Determining how best to allocate resources can be a challenge for companies.
A study from the Resource Management Institute shows that many companies are still following the old ways, with 71% of respondents relying on spreadsheets to build estimates and 50% saying they cannot estimate resource requirements accurately,
By efficiently allocating resources, project managers can ensure that tasks can be completed on time, within budget, and with optimal productivity.
Therefore project managers need project management tools that provide features and capabilities to streamline the resource allocation process and improve overall project efficiency.
According to The Digital Project Manager, resource management software can help project managers keep track of everything needed.
Let's learn how project management tools can improve the efficiency of resource allocation.
How Project Management Tools Can Improve The Efficiency of Resource Allocation
1. Resource Planning and Tracking
One of the fundamental aspects of resource allocation is proper planning and tracking. According to Business News Daily, a resource management plan can help identify and avoid problems, prevent organisational conflict, and quickly adapt to change.
Project management tools allow project managers to create resource schedules, define resource roles, and assign resources to specific tasks or projects.
Here's how project management tools can improve resource planning and tracking:
- Centralised Resource Repository: Project management tools provide a structured platform for recording details about team members, their roles, availability, and skills. This centralised database makes it easy for project managers to manage resource information, ensuring accurate and up-to-date data for effective planning and tracking.
- Assignment and Resource Allocation: Managers can assign resources based on availability, skills, and workload. When tasks are assigned, the tool automatically updates resource schedules and workloads, enabling efficient resource allocation and avoiding conflicts.
- Real-time Visibility and Tracking: Project management tools provide real-time visibility into resource utilisation and availability. With just a few clicks, project managers can view each team member's workload, identify over- or under-allocations, and take corrective action.
- Automatic Notifications and Reminders: Managers can set up automatic alerts for upcoming task assignments, resource availability changes, or scheduling conflicts.
2. Workload Balancing
An important consideration in resource allocation is workload balancing. No one wants to see team members overwhelmed with work overload while others remain underutilised. For example, project management using VirtualSpace.
VirtualSpace offers features that allow managers to distribute workloads evenly. This tool provides scheduling features that allow project managers to schedule projects, set priorities, and manage available resources through the projects feature.
By viewing the entire schedule, you gain insight into individual workloads; the project manager can make adjustments, reassign tasks, or allocate additional resources to maintain a fair distribution of work.
3. Collaboration and Communication
Effective resource allocation depends heavily on collaboration and communication among team members.
According to a 2020 Wellington survey, 25% of project teams from 111 organisations in 29 countries need the right tools to collaborate.
Project management tools with powerful collaboration feature like VirtualSpace, Asana, Trello, and Monday.com enable seamless communication and coordination.
VirtualSpace can facilitate real-time collaboration, allowing team members to discuss task assignments, provide updates, and address resource-related issues. By encouraging transparent communication channels, project managers can streamline resource allocation, resolve conflicts, and ensure everyone is on the same page.
4. Resource Utilisation Analytics
Understanding patterns and trends in resource utilisation is critical to optimising resource allocation.
According to a survey from Float, 74% of project team members report that at least once a month, their projects are overbooked, with 26% of respondents overbooked five or more times per month.
Project management tools like ClickUp, Jira, and Mavenlink offer advanced reporting and analytics features. These tools provide insight into resource utilisation metrics, including capacity, availability, and efficiency.
With this information, project managers can identify areas of improvement, forecast future resource requirements, and make data-driven decisions to improve resource allocation strategies.
5. Integration and Automation
Integrating project management tools with other software systems can improve resource allocation efficiency.
VirtualSpace allows seamless integration between project management tools and other business applications such as time-tracking software, human resource systems, or financial management tools.
Integration streamlines data flow and automates repetitive tasks, reducing manual effort and increasing accuracy in resource allocation.
Here are some examples of integration features in project management using VirtualSpace:
- Integration with Communication Tools: VirtualSpace can be integrated with communication tools such as email, instant messaging, or other business communication platforms.
- Integration with Calendar: With calendar integration, project schedules in VirtualSpace can be automatically synchronised with personal or team calendars.
- Integration with File Storage: VirtualSpace can connect with cloud storage such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or SharePoint.
Conclusion
Effective resource allocation is an important aspect of successful project management. Utilising project management tools tailored to resource allocation can significantly increase efficiency and productivity.
From resource planning and tracking to workload balancing, collaboration, analytics, and integration, these tools offer various features to optimise resource allocation.
By adopting the right project management tools you can ensure the effective allocation of resources, mitigate risks and maximise project outcomes. Try a project management tool using VirtualSpace here.
