If there is one thing we can say with certainty about projects, it’s that they’re uncertain! Today’s operating environments evolve rapidly due to high competition, shifting customer demands, and advancing technology. Organizations must commit to discretionary investments, expecting that those initiatives will need to adapt during delivery. Mastering agile resource management is essential to ensuring teams can quickly pivot, allocate resources effectively, and maintain efficiency in the face of constant change.
The key to success is ensuring that those adjustments happen with minimal disruption. Any delay in decision-making, inefficiencies in implementing changes, or difficulties validating expected improvements will directly impact returns on investments and other key metrics. Organizations recognize this and have worked hard in recent years to improve processes for making and implementing change decisions.
But one area still falls short—resource management. This has long been a challenge for organizations, but significant improvements can happen by embracing agile principles and applying them to resources.
Agile Resource Management
Mastering agile resource management means embracing change by incorporating feedback on early versions of the developed solution. Agile emphasizes flexibility and anticipates the need to adjust plans and priorities during delivery. That’s the mindset required across all initiatives when planning, assigning, and managing people.
Examples of agile best practices for resource management include:
- Maintaining reserves to provide flexibility. If all resources are fully allocated, changes create disruptions. However, if work is scheduled with slight under-utilization, teams can make adjustments quickly and smoothly.
- Continuously reviewing and replanning resources based on evolving needs. Adaptive planning must be the norm to avoid missed threats and opportunities. Applying this principle to resource allocations ensures that assigned people remain the best fit for each task, optimizing contributions.
- Aligning work with preferences. Agile delivery encourages self-organized teams. Allowing people to work on initiatives that match their skills, experience, and preferences improves performance and engagement. That makes it easier to shift focus when needed.
- Improving resource forecasting. Agile projects actively maintain backlogs to anticipate future needs. Organizations must apply the same principle to resource planning by proactively preparing for future hiring, contracting, and development activities. This improves alignment between resource supply and demand.
None of these improvements should be difficult, but for many organizations, one major barrier remains—the tools used to manage people.
A Catalyst for Performance
Mastering agile resource management requires treating resources as part of a single, integrated workforce. Departmental roles or different work delivery approaches should not hinder optimization. Without a complete picture of everything happening and everything planned, performance cannot reach its full potential.
That’s where a project portfolio management (PPM) solution like Sciforma Vantage makes a difference. By integrating PPM with human resource systems, organizations can maintain accurate records of available people, their skills, and experience. Managing all initiatives from a single platform ensures balanced allocations and appropriate utilization. Tracking progress across plan-driven, agile, and hybrid approaches provides visibility into trends and variances.
Additionally, when strategic planning and replanning occur in the same tool, resource impacts can be anticipated. Different options can be assessed, and changes implemented in ways that maintain optimal performance. If your current tool can’t do that, we’re here to help.
If you want to learn more about how Sciforma can help you with resource management and sustainable productivity request a demo. One of our team will happily show you the ins and outs of our industry defining software. Or, request a product tour and you can explore the advantages of Sciforma Vantage at your own leisure.
