11 x Resource Planning Templates

Resource planning template help PM’s get a head start to their planning. Using templates enables the PM to focus on the methodical resource plan to better utilize the resources of a company. An effective resource plan outlines a comprehensive agenda with information and assets required for any project.

In addition, it will contain a sole operator on each task. The main types of resource plans are hypothetical and genuine resource plans. A hypothetical resource plan is determined by resource types without resource restrictions. On the contrary, a genuine resource plan is based on the accessibility of the actual resource.

Resource Capacity Planning

Resource planning is a systematic process project managers use to identify, forecast, and allocate various resources to optimize the company’s use of people and time. Business resources may be the workforce, assets, facilities, and equipment.

As a project manager, you need to use a range of project management skills to create stability between projects, budgets, teams, and time. Resource-planning indicates how well an enterprise is structured as it helps them lead printable projects. Also, you might need one of the 21 Free Capacity Planning Templates.

First, it helps bridge the capacity gap. One of the pillars of resource planning, demand forecasting, compares resource demand against the available capacity. Thus it helps to identify excess or shortage of resources. Managers can use the data to determine the right resource quantities to bridge the demand and capacity gap.

Additionally, resource planning helps identify risks and efficiencies that may delay project completion. Utilizing the tool will help you set more profitable rates and get insights into your resource needs for future projects. Resource planning also enables project managers to review performances using forecasts and actual reports. Regular monitoring helps in achieving client satisfaction and higher retention rates.

Project manager’s choose to use Google Sheets or Excel while others opt to use a resource planning tool when planning projects. An excellent resource plan will align your tasks, schedules (critical chain vs critcal path), and budget to ensure timely receipt of materials when needed. It can be particularly useful for your pipeline projects. Though creating projects in the pipeline is incredible, you may experience quality issues, project bottlenecks, and missing deadlines if you lack adequate resources.

Effective resource capacity planning will help you predict all the necessary resources for the pipeline project. You can also implement agile resource planning to help combat the effects of inefficiencies in the forecasting process. Agile resource planning approaches the projects with a broad vision rather than a single objective.

Agile Resource Planning Template

Understanding Resource Management

As aforementioned, resources help enterprises reach their goals. Resources can be physical or team resources. Resource management helps you optimize and allocate resources to tasks that align with organizational goals.

Physical Resources

All businesses require resources, whether time, money, people, or suppliers. Physical resources are tangible things necessary for the functioning of a business. They include items that occupy space and are valuable to the operation of an organization.

Common physical resources include raw materials, technology like machinery, tools and equipment that employees use to execute projects, buildings and facilities, locations and specialized equipment, energy, the budget you need to fund projects and supplies.

Physical resources are critical to all business types. Product-based organizations use physical resources to avail goods for sale to customers and to run the venture. On the other hand, service-based companies use physical resources to facilitate the delivery of exceptional services, like having adequate space to work, high-technology tools to perform the task, and resources to support service delivery.

Physical resources management includes several steps:

• Planning the acquisition of the resources
• Obtaining the resources
• Ensuring the availability of resources
• Monitoring systems

Physical resource managers need to assess the company to determine whether buying additional facilities will help the firm attain its goals. You will need to liaise with other managers and workers to know physical resources that are lacking.

Once you have analyzed the risk and benefits of acquiring and using the resources, you will decide. Moreover, resource managers need to ensure timely delivery of resources to prevent project interferences.

In the monitoring stage, managers assess the physical resource’s impact and devise corrective measures for future use. Resource management of tangible items helps to minimize duplication and waste, streamlines and automates the processes, and maximizes and speeds the output to enable the firm to respond effectively to consumer demands.

IT Resource Planning Templates

Team Resources

People resources are an essential part of any project. Team resources are not easy to manage, so they require additional resource management strategies to handle them. Resource management matrix like the RACI chart helps manage project resources.

However, it is impossible to measure people resources’ efficiency using hard data. The data will only highlight utilization and availability of resources, but it cannot increase productivity. As a human resource manager, you need to have soft skills like communication and leadership to manage teams effectively.

You can make teams more productive by talking to them about your concerns and helping them resolve the issues. Human resource managers need to clearly outline peoples’ expectations so that they understand their significance in the assigned tasks.

Ensure you involve workers in risk management by encouraging discussions and allowing them to set timelines depending on their priorities. Doing this increases their commitment to the project and fosters higher productivity.

Furthermore, you should not let your resources’ efforts go unrewarded. You need to give resources, awards, and recognitions to make them feel their importance in the organization.

Additionally, it shows that you recognize their time and efforts in the assigned task, thus motivating them to do better. You also need to promote collaboration among teams. Collaboration brings all resources to a common understanding.

When team members are at the same level of understanding, they will work towards achieving a common goal. They will increase their creativity, productivity and minimize errors. Further, it would help to give them feedback on their performance to improve their confidence.

Resource Planning Spreadsheet Template

Considerations for Tailoring Project Resource Management

Tailoring is a critical element in the project resource management. The greater the level of resource management tailoring, the greater the chance of project success.

In addition, tailoring facilitates more commitment from teams and efficient use of resources. Here are some considerations for tailoring project resource management:

• Diversity: Individuals need to understand the diversity of business resources based on various factors like geographical location, experiences, capabilities, and skills. Understanding these elements will help in better utilization of resources.
• Resources for specific industries: Different industries require different resources, so the dynamics keep changing. As a result, the resource management requirements will also vary in different sectors.
• Team management: As the project proceeds, you need to manage, engage, mentor team resources to ensure they complete tasks on time. Further, resource managers need to align project schedules with costs to avoid delays.
• Physical location: It is another crucial consideration for tailoring project resource management. Resource managers need to know the physical location and the cultural background of resources to ensure efficient use.
• Team members acquisition: When you start a new project, you need to identify the right skills and define responsibilities for each team member. If you do not find a resource suitable for the project, you can train and induct the resource to the task.
• Life cycle approaches: Products have more extensive life cycles than those of a project. Projects bring changes to products and have a start and a completion date. Therefore, you need to handle resources following a project’s start and end date.

Resources are indispensable project components that need proper management to increase the return on investment. If you do not manage business resources well, you will have costly budgets and delays that may cause project failures. Resource managers need to keep track of all resources to get better outcomes. In addition, they should implement tailoring management strategies when allocating resources to any project.

Here are some frequently asked questions on resource planning….