Resource Management

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Essence

Skilled resource management is the art of strategically orchestrating the allocation and utilisation of diverse resources to achieve project or organisational goals. Resource managers adeptly navigate the complexities of human, financial, and technological assets, ensuring they align with strategic objectives. Their focus on efficient resource utilisation involves proactive planning, effective communication, and the ability to adapt to changing project dynamics. By fostering a collaborative team environment and optimising resource allocation, skilled resource managers contribute significantly to project success, enhancing overall productivity and minimising waste.

The essence of skilled resource management lies in the seamless integration of strategic planning and effective execution. It involves not only acquiring and deploying the right resources but also proactively addressing potential challenges and bottlenecks to maintain project timelines. With a keen eye on balancing workloads, prioritising tasks, and promoting a collaborative team culture, resource managers play a pivotal role in ensuring that organisations operate at their most efficient and effective levels, ultimately leading to successful project outcomes.

Experience

At the outset of a program it is important to anticipate the resourcing needs. In large and mature organisations there are enterprise tools that support this process. At Westpac, I had to quickly learn their resource planning framework; a complex pipeline fed from spreadsheets and MS project resource plans. Levels of adoption varied, but it was worth the investment to learn the tools and adopt the rules. The dividend was that resources were secured to the project and there was clear ownership of the risk that resources could be diverted. It also allows for alignment of resource plans with broader strategic objectives.

Next there is the communication and negotiation. Often in matrix organisation there are line managers that are accountable for resourcing. At IBA I conveyed the resource requirement for a full time product specialist and sought to understand and address the concerns this would have on the business. The project agreed to fund a temporary back-fill resource. Often, competing priorities need to be resolved at the appropriate level. Favours can only go so far, and puts the resourcing risks squarely back on the project manager. It's important that agreements are honoured and those truly accountable for the resource, and therefore making the agreement, are well informed and kept in the loop.

Resource Management and budgeting go hand in hand. At Westpac, the cost of resource was an element of the resource plan. It's obviously important to keep such sensitive data private and ofter the tools cater for this automatically. At Greencross however, I alway password protected resource plans that were on the shared network.

As with all plans however, reality can often derail them and adaptability is sometimes needed. Regular checkpoints with the resource owner is crucial and providing sight of risks can be helpful. At Greencross, I negotiated to bring a store manager onto the team in a testing role, but delays from the vendor meant that there was nothing to test. The risk of delay was such that I gave early indication to the store network manager and was able to delay his engagement on the project and he was able to support a store that was having a refit.

It's useful to have contingency built into the resource plan. Critical path work is always the priority, but should that be completed early, or blocked for any reason, having other useful work available can keep the resource busy, happy and engaged. There's nothing more demotivating for a knowledge worker than having little to do.

Credentials