Resource Allocation
Prioritizing projects, however, is not the end of the task. The next challenge is to allocate resources properly. It is often difficult for organizations to understand they cannot manage as many projects as people have good ideas. Therefore, examine each project, starting with priority one, to see if too many projects share the same scarce resources. For example, if the same people who work on a high priority project are also involved in eight other initiatives, they will not be able to focus on the most critical project, and delivery will stall.
In addition to staffing and funding the high-priority strategic projects in this manner, each business unit also needs to have some discretionary project funding for small enhancements. This makes for a very effective managerial process. There is a trend emerging in project management that says that three concurrent activities is the maximum, beyond which meaningful progress falters. In addition recent research done by Scientific American has indicated the problems with multi-tasking.
To cope with resource allocation challenges, the role of Strategic Project Manager is emerging in organizations. With solid business acumen in addition to project acumen this individual keeps an eye on the project's value proposition, return on investment and resource allocations.
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