Newsletter
Join others in receiving blog updates on resource management, productivity, collaboration and more!
Blog
3 Tips For Better Resource Planning
November 26, 2012 by ganttic
Categories:
Resource Planning, Management Tips
The end result of your project is only as good as the planning that goes into it. That’s why any organization can benefit from these 3 resource planning tips:
1. Try to see the 'Big Picture'
The best way to plan your projects is to create a giant resource pool. That way, everyone will know exactly what kind of resources you have, how to apply these resources and who is responsible for what.
By trying to understand the 'Big Picture', everyone in your organization will have a clearer idea of how they fit into the mix. Not only will that help them perform their own individual tasks better, but it may also give them some additional motivation. After all, wouldn’t you be inclined to work a little harder on a small task if you knew what the entire project was supposed to look like when it was finished?
2. Keep a central schedule
Along with your pool of resources, you also need to have a master schedule that everyone has access to. Why is this so important?
Some of your employees may have skills that can be used in several departments of your company.
For example Chris may work in the IT department, but if he’s also a really talented artist, the department responsible for creative ideas in your company, may also find him useful when working on an unusually tight schedule. That's what resource management and planning is all about!
But when everyone in the company can see what everyone else’s obligations (and time constraints) are, you lessen your chances of putting too much of a burden on any one person or any one department. And, as an added bonus, you don’t have to force people like Chris into the awkward position of having to say no.
Another big perk of having a central schedule? Keeping track of your deadlines.
Since everyone will have access to the schedule, they’ll know exactly how much time they have before they have to “hand off the baton”, so to speak. For example, the department responsible for creative ideas, will know that it has one week to come up with a logo before the Marketing department has to put it on the brochures and send them off to the printer.
3. Use the technology available
There’s no point in putting in man-hours when you can use software to automate things. Technology can help you with certain parts of your resource planning, which means you can start working faster. The sooner you start working, the sooner you can produce results!
So, feel free to use whatever technology you can, to streamline the “easy” stuff.
That way, you’ll have more time and more energy to tackle the “hard” stuff. In the end you’ll wind up with a better product – without necessarily spending more time working!
For example Chris may work in the IT department, but if he’s also a really talented artist, the department responsible for creative ideas in your company, may also find him useful when working on an unusually tight schedule. That's what resource management and planning is all about!
But when everyone in the company can see what everyone else’s obligations (and time constraints) are, you lessen your chances of putting too much of a burden on any one person or any one department. And, as an added bonus, you don’t have to force people like Chris into the awkward position of having to say no.
Another big perk of having a central schedule? Keeping track of your deadlines.
Since everyone will have access to the schedule, they’ll know exactly how much time they have before they have to “hand off the baton”, so to speak. For example, the department responsible for creative ideas, will know that it has one week to come up with a logo before the Marketing department has to put it on the brochures and send them off to the printer.
3. Use the technology available
There’s no point in putting in man-hours when you can use software to automate things. Technology can help you with certain parts of your resource planning, which means you can start working faster. The sooner you start working, the sooner you can produce results!
So, feel free to use whatever technology you can, to streamline the “easy” stuff.
That way, you’ll have more time and more energy to tackle the “hard” stuff. In the end you’ll wind up with a better product – without necessarily spending more time working!
There are several resource management and planning tools out there, but as the competition is tight, many of them are free to use. Even we have up to 10 resources for free! Indefinitely, if you like.
So as the selection of different tools is so diverse and abundant, the only thing you should really need, is the courage and energy to take the first step. The rest is easy!