Effective Tools of Resource Management Software
To get through any project, you need a team of people as well as equipment, funding, and facilities in order to get all the tasks done. These aspects can all be viewed as resources. Through the progression of a project, you don’t need every resource for every task or phase, and at the same time, you are limited in how many and what resources are available to you. This is where resource management steps in—you need to allocate resources at the right times to work on the right tasks, and make trade-offs where necessary to complete the project on time, on budget, and to quality. For complex projects that face issues such as scope creep and various scheduling changes, this can seem daunting. Luckily, there is resource management software out there to help you wrangle the details.
How are resource management tools used?
Resource management can be accomplished through all sorts of processes, techniques, and philosophies. At the root of it all, is you—the project manager. Your role includes the assignment and balancing of resources and project tasks. You need to ensure that there are enough resources for each step of the process to take on the workload and complete that particular section of the project. By drawing up a resource management plan, you can suss out some of the unknowns in your project revolving around scheduling and assignment. Using a good resource management tool, you can put together that plan and easily see how all of the resources are allocated across an entire project. This helps inform your resource allocation for the rest of the project.
What can you do with resource management software?
With a resource management system in place, you can easily assign and rearrange resources to tasks. Given the time-specific nature of projects, it follows that resource management goes hand in hand with the scheduling of project activities. With a Gantt chart, you can visualize and lay out your project schedule, and from there, it’s a matter of pivoting on your set of available resources to see whether or not you have enough to get through each activity. By using task scheduling and task timers, you can build your resource management plan as the project progresses and there are fewer unknowns. As you get through more and more of the project, you will have actuals which will serve as a basis for projecting schedules and planning resource allocation. Schedules change for all sorts of unforeseen circumstances, so it’s vital that your resource allocation is flexible enough to account for unexpected changes. Your resource management tool should give you insight into which resources are under- or over-worked. With a good tool, you should be able to see projected outcomes on-the-fly by rearranging schedules and assignees.software
How we can help you?
It’s crucial that your resource management plan aligns with your project breakdown and schedule, so it’s key that you use a tool that can do it all. By using OneDesk, you get that all-in-one tool that brings your management and administrative work together into one place. You can build your schedule and assign tasks, visualize it together with a Gantt chart, and see where resources need to be shuffled to and when. Resource management can be imposing, but it doesn’t need to be frightening! Let OneDesk’s full suite of project management features guide you in figuring it all out. You can learn more about OneDesk’s features on our website or book a demo with us online!
Photo Credit: “LEGO Advent” / Bill Ward / CC BY