The project is a process, consists of the steps tightly connected. How we start it affects how it ends – if we struggle with the beginnings, finishing it successfully can be hard to achieve. To avoid possible failures, it’s good to maintain a step-by-step project schedule and stick to it as much as possible. This plan should include resource scheduling results, but how to go about it to make sure it’s enough for the assumed timeframe?
- What is resource scheduling?
- What are the consequences if a company doesn’t schedule the resources?
- What are the benefits of project management resource planning?
- Resource Scheduling Essentials checklist
- Most useful resource planning techniques
- How time tracking helps you schedule resources?
What is resource scheduling?
The crucial part of project resource management and planning:
it’s the process of assigning the resources to these parts of the project they’ll be responsible for.
Once project managers know the resource availability, they can estimate the project’s start and end dates (and for each stage).
Resource scheduling provides an effective utilization of resources. It gives you the answer to how long the project and its stages will take, considering the assumed resource available.
What are the consequences if a company doesn’t schedule the resources?
If a company doesn’t know about the availability of the resources at the current period of time, it will lead straight to the:
unexpected resource shortages,
increased project costs,
lower project revenues,
work overload,
overwhelmed employees,
higher risk failure for each project stage,
unexpected hiring needs (and no money for it!),
lower team morale and unhealthy atmosphere,
exceeding the deadline (and possible revenue loss if stated in the agreement).
It sounds pretty scary. Not performing the proper resource schedule can break the companies, especially the smaller ones, where customer loss is high. However, even good prospering companies should assume the worst scenarios calculating the resources needed to avoid the nasty surprises. Let’s stop making it scary, and on the contrary, we’ll discuss now…
What are the benefits of project management resource planning?
The process of resource planning helps companies manage resources wiser. It also provides the project managers with the knowledge and experience that is precious for future works:
ensures effective resource utilization,
shows the true team capacity,
makes the scheduled start and end date more realistic,
makes the project managers sure the project is delivered not only in time but also on a budget,
points the resource shortage as they appear,
helps to react in time and reduces the risk of bad consequences of the shortage,
allows estimating the costs and compare it with the actual cost,
allows monitoring the progress,
provides project managers with data necessary for making the simulations of further projects.
Resource Scheduling Essentials checklist
An organized project is way easier to maintain. One of the most life-saving planning tips is creating an essentials checklist. It’s something like a template for the scheduling process – once made and used will serve you for the next ones.
Of course, you can adjust the list for the different project it when necessary, but it should at least contain the followings items:
skills needed in the particular project,
employees with these skills,
need for hiring additional workforce,
project roles,
team member availability,
estimated budget,
estimated duration,
start and beginning date,
time for possible delays,
available resources different than human ones (e.g., devices, office space),
possible resources from outside (does your project assume outsourcing or hire part-timers?)
consequences of the delays (based on previous experience or what’s in agreement).
Reference : https://bit.ly/35ma2nd