Even the most successful project manager may constantly meet with the pressure of delivering more in less time. How often do you face squeezing in the crazy amounts of work within limited time frames and budget?

The art of resource management requires many things, including professional skills, high-performing teams, experience and applying smart online project management software.

Having improved your resource management you’ll avoid negative consequences which may affect the overall project performance and will ease your pain points.

This post will be helpful if you’re on a hunt for appropriate resource management tools.

What is resource management?

Resource management is a process that ensures managing various business resources effectively. The managed resources can be

  • intangible (people and time)
  • tangible (materials, equipment, finances)

In addition, they may be:

  • obtained internally or procured from external sources
  • consumable or re-usable

Resource management means planning so that the right resources are assigned to the right tasks. The process involves clear schedules and budgets.

Resources in project management

Resource management in reference to project management means resource leveling and smoothing.

Effective leveling might extend the project timeline. It assists to avoid shortages or excess inventory and provides the stock of resources at the level that avoids these problems. In order to determine that level, you should apply specialized resource planning software.

Resource plan

Any resource plan has to:

  • schedule all necessary dates for using the planned resources.
  • define the number of resources that are required per each project activity.
  • provide detailed resource use schedules.

How to choose the best resource planning tool

What criteria should be considered while comparing resource management software?

  • UI (User Interface). Pay attention to how it is well-designed.
  • Usability. Check if the resources management system easy to learn and master and if there are tutorials and training.
  • Functionality. A good resource management tool should have scheduling and allocation features, skills tracking, forecasting system, utilization management option and so on.
  • Integration ability. Care about a possible connection with other tools.
  • Value for cost. How appropriate the price for its features is.

Best resource planning software

Here’s a brief overview of the 5 best resource management software.

Teamweek

This is a browser-based easy to implement resource management platform that is packed with effective features. Teamweek enables project managers to properly plan and manage their resources.

You’ll get intuitive drag and drop resource assignment, allocated hours and smart reporting system. You’ll be able to use task import from different third-party apps (Trello or Github).

Float

If you represent an advertising agency than Float is the best solution for you.

The online resource management tool provides all the necessary features project managers need to plan their resources smoothly. Fast editing, simple assignment, live updates, holiday management, and other smart features can be found here. Convenient reporting can be customized according to the requirements of departments, projects, tasks, and resources.

Saviom

Saviom will professionally assist you in boosting efficiency and project performance. This smart resource scheduler knows exactly how to correct work imbalances instantly.

You’ll get a great resource planning module and the accompanying dashboard which integrates with other business tools. You will be able to sync resource and project schedules across your company.

Saviom is designed to unify project and resource workflows for resource managers hard-pressed for time.

Mavenlink

The popular project management software also provides its users with a powerful resource planning option.

You’ll not find here the full set of standard resource planning features, but some elements of Mavelink functionality look really attractive. For example, the resource shaping tool that allows users to define a resource’s workweek and automatically book availability.

Resource Guru

The name of this product speaks for itself. Resource Guru is an old player on the market.

It is a favorite with companies and agencies working with multiple clients. The most attractive features are filtering, easy resource allocation, checking team availability, reporting, time zones and other customization options.

Thanks to Resource Guru, project managers get a bird’s eye view of resources’ availability, their clients and projects.