What is Resource Availability & How To Track It

Monitoring resource availability in project management is critical for keeping projects on track to meet the budget and timeline. This will also help you ensure proper resource utilization throughout the project life cycle, which can improve team member productivity and motivation.

Resource management software is the easiest way to track resource availability, and I'll cover the steps in more detail below, along with the benefits and challenges that come with tracking availability.

Need expert help selecting the right tool?

With one-on-one help, we guide you to your top software options. Narrow down your software search & make a confident choice.

Get free tool advice

What Is Resource Availability?

Resource availability describes the number of resources needed to complete a project and how much time each resource has to dedicate to project work.

Multiple factors determine resource availability. Let’s break each down for a closer look.

People Resources

Planning human resources is one of the most important resource forecasting tasks. It considers how project team composition aligns with project requirements. Consider the following questions to ensure that project team members are spending their time on the right things:

• People resource planning: Who is on your project team, and when are they available? Most employees work on multiple projects and have other responsibilities outside of your project. Do these team members have enough time to dedicate to your project?
• People resource availability: What other scheduling conflicts could arise and compromise your team’s efficiency? For example, unplanned or unstructured meetings can quickly drain time from valuable resources.
• Resource pool: Does the project scope exceed that of your team’s abilities? Are there skill gaps that need to be filled by members outside your team?

Is the project managing you?

Sign up to get weekly insights, tips, and other helpful content from digital project management experts.

• Your email*
• Hidden
  Consent
  • Yes, I want to sign up to receive regular emails filled with tips, expert insights, and more to build my PM practice.
• By submitting you agree to receive occasional emails and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. Protected by reCAPTCHA; Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
• Phone
  This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Other Project Resources

In addition to people resources, your project may also require material resources (supplies and other equipment), financial resources, and time. When planning other project resources, consider:

• Project tools: Do you and your team have all the tools (hardware, project management software, etc.) they need to complete the task? Can your team work around any delays in receivables?
• Financial resources: What is the budget for this project? Is the budget sufficient to accomplish the project tasks required? What other sources of funding, if any, may be available to offset project costs?
• Time resources: What are the deadlines associated with this project? Do the people, material resources, and financial resources align with the desired project schedule?

How To Track Resource Availability

Assessing resource availability comes before resource planning, but because project scope and schedules can change, it also needs to be tracked throughout the entire project. Here's how to do this.

1. Identify resources and their capacity: Make a list of the resource requirements for your project (people, tools, equipment, etc.) and resource capacity—how much time they have to dedicate to your project, based on their current schedule. Whenever possible, confer with subject matter experts about whether the financial and time resources allocated are sufficient to achieve the desired scope of work.
2. Track availability in a central place: Store this information in a central place, like your resource management tool. Resource management software has specific features for improving visibility and capacity planning that will make this process easier throughout your project.
3. Build a resource schedule: Map each team member's capacity on a resource calendar. Don't forget to include vacations or any other absences. You'll use this to build your resource management plan (as part of your project plan).
4. Monitor and adjust: Keep an eye on the availability of resources throughout the project. Scope changes and changes in availability are inevitable, so adjust your schedule or how you've allocated resources on a regular basis (e.g. due to sick days, changes in priorities, unforeseen resource constraints, or work on other projects).

Benefits of Tracking Resource Availability

Keeping an eye on resource availability is important because it directly impacts your ability to stay within the project's timeline and budget. Here are some of the other benefits of tracking availability:

• Improves scheduling: With a clear picture of who can work on your project (and when), you'll be able to build a more accurate project schedule and avoid resource conflicts.
• Prevents overallocation: If you measure resource utilization and know how much work each team member has on their plate, you'll be able to avoid overutilizing the team. They'll be more productive and motivated to meet goals and deadlines.
• Improves cost control: You'll know in advance whether you need to bring on freelancers or hire additional staff to meet the needs of the project. This will help avoid costly, last-minute hires that could break your project budget.
• Better risk management: You'll be able to foresee risks like schedule conflicts, sick days, or bottlenecks, and build contingency plans into your risk register for the project.
• Improves planning and decision-making: You'll be able to create a better project plan from the start, and make more informed decisions to adjust to scope or personnel changes.

Challenges That Affect Resource Availability

Like everything in project management, changes in resource availability can throw a wrench into your resource plan. Here are some of the main culprits affecting your ability to manage resources effectively.

• Unexpected absences: Team members might get sick or otherwise need to take time off work. They might also resign mid-project. If you were counting on a specific team member that's out sick or who has left the company, you'll need to find other available resources to make sure the work is still completed on schedule.
• Changes in priorities: Your organization is probably working on many projects at once, and projects typically shift in priority (e.g. due to an important client or an external deadline). In these cases, some of your team members might be pulled into work on other projects that you didn't account for.
• Budget constraints: You might be given less budget that you initially planned for, which will require you to get the work done with fewer resources, or, if you're burning through your budget too fast, you might need to pare back the team.
• Scheduling conflicts: When it comes to managing resources in a large organization with multiple project managers running different projects, you might run into scenarios where specific team members have been double-booked on multiple projects.
• Changes in resource demands: Changes in scope, budget, or timeline during the project might cause you to need more or fewer resources that you originally anticipated.

Resource Optimization Techniques

After a project manager has determined resource availability and allocated resources, it's important to keep track of resource management and optimize resource usage throughout the project. Here are a few common resource optimization techniques:

Resource Leveling

Resource leveling is a supply-versus-demand skill. It’s an analysis that helps project managers determine if their resources are effectively utilized. Resource leveling helps determine if current resources are sufficient to address new gaps in project requirements.

Resource Smoothing

Resource smoothing is a resource management technique that tries to reduce resource demand so a project can be executed within the timeline that was originally planned (unlike resource leveling, which changes the timeline). An example of resource smoothing might be engaging a more experienced person to complete project work in a shorter amount of time.

Resource Forecasting

Resource forecasting ensures that project managers have resources allocated to address any problems that might arise during a project’s life cycle or to execute future projects with similar requirements.

What's Next?

Want to connect with other digital project managers to share resources and best practices? Join our membership community and get access to 100+ templates, samples, and examples and connect with 100s of other digital project managers in Slack.