Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:
Set the right resource management approach for your team and create a realistic estimate of your resource supply and organizational demand.
Build a resource management process to ensure data accuracy and sustainability, and make the best tool selection to support your processes.
Develop a plan to pilot your resource management processes to achieve maximum adoption, and anticipate challenges that could inhibit you from keeping supply and demand continually balanced.
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Obtain a high-level view of current resource management practices.
Identify current and target states of resource management maturity.
Perform an in-depth time-tracking audit and gain insight into how time is spent on project versus non-project work to calculate realized capacity.
Assess current distribution of accountabilities in resource management.
Delve into your current problems to uncover root causes.
Validate capacity and demand estimations with a time-tracking survey.
1.1 Perform a root-cause analysis of resourcing challenges facing the organization.
1.2 Create a realistic estimate of project capacity.
1.3 Map all sources of demand on resources at a high level.
1.4 Validate your supply and demand assumptions by directly surveying your resources.
Root-cause analysis
Tab 2 of the Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator, the Time Audit Workbook, and survey templates
Tabs 3 and 4 of the Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator
Complete the Time Audit Workbook
Construct a resource management strategy that aligns with your team’s process maturity levels.
Determine the resource management tool that will best support your processes.
2.1 Action the decision points in Info-Tech’s seven dimensions of resource management.
2.2 Review resource management tool options, and depending on your selection, prepare a vendor demo script or review and set up Info-Tech’s Portfolio Manager Lite.
2.3 Customize a workflow and process steps within the bounds of your seven dimensions and informed by your tool selection.
A wireframe for a right-sized resource management strategy
A vendor demo script or Info-Tech’s Portfolio Manager Lite.
A customized resource management process and Resource Management Playbook.
Develop a plan to pilot your new processes to test whether you have chosen the right dimensions for maintaining resource data.
Develop a communication plan to guide you through the implementation of the strategy and manage any resistance you may encounter.
Identify and address improvements before officially instituting the new resource management strategy.
Identify the other factors that affect resource productivity.
Implement a completed resource management solution.
3.1 Develop a pilot plan.
3.2 Perform a resource management start/stop/continue exercise.
3.3 Develop plans to mitigate executive stakeholder, team, and structural factors that could inhibit your implementation.
3.4 Finalize the playbook and customize a presentation to help explain your new processes to the organization.
Process Pilot Plan Template
A refined resource management process informed by feedback and lessons learned
Stakeholder management plan
Resource Management Communications Template
"Who gets in trouble at the organization when too many projects are approved?
We’ve just exited a period of about 20-25 years where the answer to the above question was usually “nobody.” The officers of the corporation held nobody to account for the malinvestment of resources that comes from approving too many projects or having systemically unrealistic project due dates. Boards of directors failed to hold the officers accountable for that. And shareholders failed to hold boards of directors accountable for that.
But this is shifting right under our feet. Increasingly, PMOs are being managed with the mentality previously reserved for those in the finance department. In many cases, the PMOs are now reporting to the CFO! This represents a very simple and basic reversion to the concept of fiduciary duty: somebody will be held to account for the consumption of all those hours, and somebody should be the approver of projects who created the excess demand." – Barry Cousins Senior Director of Research, PMO Practice Info-Tech Research Group
Info-Tech Insight
Organizations tend to bite off more than they can chew when it comes to project and service delivery commitments involving IT resources.
While the need for businesses to make an excess of IT commitments is understandable, the impacts of systemically overallocating IT are clearly negative:
76% of organizations say they have too many projects on the go and an unmanageable and ever-growing backlog of things to get to. (Cooper, 2014)
Almost 70% of workers feel as though they have too much work on their plates and not enough time to do it. (Reynolds, 2016)
Traditional approaches to resource management suffer from a fundamental misconception about the availability of time in 2017.
The concept of resource management comes from a pre-World Wide Web era, when resource and project plans could be based on a relatively stable set of assumptions.
In the old paradigm, the availability of time was fairly predictable, as was the demand for IT services, so there was value to investing time into rigorous demand forecasts and planning.
Resource projections could be based in a secure set of assumptions – i.e. 8 hour days, 40 hour weeks – and staff had the time to support detailed resource management processes that provided accurate usage data.
96% of organizations report problems with the accuracy of information on employee timesheets. (Dimensional, 2013)
Part of the old resource management mythology is the idea that a person can do (for example) eight different one-hour tasks in eight hours of continuous work. This idea has gone from harmlessly mistaken to grossly unrealistic.
The predictability and focus have given way to more chaotic workplace realities. Technology is ubiquitous, and the demand for IT services is constant.
A day in IT is characterized by frequent task-switching, regular interruptions, and an influx of technology-enabled distractions.
Every 3 minutes and 5 seconds: How often the typical office worker switches tasks, either through self-directed or other-directed interruptions. (Schulte, 2015)
12 minutes, 40 seconds: The average amount of time in-between face-to-face interruptions in matrix organizations. (Anderson, 2015)
23 minutes, 15 seconds: The average amount of time it takes to become on task, productive, and focused again after an interruption. (Schulte, 2015)
759 hours: The average number of hours lost per employee annually due to distractions and interruptions. (Huth, 2015)
The validity of traditional, rigorous resource planning has long been an illusion. New realities are making the sustained focus and stable assumptions that old reality projections relied on all but impossible to maintain.
The technology revolution that began in the 1990s ushered in a new paradigm in organizational structures. Matrix reporting structures, diminished supervision of knowledge workers, massive multi-tasking, and a continuous stream of information and communications from the outside world have smashed the predictability and stability of the old paradigm.
The resource management industry has largely failed to evolve. It remains stubbornly rooted in old realities, relying on calculations and rollups that become increasingly unsustainable and irrelevant in our high-autonomy staff cultures and interruption-driven work days.
87% of organizations report challenges with traditional methods of time tracking and reporting. (Dimensional, 2013)
40% of working time is not tracked or tracked inaccurately by staff. (actiTIME, 2016)
Research shows that ineffective resource management directly impacts an organization’s bottom line, contributing to such cost drains as the systemic late delivery of projects and increased project costs.
Despite this, the majority of organizations fail to treat staff time like the precious commodity it is.
As the results of a 2016 survey show, the top three pain points for IT and PMO leaders all revolve around a wider cultural negligence concerning staff time (Alexander, TechRepublic, 2016):
Inability to complete projects on time – 52%
Inability to innovate fast enough – 39%
Increased project costs – 38%
Missed business opportunities – 34%
Dissatisfied customers or clients – 32%
12 times more waste – Organizations with poor resource management practices waste nearly 12 times more resource hours than high-performing organizations. (PMI, 2014)
In many ways, no question is more important to the organization’s bottom line – and certainly, to the effectiveness of a resource management strategy.
Historically, the answer would have been the executive layer of the organization. However, in the 1990s management largely abdicated its obligation to control resources and expenditures via “employee empowerment.”
Controls on approvals became less rigid, and accountability for choosing what to do (and not do) shifted onto the shoulders of the individual worker. This creates a current paradigm where no one is accountable for the malinvestment…
…of resources that comes from approving too many projects. Instead, it’s up to individual workers to sink-or-swim, as they attempt to reconcile, day after day, seemingly infinite organizational demand with their finite supply of working hours.
If your organization has higher demand (i.e. approved project work) than supply (i.e. people’s time), your staff will be the final decision makers on what does and does NOT get worked on.
"Everything requires time… It is the one truly universal condition. All work takes place in time and uses up time. Yet most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable and necessary resource. Nothing else, perhaps, distinguishes effective executives as much as their tender loving care of time." – Peter Drucker (quoted in Frank)
67% of employees surveyed believe their CEOs focus too much on decisions based in short-term financial results and not enough time on decisions that create a stable, positive workplace for staff. (2016 Edelman Trust Barometer)
Realistic project resource management starts by aligning demand with capacity, and then developing tactics to sustain alignment, even in the chaos of our fast-paced, rapidly changing, interruption-driven project environments.
This blueprint will help you develop practices to promote and maintain accurate resourcing data, while developing tactics to continually inform decision makers’ assumptions about how much capacity is realistically available for project work.
This research follows a three-phase approach to sustainable practices:
Info-Tech’s three-phase framework is structured around a practical, tactical approach to resource management. It’s not about what you put together as a one-time snapshot. It’s about what you can and will maintain every week, even during a crisis. When you stop maintaining resource management data, it’s nearly impossible to catch up and you’re usually forced to start fresh.
How much time is available for projects once non-project demands are factored in?
How often is the allocation data verified, reconciled, and reported for use?
How far into the future can you realistically predict resource supply?
To whom is time allocated?
How long is each allocation period?
What’s the smallest unit of time to allocate?
What is time allocated to?
This blueprint will help you make the right decisions for your organization across each of these dimensions to ensure your resource management practices match your current process maturity levels.
Developing a process is one thing, sustaining it is another.
The goal of this research isn’t just to achieve a one-time balancing of workloads and expect that this will stand the test of time.
The true test of a resource management process is how well it facilitates the flow of accurate and usable data as workloads become chaotic, and fires and crises erupt.
Sample “rebalancing” routine
Resource management depends on the flow of information and data from the project level up to functional managers, project managers, and beyond – CIOs, steering committees, and senior executives.
Tools are required to help plan, organize, and facilitate this flow, and each phase of this blueprint is centered around tools and templates to help you successfully support your process implementation.
Tools and Templates:
Tools and Templates:
Tools and Templates:
While homegrown solutions like spreadsheets and intranet sites lack the robust functionality of commercial offerings, they have dramatically lower complexity and cost-in-use.
Info-Tech’s Portfolio Manager Lite is a sophisticated, scalable, and highly customizable spreadsheet-based solution that will get your new resource management process up and running, without a heavy upfront cost.
Homemade – 46%
Commercial – 33%
No Solution – 21%
(Info-Tech Research Group (2016), N=433)
Samples of Portfolio Manager Lite's output and reporting tabs
Resource management is one capability within Info-Tech’s larger project portfolio management (PPM) framework.
Resource visibility and capacity awareness permeates the whole of PPM, helping to ensure the right intake decisions get made, and projects are scheduled according to resource and skill availability.
Whether you have an existing PPM strategy that you are looking to optimize or you are just starting on your PPM journey, this blueprint will help you situate your resource management processes within a larger project and portfolio framework.
Info-Tech’ s PPM framework is based on extensive research and practical application, and complements industry standards such as those offered by PMI and ISACA.
Project Portfolio Management | ||||
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Status & Progress Reporting | ||||
Intake, Approval, & Prioritization | Resource Management | Project Management | Project Closure | Benefits Tracking |
Organizational Change Management | ||||
Intake → | Execution→ | Closure |
Improved resource management and capacity awareness will allow your organization to improve resource utilization and increase project throughput.
CIOs, PMOs, and portfolio managers can use this blueprint to improve the alignment between supply and demand. You should be able to gauge the value through the following metrics:
Near-Term Success Metrics (6 to 12 months)
Long-Term Success Metrics (12 to 24 months)
In the past 12 months, Info-Tech clients have reported an average measured value rating of $550,000 from the purchase of workshops based on this research.
Industry Education
Source Info-Tech Client
Situation
Complication
“We’re told we can’t say NO to projects. But this new tool set and approach allows us to give an informed WHEN.” – Senior PMO Director, Education
Resolution
“Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.”
“Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.”
“We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.”
“Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.”
1. Take Stock of Organizational Supply and Demand | 2. Design a Realistic Resource Management Process | 3. Implement Sustainable Resource Management Practices | |
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Best-Practice Toolkit |
1.1 Set a resource management course of action 1.2 Create realistic estimates of supply and demand |
2.1 Customize the seven dimensions of resource management 2.2 Determine the resource management tool that will best support your process 2.3 Build process steps to ensure data accuracy and sustainability |
3.1 Pilot your resource management process to assess viability 3.2 Plan to engage your stakeholders with your playbook |
Guided Implementations |
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Onsite Workshop |
Module 1:
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Module 2:
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Module 3:
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Phase 1 Outcome:
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Phase 2 Outcome:
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Phase 3 Outcome:
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Contact your account representative or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.
Workshop Day 1 | Workshop Day 2 | Workshop Day 3 | Workshop Day 4 | Workshop Day 5 | |
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Activities |
Introduction to PPM and resource management 1.1 Complete and review PPM Current State Scorecard Assessment 1.2 Perform root cause analysis of resource management challenges 1.3 Initiate time audit survey of management and staff |
Take stock of supply and demand 2.1 Review the outputs of the time audit survey and analyze the data 2.2 Analyze project and non-project demands, including the sources of those demands 2.3 Set the seven dimensions of resource management |
Design a resource management process 3.1 Review resource management tool options 3.2 Prepare a vendor demo script or review Portfolio Manager Lite 3.3 Build process steps to ensure data accuracy and sustainability |
Pilot and refine the process 4.1 Define methods for piloting the strategy (after the workshop) 4.2 Complete the Process Pilot Plan Template 4.3 Conduct a mock resource management meeting 4.4 Perform a RACI exercise |
Communicate and implement the process 5.1 Brainstorm potential implications of the new strategy and develop a plan to manage stakeholder and staff resistance to the strategy 5.2 Customize the Resource Management Communications Template 5.3 Finalize the playbook |
Deliverables |
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Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.
Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.
Proposed Time to Completion (in weeks): 1-2 weeks
Start with an analyst kick-off call:
Then complete these activities…
Review findings with analyst:
Then complete these activities…
With these tools & templates:
Phase 1 Results & Insights:
A matrix organization creates many small, untraceable demands that are often overlooked in resource management efforts, which leads to underestimating total demand and overcommitting resources. To capture them and enhance the success of your resource management effort, focus on completeness rather than precision. Precision of data will improve over time as your process maturity grows.
1.1 Set a course of action
1.2 Estimate supply and demand
2.1 Select resource management dimensions
2.2 Select resource management tools
2.3 Build process steps
3.1 Pilot your process for viability
3.2 Plan stakeholder engagement
A profound imbalance between demand (i.e. approved project work and service delivery commitments) and supply (i.e. people’s time) is the top challenge IT departments face today..
In today’s organizations, the desires of business units for new products and enhancements, and the appetites of senior leadership to approve more and more projects for those products and services, far outstrip IT’s ability to realistically deliver on everything.
The vast majority of IT departments lack the resourcing to meet project demand – especially given the fact that day-to-day operational demands frequently trump project work.
As a result, project throughput suffers – and with it, IT’s reputation within the organization.
Info-Tech Insight
Where does the time go? The portfolio manager (or equivalent) should function as the accounting department for time, showing what’s available in IT’s human resources budget for projects and providing ongoing visibility into how that budget of time is being spent.
As the results of a recent survey* show, the top three pain points for IT and PMO leaders all revolve around a wider cultural negligence concerning staff time:
A resource management strategy can help to alleviate these pain points and reconcile the imbalance between supply and demand by achieving the following outcomes:
Inability to complete projects on time – 52%
Inability to innovate fast enough – 39%
Increased project costs – 38%
Missed business opportunities – 34%
Dissatisfied customers or clients – 32%
12 times more waste – Organizations with poor resource management practices waste nearly 12 times more resource hours than high-performing organizations. (PMI, 2014)
Project portfolio management (PPM) creates a stable and secure infrastructure around projects.
PPM’s goal is to maximize the throughput of projects that provide strategic and operational value to the organization. To do this, a PPM strategy must help to:
Info-Tech's Project Portfolio Management Process Model | ||||
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3. Status & Progress Reporting [make sure the projects are okay] | ||||
1. Intake, Approval, & Prioritization [select the right projects] | 2. Resource Management [Pick the right time and people to execute the projects | Project Management |
4. Project Closure [make sure the projects get done] |
5. Benefits Tracking [make sure they were worth doing] |
Organizational Change Management | ||||
Intake → | Execution→ | Closure |
If you don’t yet have a PPM strategy in place, or would like to revisit your existing PPM strategy before implementing resource management practices, see Info-Tech’s blueprint, Develop a Project Portfolio Management Strategy.
To support the goals of PPM more generally, resource management must (1) supply quality work-hours to approved and ongoing projects, and (2) supply reliable data with which to steer the project portfolio.
To do this, a resource management strategy must address a relatively straightforward set of questions.
"In matrix organizations, complicated processes and tools get implemented to answer the deceptively simple question “what’s Bob going to work on over the next few months?” Inevitably, the data captured becomes the focus of scrutiny as functional and project managers complain about data inaccuracy while simultaneously remaining reluctant to invest the effort necessary to improve quality." – Kiron Bondale
1.1.1
10 minutes
Kick-off the discussion on the resource management process by deciding which capability level most accurately describes your organization’s current state.
Capability Level Descriptions | |
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Capability Level 5: Optimized | Our organization has an accurate picture of project versus non-project workloads and allocates resources accordingly. We periodically reclaim lost capacity through organizational and behavioral change. |
Capability Level 4: Aligned | We have an accurate picture of how much time is spent on project versus non-project work. We allocate resources to these projects accordingly. We are checking in on project progress bi-weekly. |
Capability Level 3: Pixelated | We are allocating resources to projects and tracking progress monthly. We have a rough estimate of how much time is spent on project versus non-project work. |
Capability Level 2: Opaque | We match resource teams to projects and check in annually, but we do not forecast future resource needs or track project versus non-project work. |
Capability Level 1: Unmanaged | Our organization expects projects to be finished, but there is no process in place for allocating resources or tracking project progress. |
In a matrix organization, demands on a resource’s time come from many directions, each demand unaware of the others. Resources are expected to prioritize their work, but they typically lack the authority to formally reject demand, so demand frequently outstrips the supply of work-hours the resource can deliver.
When this happens, the resource has three options:
The result is an unsustainable system for those involved:
Resource management boils down to a seemingly simple question: how do we balance supply and demand? Balancing requires a decision maker to make choices; however, in a matrix organization, identifying this decision maker is not straightforward:
The individual who has the authority to make choices, and who is ultimately liable for those decisions, is an accountable person. In a matrix organization, accountability is dispersed, sometimes spilling over to those without the necessary authority.
The responsible party is the individual (or group) who actually completes the task.
Responsibility can be shared.
The accountable person is the individual who has the authority to make choices, and is ultimately answerable for the decision.
Accountability cannot be shared.
Resources often do not have the necessary scope of authority to make resource management choices, so they can never be truly accountable for the project portfolio. Instead, resources are accountable for making available trustworthy data, so the right people can make choices driven by organizational strategy.
The next activity will assess how accountability for resource management is currently distributed in your organization.
1.1.2
15 minutes
Below is a list of tasks in resource management that require choices. Discuss who is currently accountable and whether they have the right authority and ability to deliver on that accountability.
Resource management tasks that require choices | Accountability | |
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Current | Effective? | |
Identify all demands on resources | ||
Prioritize identified project demands | ||
Prioritize identified operational demands | ||
Prioritize identified administrative demands | ||
Prioritize all of the above demands | ||
Enumerate resource supply | ||
Validate resource supply | ||
Collect and validate supply and demand data | ||
Defer or reject work beyond available supply | ||
Adjust resource supply to meet demand |
IT departments need many different technical skill sets at their disposal for their day-to-day operations and services, as well as for projects. A limited hiring budget for IT restricts the number of hires with any given skill, forcing IT to share resources between service and project portfolios.
This resource sharing produces a matrix organization divided along the lines of service and projects. Functional and project managers provide respective oversight for services and projects. Resources split their available work-hours toward service and project tasks according to priority – in theory.
However, in practice, two major challenges exist:
Because resource managers must cover both projects and services within IT, the typical solution to allocation problems in matrix organizations is to escalate the urgency and severity of demands by involving the executive steering committee. Unfortunately, the steering committee cannot expend time and resources on all demands. Instead, they often set a minimum threshold for cases – 100-1,000 work-hours depending on the organization.
Under this resource management practice, small demands – especially the quick-fixes and little projects from “the third boss” – continue to erode project capacity. Eventually, projects fail to get resources because pesky small demands have no restrictions on the resources they consumed.
Realistic resource management needs to account for demand from all three bosses; however…
Info-Tech Insight
Excess project or service request intake channels lead to the proliferation of “off-the-grid” projects and tasks that lack visibility from the IT leadership. This can indicate that there may be too much red tape: that is, the request process is made too complex or cumbersome. Consider simplifying the request process and bring IT’s visibility into those requests.
1.1.3
30 minutes to 1 hour
People | Processes | Technology |
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The following is a non-exhaustive example:
If precise, accurate, and complete data on resource supply and demand was consistently available, reporting on project capacity would be easy. Such data would provide managers complete control over a resource’s time, like a foreman at a construction site. However, this theoretical scenario is incompatible with today’s matrixed workplace:
Collecting and maintaining resource data is therefore nearly impossible:
This blueprint will guide you through right-sizing your resource management efforts to achieve maximum value-to-effort ratio and sustainability.
Portfolio managers looking for a resource management solution have three mutually exclusive options:
This blueprint takes you through the steps necessary to accomplish Option C, using Info-Tech’s tools and templates for managing your resources.
1.1 Set a course of action
1.2 Estimate supply and demand
2.1 Select resource management dimensions
2.2 Select resource management tools
2.3 Build process steps
3.1 Pilot your process for viability
3.2 Plan stakeholder engagement
Use Info-Tech’s Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator to create a realistic estimate of your project capacity.
The calculator tool requires minimal upfront staff participation: you can obtain meaningful results with participation from even a single person, with insight on the distribution of your resources and their average work week or month. As the number of participants increases, the quality of analysis will improve.
The first half of this step guides you through how to use the calculator. The second half provides tactical advice on how to gather additional data and validate your resourcing data with your staff.
Download Info-Tech’s Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator
Info-Tech Insight
What’s first, process or tools? Remember that process determines the quality of your data while data quality limits the tool’s utility. Without quality data, you cannot evaluate the success of the tool, so nail down your collection process first.
1.2.1
30 minutes - 1 hour
A realistic estimate of project capacity
Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator
We define four high-level buckets of resource time:
Instructions for working through Tab 2 of the Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator are provided in the next two sections. Follow along to obtain your breakdown of annual resource capacity in a pie chart.
1.2.1
Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator, Tab 2: Capacity Supply
Discover how many work-hours are at your disposal by first accounting for absences.
Hours per Year represents your total resource capacity for each role, as well as the entire department. This column is automatically calculated.
Working Time per Year represents your total resource capacity minus time employees are expected to spend out of office. This column is automatically calculated.
Info-Tech Insight
Example for a five-day work week:
Result: 7.4/52 weeks’ absence = 14.2%
1.2.1
Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator, Tab 2: Capacity Supply
5. Enter the percentage of working time across each role that, on an annual basis, goes toward administrative duties (non-project meetings, training, time spent checking email, etc.) and keep-the-lights-on work (e.g. support and maintenance work).
While these percentages will vary by individual, a high-level estimate across each role will suffice for the purposes of this activity.
6. Express how confident you are in each resource being able to deliver the calculated project work hours in percentages.
Another interpretation for supply confidence is “supply control”: estimate your current ability to control this distribution of working time to meet the changing needs in percentages.
Percentage of your working time that goes toward project work is calculated based upon what’s left after your non-project working time allocations have been subtracted.
1.2.2
15 minutes - 30 minutes
A realistic estimate of resource demand from your project portfolio
Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator
Estimating the resources required for a project in a project backlog can take a lot of effort. Rather than trying to create an accurate estimate for each project, a set of standard project sizes (often referred to as the “T-shirt sizing” technique) will be sufficiently accurate for estimating your project backlog’s overall demand.
Instructions for working through Tab 3 of the tool are provided here and in the next section.
1. For each type of project, enter the average number for work-hours.
Project Types | Average Number of Work Hours for a Project |
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Small | 80 |
Medium | 200 |
Large | 500 |
Extra-Large | 1000 |
1.2.2
Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator, Tab 3: Project Demand
2. Using your list of projects, enter the number of projects for each appropriate field.
3. Enter your resource waste data from the PPM Current State Scorecard (see next section). Alternatively, enter your best guess on how much project capacity is spent wastefully per category.
Info-Tech Insight
The calculator estimates the project demand by T-shirt-sizing the work-hours required by projects to be delivered within the next 12 months and then adding the corresponding wasted capacity. This may be a pessimistic estimate, but it is more realistic because projects tend to be delivered late more than early.
Call 1-888-670-8889 or contact your Account Manager for more information.
Info-Tech’s PPM Current State Scorecard diagnostic provides a comprehensive view of your portfolio management strengths and weaknesses, including project portfolio management, project management, customer management, and resource utilization.
Use the wisdom-of-the-crowd to estimate resource waste in:
50% of PPM resource is wasted on average, effectively halving your available project capacity.
1.2.3
45 minutes - 1 hour
Documented non-project demands and their estimated degree of fluctuation
Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator
When discussing project demands, non-project demands (administrative and operational) are often underestimated and downplayed – even though, in reality, they take a de facto higher priority to project work. Use Tab 4 of the tool to document these non-project demands, as well as their sources.
1. Choose a role using a drop-down list.
2. Enter the type and the source of the demand.
3. Enter the size and the frequency of the demand in hours.
4. Estimate how stable the non-project demands are for each role.
1.2.4
30 minutes - 1 hour
Completed Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator
Supply-Demand Analysis Report
Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator
Tab 5 of the calculator is a report that contains the following analysis:
Each analysis is described and explained in the following four sections. Examine the report and discuss the following among the activity participants:
1.2.4
Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator, Tab 5: Supply-Demand Analysis
The top of the report on Tab 5 shows a breakdown of your annual resource supply and demand, with resource capacity shown in both total hours and percentage of the total. For the purposes of the analysis, absence is averaged. If total demand is less than available resource supply, the surplus capacity will be displayed as “Free Capacity” on the demand side.
The Supply & Demand Analysis table displays the realistic project capacity, which is calculated by subtracting non-project supply deficit from the project capacity. This is based on the assumption that all non-project work must get done. The difference between the project demand and the realistic project capacity is your supply-demand gap, in work-hours.
If your supply-demand gap is zero, recognize that the project demand does not take into account the project backlog: it only takes into account the projects that are expected to be delivered within the next 12 months.
1.2.4
Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator, Tab 5: Supply-Demand Analysis
The project capacity supply and demand analysis compares your available annual project capacity with the size of your project portfolio, expressed in work-hours.
The supply side is further broken down to productive vs. wasted project capacity. The demand side is broken down to three buckets of projects: those that are active, those that sit in the backlog, and those that are expected to be added within 12 months. Percentage values are expressed in terms of total project capacity.
A key observation here is the limitation to which reducing wasteful spending of resources can get to the project portfolio backlog. In this example, even a theoretical scenario of 100% productive project capacity will not likely result in net shrinkage of the project portfolio backlog. To achieve that, either the total project capacity must be increased, or less projects must be approved.
Note: the work-hours necessary for delivering projects that are expected to be completed within 12 months is not shown in this visualization, as they should be represented within the other three categories of projects.
1.2.4
Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator, Tab 5: Supply-Demand Analysis
The non-project capacity supply and demand analysis compares your available non-project capacity and their demands in a year, for each role, in work-hours.
With this chart, you can:
Tab 5 also provides similar breakdowns for administrative and keep-the-lights-on capacity supply and demand by each role.
1.2.4
Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator, Tab 5: Supply-Demand Analysis
In our approach, we introduce a metric called Resource Capacity Confidence (RCC). Conceptually, RCC is defined as follows:
Resource Capacity Confidence = SC × DS × SDR
Term | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
SC | Supply Control | How confident are you that the supply of your resources’ project capacity will be delivered? |
DS | Demand Stability | How wildly does demand fluctuate? If it cannot be controlled, can it be predicted? |
SDR | Supply-Demand Ratio | How severely does demand outstrip supply? |
In this context, RCC can be defined as follows:
"Given the uncertainty that our resources can supply hours according to the assumed project/non-project ratio, the fluctuations in non-project demand, and the overall deficit in project capacity, there is about 50% chance that we will be able to deliver the projects we are expected to deliver within the next 12 months."
Industry Government
Source Info-Tech Client
"When our customers get a budget for a project, it’s all in capital. It never occurs to them that IT has a limited number of hours. "
Use Info-Tech’s time-tracking survey to validate your resourcing assumptions and get additional information to improve your understanding of resource time spent: imperfect labor efficiency and continuous partial attention.
Info-Tech Insight
Part of the old resource management mythology is the idea that a person can do (for example) eight different one-hour tasks in eight hours of continuous work. This idea has gone from harmlessly mistaken to grossly unrealistic.
“Working” on multiple tasks at once can often feel extremely gratifying in the short term because it distracts people from thinking about work that isn’t being done.
The bottom line is that continuous partial attention impedes the progress of project work.
Info-Tech Insight
It may not be possible to minimize interruptions in the workplace, as many of these are considered to be urgent at the time. However, setting guidelines for how and when individuals can be interrupted may help to limit the amount of lost project time.
"Like so many things, in small doses, continuous partial attention can be a very functional behavior. However, in large doses, it contributes to a stressful lifestyle, to operating in crisis management mode, and to a compromised ability to reflect, to make decisions, and to think creatively."
– Linda Stone, Continuous Partial Attention
1.2.5
30 minutes
Completed Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator
Survey design for the time-tracking survey
N/A
Customize these questions to suit your needs.
Info-Tech Insight
Maximize the number of survey responses you get by limiting the number of questions you ask. Info-Tech finds that participation drops off rapidly after five questions.
Info-Tech Insight
Make sure that employees understand the purpose of the survey. It is important that they give honest responses that reflect the struggles they are encountering with balancing project and non-project work, not simply telling management what they want to hear.
Ensuring that employees know this survey is being used to help them, rather than scolding them for not completing work, will give you useful, insightful data on employee time.
Use Info-Tech’s Time-Tracking Survey Email Template for facilitating your communications.
Info-Tech Best Practice
Provide guidance to your resources with examples on how to differentiate project work vs. non-project work, administrative vs. keep-the-lights-on work, what counts as interruptions, etc.
Based on desired outcomes for this phase, we have
In the next phase, we will:
Screenshots from tab 6 of the Time Audit Workbook.
Info-Tech Insight
The validity of traditional, rigorous resource planning has long been an illusion because the resource projections were typically not maintained. New realities such as faster project cycles, matrix organizations, and high-autonomy staff cultures have made the illusion impossible to maintain.
Discuss who is currently accountable for various facets of resource management, and whether they have the right authority and ability to deliver on that accountability.
Derive actionable, quantitative insight into the resourcing challenges facing the organization by using Info-Tech’s methodology that prioritizes completeness over precision.
Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.
Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.
Proposed Time to Completion (in weeks): 3-6 weeks
Start with an analyst kick-off call:
Then complete these activities…
With these tools & templates:
Resource Management Playbook
Discuss with the analyst:
Then complete these activities…
With these tools & templates:
Discuss with the analyst:
Then complete these activities…
With these tools & templates:
Phase 2 Results & Insights:
Draft the resource management practice with sustainability in mind. It is about what you can and will maintain every week, even during a crisis: it is not about what you put together as a one-time snapshot. Once you stop maintaining resource data, it's nearly impossible to catch up.
1.1 Set a course of action
1.2 Estimate supply and demand
2.1 Select resource management dimensions
2.2 Select resource management tools
2.3 Build process steps
3.1 Pilot your process for viability
3.2 Plan stakeholder engagement
Resource management strategies are commonly implemented “out-of-the-box,” via a commercial PPM or time-tracking tool, or an external third-party consultant in partnership with those types of tools.
While these solutions and best practices have insights to offer – and provide admirable maturity targets – they often outstrip the near-term abilities of IT teams to successfully implement, adopt, and support them.
Tailor an approach that makes sense for your department and organization. You don’t need complex and granular processes to get usable resourcing data; you just need to make sure that you’ve carved out a process that works in terms of providing data you can use.
Info-Tech Insight
Put processes before tools. Most commercial PPM tools include a resource management function that was designed for hourly granularity. This is part of the fallacy of an old reality that was never real. Determine which goals are realistic and fit your solution to your problem.
Default project vs. non-project ratio
How much time is available for projects once non-project demands are factored in?
Reporting frequency
How often is the allocation data verified, reconciled, and reported for use?
Forecast horizon
How far into the future can you realistically predict resource supply?
Scope of allocation
To whom is time allocated?
Allocation cadence
How long is each allocation period?
Granularity of time allocation
What’s the smallest unit of time to allocate?
Granularity of work assignment
What is time allocated to?
Info-Tech Best Practice
Ensure that both the functional managers and the project managers participate in the following discussions. Without buy-in from both dimensions of the matrix organization, you will have difficulty making meaningful resource management data and process decisions.
2.1.1
30 minutes
The default project vs. non-project work ratio (P-NP Ratio) is a starting point for functional and project managers to budget the work-hours at their disposal as well as for resources to split their time – if not directed otherwise by their managers.
How to set this dimension. The Resource Management Supply-Demand Calculator from step 1.2 shows the current P-NP ratio for the department, and how the percentages translate into work-hours. The Time Audit Workbook from step 1.2 shows the ratio for specific roles.
For the work of setting this dimension, you can choose to keep the current ratio from step 1.2 as your default, or choose a new ratio based on the advice below.
2.1.2
15-30 minutes
Scope of allocation is the “who” of the equation. At the lowest and most detailed level, allocations are made to individual resources. At the highest and most abstract level, though, allocations can be made to a department. Other “whos” in scope of allocation can include teams, roles, or skills.
How to set this dimension. Consider how much granularity is required for your overall project capacity visibility, and the process overhead you’re willing to commit to support this visibility. The more low-level and detailed the scope of allocation (e.g. skills or individuals) the more data maintenance required to keep it current.
2.1.3
15-30 minutes
How long is each individual allocation period? In what “buckets of time” do you plan to spend time – week by week, month by month, or quarter by quarter? The typical allocation cadence is monthly; however, depending on the scope of allocation and the nature of work assigned, this cadence can differ.
How to set this dimension. Allocation cadence can depend on a number of factors. For instance, if you’re allocating time to agile teams, the cadence would most naturally be bi-weekly; if work is assigned via programs, you might allocate time by quarters.
2.1.3
15-30 minutes
Granularity of time allocation refers to the smallest unit of time that can be allocated. You may not need to set firm limits on this, given that it could differ from PM to PM, and resource manager to resource manager. Nevertheless, it can be helpful to articulate an “as-low-as-you’ll-go” limit to help avoid getting too granular too soon in your data aspirations.
How to set this dimension. At a high level, the granularity of allocation could be as high as a week. At its lowest level, it could be an hour. Other options include a full day (e.g. 8 hours), a half day (4 hours), or 2-hour increments.
2.1.4
15-30 minutes
Determine a realistic granularity for your allocation. This is the “what” of the equation: what your resources are working on or the size of work for which allocations are managed.
How to set this dimension. A high level granularity of work assignment would assign an entire program, a mid-level scope would involve allocating a project or a phase of a project, and a low level, rigorous scope would involve allocating an individual task.
2.1.5
15-30 minutes
Determine a realistic forecasting horizon for your allocation. At this point you have decided “what” “who” is working on and how frequently this will be updated. Now it is time to decide how far resource needs will be forecasted, e.g. “what will this person be working on in 3 months?”
How to set this dimension. A high-level forecast horizon would only look forward week-to-week, with little consideration of the long-term future. A mid-level forecast would involve predicting one quarter in advance and a low-level, rigorous scope would involve forecasting one or more years in advance.
See the diagram below for further explanation
Between today and the forecast horizon (“forecast window”), all stakeholders in resource management commit to reasonable accuracy of data. The aim is to create a reliable data set that can be used to determine true resource capacity, as well as the available resource capacity to meet unplanned, urgent demands.
Info-Tech Insight
Ensure data accuracy. It is important to note that forecasting a year in advance does not necessarily make your organization more mature, unless you can actually rely on these estimates and use them. It is important to only forecast as far in advance as you can accurately predict.
2.1.6
30 minutes
How often will you reconcile and rebalance your allocations? Your update frequency will determine this. It is very much the heartbeat of resource management, dictating how often reports on allocations will be updated and published for stakeholders’ consumption.
How to set this dimension. Determine a realistic frequency with which to update project reports. This will be how you determine who is working on what during each measurement period.
2.1.7
10 minutes
Document the outputs from the preceding seven activities. These determinations will form the foundation of your resource management strategy, which we will go on to define in more detail in the subsequent steps of this phase.
RM Core Dimensions | Decision |
---|---|
Default P-NP ratio | 40%-60$ + exception by roles |
Scope of allocation | Individual resource |
Allocation cadence | Monthly |
Granularity of time allocation | 4 hours |
Granularity of work assignment | Projects |
Forecast horizon | 3 months |
Reporting frequency | Twice a month |
Document these dimensions in Section 1.1 of Info-Tech’s Resource Management Playbook. We will be further customizing this template in steps 2.3 and 3.1.
1.1 Set a course of action
1.2 Estimate supply and demand
2.1 Select resource management dimensions
2.2 Select resource management tools
2.3 Build process steps
3.1 Pilot your process for viability
3.2 Plan stakeholder engagement
This step will walk you through the following activities:
This step involves the following participants:
Outcomes of this step
Resource management depends on the flow of information and data from the project level up to functional managers, project managers, and beyond.
Tools are required to help facilitate this flow, and the project portfolio management landscape is littered with endless time-tracking and capacity management options.
These options can each have their merits and their drawbacks. The success of implementing a resource management strategy very much hinges upon weighing these, and then choosing the right solution for your project eco-system.
Info-Tech Insight
Establish a book of record. While it is possible to succeed using ad hoc tools and data sources, a centralized repository for capacity data works best. Your tool choice should help establish a capacity book of record to help ensure ongoing reconciliation of supply and demand at the portfolio level.
At a high level, those looking for a resource management solution have two broad options: a commercial project portfolio management (PPM) or time-tracking software on the one hand, and a spreadsheet-based tool, like Google Sheets or Excel, on the other.
Obviously, if your team or department already has access to a PPM or time-tracking software, it makes sense to continue using this, as long as it will accommodate the process that was wireframed in the previous step.
Otherwise, pursue the tool option that makes the most sense given both the strategy that you’ve wireframed and other organizational factors. See the table below and the next section for guidance.
“If you’re planning on doing resource allocation by hand, you’re not going to get very far.”
Commercial Solutions | Spreadsheet-Based Solutions | |
---|---|---|
Description |
|
|
Pros |
|
|
Cons |
|
|
While commercial options offer the most robust functionality for automation, collaboration, and reporting, they are also costly, difficult to implement, and onerous to sustain over the long run.
It’s not uncommon for organizations to sink vast amounts of money into commercial PPM tools, year after year, and never actually get any usable resource or forecasting data from these tools.
The reasons for this can vary, but in many cases it is because organizations mistake a tool for a PPM or a resource management strategy.
A tool is no substitute for having a clearly defined process that staff can support. Be aware of these two factors before investing in a commercial tool:
47%
Of those companies using automated software to assist in resource management, almost half report that those systems failed to accurately calculate resource forecasts.
Info-Tech Insight
Put process sustainability before enhanced tool functionality.
Ensure that you have sustainable processes in place before investing in an expensive commercial tool. Your tool selection should help facilitate capability-matched processes and serve user adoption.
Trying to establish processes around a tool with a functionality that exceeds your process maturity is a recipe for failure.
Use the table below as a starting point to help ensure you are pursuing a resource management tool that is right for your organization’s size and process maturity level.
Tool Category | Characteristics | # of Users | PPM Maturity | Sample Vendors |
---|---|---|---|---|
Enterprise tools |
|
1,000> | High |
|
Mid-market tools |
|
100> | Intermediate-to-High |
|
Entry-level tools |
|
<100 | Low-to-Intermediate |
|
For a more in-depth treatment of choosing and implementing a commercial PPM tool to assist with your resource management practice, see Info-Tech’s blueprint, Select and Implement a PPM Solution.
PPM Solution Vendor Demo Script (optional)
To ensure your investment in a commercial tool meets your resource management needs, use Info-Tech’s PPM Solution Vendor Demo Script to structure your tool demos and interactions with vendors.
For instance, some important scenarios to consider when looking at potential tools include:
Any deficiencies in answering these types of questions should alert you to the fact that a potential solution may not adequately meet the needs of your resource management strategy.
Download Info-Tech’s PPM Solution Vendor Demo Script
"[H]ow (are PPM solutions) performing in a matrix organization? Well, there are gaps. There will be employees who do not submit timesheets, who share their time between project and operational activities, and whose reporting relationships do not fit neatly into the PPM database structure. This creates exceptions in the PPM application, and you may just have the perfect solution to a small subset of your problems." – Vilmos Rajda
When it comes to resource management at a portfolio level, spreadsheets can be just as effective as commercial tools for facilitating the flow of accurate and maintainable resourcing data and for communicating resource usage and availability.
Some of the benefits of spreadsheets over commercials tools include:
To be clear: spreadsheets have their drawbacks (for instance, they are easy to break, require a centralized data administrator, and are yours and yours alone to maintain). If your department has the budget and the process maturity to support a commercial tool, you should pursue the options covered in the previous sections.
However, if you are looking for a viable alternative to an expensive tool, spreadsheets have the ability to support a rigorous resource management practice.
"Because we already have enterprise licensing for an expensive commercial tool, everyone else thinks it’s logical to start there. I think we’re going to start with something quick and dirty like Excel." – EPMO Director, Law Enforcement Services
Info-Tech Insight
Make the choice to ensure adoption.
When making your selection, the most important consideration across all the solution categories is data maintenance. You must be assured that you and your team can maintain the data.
As soon as your portfolio data becomes inconsistent and unreliable, decision makers will lose trust in your resource data, and the authority of your resource management strategy will become very tenuous.
Spreadsheets are the most common PPM tool – and it’s not hard to understand why: they can be created with minimal cost and effort.
But when something is easy to do, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s also easy to do badly. As James Kwak says in his article, “The Importance of Excel,” “The biggest problem is that anyone can create Excel Spreadsheets—badly.”
Download Info-Tech’s Portfolio Manager Lite 2017
Info-Tech Insight
Balance functionality and adoption. Clients often find it difficult to gain adoption with commercial tools. Though homegrown solutions may have less functionality, the higher adoption level can make up for this and also potentially save your organization thousands a year in licensing fees.
2.2.1
Times will vary
Based on input from the previous slides, determine the resource management solution option you will pursue and implement to help support your resource management strategy. Record this selection in section 1.2 of the Resource Management Playbook.
RM Core Dimensions | Default Value |
---|---|
Default P-NP ratio | Role-specific |
Scope of allocation | Individual resource |
Allocation cadence | Monthly |
Granularity of allocation | (not defined) |
Granularity of work assignment | Project |
Forecast horizon | 6 months |
Reporting frequency | (not defined) |
Portfolio Manager Lite has comprehensive sample data to help you understand its functions.
As you can see in this table, the tool itself assumes five of the seven resource management core dimensions. You will need to determine departmental values for granularity of allocation and reporting frequency. The other dimensions are determined by the tool.
If you’re piloting Info-Tech’s Portfolio Manager Lite, review the subsequent slides in this step before proceeding to step 2.3. If you are not piloting Portfolio Manager Lite, proceed directly to step 2.3.
Portfolio Manager Lite has two set-up tabs, three data entry tabs, and six output-only tabs. The next 15 slides show how to use them. To use this tool, you need Excel 2013 or 2016. If you’re using Excel 2013, you must download and install Microsoft Power Query version 2.64 or later, available for download from Microsoft.
Excel tables enable you to manage and analyze a group of related data. Since Portfolio Manager Lite uses tables extensively, maintaining the table’s integrity is critical. Here are some things to know for working with Excel tables.
Adjust the sizing handle to eliminate empty rows.
Default pasting behavior can interrupt formula references and introduce unwanted external links. Always right-click and select Paste Values.
Do not use row headings; instead, always right-click inside a table to manipulate table rows.
2.2.1
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 2a: Org Setup
The Org Setup tab is divided into two sections, Resources and Projects. Each section contains several categories to group your resources and projects. Items listed under each category will be available via drop-down lists in the data tabs.
These categorizations will be used later to “slice” your resource allocation data. For example, you’ll be able to visualize the resource allocations for each team, for each division, or for each role.
1. Role and Default Non-Project Ratio columns: From the Supply-Demand Calculator, copy the list of roles, and how much of each role’s time is spent on non-projects by default (see below; add the values marked with yellow arrows).
2. Resource Type column: List the type of resource you have available.
3. Team and Skill columns: List the teams, and skills for your resources.
In the Resources tab, items in drop-down lists will appear in the same order as shown here. Sort them to make things easy to find.
Do not delete tables you won’t use. Instead, leave or hide tables.
2.2.1
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 2a: Org Setup
The projects section of the Org Setup tab contains several categories for entering project data. Items listed under each category will be available via drop-down lists in the Projects tab. These categorizations will be used later to analyze how your resources are allocated.
1. Project Type: Enter the names of project types, in which projects will be grouped. All projects must belong to a type. Examples of types may include sub-portfolios or programs.
2. Project Category: Enter the names of project categories, in which projects will be grouped. Unlike types, category is an optional grouping.
3. Phase: Enter the project phases. Ensure that your phases list has “In Progress” and “Complete” options. They are needed for the portfolio-wide Gantt chart (the Gantt tab).
4. Priority and Status: Define the choices for project priorities and statuses if necessary (optional).
5. Unused: An extra column with predefined choices is left for customization (optional).
2.2.1
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 2b: Calendar Setup
Portfolio Manager Lite is set up for a monthly allocation cadence out of the box. Use this tab to set up the start date, the default resource potential capacity, and the months to include in your reports.
1. Enter a start date for the calendar, e.g. start of your fiscal or calendar year.
2. Enter how many hours are assumed in a working day. It is used to calculate the default maximum available hours in a month.
Maximum Available Hours, Weekdays, and Business Days are automatically generated.
The current month is highlighted in green.
3. Enter the number of holidays to correct the number of business days for each month.
Year to Date Reporting and Forecast Reporting ranges are controlled by this table. Use the period above Maximum Available Hours.
Info-Tech Best Practice
Both Portfolio Manager Lite and Portfolio Manager 2017 can be customized for non-monthly resource allocation. Speak to an Info-Tech analyst to ask for more information.
2.2.2
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 3: Resources
Portfolio Manager Lite is set up for allocating time to individual resources out of the box. Information on these resources is entered in the Resources tab. It has four sections, arranged horizontally.
1. Enter basic information on your resources. Resource type, team, role, and skill will be used to help you analyze your resource data.
Ensure that the resource names are unique.
Sort or filter the table using the filter button in the header row.
2. Their total capacity in work-hours is automatically calculated for each month, using the default numbers from the Calendar Setup tab. If necessary, overwrite the formula and enter in custom values.
Cells with less than 120 hours are highlighted in blue.
Do not add or delete any columns, or modify this header row.
2.2.2
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 3: Resources
3. Enter the resources’ out-of-office time for each month, as they are reported.
Do not add or delete any columns, or modify the header row, below the dates.
4. Resources’ percentages of time spent on non-projects are automatically calculated, based on their roles’ default P-NP ratios. If necessary, overwrite the formula and enter in custom values.
Do not add or delete any columns, or modify the header row, below the dates.
2.2.3
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 4: Projects
Portfolio Manager Lite is set up for allocating time to projects out of the box. Information on these projects is entered in the Projects tab.
1. Enter project names and some basic information. These fields are mandatory.
Ensure that the project names are unique.
Do not modify or change the headers of the first seven columns. Do not add to or delete these columns.
2. Continue entering more information about projects. These fields are optional and can be customized.
Headers of these columns can be changed. Extra columns can be added to the right of the Status column if desired. However, Info-Tech strongly recommends that you speak to an Info-Tech analyst before customizing.
The Project Category, Phase, and Priority fields are entered using drop-down lists from the Org Setup tab.
2.2.4
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 5: Allocations
Project capacity for each resource is calculated as follows, using the data from the Resources tab:
Project capacity = (total project capacity – absence) x (100% – non-project%)
In the Allocations tab, project capacity is allocated in percentages with 100% representing the allocation of all available project time of a resource to a project.
This allocation-by-percentage model has some advantages and drawbacks:
Advantages
Drawbacks
The Allocations tab has a few features to help you mitigate these disadvantages.
Info-Tech Best Practice
For organizations with lower resource management practice maturity, start with percentages. In Portfolio Manager 2017, allocations are entered in work-hours to avoid the above drawbacks altogether, but this may require a higher practice maturity.
2.2.4
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 5: Allocations
A line item in the Allocations tab requires three pieces of information: a project, a resource, and the percentage of project capacity for each month.
1. Choose a project. Type, Start date, and End date are automatically displayed.
2. Choose a resource. Team is automatically displayed.
3. Enter the resource’s allocated hours for the project in percentages.
2.2.4
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 5: Allocations
The Allocations tab helps you preview the available project capacity of a resource, as well as the work-hours represented by each allocation line item, to mitigate the drawbacks of percentage allocations.
In addition, overallocations (allocations for a given month add up to over 100%) are highlighted in red. These functions help resource managers balance the project supply and demand.
To preview a resource’s project capacity in work-hours, choose a resource using a drop down. The resource’s available project capacity for each month is displayed to the right.
Sort or filter the table using the filter button in the header row. Here, the Time table is sorted by Resource.
The total work-hours for each line item is shown in the Hours column. Here, 25% of Bethel’s project capacity for 4 months adds up to only 16 work-hours for this project.
A resource is overallocated when project capacity allocations add up to more than 100% for a given month. Overallocations are highlighted in red.
2.2.5
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 6: Gantt
The Gantt tab is a pivot-table-driven chart that graphically represents the start and end dates of projects and their project statuses.
Filter entries by project type above the chart.
The current month (9-17) is highlighted.
You can filter and sort entries by project name, sponsor, or project manager.
In progress (under Phase column) projects show the color of their overall status.
Projects that are neither completed nor in progress are shown in grey.
Completed (under Phase column) projects are displayed as black.
2.2.6
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 7: Resource Load
The Resource Load tab is a PivotTable showing the available project capacity for each resource.
Change the thresholds for indicating project overallocation at the top right.
You can filter and sort entries by resource or role.
Values in yellow and red highlight overallocation.
Values in green indicate resource availability.
This table provides a bird’s-eye view of all available project capacity. Highlights for overallocated resources yield a simple heat map that indicates resourcing conflicts that need attention.
The next two tabs contain graphical dashboards of available capacity.
Tip: Add more resource information by dragging a column name into the Rows box in the PivotTable field view pane.
Example: add the Team column by dragging it into the Rows box
2.2.7
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 8: Capacity Slicer
The Capacity Slicer tab is a set of pivot charts showing the distribution of resource allocation and how they compare against the potential capacity.
At the top left of each chart, you can turn Forecast Reporting on (true) or off (false). For Year to Date reporting, replace Forecast with YTD in the Field View pane’s Filter field.
In the Allocated Capacity, in % chart, capacity is shown as a % of total available capacity. Exceeding 100% indicates overallocation.
In the Realized Project Capacity, in hours chart, the vertical axis is in work-hours. This gap between allocation and capacity represents available project capacity.
The bottom plots show how allocated project capacity is distributed. If the boxes are empty, no allocation data is available.
2.2.7
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 8: Capacity Slicer
A slicer filters the data shown in a PivotTable, a PivotChart, or other slicers. In this tab, the team slicer enables you to view resource capacity and allocation by each team or for multiple teams.
The button next to the Team header enables multiple selection.
The next button to the right clears the filter set by this slicer.
All teams with capacity or allocation data are listed in the slicers.
For example, if you select "App Dev":
The vertical axis scales automatically for filtered data.
The capacity and allocation data for all application division teams is shown.
Resources not in the App Dev team are filtered out.
2.2.8
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 9: Capacity Locator
The Capacity Locator tab is a group of PivotCharts with multiple slicers to view available project capacity.
For example: click on “Developer” under Role:
Primary skills of all developers are displayed on the left in the Primary Skill column. You can choose a skill to narrow down the list of resources from all developers to all developers with that skill.
The selected resources are shown in the Resources column. Data on the right pertains to these resources.
Where you see the filter button with an x, you can clear the filter imposed by this slicer.
2.2.9
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 10: Project Viewer
The Project Viewer tab is a set of PivotCharts with multiple slicers to view how resources are allocated to different projects.
Filtering by sponsor or project manager is useful for examining a group of projects by accountability (sponsor) or responsibility (project manager).
The graphs show how project budgets are distributed across different categories and priorities of projects, and how resource allocations are distributed across different categories and priorities of projects.
2.2.10
Portfolio Manager Lite, Tab 11: Project Updates
The Project Updates tab is a PivotTable showing various fields from the Projects table to rapidly generate a portfolio-wide status report. You can add or remove fields from the Projects table using the PivotTable’s Field View pane.
Filter entries by phase. The screenshot shows an expansion of this drop down at the top left.
Rearrange the columns by first clicking just below the header to select all cells in the column, and then dragging it to the desired position. Alternatively, arrange them in the Field View pane.
2.2.11
10 minutes
Maturity Level | Dimensions | Time needed per month | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Small (1-25 employees) | Medium (25-75) | Large (75-100) | Enterprise (100+) | ||
1-2 | %, team, project, monthly update, 1 month forecast | 2 hours | 6 hours | 20 hours | 50 hours |
3-4 | %, person, phase, weekly update, 1 quarter forecast | 4 hours | 12 hours | 50 hours | 150 hours |
5 | %, person, task, continuous update, 1 year forecast | 8+ hours | 20+ hours | 100+ hours | 400+ hours |
If you are looking for a more robust resource management solution, or prefer to allocate staff time in hours rather than percentages, see Info-Tech’s Portfolio Manager 2017.
Similar to Portfolio Manager Lite, Portfolio Manager 2017 is a Microsoft Excel-based PPM solution that provides project visibility, forecasting, historical insight, and portfolio analytics capabilities for your PMO without a large upfront investment for a commercial solution.
Watch Info-Tech’s Portfolio Manager 2017 Video – Introduction and Demonstration.
To use all functions of Portfolio Manager 2017, you need Excel 2013 or Excel 2016 running on Windows, with the following add-ins:
Power View is only available on select editions of Excel 2013 and 2016, but you can still use Portfolio Manager 2017 without Power View.
If you are unsure, speak to your IT help desk or an Info-Tech analyst for help.
Industry Law Enforcement
Source Info-Tech Client
“Because we already have enterprise licensing for an expensive commercial tool, everyone else thinks it’s logical to start there. I think we’re going to start with something quick and dirty like Excel.” – EPMO Director, Law Enforcement Services
1.1 Set a course of action
1.2 Estimate supply and demand
2.1 Select resource management dimensions
2.2 Select resource management tools
2.3 Build process steps
3.1 Pilot your process for viability
3.2 Plan stakeholder engagement
When resource management strategies fail, it can typically be tied back to the same culprit: unrealistic expectations from the outset.
If a resource management process strives for a level of data precision that staff cannot juggle day to day, over the long run, then things will eventually fall apart as staff and decision makers alike lose faith in the data and the relevancy of the process.
Two things can be done to help avoid this fate:
Info-Tech Insight
It's not about what you put together as a one-time snapshot. It's about what you can and will maintain every week, even during a crisis. When you stop maintaining resource management data, it’s nearly impossible to catch up and you’re usually forced to start fresh.
1. Collect resource supply data
2. Collect project demand data
3. Identify sources of supply/demand imbalance
4. Resolve conflicts and balance project and non-project allocations
5. Approve allocations for forecast window
This is a sample workflow with sample roles and responsibilities. This step will help you customize the appropriate steps for your department.
Info-Tech Insight
This process aims to control the resource supply to meet the demand – project and non-project alike. Coordinate this process with other portfolio management processes, ensuring that up-to-date resource data is available for project approval, portfolio reporting, closure, etc.
2.3.1
60 to 90 minutes
Conduct a table-top planning exercise to map out, at a high-level, your required and desired process steps.
While Info-Tech recommends a simple five-step process (see previous slide), you may need to flesh out your process into additional steps, depending upon the granularity of your seven dimensions and the complexity of your resource management tool. A table-top planning exercise can be helpful to ensure the right process steps are covered.
For the purposes of this activity, avoid getting into too much detail by keeping to your focus on the high-level data points that will be required to keep supply and demand balanced on an ongoing basis.
"[I]t’s important not to get too granular with your time tracking. While it might be great to get lots of insight into how your team is performing, being too detailed can eat into your team’s productive work time. A good rule of thumb to work by is if your employees’ timesheets include time spent time tracking, then you’ve gone too granular."
Use Info-Tech’s Resource Management Playbook to help determine and communicate the “who, what, when, where, why, and how” of each of your high-level process steps.
The playbook template is intended to function as your resource management standard operating procedure. Customize Section 3 of the template to record the specific organizational details of how data will be collected at each process step, and the actions and decisions the data collection process will necessitate.
Download Info-Tech’s Resource Management Playbook
2.3 Resource Management Playbook
Each of the slides for activities 2.3.2-2.3.6 are comprised of a task-at-a glance box as well as “important decisions to document” for each step.
Work as a group to complete the task-at-a-glance boxes for each step. Use the “important decisions to document” notes to help brainstorm the “how” for each step. These details should be recorded below the task-at-a-glance boxes in the playbook – see point 6 in the legend below.
Screenshot of Section 3 of the RM Playbook.
Screenshot Legend:
2.3.2
20 minutes
Resource supply in this context should be understood as the time, per your scope of allocation (i.e. individual, team, skill, etc.) that is leftover or available once non-project demands have been taken out of the equation. In short, the goal of this process step is to determine the non-project demands for the forecast period.
The important decisions to document for this step include:
Document your process for determining resource supply in Section 3.1 of Info-Tech’s Resource Management Playbook.
Task-at-a-glance:
Inputs | Artifacts | i.e. historical usage data |
---|---|---|
Consulted | i.e. project resources | |
Tools & Templates | i.e. time tracking template | |
Outputs | Artifacts | i.e. updated template |
Informed | i.e. portfolio analyst | |
Timing | i.e. every second Monday | |
Responsible | i.e. functional managers | |
Accountable | i.e. IT directors |
2.3.3
20 minutes
Project demand in this context can entail both in-flight projects as well as new project plans or new project requests that are proposing to consume capacity during the forecast period. In short, the goal of this process step is to determine all of the project demands for the forecast period.
The important decisions to document for this step include:
Document your process for determining project demand in Section 3.2 of Info-Tech’s Resource Management Playbook.
Task-at-a-glance
Inputs | Artifacts | i.e. historical usage data |
---|---|---|
Consulted | i.e. project resources | |
Tools & Templates | i.e. project demand template | |
Outputs | Artifacts | i.e. updated demand table |
Informed | i.e. portfolio analyst | |
Timing | i.e. every second Monday | |
Responsible | i.e. project managers | |
Accountable | i.e. PMO director |
2.3.4
20 minutes
Once the supply-demand data has been compiled, it will need to be analyzed for points of imbalance and conflict. The goal of this process step is to analyze the raw data and to make it consumable by other stakeholders in preparation for a reconciliation or rebalancing process.
The important decisions to document for this step include:
Document your process for identifying resource constraints and issues in Section 3.3 of Info-Tech’s Resource Management Playbook.
Task-at-a-glance
Inputs | Artifacts | i.e. supply/demand data |
---|---|---|
Consulted | i.e. no one | |
Tools & Templates | i.e. Portfolio Manager Lite | |
Outputs | Artifacts | i.e. list of issues |
Informed | i.e. no one | |
Timing | i.e. every second Tuesday | |
Responsible | i.e. portfolio analyst | |
Accountable | i.e. PMO director |
2.3.5
20 minutes
The reconciliation process will likely take place at a meeting amongst the management of the PMO and representatives from the various functional groups within the department. The goal of this step is to get the right roles and individuals to agree upon proposed reconciliations and to sign-off on resource allocations.
The important decisions to document for this step include:
Document your process for resolving resource constraints and issues in Section 3.4 of Info-Tech’s Resource Management Playbook.
Inputs | Artifacts | i.e. meeting agenda |
---|---|---|
Consulted | i.e. meeting participants | |
Tools & Templates | i.e. capacity reports | |
Outputs | Artifacts | i.e. minutes and resolutions |
Informed | i.e. steering committee | |
Timing | i.e. every second Thursday | |
Responsible | i.e. PMO director | |
Accountable | i.e. CIO |
2.3.6
20 minutes
Once a plan to rebalance supply and demand for the reporting period has been agreed on, you will need to ensure that the appropriate data is updated in your resource management book of record, and that allocation decisions are communicated to the appropriate stakeholders.
The important decisions to document for this step include:
Document your process for approving and finalizing allocation in Section 3.5 of Info-Tech’s Resource Management Playbook.
Task-at-a-glance
Inputs | Artifacts | i.e. minutes and resolutions |
---|---|---|
Consulted | i.e. CIO, IT directors | |
Tools & Templates | i.e. Portfolio Manager Lite | |
Outputs | Artifacts | i.e. updated availability table |
Informed | i.e. steering committee | |
Timing | i.e. every second Friday | |
Responsible | i.e. portfolio analyst | |
Accountable | i.e. PMO director |
2.3 Resource Management Playbook
Throughout this phase, we have been customizing sections 1, 2, and 3 of the Resource Management Playbook.
Before we move to pilot and implement your resource management strategy in the next phase of this blueprint, ensure that sections 1-3 of your playbook have been drafted and are ready to be communicated and shared with stakeholders.
"People are spending far more time creating these elaborate [time-tracking] systems than it would have taken just to do the task. You’re constantly on your app refiguring, recalculating, re-categorizing... A better strategy would be [returning] to the core principles of good time management…Block out your calendar for the non-negotiable things. [Or] have an organized prioritized task list." – Laura Stack (quoted in Zawacki)
Action the decision points across Info-Tech’s seven dimensions to ensure your resource management process is guided by realistic data and process goals.
Customize Info-Tech’s five-step resource management process model. Then, document how the process will operate by customizing the Resource Management Playbook.
Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.
Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.
Proposed Time to Completion (in weeks): 4-12 weeks
Start with an analyst kick-off call:
Then complete these activities…
With these tools & templates:
Review findings with analyst:
Then complete these activities…
With these tools & templates:
Phase 3 Results & Insights:
Engagement paves the way for smoother adoption. An engagement approach (rather than simply communication) turns stakeholders into advocates who can help boost your message, sustain the change, and realize benefits without constant intervention or process command-and-control.
1.1 Set a course of action
1.2 Estimate supply and demand
2.1 Select resource management dimensions
2.2 Select resource management tools
2.3 Build process steps
3.1 Pilot your process for viability
3.2 Plan stakeholder engagement
This step will walk you through the following activities:
This step involves the following participants:
Outcomes of this step
Resist the urge to deploy a big-bang rollout of your research management practices. This approach is ill advised for two main reasons:
Start with a pilot phase. Identify receptive project managers and functional managers to work with, and leverage their insights to help iron out the kinks in your process before unveiling your practices to IT and business users at large.
This step will help you:
Info-Tech Insight
Engagement paves the way for smoother adoption. An engagement approach (rather than simply communication) turns stakeholders into advocates who can help boost your message, sustain the change, and realize benefits without constant intervention or process command-and-control.
A process pilot is a limited scope of an implementation (constrained by time and resources involved) to test the viability and effectiveness of the process as it has been designed.
"The advantages to a pilot are several. First, risk is constrained. Pilots are closely monitored so if a problem does occur, it can be fixed immediately. Second, the people working in the pilot can become trainers as you roll the process out to the rest of the organization. Third, the pilot is another opportunity for skeptics to visit the pilot process and learn from those working in it. There’s nothing like seeing a new process working for people to change their minds." – Daniel Madison
Download Info-Tech’s Process Pilot Plan Template
3.1.1
20 to 60 minutes
Info-Tech recommends selecting project managers and functional managers who are aware of your role and some of the supply-demand challenges to assist in the implementation process.
Document the project and functional managers involved in your pilot in Section 3 of Info-Tech’s Process Pilot Plan Template.
Use Info-Tech’s Process Pilot Plan Template to design the details of your pilot.
Investing time into planning your pilot phase strategically will ensure a clear scope, better communications for those piloting the processes, and overall, better, more actionable results during the pilot phase. The Process Pilot Plan Template is broken into five sections to assist in these goals:
While you should invest time in this planning document, continue to lean on the Resource Management Playbook as well as a process guide throughout the pilot phase.
Some things to keep in mind during the pilot include:
3.1.3
30 minutes
Pilot projects allow you to validate your assumptions and leverage lessons learned. During the planning of the pilot, you should have scheduled a retrospective meeting with the pilot team to formally assess strengths and weaknesses in the process you have drafted.
An example of how to structure a stop/start/continue activity on a whiteboard using sticky notes.
See below for additional instructions
3.1.4
30 minutes
As a group, discuss everyone’s responses and organize according to top priority (mark with a 1) and lower priority/next steps (mark with a 2). At this point, you can also remove any sticky notes that are repetitive or no longer relevant.
Once you have organized based on priority, be sure to come to a consensus with the group regarding which actions to take. For example, if the group agrees that they should “stop holding meetings weekly,” come to a consensus regarding how often meetings will be held, i.e. monthly.
Create an action plan for the top priority items that require changes (the stops and starts). Record in this slide or your preferred medium. Be sure to include who is responsible for the action and the date that it will be implemented.
Priority | Action Required | Who is Responsible | Implementation Date |
---|---|---|---|
Stop: Holding meetings weekly | Hold meetings monthly | Jane Doe, PMO | Next Meeting: November 1, 2017 |
Start: Discussing backlog during meetings | Ensure that backlog data is up to date for discussion on date of next meeting | John Doe, Portfolio Manager | November 1, 2017 |
Document the outcomes of the start/stop/continue exercise and your action plan in Section 6 of Info-Tech’s Process Pilot Plan Template.
Situation | Action | Next Steps |
---|---|---|
The dimensions that we chose for our strategy have proven to be too difficult to accurately maintain. | The dimensions that we chose for our strategy have proven to be too difficult to accurately maintain. | Reassess the dimensions that you chose for your strategy. Make sure that you are not overcommitting yourself based on your maturity level. You can always go back and adjust for a higher level of resource management maturity once you have mastered your current level. For example, if you chose “weekly” as your update frequency and this has proven to be too much to maintain, try updating monthly for a few months. Once you have mastered this update frequency, it will be easier to adjust to a weekly update process. |
We were able to maintain the data for our pilot based on the dimensions that we chose. However, allocating projects based on realized capacity did not alleviate any of our resourcing issues and resources still seem to be working on more projects than they can handle. | Determine other factors at the organization that would help to maintain the data and work toward reclaiming capacity. | Continue working with the dimensions that you chose and maintain the accuracy of this data. The next step is to identify other factors that are contributing to your resource allocation problems and begin reclaiming capacity. Continue forward to the resource management roadmap section and work on changing organizational structures and worker behavior to maximize capacity for project work. |
We were able to easily and accurately maintain the data, which led to positive results and improvement in resource allocation issues. | If your strategy is easily maintained, identify factors that will help your organization reclaim capacity. | Continue to maintain this data, and eventually work toward maintaining it at a more precise level. For example, if you are currently using an update frequency of “monthly” and succeeding, think about moving toward a “weekly” frequency within a few months. Once you feel confident that you can maintain project and resource data, continue on to the roadmap section to discover ways to reclaim resource capacity through organizational and behavioral change. |
3.1.5
15 to 30 minutes
Perform a RACI exercise to help standardize terminology around roles and responsibilities and to ensure that expectations are consistent across stakeholders and teams.
Responsible
Accountable
Consulted
Informed
Roles | CIO | PMO | Portfolio Analyst | Project Manager | Functional Manager |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Collect supply data | I | A | R | I | C |
Collect demand data | I | A | R | C | I |
Identify conflicts | I | C/A | R | C | C |
Resolve conflicts | C | A/R | I | R | R |
Approve allocations | A | R | I | R | I |
Document your roles and responsibilities in Section 2 of Info-Tech’s Resource Management Playbook.
3.1 Project Portfolio Analyst/PMO Analyst Job Description
You will need to determine responsibilities and accountabilities for portfolio management functions within your team.
If you do not have a clearly identifiable portfolio manager at this time, you will need to clarify who will wear which hats in terms of facilitating intake and prioritization, high-level capacity awareness, and portfolio reporting.
Download Info-Tech’s Project Portfolio Analyst Job Description Template
Revisit your RM Playbook from step 2.3 and ensure it has been updated to reflect the process changes that were identified in activity 3.1.4.
Download Info-Tech’s Resource Management Playbook
Info-Tech Best Practice
Make your process standardization comprehensive. The RM Playbook should serve as your resource management standard operating procedure. In addition to providing a walk-through of the process, an SOP also clarifies project governance by clearly defining roles and responsibilities.
1.1 Set a course of action
1.2 Estimate supply and demand
2.1 Select resource management dimensions
2.2 Select resource management tools
2.3 Build process steps
3.1 Pilot your process for viability
3.2 Plan stakeholder engagement
This step will walk you through the following activities:
This step involves the following participants:
Outcomes of this step
This step of the project will ensure the new strategy is adopted and applied with maximum success by helping you manage challenges and opportunities across three dimensions:
1. Executive Stakeholder Factors
For example, resistance to adopting new assumptions about ratio of project versus non-project work.
2. Workforce/Team Factors
For example, resistance to moving from individual- to team-based allocations.
3. Structural Factors
For example, ensuring priorities are stable within the chosen resource planning horizon.
See Info-Tech’s Drive Organizational Change from the PMOfor comprehensive tools and guidance on achieving organizational buy-in for your new resource management practices.
Info-Tech Insight
Communicate, communicate, communicate. Staff are 34% more likely to adapt to change quickly during the implementation and adoption phases when they are provided with a timeline of impending changes specific to their department. (McLean & Company)
While your mandate may be backed by an executive sponsor, you will need to influence stakeholders from throughout the organization in order to succeed. Indeed, as EPMO leader, success will depend upon your ability to confirm and reaffirm commitments on soft or informal grounds. Prepare an engagement strategy that anticipates a wide range of responses.
Enthusiasts | Fence-sitters | Skeptics | Saboteurs | |
---|---|---|---|---|
What they look like: | Put all their energy into learning new skills and behaviors. | Start to use new skills and behaviors at a sluggish pace. | Look for alternate ways of implementing the change. | Refuse to learn anything new or try new behaviors. |
How they contribute: | Lead the rest of the group. | Provide an undercurrent of movement from old behaviors to new. | Challenge decisions and raise risk points with managers. | May raise valid points about the process that should be fixed. |
How to manage them: | Give them space to learn and lead others. | Keep them moving forward by testing their progress. | Listen to them, but don’t give in to their demands. | Keep communicating with them until you convert them. |
How to leverage them: | Have them lead discussions and training sessions. | Use them as an example to forecast the state once the change is adopted. | Test new processes by having them try to poke holes in them. | If you can convert them, they will lead the Skeptics and Fence-sitters. |
Info-Tech Insight
Hone your stakeholder engagement strategy. Most people affected by an IT-enabled change tend to be fence-sitters. Small minorities will be enthusiasts, saboteurs, and skeptics. Your communication strategy should focus on engaging the skeptics, saboteurs, and enthusiasts. Fence-sitters will follow.
Info-Tech Insight
Communicate well and engage often. Agility and continuous improvement are good, but can degenerate into volatility if change isn’t managed properly. People will perceive change to be volatile if their expectations aren’t managed through communications and engagement planning.
Info-Tech Best Practice
The individuals best positioned to provide insight and influence change positively are also best positioned to create resistance.
These people should be engaged early and often in the implementation process – not just to make them feel included or part of the change, but also because their insight could very likely identify risks, barriers, and opportunities that need to be addressed.
3.2.1
30 minutes
Brainstorm potential implications and objections that executive stakeholders might raise about your new processes.
Dimension | Decision | Potential Impact, Implications, and Objections | Possible Responses and Actions |
---|---|---|---|
i.e. Default Project Ratio | 50% | “This can’t be right...” | “We conducted a thorough time audit to establish this ratio.” |
“We need to spend more time on project work.” | “Realistic estimates will help us control new project intake, which will help us optimize time allocated to projects.” | ||
i.e. Frequency | Monthly | “This data isn’t detailed enough, we need to know what people are working on right now.” | “Maintaining an update frequency of weekly would require approximately [X] extra hours of PMO effort. We can work toward weekly as we mature.” |
i.e. Scope | Person | “That is a lot of people to keep track of.” | “Managing individuals is still the job of the project manager; we are responsible for allocating individuals to projects.” |
i.e. Granularity of Work Assignment | Project | “We need to know exactly what tasks are being worked on and what the progress is.” | “Assigning at task level is very difficult to accurately maintain. Once we have mastered a project-level granularity we can move toward task level.” |
i.e. Forecast Horizon | One month | “We need to know what each resource is working on next year.” | “With a monthly forecast, our estimates are dependable. If we forecast a year in advance, this estimate will not be accurate.” |
Document the outcomes of this activity on slide 26 of Info-Tech’s Resource Management Communications Template.
3.2.2
30 minutes
Brainstorm potential implications and objections that individual staff and members of project teams might raise about your new processes.
Dimension | Decision | Potential Impact, Implications, and Objections | Possible Responses and Actions |
---|---|---|---|
i.e. Default Project Ratio | 50% | “There’s too much support work.” | “We conducted a thorough time audit to establish this ratio. Realistic estimates will help us control new project intake, which will help us optimize your project time.” |
i.e. Frequency | Monthly | “I don’t have time to give you updates on project progress.” | “This update frequency requires only [X] amount of time from you per week/month.” |
i.e. Granularity | Project | “I need more clarity on what I’m working on.” | “Team members and project managers are in the best position to define and assign (or self-select) individual tasks.” |
i.e. Forecast Horizon | One month | “I need to know what my workload will be further in advance.” | “You will still have a high-level understanding of what you will be working on in the future, but projects will only be officially forecasted one month in advance.” |
i.e. Allocation Cadence | Monthly | “We need a more frequent cadence.” | “We can work toward weekly cadence as we mature.” |
Document the outcomes of this activity on slide 27 of Info-Tech’s Resource Management Communications Template.
3.2.3
30 minutes
Brainstorm a plan to manage other risks and challenges to implementing your processes.
Dimension | Decision | Potential Impact, Implications, and Objections | Possible Responses and Actions |
---|---|---|---|
i.e. Default Project Ratio | 50% | “We have approved too many projects to allocate so little time to project work.” | Nothing has changed – this was always the amount of time that would actually go toward projects. If you are worried about a backlog, stop approving projects until you have completed the current workload. |
i.e. Frequency | Monthly | “Status reports aren’t reliably accurate and up to date more than quarterly.” | Enforce strict requirements to provide monthly status updates for 1-3 key KPIs. |
i.e. Scope | Person | “How can we keep track of what each individual is working on?” | Establish a simple, easy reporting mechanism so that resources are reporting their own progress. |
i.e. Granularity | Project | “How will we know the status of a project without knowing what tasks are completed?” | It is in the domain of the project manager to know what tasks have been completed and to report overall project progress. |
i.e. Forecast Horizon | One Month | “It will be difficult to plan for resource needs in advance.” | Planning a month in advance allows you to address conflicts or issues before they are urgent. |
Document the outcomes of this activity on slide 28 of Info-Tech’s Resource Management Communications Template.
Highlight organizational factors that necessitated the change.
Determine goals and benefits for implementation success.
Clearly indicate what is required of people to adopt new processes.
Download Info-Tech’s Resource Management Communications Template
"You need to be able to communicate effectively with major stakeholders – you really need their buy-in. You need to demonstrate credibility with your audience in the way you communicate and show how portfolio [management] is a structured decision-making process." – Dr. Shan Rajegopal (quoted in Akass, “What Makes a Successful Portfolio Manager”)
Once the strategy is adopted, the next step is to be prepared to address challenges as they come up. Review the tactics in the table below for assistance.
Challenge | Resolution | Next Step |
---|---|---|
Workers are distracted because they are working on too many projects at once; their attention is split and they are unproductive. | Workers are distracted because they are working on too many projects at once; their attention is split and they are unproductive. | Review portfolio practices for ways to limit work in progress (WIP). |
Employees are telling project managers what they want to hear and not giving honest estimates about the way their time is spent. | Ensure that employees understand the value of honest time tracking. If you’re allocating your hours to the wrong projects, it is your projects that suffer. If you are overallocated, be honest and share this with management. | Display employee time-tracking reports on a public board so that everyone will see where their time is spent. If they are struggling to complete projects by their deadlines they must be able to demonstrate the other work that is taking up their time. |
Resources are struggling with projects because they do not have the necessary expertise. | Perform a skills audit to determine what skills employees have and assign them to projects accordingly. | If an employee with a certain skill is in high demand, consider hiring more resources who are able to complete this work. |
See below for additional challenges and tactics
Once the strategy is adopted, the next step is to use the outputs of the strategy to reclaim capacity and ensure supply and demand remain aligned. Review the tactics in the table below for assistance.
Challenge | Resolution | Next Step |
---|---|---|
There is insufficient project capacity to take on new work, but demand continues to grow. | Extend project due date and manage the expectations of project sponsors with data. If possible, reclaim capacity from non-project work. | Customize the playbook to address insufficient project capacity. |
There is significant fluctuation in demand, making it extremely challenging to stick to allocations. | Project managers can build in additional contingencies to project plans based on resourcing data, with plans for over-delivering with surplus capacity. In addition, the CIO can leverage business relationships to curb chaotic demand. The portfolio manager should analyze the project portfolio for clues on expanding demand. | Customize the playbook to address large fluctuations in demand. |
On a constant basis, there are conflicting project demands over specific skills. | Re-evaluate the definition of a project to guard the value of the portfolio. Continually prioritize projects based on their business values as of today. | Customize the playbook to address conflicting project demands. Feed into any near- and long-term staffing plans. |
Industry Manufacturing
Source Info-Tech Client
“We were concerned that the staff would not want to do timesheets. With one level of task definition, it’s not really timesheets. It’s more about reconciling our allocations.” – PMO Director, Manufacturing
An effective pilot lowers implementation risk, enhances the details and steps within a process, and improves stakeholder relations prior to a full scale rollout.
Proactively plan for communicating responses and objections to show people that you understand their point of view and win their buy-in.
A matrix organization creates many small, untraceable demands that are often overlooked in resource management efforts, which lead to underestimating total demand and overcommitting resources. To capture them and enhance the success of your resource management effort, focus on completeness rather than precision. Precision of data will improve over time as your process maturity grows.
Draft the resource management practice with sustainability in mind. It is about what you can and will maintain every week, even during a crisis: it is not about what you put together as a one-time snapshot. Once you stop maintaining resource data, it’s nearly impossible to catch up.
Engagement paves the way for smoother adoption. An engagement approach (rather than simply communication) turns stakeholders into advocates who can help boost your message, sustain the change, and realize benefits without constant intervention or process command-and-control.
Trevor Bramwell, ICT Project Manager Viridor Waste Management
John Hansknecht, Director of Technology University of Detroit Jesuit High School & Academy
Brian Lasby, Project Manager Toronto Catholic District School Board
Jean Charles Parise, CIO & DSO Office of the Auditor General of Canada
Darren Schell, Associate Executive Director of IT Services University of Lethbridge
Develop a Project Portfolio Management Strategy
Optimize Project Intake, Approval, and Prioritization
Maintain and Organized Portfolio
Establish the Benefits Realization Process
Tailor Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects
Project Portfolio Management Diagnostic Program
The Project Portfolio Management Diagnostic Program is a low-effort, high-impact program designed to help project owners assess and improve their PPM practices. Gather and report on all aspects of your PPM environment to understand where you stand and how you can improve.
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