A complete guide to resource analysis in project management

For a project to be considered “successful”, it must meet its deliverables, be delivered on time and be within budget. But how do you begin to schedule and align project costs? That’s whereresource analysis comes in as a key element of project management.

This proactive approach can unsettle even the most experienced project managers, but it’s a vital step that can’t be overlooked. It helps you to plan your project effectively and track performance throughout the project life cycle. Rigorous analysis also enables you to plan ahead and schedule activities more efficiently, adding considerable value to your workflow.

What is resource analysis?

Resource analysis is the process of identifying and evaluating all the resources available to achieve a goal or deliver a project. It is part of an overall resource management approach that aims to optimize the use of every element of the project.

This is a crucial step in any project, especially when it comes to identifying the duration of a project and calculating the associated costs. Resource analysis helps you make better decisions and manage your teams more effectively.

Resource analysis uses human resources data to build a robust and predictable project pipeline.

Why is resource analysis essential?

Imagine this scenario: you’re in the construction industry, overseeing the construction of an office and realize halfway through that the lead civil engineer is on leave for three weeks, or that you don’t have enough manpower to finish the flooring. You’d probably have to scramble to hire a temporary engineer and laborers at double the rate to make sure the office could be delivered to the customer on time. This increased cost can be a substantial burden on the company, even if the project is delivered.

This example can be applied to any project. If there is a lack of transparency about who is available, a project can be delayed or stopped indefinitely. This is why resource and capacity analysis is a powerful tool that can predict and help prevent potential project problems and failures, helping to minimize the risk ofbottlenecks in the production chain.

Resource analysis also bridges the gap between having valuable resources and using them wisely and effectively. It helps you, as a project manager or business owner, to identify your skills and what resources you may need in the future.

How to carry out an effective resource analysis? Step-by-step method

Here are six essential steps for conducting a thorough resource analysis and maximizing theeffectiveness of your project management.

1. Analyze your existing resource pool

The first step is to understand and analyze your existing resource pool. How do you do this? Get information on all resources and their skills, location, work preferences and availability in one place. This analysis should be carried out at organizational level, not by location or department.

By analyzing the resource pool, you can obtain answers to the following questions:

• What skills do your teams possess?
• What is the availability of each resource?
• How to optimizeresource allocation?

2. Assess capacity in relation to workload

The next step is to compare the assigned workload with the capacity of each resource. Capacity planning reports can help with this assessment. Capacity assessment will help reduce any overbooking of resources, which, if commonly practiced, can lead an organization towards increased employee dissatisfaction and high turnover.

You should also look at the time spent on each task. Is it completed within the stipulated time, or does the allotted time need to be modified?

3. Analyze utilization rates to optimize performance

Utilization rates, at all levels such as project, team or location, show you how many of your team’s working hours are billable versus non-billable. For example, when someone is assigned to administrative work, this work is not billable and does not add to the profit line.

Resource analysis helps you see if your team is achieving the required utilization rates. If everyone has a high utilization rate and tasks are still pending, then you know that more resources need to be added.

Studying resource utilization rates will also provide visibility on your projects. The more transparency you have and the better you monitor your project, the more likely you are to detect risks before they develop into problems that could derail the final status.

4. Create intelligent allocation strategies

A smartresource allocation strategy is to create “placeholders” in situations where the right resource cannot be identified immediately. By doing so, you can identify precisely which pieces of the project puzzle are missing and fill them in.

A common mistake in resource analysis and planning is that a manager can see fragmented information – by project stage or location – but the ability to see the whole matrix is not there.

5. Use integrated planning tools like Teambook

Using single-screen, enterprise resource planning software, a project manager can really see the big picture. Teambook offers a versatile single-screen dashboard that can provide all the right information at your fingertips – you’ll be able to see everyone’s capacity, overtime and remaining availability.

Using tools like Teambook allows you to :

• Optimize resource management in real time
• Improve team productivity
• Facilitate proactiveresource allocation.

6. Integrate forecasting into your process

We’d all like our projects to run smoothly without unexpected situations, but this can be wishful thinking. Project conditions and requirements can change for a multitude of reasons – to return to our construction example, material prices can change or a utility failure can delay delivery.

The best way to deal with such “what if” situations is to include forecasting in your resource analysis process. By forecasting, via a resource allocation system, the project manager can see how the project will be impacted if there is a change in resources, if new work is added, or if costs increase.

The most common challenges in resource analysis

Resource analysis can seem daunting, but when done with the right tools, it gets easier over time.
Here are the main difficulties encountered:

• Lack of visibility on the most critical resources
• Difficulty managing multiple priorities
• No integrated tools like monday.com or Teambook
• Inefficient human resources management

Optimize resource analysis with the right tools

Using the right software can greatly simplify resource analysis. Teambook is particularly effective for resource planning and allocation, offering a proactive approach to project management.

Teambook ‘s resource utilization tracking features enable you to monitor how resources are working throughout the project timeline to ensure that the project is completed on time and within budget.

The resource allocation tool helps managers track billable hours, costs and resource capacity during projects. Delays and cost overruns in certain project tasks can indicate risks of missed deadlines or unprofitability, and these tools can help you minimize errors.

Conclusion: maximize the added value of your project management

Resource analysis is a fundamental pillar of modern project management. By adopting a proactive approach and using the right tools like Teambook, you can significantly improve theefficiency of your projects, while optimizing the productivity of your teams.

This method enables you to manage your human resources more efficiently, anticipatebottlenecks and maximize the added value of each project throughout its entire lifecycle.

Take action now

Ready to transform your approach to resource management? Find out how Teambook can integrate your resource analysis through beacons and optimize the performance of your resources and projects. Start today to implement a resource analysis strategy that will propel your projects to success.