Resource Managers aren’t new to the Project Management Office (PMO), yet many organizations still don’t fill this position. While their scope of responsibility varies from organization to organization, their primary focus is on governing the PMO’s most critical asset – its people. By having the right resources in the right places at the right time, you can complete projects and intelligently prepare for future ones.

The Role of the Resource Manager

A Resource Manager is typically someone who has a wealth of knowledge about how the PMO operates within the enterprise as a whole. Some organizations may have one person filling the position, while others may have more than one – depending on the maturity of their PMO.

Resource Managers:

  • Understand both the strategic and tactical goals of the organization. They work with the PMO Director and Portfolio Managers to ensure that resources are optimized to meet objectives.
  • Have an in-depth knowledge of where resources are located, what their skills are, and what tasks they’ve been assigned. They know what happens on the ground – not just what resources look like on paper.
  • Recommend where resources should be allocated and deployed. They manage limited resources on a daily basis, and they understand that needs are constantly changing.
  • Resolve issues and conflicts. Many Resource Managers are very talented at watching team dynamics, and they can help teams run more smoothly and efficiently.
  • Communicate performance goals, standards, and other relevant information to staff. Resource Managers typically have fantastic interpersonal skills and can relay advice or instructions effectively.
  • Make short- and long-term resource plans. They watch trends in the marketplace and within the PMO so that they can forecast what resources will be needed down the road.
  • Give decision makers a realistic understanding of what can be accomplished and what can’t. They know what standards the PMO can maintain and what delivery dates it can meet based on the skill-level of current staff.

The Benefits of Having a Resource Manager

Resource Managers don’t just help PMOs complete projects; they make sure that resources are allocated to the right places to meet the needs and goals of the organization. It’s extremely helpful to have one person – or more – focus on this task, instead of spreading it across the PMO, throughout various levels of management.

Resource Managers provide:

  • Consistency – When one person handles certain activities, like onboarding or messaging, the processes become more streamlined and straightforward.
  • Insight – Resource Managers are in the human capital business. They know it inside and out, with a focus on your organization. With this knowledge, they can make scheduling more realistic and locate holes in manpower – or skillsets.
  • Focus – Many managers throughout the PMO focus solely on reaching targets. Resources Managers, on the other hand, can take a step back from day-to-day PMO activities and watch other organizational goals, like staying on budget.

Empowering Resource Managers with Hammerhead

Hammerhead is Projility’s enterprise solution for analysis, insight, and reporting across the PMO. It works with Microsoft Project Online and Project Server to provide data on-demand via flexible, role-based dashboards. With Hammerhead’s full reporting library at their fingertips, Resource Managers can get the information they need to make smart assignments and decisions that can impact the efficiency of productivity of the PMO.

Hammerhead offers status reports and live project dashboards with health indicators so that Resource Managers can know how each project is performing. Aggregated information allows them to compare resources utilization across projects and portfolios within a couple of clicks. And with completely drillable links, they easily can delve into risks, scheduling issues, or budget shortfalls.

With access to the data and analysis they need, Resource Managers can truly help drive your PMO toward success. If you have any questions about whether or not a Resource Manager is right for your enterprise, give us a call. We’d love to help you reach your business goals.

Projility provides expert solutions for effective change. We offer enterprise portfolio and project management solutions based on Microsoft Project Server and Project Online, with tailored dashboard reporting, analytics, and decision-making tools via our Hammerhead technology. Projility also implements professional services automation systems established on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Project Service, and presents cloud-based strategies, migrations, and hosting solutions through Microsoft Azure. Contact us for more information.