Building a Resource Planning Organization contributes to PMO enablement, financial accountability, better product and program prioritization and improved communication with client sponsors. Resource planning is a high value managemement discipline that is not difficult to implement and pays off in a short period of time. There are three dimensions to resource planning; these are priority, supply and demand. All three dimensions are required to determine feasibility, which should be considered at all levels of work before funding or moving to the next stage of an initiative.

What are the characteristics of a company in need of Resource Planning help?

1. There is poor visibility into what everyone is working on and the distribution of cost
2. There lacks a method of communicating which skillset shortages are causing bottlenecks and inefficiencies
3. There is constant change in priority, schedule and workforce staffing which results in out of date plans and forecasts
4. There is a financial requirement to document the distribution of resource costs for for R&D Tax Credit, SOP98 or workforce planning
5. There is a combination of waterfall, agile and sustaining work, which makes resource and delivery planning difficult

Companies that implement Resource Planning report ROI in these areas:

1. Reduces Risk When you can view shortfall 6 or 9 months ahead, you can avoid funding projects that are high risk or cannot be successful
2. Improved Hiring When you can see the total demand picture for skilled resources, you can make better short-term contracting vs. long-term hiring decisions
3. Maintains Delivery Focus When bottlenecks occur due to changing schedules, priority or staffing, you have the visibility to maintain staffing to high priority initiatives vs. all other work
4. Highlights Financial Accountability When labor is forecasted by skill and work type, you can easily distinguish capitalized costs, expenses, and the appropriate funding source for each type of work performed

Resource Management is fundamentally different than traditional PPM, because:

1. The forecast (or resource allocation plan) is the core unit of management, not the project schedule
2. Resource Managers, Delivery (project/sprint) Managers and Product/Program Managers all have equal input and accountability to the process
3. Changes to delivery dates, priority, demand or capacity at any level, that affect the organization's ability to perform, are immediately highlighted and communicated
4. Feasibility, the organization's ability to deliver, is always considered when funding the portfolio, allocating people/teams, and scheduling work

PMO Manager

(aka EPMO Mgr, Process Managers, Dir Project Management)

1. Manages Project/Program Management Office
2. Manages process to collect forecast data from resource managers and project managers
3. Reports status and forecast information to the senior staff
4. Manages compliance of status reports, forecasts and time sheets
5. Manages project intake process and gate reviews
6. Assists project managers to manage and assign issues

Financial/Client Sponsor

(aka Business Sponsor, Comptroller, CFO, VP IT Finance, Vendor Management)

1. Money source for projects
2. Represents interests of end users
3. Strong influence on project intake priorities
4. Minimizing cost is a core objective
5. When applicable, maximizing revenue is a core objective
6. Responsible for determining capital and expense breakdown of costs
7. Concerned with actuals vs. plan of record (official baseline) and budget (CV/SV)

Product/Application Manager

(aka New Product Development, General Manager, VP, Products)

1. Sets priorities for projects, user stories and features
2. Responsible for cost and sometimes revenue management
3. Interprets voice of the customer
4. Aligns approved projects with strategic objectives
5. Liaison to end-users/clients
6. Manages risk

Portfolio/Program Manager

(aka Director of Program Management)

1. Manage groups of projects to timelines and budgets
2. Determine feasibilities and budget impact of project combinations
3. Manage critical milestones and phase gates across projects
4. Runs scenario planning and trade-off analysis
5. Approves long term roadmap
6. Makes adjustments to minimize risk

What role does resource planning play in Organizational Effectiveness?

At a high level there are some basic steps that every organization needs to take in order to execute effectively:

1. DEFINE the work that will bring success to an organization
2. MOBILIZE the team for successful delivery
3. DELIVER the work successfully

Resource planning plays a role in all 3 of these. Moreover, the most common PMO failures tend to result from a lack of resource planning and understanding.
Some of the most common mistakes include:

1. Funding projects that are unachievable from inception
2. Assigning people/teams to low priority projects when higher priority projects exist with similar skill needs
3. Assigning people/teams to more work when they are already over their capacity

Building a Culture of Feasibility

Managing achievable work requires an organizational mindset that constantly searches for problem areas and their solutions before the problems are encountered.

Gaining visibility into these problem areas, such as upcoming resource shortages or potentially conflicting projects, begins with the three dimensions of resource planning, recognizing that, success also requires credible data and transparent reporting. In order to achieve that, there must be an iterative cycle with frequent conversation between project managers, resource managers, and those setting the priorities for the deliverables. This may be accomplished via a formal request process or direct communication, the latter nearly always being needed to some degree.

The path to resource planning success includes steps along the maturity model. With this approach, and regular assessments, your organization begins to understand your progression, to celebrate little wins, and to build momentum with your user community.

The implementation checkpoints of: defining process fundamentals, gaining clear visibility into work planned, and documenting improvement through repeatable cycles during the first 6 months, helps us work with you to show meaningful returns on your investment.

To request additional information on any of these topics, or to request a new consultation, please email sales@thinkmaxcapacity.com,or call 617-513-9579

Phil Wolf has a 30 year history with Resource Planning processes and tool initiatives, and is the author and/or collaborator of numerous presentations and whitepapers. Phil is also a member of the PDWare management team. For over 18 years, PDWare has been a leading innovator in the Resource Management technology industry.

To request additional information or to request a new consultation, please email sales@thinkmaxcapacity.com, call 617-513-9579 or compete this contact form: