KnowledgeSmart and the 6 Secrets of Project Resource Management

How can the KnowledgeSmart tools influence the process of allocating scarce resources among the various projects or business units in your company? 

According to the Thinking Portfolio team, there are 6 secrets to good project resource management.

There are of course many different types of resources in any project, e.g. people, machinery, materials, technology, property and anything else required to deliver the work. Many project plans also demand internal and external resources to be managed.

Here at KnowledgeSmart, we tend to focus on people, possibly one of most critical resources project managers have to manage.

KnowledgeSmart Tools and 6 Secrets of a Project Management Resource Plan

We have included our logo icon in the image above indicating where we feel the KnowledgeSmart tools can have influence.

Resource Estimation

Before you are able to do any kind of estimation you need understand your team's expertise and job responsibilities. The KnowledgeSmart skills assessments and customisable datafields can be great to gather this important data.

  Collection of Data

Think critically about what information is needed. What data do you actually need, what data is known now, what data will be useful This will narrow down the data that needs to be captured. Is there additional data that might be better captured using the KnowledgeSmart survey tool or will you only use the skills assessments for now?

Don't just analyse your KnowledgeSmart results data. Remember your 5 unique datafields which can be customised to your requirements as well as the default background data KnowledgeSmart captures during the assessment process.

Once you have analysed your data think about how best to include it in your resource plan. With KnowledgeSmart being a cloud-based tool and working on all devices your team and you will be able to reflect, learn and repeat the process as many times as is needed.

A good resource plan

Having an objective global view on the skill levels of your available resources can be very powerful in identifying potential pitfalls in project delivery and enable the introduction of productivity improvement measures necessary for the business to meet its strategic objectives.

The KnowledgeSmart data query tool, charts, and benchmarking tools can make a valuable contribution to your resource plan.

The KnowledgeSmart user profile area encourages engagement to make sure that all team members are aligned and working towards common objectives.

Schedule Development

Use your KnowledgeSmart results to influence your activity duration estimates. All results can be viewed based on score (accuracy) and elapsed time. If for example, you see your star user took 4 minutes to complete a question on detailing, this might help you estimate this part of the project schedule a bit more accurately. Consider grouping your results based on project teams as this will help you re-shuffle the teams based on project requirements as well as design urgent training interventions where it is needed most.

If you know the project requires certain aspects of the project to be delivered within a tight timeframe, you can allocate your top 10 users to this component for the critical days. Use the KnowledgeSmart Data Query Tool to filter to your top users within seconds. Allocate the right people to the right segments of the right projects based on actual skills.

 Negotiating for resources

When negotiating for resources, there are a few components that require consideration. The negotating parties might include your client, other project stakeholders or other functional managers within your organisation. In all cases, there might be differing opinions on project feasibility. There is no doubt that your negotiation skills will be tested. To negotiate about resources you need a clear understanding of the other party's needs and be able to clearly explain how you plan to meet those needs.

Having a solid understanding of the skill levels and skill gaps of the team behind you is indeed good ammunition.

 No more guesswork, data-driven decisions.

 Let KnowledgeSmart be one of the project resource management tools you can't live without.