Project Resource Management

• Always have a resource plan regardless of the format having a plan is vital as that forms the contract between you and others.
• Share your resource plan with everyone to get feedback especially the management. Do that before the project starts so that everyone knows who is working on what.
• Excel is a popular choice for resource planning and management so is PowerPoint. You can either use a simple resource plan, resource matrix or a capacity plan if you looking at multiple project resource planning. 
• You can also use a simple PPT resource plan or advanced plan if your management needs are complex.
• If you are looking at managing a team of resources then use the team resource plan.

• Resource allocation is the process by which a project manager gets resources allocated to a project. Generally, resources belong to a resource pool and need to be allocated to the project.
• In a large organization this can be quite challenging as many projects will be competing for the same resources. The project manager needs to be proactive and get his allocations done ASAP so that the resources get booked to the project.
• The project manager will take into account the work to be done and the project duration to come up with the project resource requirements. 


• Once the resources are allocated to the project the PM will then schedule individual tasks for the resources are per the work break down structure.
• The detailed resource scheduling can then be used to track resource workload and utilization.
• In typical IT Projects there are times when project resource could be free during testing or analysis. Make sure your understand the nature of the work so that you can have some back fill tasks for the resources.
• The back fill tasks can be documentation or non-critical project tasks which can be dropped if needed.
• In the project schedule it is important to leave some time for documentation and residual tasks after the project is complete.

How to calculate resource costs

• Resource costs are major portion of project budget in most of the IT Projects.
• Tracking resources costs can be a challenging task in project management as it is can get complicated when the resource pool is mixed with full time and contractors.
• If the resource billing rates are too high then it is easy to have budget overruns. When the cost is too high the resource workload should be reviewed as frequently as possible. At least it should be done on weekly basis.
• A project manager can use a simple excel budget spreadsheet to calculate project costs.
• Consider the cost that could incur from consulting, travel and training costs.
• If contract resources keep an eye on the hours logged per day. 

Resource Utilization Reports and Tracking

Resource Reports

• As resources are important to the project it is vital that their time is tracked and reported for adequate management.
• Resource reporting and task reporting go hand in hand which means doing one often gives insight into the other.
• Most of the organisations use time sheets so the time sheet data provides a good view of how much time was spend on the tasks.
• If your organization does not use time sheets then you can simple resource time tracking tool using excel. 
• Tracking the time and tasks also gives a visibility of what other the project team is working on. It also helps to find out if any resources were diverted form project tasks.
• I prefer to publish a resource utilization report every week. It can be a complex report coming from a PPM software and a simple excel sheet with resource name, task and the time spent for that week.
• MS Project has some cool features when it comes to resource utilization reports and task management.
• Understand the skill levels of the resources as that will affect their productivity.
• Review time sheets and tasks completed at least on a weekly basis.
• Factor in the below mentioned resource overheads.