Resource Management Identified as Top Project Management Challenge

New Research From PM Solutions` Center for Business Practices on "Resource
Management Challenges" Examines Widespread Practices and Their Impact on
Organizational Success
GLEN MILLS, Pa.--(Business Wire)--
The Project Management Institute (PMI) has long identified resource management
as a key element to project success in its standards guide. In spite of a
variety of published "best practices" guides and software solutions, however,
resource management issues continue to plague program and project managers. Now,
in a new report, the Center for Business Practices (CBP) confirms that not only
are resource management issues a challenge; they are the number one challenge
faced by project-centric organizations today.

"Given the complexity of effectively managing resources, we`re not surprised to
see that, in spite of the clear link between resource management and
performance, organizations continue to fall short in making it work for their
business," said Jim Pennypacker, director of the CBP.

According to the study, "Research Management Challenges",
http://pmsolutions.com/uploads/pdfs/Resource-Management-Challenges-Research-Summary.pdf
the top resource challenges that threaten organizational effectiveness include:

* Poor resource capacity planning
* Lack of appropriately skilled resources
* Unplanned resource requests
* Poorly optimized resource use
* Inaccurate effort estimations

Despite the fact that most organizations surveyed (74.4%) have immature resource
management practices, there is a bright spot. Findings show a strong correlation
between organizational performance and the organization`s level of resource
management maturity. Data reveals that for each performance measure studied,
organizational performance improves as the resource management maturity
improves.

The high-performing organizations identified in the study were significantly
more likely to practice resource management standards than those identified as
low-performing organizations. Standard practices used by high-performers
include:

* Resource career plans used to effectively utilize and train employees
* Information about potentially available resources used for estimating resource
types
* Staff assignments are effectively negotiated with functional managers
* Scope of work and resource data is used in estimating activity durations
* The organization has a centralized pool of resources
* "Resources required" is used to determine the duration of activities
* Project performance reports provide information on resource performance
* Resource leveling is used to keep resource usage constant
* Resource reallocation from non-critical to critical activities is used

According to Pennypacker, "This report gives valuable insight into the resource
management practices that correlate to strong business performance. By focusing
on organizational skills development, resource planning and forecasting, and
structure and staffing, organizations can use their resources wisely and feel
confident that their efforts will pay off for the business."

About PM Solutions & The Center for Business Practices

PM Solutions is a management consulting firm helping companies govern, manage,
measure, and resource their portfolio of projects to improve overall business
performance. The Center for Business Practices is the research and publishing
arm of PM Solutions, promoting effective strategy execution through research
reports, books, and benchmarking events that focus on sound portfolio, program,
project, and performance management. For more information, visit
http://www.pmsolutions.com.

"PMI" is a registered trademark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

For PM Solutions
Schubert Communications
Megan Maguire Kelly
Senior Public Relations Consultant
610-269-2100, ext. 225
mkelly@schubert.com
or
PM Solutions
Mary Yanocha
Director, Marketing & Communications
484-450-0102
myanocha@pmsolutions.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009