You might be wondering: “what is resource allocation in project management?” By assigning the best team for the job and optimizing the work assignments, resource allocation assists project managers. The importance of resource allocation means that businesses of all kinds strive for timely and budgeted delivery of projects. An organization’s most valuable resource, its people, is at the heart of every successful project. The process of allocating resources to teams in support of their projects and strategic goals is known as software project management resource allocation.

The Benefits of Resource Allocation

Resource allocation, from enterprise to small business and everything in between, is a top priority. The result can be burnout, missed deadlines, and poor performance if these policies are not implemented. Here are some advantages of resource allocation:

Create Cost and Resource Efficiencies

Although hiring and maintaining resources is costly, it shouldn’t destroy your budget. You end up with resources you don’t need when you hire resources you don’t need. Even worse, you overburden your talent pool. You can see the status of projects in the pipeline when you have the proper tools. The allocation of resources can reduce unnecessary expenditures in the long run. This also avoids overworked teams, preventing members from getting burnt out and quitting. When you allocate resources across the organization’s job specifications, it creates a level of transparency that avoids having workers confused or exhausted.

Keep Stakeholders in the Know

Stakeholders want to know how projects are going. That usually means keeping everyone informed about the status of tasks, milestones, and issues. Manual tools increase the chances of making mistakes and eat up your time.

Improve Team Morale and Wellbeing

Employee support and engagement are important in maintaining a healthy and happy work environment. Often, employees come to work with a negative mindset due to difficulties in their home life. It is important to make sure they are supported and given the proper tools to contribute to a happier workplace. The more engaged and happy the employees are, the more positive and productive the workplace will be.

Types of Resource Allocation in Project Management

It’s important that you figure out resource allocation best practices and plans for integration. The following are three types of resource allocation in project management that you can use to utilize resources properly and adjust resource allocation and scheduling as necessary:

1. The Critical Path Method

As a preemptive strategy to keep a project on schedule, the critical path method (CPM) is a prescriptive process. In a CPM, the critical paths are the longest lines of tasks in a project that is dependent on one another. Since the first task must be started on time, the critical path identifies the most critical tasks in the project. The CPM calculates the start and end times using this chain.

2. The Critical Chain Method

There are several key differences between the critical chain method (CCM) and the critical path method (CPM). CPMs create project schedules based on task dependencies, but CCMs alter them to account for limited resources. This means it can be used either alone or along with CPMs. CCMs do not emphasize finding the perfect solution as much as CPMs do — the CCM is more concerned with getting the job done.

3. Resource Leveling and Resource Smoothing

While methods like the critical path and critical chain optimize efficiency and provide extra time to handle setbacks, there are times when changes need to be made to the project plan. Based on what needs to be changed, resource smoothing or resource leveling will be used. The project schedule is adjusted based on the availability using resource-leveling. It reduces resource demand and protects workers from burnout caused by overcommitment. As a result, you are also able to allocate resources more efficiently rather than rushing to finish tasks.

When it comes to our types of resource allocation, we offer features including skills matching, allocation dashboards, and overviews. Resource leveling uses the availability of resources as a constraint, while the strategy of resource smoothing uses available time as a key constraint.

If you want to understand more, read this resource allocation in the strategic management pdf we’ve offered to our clients. It will be helpful in creating your resource allocation strategy in the long run.

Resource Allocation Problem in Project Management

As we know, resource allocation in project management is the process of managing and delegating resources and making sure they are used efficiently and effectively throughout the project. There are several resource allocation problems that you need to be aware of for proper resource allocation and management throughout the project:

Changes With Clients

If you are a project manager, you’ve probably already experienced how changes in scope, schedule, or budget can affect project completion. The same applies to resource allocation; keeping a current calendar will allow you to smoothly adjust resources when you see changes.

Resource Availability

When starting a new project, you should ideally be able to utilize whatever resources are available within your company. What happens if your agency has multiple projects running and resources have to be shared with other PMs? When a team member is sick, what happens? Your project’s delivery can be threatened by changes in availability, so you must monitor it constantly.

Uncertainties for Projects

There are always things you can’t predict when starting a project, even when you’ve checked all the boxes and discussed the budget and timeline. Managing resources requires the ability to respond to project uncertainties, for example, by reassigning or shifting resources from other projects.

Priorities Throughout the Company

It is likely that you and your colleagues will have to share limited resources in a similar timeframe if your company runs multiple projects simultaneously. Even if you manage to reach an agreement on resources, one project’s priorities may change.

Resource Allocation in Strategic Management

If you want to do better project management, which can be difficult. Keep track of your projects’ budgets and deadlines every day. Utilizing resource allocation will help your company avoid any mistakes by ensuring that staff and time are available to meet every project deadline. In addition, resource allocation can help you stay on schedule and within budget by keeping your projects on time. Here are some common difficulties in resource allocation in strategic management:

Prioritizing and Planning Projects

It’s important that you remember the amount of control you have. It can be a bit overwhelming when you understand that it’s your responsibility to plan projects for your firm; after all, there’s a lot of money and time counting on your ability to make decisions for accurate plans and see them through until the end. At any point in time, you could make an error in budgeting or scheduling and risk ruining the entire project.

Understanding Team Capacity

It can be challenging to know which members of your team are available to work on any given project. This is why one of the best-kept secrets of resource allocation in strategic management is understanding capacity. This essentially means knowing how many hours a month each employee is available to work on average.

Remaining Flexible With Any Given Issues

Oftentimes, you’ll find that regardless of how hard you’ve worked on a project, nothing will ever entirely go as planned. Therefore, it’s important that you always remain flexible and ready to change what your project planning looks like at any point. If there is ever a time when you have to modify your timeline, scope, budget, or staffing for a project, you’ll want to have a project management tool to help you adapt to that change more easily.

Keeping Yourself Informed

When you’re the person whose hands are on every project at your firm, you have to be able to see the status and progress of each employee’s number of tasks — easily and immediately. A project management software system will keep you updated and in the loop on your employees’ projects consistently and in real-time.

Resource Allocation Example

Breaking down the resource allocation definition and seeing what it looks like in an example for your workplace includes nailing down what your employee’s availability looks like and not strictly what’s written down on paper. For example, instead of simply calculating 40 hours a week per employee who works full-time, the software would consider vacation time, the potential for sick days, and any other types of work tasks on the respective employee’s to-do list at work. It’s matching your employee’s skills to the correct tasks and making sure that each and every project gets executed properly.

Streamline Your Projects Today With BigTime

Are you ready to get your firm on board with software project management resource allocation or need a resource allocation plan example? If so, BigTime is the company for you! With our project management and resource management software, you can keep your team members on track and manage all of your workflows, reports, and expenses from one location that integrates seamlessly with any other platforms. Get ready to compare actual hours vs. projected budgets, keep track of any amounts and project budgets necessary and set up tasks for every individual project and assign fee, hourly, and expense budgets. Your firm can also utilize our interactive Gantt charts that offer a visualization for critical paths and milestones and empower your project managers by offering a clear success path and views of any roadblocks ahead. Here at Bigtime, we understand that time is money, and we want to make sure you aren’t wasting either on outdated processes that simply don’t work. Learn more about what we can offer by requesting a demo today!