How to Make an Effective Resource Allocation Plan

1. How to Make an Effective Resource Allocation Plan Resource Allocation is making that grand plan on how to rally your troops behind a common goal. It is about strategic planning to identify the skills required, the number of resources required for those specific skills at what intervals and for how long. Simply put, it is end to end resource management allowing you to assess your resources’ availability and putting them to good use. As Wikipedia says, In project management, resource allocation or resource management is the scheduling of activities and the resources required by those activities while taking into consideration both the resource availability and the project time. In strategic planning, resource allocation is a plan for using available resources, for example human resources, especially in the near term, to achieve goals for the future. It is the process of allocating scarce resources among the various projects or business units. Resources are crucial to an organization’s strategy and vision and managing them well goes a long way in achieving that vision. 1 © 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California | www.orangescrum.com

2. Let us understand the moving parts behind establishing a robust resource allocation for your projects. Understand the Project Scope The first step towards setting up a resource plan for your project is to understand the goals and requirements of the project. Clearer the scope, easier it is to estimate the number of hours, assess the skills required & timeline needed to meet the project goals. 2 © 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California | www.orangescrum.com

3. More importantly you are able to do a quick resource to skill mapping to that of the project requirements. It gives you ample view to plan your resource needs, requests for additional resources and make a solid training plan to bridge any talent gaps. Once you have listed out all resource requirements you are good to move to the next step. Resource Availability Identifying your available resources is essential to furthering your resource allocation plan. Based on the resource to skill mapping, you can reach out to the resource managers in your organization to gain access to your available talent pool. The most significant part is to have concrete answers to: Who are your available resources What skills do they possess How many of them have the skills that fit your requirements How long are these resources available for to work on your project Armed with these answers, you start assigning the relevant resources to your project. 3 © 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California | www.orangescrum.com

4. Time Tracking & Resource Utilization Keeping track of the project estimated hours and the burndown rate is a must to ensure your projects stay profitable. Once your resources are on-board, start assigning tasks with proper due dates and estimated hours. Provide them with an easy to use central project management tool for time tracking. This way all resources can track and analyse their performance and it also makes it easier for the project managers to see the project progress in real time. You can mark your billable hours and assess your typical slag in terms of hours you cannot bill your clients for. Over a time, you can make amends to the process, upskill your resources; minimize non-billable activities to improve utilization rates across the company. 4 © 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California | www.orangescrum.com

5. How to do it all without going crazy? Trust and invest in a collaborative time and resource management software that allows for end to project management, task management, time tracking, resource management, resource utilization and overall workload management. Simply put, tools like Orangescrum keep all your project elements together and allow them to interact seamlessly. The added advantage is that each role within your company is well supported to get the job done effectively. Spin it off with a quick signup and see how you can bring your project managers, developers, clients, executives, sales and marketing teams together in Orangescrum! 5 © 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California | www.orangescrum.com