THE RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT
HANDBOOK
Understand scope, advantages, tips and tricks for
consulting and professional services industry.
CONTENTS
3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4 CHAPTER#1: UNDERSTANDING RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT FOR CONSULTING AND
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

7 CHAPTER#2: TIPS THAT HELP MASTER

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

11 CHAPTER#3: THE ROLE THAT CAPACITY

PLANNING AND DEMAND FORECASTING PLAY

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MANAGEMENT FOR YOU

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Billable hours are the backbone of every consulting firm’s

bottom-line. Thus optimising them is something you cannot
compromise with. This eBook aims at empowering resource
managers of the consulting and professional services space
with strategies that optimise their people and their projects.

The introduction touches upon the specifics of resource

management with respect to consulting and professional
services projects. The chapters that follow offer tips to
master resource management and capacity planning for the
industry. Along with conceptual explanations, the chapters
offer easy, action-oriented solutions that can be incorporated
by project teams.

Optimising processes and productivity levels gives us

unmatched satisfaction and through this eBook we would
like to do that for you!

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CHAPTER 1:
UNDERSTANDING
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
FOR CONSULTING AND
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Chapter 1:
Understanding Resource Management For Consulting And Professional Services

Resource Management refers to the scheduling,

utilisation and future allocation of resources onto
different organisational work.

When observed from the standpoint of consulting and

professional services, the same definition can be applied to
different scenarios such as, scheduling the right resource
for the right job, optimising non-billable hours, tracking
individual`utilisation and hiring for future projects.

For example, in a project that requires 20 hours onsite

functioning and 15 hours offsite support, effective resource
management not only involves resource allocation but also
includes making cost-conscious, skill-specific matches. As
for upcoming projects, it helps build comprehensive plans
such that your team of consultants are on-boarded before
the project tasks begin.

Although resource management has its own scope as a

methodology, given how it is compartmentalised with human
resource management and project management a lot of
confusion clouds clear understanding.

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Chapter 1:
Understanding Resource Management For Consulting And Professional Services

The following analogy is a simple way to put it in perspective:

,, HR management involves choosing the right seeds to

plant in your garden. Project management ensures
healthy growth of that plant. This includes everything
from watering it regularly to making sure that the soil
is fertile enough. Resource management optimises
all these processes so that you make the most of the
materials you purchase even as your plant gets your
best attention.

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

FUTURE
SCHEDULING UTILISATION ALLOCATION OF
RESOURCES

With the complexities and demands of consulting services,

this fairly simple sounding discipline snowballs into a universe
of convoluted cycles. So let us understand the nuances of
effective resource management and tips that help perfect
them.

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CHAPTER 2:
TIPS THAT HELP MASTER
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Chapter 2:
Tips that help master resource management

As per PMI’s Pulse of Profession 2017 Survey, only 26%

of companies claimed to have used resource management
to estimate and allocate resources.This is not a comfortable
number for the consulting industry since it is a well established
fact that resource optimisation and its resultant process
optimisation can directly add to your billable hours.

Here’s how you can start applying scientific resource

management:

1. Track utilisation and skillsets: While most organisations

track utilisation in terms of the time utilised for the entire
project, stringent procedures are often amiss to follow this
through on a weekly basis. Along with standardising the
tracking policy you have adopted, it pays off to automate
it and build it around optimising resource efforts in terms
of time commitment as well as skillsets. Such optimisation
also lets you evaluate your non-billable hours and alter
them such that they directly impact your bottom-line.
Overbooked schedules, a norm with consulting projects
often end up being counterproductive. On the other
hand, real-time hourly tracking and timely FTE-based
allocation can ensure that the workload is evenly divided
among your resources. Also the standard of utilisation
applied must not only do with a record of hours put in,
but also with that of full-spectrum skill utilisation, including
secondary skillsets.

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Chapter 2:
Tips that help master resource management

Only 26%
of companies
claimed to have
used resource
management
to estimate
and allocate
resources.

2. Centralised, real-time view: One of the biggest

roadblocks to effective resource management is the fact
that different teams adopt it with different databases,
thereby limiting visibility. A centralised system allows
multiple stakeholders to collaborate in real-time and
synchronise changes made to the schedule. Besides, with
a centralised view, information about resource allocation
does not remain limited and instead makes room for
seamless collaboration between team leaders.
Resource management for consulting projects involves
choosing the right resource to do the right job, even as
project requirements change. This means, finding the right
talent on a regular basis is of paramount importance. And
it goes without saying that unconditional visibility is the
way ahead.

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Chapter 2:
Tips that help master resource management

3. Compare booked vs actuals: In order to be precise

about your future allocation plans, it is important to draw a
scientific comparison between the history of your previous
resource bookings and the actual plans that are followed
through. In other words, it is a study of booked against
actuals. While dedicated tools can help you automate
these reports, you can also plug in an external timesheet
to record the difference. Over time, this comparison
is a great way to track the loopholes in your plans, plot
resource-centric roadblocks and avoid them.

4. Monitoring future capacity and demand: Sound

demand forecasting and capacity planning together make
the holy grail of resource management. Its precision directly
impacts the success of your projects. Understanding
the demands of your future projects involves having an
account of the sales funnel and your pipeline prospects.
Hands-on resource management helps tie in this demand
forecasting to capacity planning, that is, preparing teams
so that they are ready to get started with the project.
Such astute capacity planning is one of the most essential
aspects of resource management, especially for consulting
projects.
This whole process lets you on-board talent well in advance,
so that when your projects convert and the billing cycle
starts, you don’t have to waste time trying to find the right
resources. Considering the importance of these concepts,
the next chapter is an in-depth study of their different
aspects.

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CHAPTER 3:
THE ROLE THAT CAPACITY
PLANNING AND DEMAND
FORECASTING PLAY
Chapter 3:
The Role That Capacity Planning And Demand Forecasting Play

Drawing back to PMI’s Pulse of the Profession 2017 survey,

the study states that inadequate resource forecasting
contributes to about 23% cases of project failure.
This lack of resource forecasting can specially wreak havoc
with professional services as the more you delay hiring,
the slower you can start billing your clients. In addition to
points discussed in the previous chapter, here is an in-depth
understanding of demand forecasting and capacity planning.
Demand forecasting refers to understanding your future
demand as well as the nature of your upcoming projects. This
includes all project and non-project related work that your
team will be allocated onto. Demand forecasting factors in
the requirements in terms of the consultants you will need
as well as the output that they deliver.
Capacity planning refers to aligning the workforce with
the upcoming demand. This includes making sure that your
consultants are trained right, have the required skillsets and
are available for the timeline you are looking to place them
onto. Resource capacity planning allows you to design your
team as per the exact commitment levels you foresee.
Here are the advantages of these methodologies:
1. Make informed hiring decisions: Capacity planning
allows you to base your decisions on the data that is
generated from demand forecasting. As a result, you can
be proactive and precise about the resources you hire. In
addition, the costs of ad hoc hiring and firing of expensive
consultants can be restricted.

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Chapter 3:
The Role That Capacity Planning And Demand Forecasting Play

2. Retain valuable professionals: While you can hire

consultants for your on-demand projects, you will still need
a team of professionals who work with you full-time. In
order to retain them, you have to plan your capacity closely
with the demand you foresee and make sure that they
are optimally utilised, professionally challenged and are
satisfied with their duties. Accurate demand forecasting
gives you time and space to incorporate all this and more.
This helps retain employees and build a strong workforce.

Inadequate
resource
forecasting
contributes to
about 23% cases
of project failure.

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Chapter 3:
The Role That Capacity Planning And Demand Forecasting Play

3. Enjoy an increase in profit margins: When you structure

your team building on scientific forecasting and planning,
your overall profitability will see a boost since you will
spend less on resource hiring, firing and on-boarding.
Besides, you are likely to see an increase in positive
customer experiences, given how your consultants will
be at their best too. As a result, you can see it lead to
repeat business. Most importantly, you can see your team
transition into one billable task from another, thereby
minimising process-driven roadblocks.
4. Diversify your workforce: Accurate demand forecasting
enables you to be strategic about diversifying your
workforce. A good understanding of upcoming projects
will help you create the right mix of full-time, part-time,
contract and freelance resources, so that you have a
workforce that perfectly suits your demand.

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ACHIEVE MORE WITH LESS:
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
FOR YOU
Saviom is a leading global provider of intuitive Enterprise
Resource Management and Workforce Planning solutions.
Saviom Enterprise Resource Management Software is
designed to help consulting and professional services firms
simplify their resource management cycles and maximise
their profitability.
Its sophisticated Gantt chart, advanced skill-based filters,
booked vs. actual reports, utilisation reports, capacity vs.
demand reports, among other features ensure that you can
resource manage your consulting projects with intuitiveness
and real-time intelligence that are tailor-made for your
project.
Clients include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Grant Thornton,
FTI Consulting, Alixpartners, Right Management, RaboBank
and many other multinationals from over 50 countries.

Explore Saviom’s popular

resource management
solution by scheduling a
quick demo today.

Book a demo now

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