Using Project Resource Management to Drive Innovation | Sopheon

When organizations don’t have clear visibility into available resources—whether human or financial—accurately forecasting deadlines and budgets (then readjusting those forecasts when unexpected changes occur) becomes more challenging.

Personnel: At issue is a lack of visibility into resource availability. Lack of effective project resource management processes sometimes resulting in those most suitable for the project being left off the team. Other times, someone with the background and experience for the project is added to the team even though they are tied up with other initiatives.

The most talented people work on multiple projects simultaneously, creating more serious challenges if their availability isn’t accurately reflected. Projects get stalled when these team members have to unexpectedly postpone duties on one project to dedicate time to another project.

Budget: Much like personnel challenges, projects often lack visibility into financial resources. When left to educated guesses—or worse, blind assumptions—it is extremely difficult to predict if a proposed budget is feasible. Budget challenges are further compounded when unexpected (and inevitable) expenditures arise that further inflate the revenue necessary to justify the return on investment

Budget and personnel are intertwined—some of the most common reasons for inflated budgets are related to team staffing. For example, let’s assume there’s someone perfect for a project, but they are unexpectedly unavailable. A project manager may have to replace them with someone less experienced in the project, which lengthens their onboarding time. Or, as is often the case, more than one person is assigned to take on a role intended for one person. Both scenarios will impact the budget negatively.

Given that accurate personnel and budget estimates  play an important factor in setting up project teams for success, organizations must have a resource and financial management solution that offers an up-to-date picture of what resources are available to allocate them appropriately.