Effectively managing resources is crucial in project management. When resources (i.e. people, tools, funds, and anything that is required to carry out a task) are meticulously taken care of, it is easier to predict the success of a project.

This is why businesses should implement resource management and embrace best practices for them to bare their desired results.

So if you are blindly navigating through your resources, it is high time to stop it now. Do it the other way because that bad work habit will not direct you the right path.

To help you get started, we have listed four effective ways to manage your resources.

Tips for Managing Resources

Measure Resources Diligently

First things first: what needs to be measured must be measured. Measure all your tangible resources to gain insights from your projects and overall workflow.

One of the most important things to track is man-hours. Time is a valuable asset linked to the budget, productivity and project delivery; so measuring it is a must.

Time tracking gives you a better understanding of the time and effort spent on certain tasks and activities. It simply informs you on how fast or slow your employees take time to finish the tasks assigned to them.

On a deeper level, keeping track of the logged hours may help with utilisation planning. This lets you further estimate resources carefully when planning future projects.

For example, your staff was short in time and delivered a task past the deadline. You can learn from this event by considering the project’s timeline and your staff’s current workload before delegating a new task.

Allocate Resources Efficiently

Allocating resources is a critical step in resource management; it goes hand in hand with the first practice or tip.

Cannot seem to get the connection? Let us get back to the example we have mentioned above—resource allocation can become a guessing game if resources being deployed are not clear.

But how do you practice proper resource allocation? First, you must determine the scope of a project. Is it big or small? Will it take long to finish or not? These questions will serve as your guide and will help you in assigning resources.

It is also ideal to know your resource dependencies. Plan beforehand to avoid trapping your resources in the course of the project execution. By planning, you will not have a bottleneck like a resource shortage.

Have a Centralised Resource Pool

Setting up a centralised resource pool for project assignments is another way to manage resources effectively.

When you have a single path of resources, you and your team can understand the bigger picture. Everyone involved in a specific project or task will see the limitations on the resources and the role they have to play.

It is like developing a clear view of everything—costs associated with each resource in the pool, availability of people across projects, project files, and so on.

Having a single resource pool can also empower and motivate your team members. Since every important project detail is shared in a common path, everyone can check the project’s overall progress, perform their tasks better, and deliver within the budget and schedule.

Use a Resource Management Tool

All the above would be easy ifresource management software is in place.So, invest in such tool to do the aforementioned best practices effortlessly.

With a resource management system, you can keep your projects on track, on time, and budget. You can track the progress of the project activities and stay informed on the tasks that have been completed, projects nearing the deadline, and more.

You can also rely on thistoolfor resource allocation. This software will help you smartly allocate people and resources to projects. Some project management tools are equipped with a drag and drop resource assignment feature so no one gets overbooked.

Lastly, utilising this tool lets you do the above in a single location. You will not have to worry about managing disparate systems because time tracking and resource allocation can be done concurrently and with great ease.

Why Resource Management Is Important?

But why is it really important to handle resources well? While the ultimate aim of resource management is to maximise the resource’s efficiency, such a process offers a lot more benefits. This includes:

• avoid unforeseen hiccups

• optimal utilisation of resources

• better control over projects or tasks

• transparent planning and management process