Resource management
The single biggest obstacle for PMOs is resource management.
There are huge upsides to using resource management, but if doesn’t work, the downsides are much bigger. Without you can’t get overview. Project continues to jam. Pipelines continue to stuck. Executives can’t get in control. Sales continue making unrealistic promises. Project teams continue to break their commitments to clients. Nobody sees the value your PMO can play.
Big obstacles for starting resource management is calling grand staff meetings, tons of administrative overhead, complex resource scheduling software, massive burden for everybody involved and the risk it will fail or fall back eventually.
Theory of Constraints
For my research, I got inspired by a famous quote from Eli Goldratt, the creator of Theory of Constraints. No matter how complex it initially looks, every situation is exceedingly simple.
Execute projects efficiently
The purpose of resource management is to execute projects efficiently using resource management processes to allocate people to projects and tasks. This is supposed to prevent scheduling conflicts, prevent people get overloaded, and maximize utilization.
Surprisingly simple
I’ve found a completely different mechanism to achieve this. Surprisingly simple. Almost impossibly simple.
Promise of resource management
The core of this system is this project pipeline app. It delivers on all the promises of resource management. Like:
- Clarity about fully loaded / under loaded resources
- Pipeline horizons / fully loaded resources availability
- Prevent overloading and under utilization
- Alerting overloading and underloading
- Alerting projects at risks, moving too fast, moving too slow
- Forecast reliable delivery dates
- Taking uncertainties and fluctuations and desired reliability levels into account.
- Timing and rate for initiating new projects
- Feasibility check for commitments to clients
- Projects estimates for high levels of uncertainty
- Automatic flow rate tuning
- Strong overview for communication and alignment with stakeholders and clients
- Better and more predictable timelines and budgets for projects
- Improve performance of your business
- Bottleneck utilization visualization
- Pipeline utilization visualization
- Points for ongoing improvements
Super simple pipeline app
Special about this pipeline app is not only it delivers on more than resource management promises alone, but it doesn’t require project schedules and resource management. This makes this project pipeline app extremely fast to setup, without practically anybody having to change anything.
I believe PMO’s deserve much more appreciation for their crucial role that they play. Let me help you to earn your credits.
Join the boot camp. Do it yourself
Join the Empower Your Projects boot camp. Get what resource management promises, without calling grand staff meetings, tons of administrative overhead, complex resource scheduling software, massive burden for everybody involved and the risk it will fail or fall back eventually.
This is what participants of the bootcamp say:
- Mike (US): Significant Project Portfolio management gains can be made, both in simple ongoing Pipeline Scheduling and in increased Project Throughput by utilizing EYP’s process.
- Dennis (Netherlands): If you would like to get insights about PM from a different angle (not the regular PM methods) enjoy the Bootcamp.
- Craig (Australia): The boot camp enabled me to understand the importance of ensuring that our bottleneck resources are being optimally utilized. It then helped me set up the tool that I could use to achieve this, the pipeline app. I was immediately able to use the tool to have scheduling discussions with my management and the rest of the team.
