How precise is your project planning? How satisfied are you with your organisation's utilisation of resources? And how can PPM support optimal resource utilisation? We dedicate the following blog post to the profile of the learning project organisation.

Read:

• What challenges organisations face in resource utilisation without PPM.
• How resource managers benefit from PPM
• How the entire organisation gains agility and performance through digitally stringent resource utilisation management
• Why many organisations are still hesitant to implement PPM despite all its benefits

Challenges of utilise resources without PPM

Every project organisation, regardless of its agile maturity, faces similar challenges. It is necessary to create forward-looking project plans, allocate resources, manage them as the project progresses, find optimal solutions across the entire project portfolio in the event of changes and coordinate them with all stakeholders. Professional project management is also characterised by the fact that learning from ongoing work flows into the further development of the project organisation. In many organisations, all of this is still managed with Excel sheets and personal communication, which means a lot of administrative work and, due to a lack of transparency, usually does not contribute to an optimal use of resources. 

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Goodbye Excel: The PPM advantages at a glance 

The complexity of project management and the continuous improvement of resource utilisation in particular can be managed consistently, dynamically, in real time and across roles and departments with PPM solutions.

The following advantages of PPM software contribute to the replacement of Excel as the dominant working tool in modern project organisations:

• User-friendly interfaces facilitate comprehensive, continuously updated resource management (personnel, costs, physical objects).
• Simple, multidimensional queries enable regular analyses of project activity
• Resource changes can be requested directly from those responsible in the software and subsequently initiated
• The utilisation of resources managed in PPM can be automatically adjusted and kept synchronised in other management systems (HR, Finance).
• Role- and department-specific reports and dashboards with actual/target comparisons facilitate effective resource coordination.
• In combination with a knowledge database, the allocation of staff to projects can also be optimised on a content-related level

The effects of improved resource utilisation with PPM

With PPM, you enter the digital era of project management. What cannot be mastered with Excel becomes your new working standard with PPM:  

1. Transparency
   Organisations that manage their resources with PPM get a complete overview of their costs, performance drivers and weak points.
   
   
2. Active resource management
   Risks of staff absenteeism or shortages of physical assets and premises, as well as cost overruns, are identified early on with a PPM solution. At the same time, alternatives can be identified for a good further course of the project.
   
   
3. Employee satisfaction
   An optimised utilisation of resources takes into account both quantitative and qualitative factors. Focusing on over- and under-utilisation of staff can reduce staff turnover and increase motivation.
   
   
4. Cross-departmental and cross-project consensus
   Objectified resource allocations promote a positive working atmosphere at management levels and thus also support the achievement of common strategic goals.
   
   
5. Accuracy in resource planning
   Thanks to the traceable and reusable documentation of resource utilisation, project management offices and resource managers can learn from historical data in project planning and plan much better.
   
   
6. Profit maximisation
   Focusing on the optimal utilisation of resources with PPM has a beneficial effect on all KPIs - up to and including higher profit margins.

Hurdles and opportunities on the way to a digital PMO

Why, despite all the advantages, has PPM not yet become more widespread in project organisations? Our thesis is: Professional PMOs are simply used to their existing, long-standing work processes and structures. Transferring these to PPM and moving to new ways of working therefore initially seems laborious. However, thanks to cloud solutions, the parallel use of PPM and existing tools is possible and has become a very attractive option for digital development for many organisations. It is not only organisations with internal project management challenges that have come to recognise and appreciate the benefits of using PPM to make the best possible use of resources.

Capture PPM Expert Insights 

Wenn Sie mehr zum optimierten Ressourceneinsatz mit ServiceNow  erfahren wollen, laden wir Sie herzlich ein, unsere multimediale Resource Library zu erkunden oder eine Live Demo mit unseren Consultants zu vereinbaren.

If you would like to learn more about optimising resource utilisation with ServiceNow , we invite you to explore our multimedia resource library or arrange a live demo with our consultants.

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