Resource management is a key success factor in project management. It involves the planning, allocation, control, and optimization of resources — primarily personnel — to ensure project success. Inefficient use of resources can quickly jeopardize out
Operational Value – “Who does what, when?”
Identify Suitable Project Participants
- Selection is based on skills and availability.
- Flexible, role-based assignments are preferred over fixed personnel assignments.
- Skill management forms the foundation for forecasting future resource needs.
Assign Project Participants
- Assignment is done in coordination between project and department management.
- Prerequisite: real-time transparency of available capacities.
- Supported by software with simulation features that help detect conflicts early on.
Deploy Project Participants Efficiently
- Goal: maximize project success while optimizing employee utilization.
- Realistic planning requires dynamic algorithms instead of linear workload distribution.
- Software solutions must be able to detect and assess overloads.
Manage and Monitor Project Participants
- Ongoing monitoring is crucial.
- Requires up-to-date actual data, ideally entered directly by team members.
- Tools must support live management, dashboards, rights/role systems, and baselines.
Strategic Value
Find the Optimal Project Mix
- Goal: prioritize projects that offer the greatest strategic contribution.
- Methods: utility analysis, balanced scorecard, knapsack method, etc.
- Conditions such as resources and budget must be considered.
Current Projects, Ideas, and Future Initiatives
- Projects within the portfolio must be feasible with the available resources.
- Real-time data on workload and capacity enables well-informed decisions.
- Matrix organizations require a holistic view of both project and line responsibilities.
Technological Requirements for Software Solutions
A professional resource management software should:
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Provide dynamic capacity balancing (not just rigid time slots)
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Consider live data, actual time tracking, and deviations from the plan
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Enable simulation modes and scenario analysis
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Include rights/role systems and audit-proof history tracking
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Be integrable into existing IT environments (e.g., SharePoint, ERP)
Conclusion
Holistic resource management is operationally essential, strategically valuable, and only feasible with supporting software.
It increases transparency, efficiency, and the likelihood of project success — and in times of skilled labor shortages and high competitive pressure, it is a decisive success factor.