Resource Planning

Resource planning looks ahead. Before a project starts, or before a new portfolio period begins, someone must work out what resources will be needed, when and in what quantities, and then make sure they will be there. That might mean confirming which existing staff will be available, hiring or training people with missing skills, contracting outside help, buying equipment or securing budget. Without this forward view, projects discover shortages only when work is due to begin, and delays follow. Late discovery also limits the options, since there is rarely time to hire or train, leaving expensive contractors or postponed work as the only choices.

Resource planning works at different horizons. Near-term planning covers the next few weeks or months and deals with specific people and assignments. Longer-term planning covers the next year or more and deals with roles, skills and headcount. For portfolio leaders and IT finance teams, resource planning connects the portfolio's plans to workforce and budget decisions, making sure the organization can actually deliver what it has committed to.

Definition of Resource Planning

Resource planning is the forecasting of resource requirements for planned work, comparing them with expected availability and deciding how to close any gaps through staffing, scheduling, sourcing or changes to the plan.

It is one part of resource management and works closely with capacity planning, which compares total demand with total supply. Resource planning goes further by deciding how specific needs will be met.

Types of Resources Planned

People and skills are usually the most important resource, planned by role, skill, team or individual. Specialist skills that take a long time to hire or develop deserve the most attention.

Budget covers the money needed for labor, contractors, software, services and other costs over the planning period.

Equipment and facilities include hardware, test environments, laboratories and workspace that projects may need at particular times. Shared test environments are a common bottleneck in technology portfolios.

External resources include contractors, consultants and outsourced services that supplement internal capacity. Their lead times, contract terms and costs need to be planned as carefully as internal staffing.

Planning Horizons

Strategic resource planning looks one to three years ahead, estimating the roles and skills the organization will need to carry out its strategy, and informs hiring, training and sourcing plans. It is usually done with HR and finance as part of annual planning.

Portfolio resource planning looks across the coming quarters, matching resource requirements from approved and proposed work with expected availability.

Project resource planning looks at the specific roles and people a single project needs, phase by phase, and is usually captured in the project plan.

Plans at each horizon should be consistent, so that near-term assignments roll up into longer-term forecasts.

Importance of Resource Planning in Strategic Portfolio Management

Resource planning prevents shortages from delaying work. Identifying gaps months in advance gives time to hire, train or contract the people needed.

It makes portfolio commitments realistic. Plans that account for resource availability are more likely to be delivered on time.

It also supports workforce strategy. Forecasting the skills the portfolio will need shows where the organization should invest in hiring and development. It also shows which skills are becoming less important, so people can be retrained before their roles disappear.

Resource Planning and Financial Management

Resource plans translate directly into cost forecasts, since people and contractor costs make up most of the cost of change work.

Planning ahead allows organizations to choose lower-cost sourcing options, such as training existing staff or negotiating longer contractor agreements, instead of paying premium rates for urgent help.

Forecasts of equipment and environment needs support capital budgeting and help avoid unplanned purchases.

Comparing planned and actual resource use over time improves the accuracy of future plans and budgets. It also shows which teams or roles are consistently underestimated, so their estimates can be adjusted.

Common Challenges

Plans based on optimistic estimates or assumed availability quickly become unreliable, especially when people support existing systems as well as project work.

Long-range plans are uncertain, so they should be expressed in roles and ranges rather than named individuals and precise numbers.

Resource plans are often made in isolation by individual projects, leading to conflicts when several projects plan to use the same people at the same time. Combining project plans into a portfolio view is the only reliable way to see these conflicts in advance.