Justification and Allocation: Why do we need proof?
“Doesn’t management see that we are all very busy? Are they
blind?” Well, yes they are, but not for the wrong reasons resources may think.
You see, senior/executive management must contend and deal with the bottom
line. They must contend with the organization meeting budgets regarding costs
and profits. If they are not meeting those numbers, even a utilization report
that proves resources are stretched beyond their breaking point will not
convince management to add staff. This is a realization that all resources, not
just Project Managers (PMs), must come to terms with. Now, if the organization
is meeting or somewhat exceeding their profits, then a utilization report proving
that additional resources will benefit the organization is justifiable. But
that is the only beginning.
What are the benefits?
The Implementation
Manager/Director must be able to not only justify the additional staff, but
make the case of increased revenues or reduced issues facing the organization.
An additional technical resource is easier to justify when reducing issues
because of specific development need or a specialized software or hardware that
does not exist in the organization. Most
likely this could be a temporary position until the project ends and can be
turned over to the client. However, let’s look at this as senior/executive
management would.
1.
Can we justify the additional budget?
2.
Can we justify the work or the effort?
3.
Is this a temporary or permanent position? (Hint:
a temporary position may be easier to attain)
4.
What specifically would that resource be working
on and why is that resource needed for that (or those) project(s)?
All of these questions must be answered, maybe not in the
order that I have suggested, but you must have an answer to all of them. And those
answers must specifically answer the one question: Can they prove to
senior/executive management that there is a justifiable reason that can be
defended?
Is this too much effort for the additional staff?
It better not be, or do not bother senior/executive
management with this request. You see, if you cannot justify the effort that is
necessary to attain a new resource, how can you convince management that a new
resource is necessary? So, what I am
trying to say is that the utilization system can be your best friend when it
comes to requesting additional resources. I believe that the utilization system
is worth the effort, even if there is more than one system. Make sure the system
that senior/executive management looks at is the one that has all of the
numbers in them on a weekly basis.
I look forward to your comments and I am sure that this
controversial topic will lead to many comments.
I am open to discussion at any time on these blogs or anything else related to project management you would like to explore. If you would like to comment about this blog, please do so by posting on this blog or by responding in an email at Benny A. Recine. You may inspire a blog article. I look forward to your comments.
Excellent observation about tracking the profit of the organization, but careful allocation of costs to clients and even specific projects will deliver a clear picture of where you are making money and where you are essentially paying the client to do their work.
ReplyDeleteTruly, this article is really one of the very best in the history of articles. I am a antique ’Article’ collector and I sometimes read some new articles if I find them interesting. And I found this one pretty fascinating and it should go into my collection. Very good work! oplossing kanker
ReplyDelete