To effectively carry out the allocation of appropriately skilled resources to the project, managers need to consider the following factors:

• Long-term/short-term assignment

The foremost step to consider while recruiting resources is whether a firm is filling a position for a short-term or long-term assignment. For the short term, hiring a contingent workforce or freelancer is an ideal choice. However, for a long-term assignment, focusing on permanent hiring with lead time is essential. Therefore, considering the project length when hiring helps minimize wasteful hiring/firing cycles.

• Generic vs. niche skill

Generic skilled resources are relatively easy to plan for, as they are readily available within the organization. On the other hand, hiring resources with niche skills may require additional lead time due to their scarcity, which often results in higher costs. Additionally, once their assignment is completed, redeploying them within the organization can prove challenging.

• Cost of the resource

It is important that the resource managers hire the right resources with a defined skill set and experience for the project. They must look into the cost rate of the resource that fits the budget of projects. Furthermore, managers should also factor onsite, offshore, and near-shore options in the recruitment strategy to minimize the overall project resource costs.

• Attrition & succession planning

Managers need to ensure that the sudden resignation of critical resources does not jeopardize a project’s delivery. Therefore, they must implement robust succession plans to identify and train replacements for key positions within the organization. An intelligent resource planner provides a real-time competency matrix that helps managers select competent employees for leadership roles. Therefore, it not only addresses the resourcing needs of the organization but also helps monitor the resource health index.

Read More: Ten Effective Strategies to Reduce Employee Turnover

Step 6: Monitor and control project resources

Once resources have been allocated to project tasks, it’s important to regularly track and monitor the utilization of each professional to prevent instances of under/overutilization. In case of underutilization, managers can bring forth project timelines. On the other hand, managers can implement optimization techniques like resource leveling and smoothing to mitigate overloading.

Further, project managers must anticipate and plan ahead for resource related risks such as unplanned absenteeism, turnover, lower productivity, etc. They must create risk mitigation strategies to control these bottlenecks adequately and prevent them from derailing the project’s progress. This will ensure timely project delivery within the pre-defined budget and quality standards.

Step 7: Conduct a post-project analysis

Upon project completion, it is crucial for managers to conduct a thorough post-project analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of the resource plans and identify areas of achievement and improvement. This will help scrutinize whether resources were allocated efficiently, if project deadlines were met as planned, and if any unexpected circumstances arose.

With these insights, firms can refine and enhance future resource planning efforts by identifying areas of success and potential improvement. They can develop robust and efficient resource plans that align resources with project needs, minimize discrepancies, and ultimately bolster project success rates.

Finally, these are the essential components in a typical resource planning template, which can help effectively plan your workforce. Given below are some of the common mistakes of resource planning in project management. Read on:

Common mistakes of resource planning in project management

The project resource cost can blow out of proportion, and project delivery is significantly impacted without a proper resourcing strategy. This section describes some of the common mistakes made in this area.

Using silos of spreadsheets for resource planning

Despite its limitations, many organizations still use spreadsheets to plan their resources because they are easily accessible. While this software comes at a cost, it offers significant benefits over spreadsheets. Excel resource planner causes improper allocation, double booking, and creates additional work. This system is very limiting and a nightmare to maintain.

Marketwatch states that “88% of spreadsheets are prone to errors.”

Planning resources without overall visibility

Many managers continue to allocate resources without having complete visibility of their skills, competencies, and existing bookings. As a result, it becomes difficult to allocate the right resources to suitable projects at the right time. Restricted visibility also hinders identifying and leveraging quality resources from low-cost locations.

Read More: 7 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Excel for Resource Planning

Lack of resource forecasting for pipeline projects

Resource planning for future projects is often taken up at the eleventh hour. The resource managers make the mistake of only taking up the planning activities when the deal is signed. Ideally, it should start after the opportunity reaches a certain probability of closure so there is sufficient lead time to address resource requirements. This results in last-minute activities that create an unbalanced pool as the quality of the resources is compromised.

Not maintaining the right mix of permanent and contingent workforce

Businesses try to fulfill project requirements using full-time employees as it is perceived to be a more cost-effective solution. However, if a niche resource is hired for a shorter duration, it becomes challenging to redeploy him after the assignment is complete. Therefore, a resource plan should maintain a judicious blend of permanent and contingent resources. For short-term assignments, a contingent workforce will be less expensive than hiring full-time resources.

Allocating under or over-skilled resources to the projects

One of the common mistakes of resource planning in project management is assigning under or overqualified resources to tasks. When resources are under-skilled for the job, it causes project delays. On the other hand, over-skilled resources spike project costs. Not assigning tasks per skills and interests leads to decreased employee engagement and loss of productivity.

Read More: Resource Allocation: A Guide on How to Apply it to Project Management

Unplanned hiring without analyzing project demands

Resource managers often resort to last-minute hiring activities to fulfill project resource requirements. This unplanned hiring compromises quality and leads to a large bench of mismatched skill sets. So, analyzing project demands with matching skill sets is a prerequisite for informed hiring decisions.

Knowing the common mistakes of project resource planning, let’s understand the responsibilities of resource and project managers.

Responsibilities of project managers and resource managers

Project managers operate on a project level with projects of different sizes and complexities. A project manager can manage single or multiple projects and ensure they are completed within a stipulated time and budget. However, resource managers operate at the organizational level and oversee allocating resources to several projects.

The project manager initiates the resource request for an open position within his project, and the resource manager’s job is to fulfill the same. Once a resource is allocated to a project for a particular period, the resource manager’s responsibility ends. However, the project manager’s job only begins to ensure that the resource carries out the delivery responsibilities.

Role of resource manager

In summary, a resource manager is responsible for the following:

• Planning and allocation based on resource skills, previous experience, and availability.
• Conducts capacity planning to address issues of shortfall and excesses of resources.
• Support project managers with the project resource management plan and related activities.
• Address resource concerns by reallocating resources, negotiating, or assigning additional staff.
• Collate new project requirements from the business and provide them to the hiring team.
• Certain limited HR-related functions.
• Collaboration with other departments, e.g., HR, PMO, Sales, Learning & Development.
• Generating reports and analytics for senior management.

Role of a project manager

The corresponding roles of a project manager are:

• Create a project management plan and define the scope and delivery objectives of the project.
• Capture resource requirements and request for fulfillment.
• Streamline communications with stakeholders/ team members and customers.
• Carry out operational reviews as per project KPIs.
• Estimate time and cost and monitor the budget.
• Report the project’s progress, analyze potential risks, and provide a mitigation strategy.
• Document the project and set the expectations for various team members.
• Work with the empaneled vendors for contingent resources.

Read More: Project Management vs. Resource Management

These are some of the significant responsibilities of resource and project managers. Now, let’s learn about some benefits of resource planning across industries.

How resource planning benefits different industries?

Resources are fundamentally the greatest asset of any organization. It means the profitability of any company is mainly reliant on intelligent resource planning. A key aspect while planning for resources is that it helps to efficiently use workforce potential to get the best possible outcome.

Let us discuss some of the specific industries where efficient resource planning could benefit significantly:

IT industry

Due to the rapid advancement in technology, computing, and automation, IT companies face widened tech skills gaps within their workforce. Technology is changing at a fast pace, and IT professionals are under constant pressure to acquire new skills throughout their professional careers. Timely forecasting and efficient resource planning will help managers predict the demand for niche skill sets well in advance. Then, managers can employ rotation/upskilling methods to gauge these gaps and create an augmented workforce.

Audit and accounting firm

Most of the audit and accounting firms are run by their partners. These firms consider billable utilization a critical KPI to ensure profitability and sustainability. So, depending on the accounting project’s needs, an effective resource planning solution helps to forecast resource requirements (Accountants, auditors, financial analysts, tax consultants, audit interns, etc.) and utilize them for productive activities. It also enables firms to hire interns regularly, give them on-the-job training, and make them billable.

Similar to audit and accounting firms, law firms are also run by their partners. Bringing in a client when the firm has inadequate staffing can be detrimental to its reputation and profitability. An effective forecasting and resource planning strategy helps assess future demands and find the right resource (lawyers, legal secretaries, etc.) at the right cost, age demographics, etc. It also enables partners to build an on-demand workforce , create a skill database, and define the total billable hours.

Engineering industry

The increased demand in manufacturing has caused skill shortages in the core engineering industry, where competition is fierce for experienced workers (automobile engineers, machinists, designers, etc.). An engineering resource planning solution helps managers provide reskilling and on-the-job learning opportunities for the employees. Thus, it helps to replenish an aging workforce, fill critical positions, and match them to the best potential projects based on talents and interests.

Read More: What Is Engineering Resource Planning?

Construction industry

Construction and infrastructure projects possess highly volatile resource demands due to changing climatic conditions and sudden increases in maintenance activities. With resource planning solutions, managers gain visibility of all construction resources and recruit skilled labor, architects, civil engineers, etc., throughout the projects. Thus, it maximizes the workforce’s productive utilization and ensures minimal resource conflicts. Therefore, efficient resource planning is key to managing construction resources effectively and preventing hiring/firing costs.

Consulting & professional service industry

The professional service industry has a unique challenge to balance resource demands across various clients. With efficient resource planning, managers can keep track of resources and their specialized skills. Since the consultants are deployed at a premium rate, keeping them engaged in client billable activities and reducing idle time for maximum profitability is crucial. At the same time, they need to be provided enough opportunities to acquire new skills and ensure no employee burnout.

Video game industry

The game development industry requires a highly competent team of niche-skilled resources. Efficient resource planning enables managers to diversify their expertise to the maximum potential and fulfill the gaming project resource demand. It also helps to identify in-demand skills and cross-train them to build an optimized workforce of game designers, level artists, programmers, QA teams, etc. Thus, effective resource planning can become a game-changer in fast-tracking the development cycle.

Read More: How can Robust Resource Management Future Proof the Gaming Industry

Now that we have learned about the benefits, let’s discuss the best practices for effective resource planning.

Best practices for effective resource planning

Enlisted below are some best practices to consider when engaging in resource planning:

Define clear project goals and objectives

Effective resource planning begins with clearly defining project goals, objectives, and deliverables. This step is crucial as it provides a solid foundation for determining the necessary resources and their allocation across multiple projects.

When the project scope is well-defined, it becomes easier to identify the skills, expertise, and types of resources required to achieve those objectives. In addition, clarity in project goals enables efficient resource planning from the outset, ensuring that resources are aligned with the project’s strategic direction.

Conduct a comprehensive resource assessment

Before scheduling and allocating resources, conducting a thorough assessment is important to determine the specific resource requirements. It involves identifying the types and quantity of resources needed, considering factors such as skills, expertise, availability, and capacity.

After assessing, managers can accurately gauge the resource demand for each project phase. This helps avoid scheduling conflicts such as staff shortages or double bookings, enabling optimal resource allocation and utilization throughout the project lifecycle.

Collaborate with stakeholders

Involving key stakeholders, such as project managers, team members, and department heads, in the resource planning process is crucial. That’s because collaborative discussions with stakeholders help understand project priorities, identify potential resource conflicts, and obtain valuable input.

Additionally, stakeholder involvement ensures that resource planning aligns with project goals and organizational objectives. Organizations can leverage stakeholders’ collective expertise and insights by fostering a collaborative approach, resulting in more informed resource-planning decisions.

Monitor and track resource utilization

Continuous monitoring and tracking of resource utilization throughout the project lifecycle are essential to facilitate effective resource planning. By regularly assessing resource allocation against actual utilization, project managers can identify potential bottlenecks, such as workload imbalances or under/overutilization of resources.

This monitoring process provides valuable insights into resource efficiency and enables timely adjustments. By having real-time visibility into resource utilization, supervisors can optimize resource assignment, ensure even work distribution, and mitigate risks associated with resource constraints.

Foster flexibility and adaptability

Resource planning should incorporate flexibility to accommodate changes that may arise during the different stages of the project. It’s essential to anticipate the need for resource adjustments and establish a process for reshuffling staff when necessary. This flexibility allows for agile resource planning, ensuring that resources can be allocated or reassigned based on evolving project requirements.

By fostering flexibility and adaptability, organizations can respond more effectively to unexpected changes or shifts in project priorities, resulting in improved project execution and better client satisfaction.

Organizations can optimize resource planning efforts and ensure successful project delivery by following these best practices. Now, let’s understand operational and strategic resource planning in project management.

Operational and strategic resource planning in project management

Planning implies thinking in advance about what we need to do to realize the business objectives. Strategic planning aims to attain long-term goals , while operational planning helps achieve the short-term objectives of an organization. Let’s understand in detail:

What is strategic resource planning?

Strategic planning is usually undertaken by top-level management to decide the future direction. It is not limited to projects within a particular department or unit but covers the entire organization. Strategic resource planning looks into the overall long-term resourcing strategy.

It can change drastically based on individual priorities. For example, If an IT firm plans to outsource a temporary requirement, i.e., the resourcing strategy will shift from FTE to contingent staff for IT infrastructure improvements. Similarly, a niche skilled resource’s out-rotation from an existing project to start a new initiative will come under strategic resource planning.

What is operational resource planning?

Operational planning addresses the day-to-day activities of a business. It also supports strategic planning to accomplish the overall organizational goals. First, we decide on the short-term objectives and then determine how to achieve them.

Operational resource planning includes regular business activities and operations as per organizational guidelines. For example, it covers pipeline project management , management of FTE and contingency resources, forecasting billable and total utilization, and more.

Read More: What Is Operational Workforce Planning and Its Importance?

Factors that can influence operational and strategic resource planning

Strategic and operational resource planning parameters are linked with an organization’s mission, vision, strategies, goals, and objectives. In addition, the following can influence strategic and operational resource planning decisions.

It defines an organization’s hiring policy for full-time resources and directly influences decisions made on a resource plan. It also covers compensation and benefits, an essential consideration for regular employees.

Hybrid delivery

The project team is created using a combination of in-house and vendor resources. An in-house workforce performs the critical positions requiring specific domain knowledge. One-time activities such as software development are accomplished using vendor resources.

Outsourcing vs. in-sourcing

Due to globalization, many businesses outsource certain functions to other organizations. Some organizations also have stricter policies that their confidential data cannot leave the company’s boundary.

Multi-locational policy

Due to the cost pressure, many projects are being executed from different locations. Therefore, project costs can be minimized using generic resources from a low-cost area. In addition, the high-skilled resources can be located based on their availability, who can take up leadership roles related to delivery.

Training and development

Full-time resources must learn new skills for their self-development and compete in a dynamically changing environment. Therefore, it may not always be practical to hire new resources. However, a new skill can be acquired by cross-training an existing employee.

Resource leveling and smoothing

The essential function of resource leveling is to optimize workforce allocation by adjusting the project schedule to resolve conflicts caused by resources’ over-allocation. On the other hand, resource smoothing optimizes distribution by adding new resources without affecting the critical path and timeline. Both of these techniques influence decisions toward a resource plan.

How to address market volatility using operational and strategic resource planning?

Effective resource planning is a critical success factor for an organization’s growth and sustainability. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus upset the world’s business model at the beginning of 2020.

Many organizations try to stay afloat in these volatile market conditions with a shrinking budget. Acute cost pressure and skill shortages have also become routine activities. Following strategies can help an organization sustain its profitability while planning for project resources.

Short-term strategy

• Effective capacity planning and identifying the gaps between capacity and demand
• Address the shortage of resources using a combination of FTE and contingent resources
• Either re-train existing employees or go for new hires depending on the requirements
• Identify new projects, adjust the project timelines, and sell services for excess capacity
• Mobilize employees from non-billable or low-priority work to billable or high-priority projects as a routine activity.
• Revisit our rotation/backfill policy for starting new projects with niche skills

Long-term strategy

• Decide non-critical functions that can be outsourced
• Identify at least two to three vendors who can work as strategic partners for outsourcing
• Decide on a multi-locational policy to take advantage of resources from low-cost location
• Adapt a hybrid delivery model for cost efficiency

Read More: What Is Strategic Workforce Planning and Why It Is Important?

This is how operational and strategic resource plan helps firms achieve their business goals. Listed below are some of the critical trends of resource planning in project management.

Emerging trends of resource planning in project management

Over the years, the project management landscape has undergone several changes due to technological advancements, management paradigms, etc. Therefore, organizations must embrace newer ways to manage projects successfully to keep pace with these changes. Listed below are some of the emerging trends of resource planning in project management:

Replace silos of spreadsheets with an enterprise resource plan

Silos of spreadsheets and home-grown tools are inadequate for efficient resource planning, adversely impacting business performance. Hence, companies are shifting towards enterprise-level software that centralizes resource-related information and maintains a single source of truth.

Taking resource scheduling to the next level

Today, resource scheduling is not just a simple process of allocating resources against projects. It has evolved into a full-fledged enterprise-level process that ensures maximum efficiency and utilization of resources.

Resource capacity planning for business efficiency

Resource capacity planning is not a luxury for businesses any more. It has become an essential part of the resource planner. It future-proofs your workforce against market volatility by analyzing the demand capacity gap and bridging it proactively.

Resource forecasting to maximize effective utilization

Billable and strategic utilization of the workforce is a crucial indicator of business profitability. Therefore, getting a real-time view of future utilization has become critical while planning for resources. Resource forecasting helps in taking proactive measures to improve future allocations.

Integrating resource management processes with other applications

Traditional resource plans include inefficient and time-consuming processes. Enterprise-level resource planner streamlines them using efficient workflows, alerts, and analytics. It also integrates effortlessly with multiple business applications to maintain a single source of truth across the enterprise.

Monitoring and controlling project resource cost

Enterprise-level resource planner offers various capabilities to monitor and effectively reduce project costs . Some of them are forecasting, capacity planning, resource modeling, pipeline management, bench management, etc.

These are some of the evolving trends of resource planning in project management.

An efficient resource plan fosters you to accomplish more in the same amount of time from the most valuable resources- the people.

Therefore, it is imperative to implement effective resource planning to utilize the workforce to its maximum potential. When resources are planned efficiently, it helps a business to manage risks, reduce delays, optimize resource utilization, etc.

Moreover, implementing the above-mentioned processes with the right resource management software will help you manage your resources intelligently and enhance profitability while maintaining a competitive edge.

Unlock Your Business’s Full Potential Through Strategic Resource Planning Today!

Read More: Glossary of Resource Workforce Planning, Scheduling and Management

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SAVIOM is the market leader in offering the most powerful and configurable solution for managing your enterprise resources effectively and efficiently. With over 20 years of experience, this Australian-based MNC has created its global presence across 50 countries and helped more than 100 customers achieve their business goals. SAVIOM also has products for project portfolio management and professional service automation, and that is customizable as per business requirements.t is customizable as per business requirements.

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What is a Resource Management Plan? + How to Create One

I’m Ben Aston, a digital project manager and founder of thedpm.com. I've been in the industry for more than 20 years working in the UK at London’s top digital agencies including Dare, Wunderman, Lowe and DDB. I’ve delivered everything from film to CMS', games to advertising and eCRM to eCommerce sites. I’ve been fortunate enough to work across a wide range of great clients; automotive brands including Land Rover, Volkswagen and Honda; Utility brands including BT, British Gas and Exxon, FMCG brands such as Unilever, and consumer electronics brands including Sony. I'm a Certified Scrum Master, PRINCE2 Practitioner and productivity nut!

Resource management plans outline who is working on what (and when), so that you as the project manager and the team are on the same page. Here's how to create one (with a template) to ensure the right things are getting done at the right time so the project can get done successfully.

You've completed your project plan, and now you need to plan and secure the team members to work on it. You also need to balance your plan against the budget and scope of the project—you need a resource management plan.

What Is A Resource Management Plan?

A resource management plan is a strategy for how resources will be allocated, scheduled, and used during the project life cycle .

The plan outlines which specific resources are needed, in what quantities, and when they are needed in order to fulfill the project scope .

Resources include anything that is essential to completing the project—human resources (i.e. team members), physical resources like meeting rooms, and time and materials.

What Is A Resource Management Plan For?

Resource management plans serve a few critical functions on projects and facilitate:

• Accessibility : Project team members, as well as project and resource managers can edit and revise parts of the resource plan.
• Transparency : Resource management plans allow every project manager in an organization to see what is going on and schedule resources based on other manager’s plans and their own needs. They're also used to keep track of information such as the whereabouts of equipment or team member status.
• Accuracy : Project management plans and resource plans should be updated in real-time, so project managers have up-to-date and accurate information when making decisions.

Resource Management Plan Template [Download]

This allocation spreadsheet will make it easy to keep track of hourly rates for your team members and associated costs. It's in a Google Sheets format, but you can easily import a copy in Excel, if you prefer. Just select File and then either "Make a copy" or "Download."

What To Include In A Resource Management Plan

These are the essential elements to include in your resource management plan.

1. Responsibility Assignments

Using something like a RACI chart to identify resources and their roles in a project or organization makes assigning deliverables and responsibilities clear and easy-to-understand for all stakeholders.

Employees and managers can also use project management software to estimate the duration of a specific task, assign specific roles, and generate a manageable schedule.

2. Resource Estimates

Include your estimates for who and how many team members you'll need for a project. Start by asking yourself these questions:

• What needs to be done?
• Do we have enough people?
• Who is the manager in charge?
• Do we need to hire someone?
• Do our people have the right skill sets?
• Do we need to outsource?

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3. Resource Management Charts

Duration and histogram charts help you and your project team get a better picture of how the resources you're planning to use fit the schedule. Histograms assist project managers with flagging and resolving problems with overallocation before they become issues.

4. Project Dependencies

A project dependency occurs when a team member can't complete their tasks without the completion of a prior task or another resource.

A resource dependency occurs when a task requires one specific team member to complete, but that person is not available. If a task can be completed by multiple team members, it is not resource dependent.

5. Alternatives

Selecting alternative methods, plans, and technologies is always important when putting together a resource management plan.

Having multiple alternatives can positively influence your costs, timeline, and the reliability of the project. These alternative approaches can be reviewed and stitched together for the most efficient resource planning .

Why Are Resource Management Plans Important?

Resource management plans are important for the following reasons.

1. More Accurate Project Timelines

Including a detailed timeline helps take the guesswork out of the project timeline and provides an accurate project schedule for managers and teams to measure milestones and project progress.

This helps project managers set expectations that are favorable to the stakeholders and clients.

2. Increased Employee And Team Satisfaction

By quantifying the work an employee is able to do, project managers can make better, strategic decisions regarding who takes part in a project and when. This results in a more realistic and manageable workload for team members.

Team members can easily become overworked just as resources can be overused. This can have long-term side effects: stress at work can affect sleep, health, and overall job satisfaction.

With effective resource management, project managers can pinpoint where a project is lacking and provide more insight into whether the “resource pool” is sufficient or whether to bring on a temporary hire.

3. Accurate Resource Estimates

Resource management plans make sure companies and businesses are effectively using the resources that they have and creating a balanced workload.

With a good resource management plan, project estimates become easier to come up with. Project managers are able to break down where resources are needed in terms of associated costs and allocated budget, and then better calculate costs and project margins. It can also help them plan resources for multiple projects that will be completed simultaneously.

4. Improved Project Flow

A resource management plan provides transparent information to all stakeholders, which improves accountability and keeps team members informed on what they are working on and when. This speeds up transitions between project phases.

5. Improved Transparency & Communication

Project resource management plans solve some of the most common challenges in resource management, including:

• Projects competing for resources
• Lack of communication on roles and responsibilities
• Misalignment with team capacity or resource availability

Keeping resource management plans accessible to all project managers and team members in an organization ensures everyone has an overview of current resource usage and that everyone is working from the same information when resolving conflicts.

How To Create A Resource Management Plan

Follow these key steps for creating a resource management plan.

• Review your budget & scope : This will give you an idea of what and how many resources you'll need (ex. do you need developers and/or designers, and how many of each). You'll also probably start to get an idea of which specific team members you'll want (ex. a senior designer over a more junior one).
• Check who's available : See what other projects are on your team member's plates, and what kind of time they might have available to contribute to this new project. If you want to put your senior designer on the project, but they're tied up with something else, you'll need to have a back-up plan.
• Match resources to tasks : Start allocating team members to specific tasks based on their availability and skill sets. You might need to get creative if the team is busy. If your web designer doesn't have enough capacity for a project that involves a website design, you might ask a less-specialized designer to start it, and then have your web designer review once their plate clears.
• Add time estimates : Go over the plan at a high-level with your chosen team members, and ask them to give you a rough time estimate for the work you're planning to assign to them. Consult the statement of work or project plan to see if estimates have been provided in those documents.
• Check utilization : Make sure you haven't given too much or too little work to anyone. Aim to fill about 70 to 80% of a team member's day with project work so you're not overloading them (they still need time for meetings and other admin in their day).
• Document the plan & keep monitoring : Record your plan in an spreadsheet or shared document (preferably in resource management software ). Monitor utilization, capacity, and progress throughout the project. It's a given that things will change, and the more you're on top of it, the less it will impact the success of the project.

Resource Management Plan Examples

Resource management plans are specific documents found in various forms, usually within a software application or Excel doc.

Gantt Chart Resource Plan

Here's an example of what your resource plan might look like as a Gantt chart. Rather than having task names along the vertical axis, you'll use team member names instead. The bars represent which tasks team members will be working on, usually measured in days.

Spreadsheet Resource Plan

Another example is the spreadsheet below. This is a similar approach to what's used in our allocation spreadsheet in the template section. Here, you track team member hours and hourly rates, which allows you to see how you're tracking against budget.

This can help you with decision-making about which team members will work on the project and on which tasks (ex. you might opt for a designer with a cheaper hourly rate for smaller budget projects).

Resource Management Plan Best Practices

Here are a few best practices to use when creating your resource management plan.

1. Consider Budget

If resources are essentially unlimited on your project, you can allocate resources to tasks with an emphasis on “getting it done,” rather than being stingy with resources to conserve budget.

If your project budget is tighter, you'll need to allocate tasks to resources, and use a more conservative approach to resource allocation . You'll also need to keep a closer eye on utilization. There are a variety of utilization metrics that are useful in understanding whether resources are fully optimized.

2. Keep Past Resource Plan Data To Analyze

Saving data from previous or similar projects aids project resource planning for future projects. Previous data should be recorded and analyzed, including changes made, reallocation of resources, tasks, and time spent.

3. Use Resource Management Software

Proper resource management software tools offer more accessibility and collaboration for the whole team. While spreadsheets may be a cost-effective option for tracking resources, it isn't always the best option for larger teams. If you need a low-cost option, there are plenty of free resource management tools on the market.

Tools For Resource Planning

Incorporating resource allocation software can also assist with some of the common challenges of resource planning by:

• Allowing for in-app communication in order to keep track of team communication and changes made to plans
• Providing real-time updates and changes
• Saving your company from having to incorporate custom charts or expensive ERPs

Here's my list of the best resource management software to help you start your search:

• 1. Kantata — Best for real-time resource utilization
• 2. Parallax — Best for marketing agencies & software development firms
• 3. monday.com — Best for simple workload and capacity planning
• 4. Wrike — Best resource management software for scalability
• 5. Scoro — Best for forecasting team utilization
• 6. Runn — Best for real-time project tracking
• 7. Float — Best for simple project scheduling
• 8. Saviom — Best for enterprise resource management
• 9. Resource Guru — Best for hassle-free resource booking
• 10. Hub Planner — Best for midsize and large companies

What's Next?

Have more questions about resource management plans? Join the conversation in Slack with 100s of other digital project managers with  DPM Membership !

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• Operations > Operations Management > Capacity Planning

Resource Requirements Planning

Capacity Planning

In simple layman's terms, Resource Requirements Planning (RRP) boils down to a sanity check on a company's Sales & Operations Plan. If your business is prepared to meet changing marketplace demand, no problem. But if you're not, you may need to make some difficult decisions.

Having too much business isn't always a good thing.

If your business is a success, you will eventually have to increase your capacity to keep up with growing customer demand. If you increase your capacity too much, you'll have more inventory than you know what to do with. But if you don't increase your capacity enough, you could lose customers to the competition.

Capacity planning helps businesses strike a balance between production and demand. If it's done right, it can accurately match production resources with the demand that exists in the marketplace. The downside is that capacity planning isn't as simple as it sounds - it's a multi-stage process that employs various tools to gauge your company's production readiness.

One of those tools is called Resource Requirements Planning (RRP). Resource Requirements Planning isn't a technique or a formula; it's a strategy for measuring a company's ability to keep pace with a Sales and Operations Plan (the larger planning process through which products are produced and brought to market).

Resource Requirements Planning varies from one business to the next. However, there are some generalities about RRP that hold true across the board:

• Resource Requirements Planning is a long-run planning strategy. Resource Requirements Planning is typically a long-term approach to capacity planning and management - an early stage assessment of whether or not the company's production resources are up to the tasks prescribed by the business plan. At this stage of the planning process, the focus is primarily on labor, equipment, and other resources that require a little time to acquire.
• Resource acquisition . If Resource Requirements Planning demonstrates that the company has adequate resources to achieve the Sales & Operation Plan, no additional action is required, at least at this stage of the capacity planning process. If RRP shows that the company is under resourced, one possible response is to acquire additional facilities, capital, equipment, or workers to achieve the necessary capacity. Since the individuals involved with both Sales & Operation Planning and RRP are senior-level staff, it's assumed they have the ability to approve the necessary resource acquisitions.
• Scaling back. If capital acquisition is not a possibility, another response to a resource shortfall is to scale back the Sales & Operations Plan or Aggregate Production Plan to a level that can be achieved with current or prorated levels of resources.

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The capacity of your company to meet expected demand should be measured in both the short-term and the long-term. Properly managed capacity can have great benefits for the small business.

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How To Write A Business Plan (2024 Guide)

Updated: Apr 17, 2024, 11:59am

Table of Contents

Brainstorm an executive summary, create a company description, brainstorm your business goals, describe your services or products, conduct market research, create financial plans, bottom line, frequently asked questions.

Every business starts with a vision, which is distilled and communicated through a business plan. In addition to your high-level hopes and dreams, a strong business plan outlines short-term and long-term goals, budget and whatever else you might need to get started. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to write a business plan that you can stick to and help guide your operations as you get started.

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Drafting the Summary

An executive summary is an extremely important first step in your business. You have to be able to put the basic facts of your business in an elevator pitch-style sentence to grab investors’ attention and keep their interest. This should communicate your business’s name, what the products or services you’re selling are and what marketplace you’re entering.

Ask for Help

When drafting the executive summary, you should have a few different options. Enlist a few thought partners to review your executive summary possibilities to determine which one is best.

After you have the executive summary in place, you can work on the company description, which contains more specific information. In the description, you’ll need to include your business’s registered name , your business address and any key employees involved in the business. 

The business description should also include the structure of your business, such as sole proprietorship , limited liability company (LLC) , partnership or corporation. This is the time to specify how much of an ownership stake everyone has in the company. Finally, include a section that outlines the history of the company and how it has evolved over time.

Wherever you are on the business journey, you return to your goals and assess where you are in meeting your in-progress targets and setting new goals to work toward.

Numbers-based Goals

Goals can cover a variety of sections of your business. Financial and profit goals are a given for when you’re establishing your business, but there are other goals to take into account as well with regard to brand awareness and growth. For example, you might want to hit a certain number of followers across social channels or raise your engagement rates.

Another goal could be to attract new investors or find grants if you’re a nonprofit business. If you’re looking to grow, you’ll want to set revenue targets to make that happen as well.

Intangible Goals

Goals unrelated to traceable numbers are important as well. These can include seeing your business’s advertisement reach the general public or receiving a terrific client review. These goals are important for the direction you take your business and the direction you want it to go in the future.

The business plan should have a section that explains the services or products that you’re offering. This is the part where you can also describe how they fit in the current market or are providing something necessary or entirely new. If you have any patents or trademarks, this is where you can include those too.

If you have any visual aids, they should be included here as well. This would also be a good place to include pricing strategy and explain your materials.

This is the part of the business plan where you can explain your expertise and different approach in greater depth. Show how what you’re offering is vital to the market and fills an important gap.

You can also situate your business in your industry and compare it to other ones and how you have a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Other than financial goals, you want to have a budget and set your planned weekly, monthly and annual spending. There are several different costs to consider, such as operational costs.

Business Operations Costs

Rent for your business is the first big cost to factor into your budget. If your business is remote, the cost that replaces rent will be the software that maintains your virtual operations.

Marketing and sales costs should be next on your list. Devoting money to making sure people know about your business is as important as making sure it functions.

Other Costs

Although you can’t anticipate disasters, there are likely to be unanticipated costs that come up at some point in your business’s existence. It’s important to factor these possible costs into your financial plans so you’re not caught totally unaware.

Business plans are important for businesses of all sizes so that you can define where your business is and where you want it to go. Growing your business requires a vision, and giving yourself a roadmap in the form of a business plan will set you up for success.

How do I write a simple business plan?

When you’re working on a business plan, make sure you have as much information as possible so that you can simplify it to the most relevant information. A simple business plan still needs all of the parts included in this article, but you can be very clear and direct.

What are some common mistakes in a business plan?

The most common mistakes in a business plan are common writing issues like grammar errors or misspellings. It’s important to be clear in your sentence structure and proofread your business plan before sending it to any investors or partners.

What basic items should be included in a business plan?

When writing out a business plan, you want to make sure that you cover everything related to your concept for the business,  an analysis of the industry―including potential customers and an overview of the market for your goods or services―how you plan to execute your vision for the business, how you plan to grow the business if it becomes successful and all financial data around the business, including current cash on hand, potential investors and budget plans for the next few years.

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Understanding Resource Requirements in a Business Operational Plan

Posted by SkillMaker in Jan, 2024

Resource requirements in a business operational plan refer to the essential assets, materials, and human resources necessary to execute a company’s operational activities effectively. This article will delve into the significance of resource requirements, where they take place, their timing, mode of implementation, and the reasons why they are crucial for a business’s success.

Where Do Resource Requirements Take Place? Resource requirements are a fundamental aspect of a business operational plan and are relevant to all industries, including manufacturing, service, and retail. They are crucial at every level of the organization, from the operational team to the management and executive levels. In essence, resource requirements are applicable to all functions and departments within a company.

When Are Resource Requirements Relevant? Resource requirements are relevant at the strategic planning stage of any business and throughout the operational phase. They are particularly crucial during periods of expansion, process improvement, or when entering new markets. Additionally, resource requirements are essential during times of crisis or change management when businesses need to adapt to new circumstances swiftly.

How Are Resource Requirements Determined and Implemented? Determining resource requirements involves comprehensive analysis and planning. Factors such as the scale of operations, production capacity, market demand, and technological advancements are assessed to identify the specific resources needed. Once identified, resources are allocated and managed using various tools, including software systems, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions, and project management techniques. The implementation involves procuring the necessary resources, assigning responsibilities, and monitoring their usage to ensure optimal efficiency.

Why Are Resource Requirements Important? Resource requirements play a vital role in a business’s success for several reasons. Firstly, they ensure that a company has the necessary materials, equipment, and human capital to meet operational objectives. Secondly, resource planning facilitates cost control, as it prevents overstocking or underutilization of assets. Thirdly, the effective allocation of resources maximizes productivity, enabling a company to deliver high-quality products and services efficiently. Lastly, it supports the organization’s adaptability, allowing rapid responses to market changes and internal developments.

Key Terms Associated with Resource Requirements: 1. Operational Plan: A detailed document that outlines the specific actions and strategies a company will undertake to execute its business objectives. 2. Human Resources: The people who make up the workforce of an organization, including their skills, knowledge, and experience. 3. Procurement: The process of sourcing, acquiring, and buying the goods, services, or works that a company requires. 4. Capacity Planning: The process of determining a company’s production capacity and ensuring that it meets current and future demand. 5. Inventory Management: The systematic approach to sourcing, storing, and selling inventory, encompassing the maintenance of adequate stock levels and controlling costs.

In conclusion, understanding resource requirements in a business operational plan is crucial for sustainable growth and success. By comprehensively determining, allocating, and managing resources, organizations can enhance their operational efficiency, mitigate risks, and capitalize on opportunities in an increasingly competitive business landscape.

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5 Resources You Need to Succeed to Start a Business

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Starting a business can be daunting, but many people open successful businesses each year. Those who do succeed typically spend significant time raising capital, doing market research and developing a realistic business plan before launching their new company. Of course, careful preparation isn't an absolute guarantee of success, but it can improve your chances enormously. Take stock of your resources and be prepared to meet the challenges you'll encounter.

The resources you need to start a business can be broken into five broad categories: financial, human, educational, emotional and physical resources.

Financial Resources: Funding 

The most important element in starting a business is funding. Even the most basic home business incurs a multitude of startup costs, including registering a business name, obtaining a business telephone line and printing business cards.

Financial resources can be obtained from a variety of sources, the easiest being from the personal accounts of the company’s founder. Alternatively, loans and lines of credit may be granted from financial institutions, friends and relatives, private investors and even the United States government. In addition, many grants are offered from private and public sources to entrepreneurs of all demographics and personal situations.

Human Resources: Employees

The success of an organization is heavily reliant on the talent and strength of its employees. The hiring of experienced professionals with track records of excellence within their area of expertise ensures that the mission and goals of the company will be carried out efficiently and with competence. Strong team members can be recruited using a variety of methods. Staffing agencies and executive search firms specialize in placing talent of all levels within every industry. An alternative is to find employees through referrals from individuals whose judgment is trusted.

Educational Resources: Industry Know How

Perhaps the greatest thing an entrepreneur can do when establishing a new business is to gain as much education possible. By understanding her competition and gaining an in-depth knowledge of her industry, she will be better prepared to make smarter decisions regarding the direction of her firm. Educational resources can be found through professional trade associations that are geared toward her industry, her local chamber of commerce as well as the Small Business Administration.

Physical Resources: Premises and Equipment

Whether a small home business or a retail operation with multiple locations, every organization must have the appropriate physical resources to survive. This includes a proper work space, working telephone line, adequate information systems and effective marketing materials. This aspect of business planning can be one of the costliest. As such, it is important for an entrepreneur to realistically assess his needs before making any purchases.

Emotional Resources: Support Systems

Starting a business can be an extremely stressful endeavor for an entrepreneur to undertake. To maintain her sanity as well as stay motivated, it is important she have a support team that can give her inspirations and guidance as needed. This team may be composed of friends and family as well as a mentor or professional group.

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KJ Henderson has more than a decade of HR and talent acquisition experience. He has held roles at a Fortune 100 investment bank, a media conglomerate and at one of NYC's largest executive staffing firms. He currently heads recruitment sourcing at a major movie studio. He read literature at Oxford.

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