Efficient resource management is key to successful project planning. This article takes you through monday.com's resource management tools: Resource Directory, Resource planner, and Capacity manager. Learn how to define resource attributes, allocate resources, and track utilization across multiple projects to keep things running smoothly and on time.

 

Set up the Resource Directory 

To get started, set up the Resource Directory. This step lets you define assignees and placeholders for future resources, ensuring your project needs are fully covered.

 

Click on your profile picture and select "Resource Directory" right under Administration. Then, click on "Manage attributes" to define key resource attributes like job roles, skills, and locations. Within each category, create custom labels that reflect your organization’s specific needs. 

Match your team members to their attributes by assigning previously defined job roles, skills, and locations to each resource. 

 

Add a Resource planner 

The Resource planner is a tool for creating high-level resource plans and making informed assignments for each project.

 

The project board and the Resource planner serve distinct but connected purposes. The project board is where execution happens—it holds the individual tasks and details needed to drive the project forward. The Resource planner, on the other hand, operates at a higher level, helping you map out resource needs and assignments before execution begins. While tasks from the project board won’t appear in the planner, the two intersect in key ways: the planned timeline set in the Resource planner appears in the project overview, and assigned resources automatically show up first in the project’s People column. This ensures a smooth transition from planning to execution.

 

Once job roles are defined, creating a Resource Planner is simple—add it to a new or existing project with just a few clicks. 

If you're creating a project from scratch, click "+" from the left panel, and select "Project". After naming your project, make sure the "Resource planner" toggle is on before clicking "Create project".

A new folder will then be created for both a project board and its corresponding Resource planner.

You can also add a Resource planner to an existing project by clicking the 3-dots-menu on the right-hand side of the project plan board, selecting "Manage project capabilities", and then "Add resource planner" as so:

 

 

Add resources

In the Resource Planner, you can add assignees (known team members) or placeholders (future resources based on job roles) to each project. Use assignee if you know who will participate in the project. Otherwise, select a placeholder.

Click the "Add resource" button on the left side of the planner and select either "Assignee" or "Placeholder".

Choosing an assignee requires you to select a team member from the list. Choosing a placeholder requires you to select a job role from the list (as set earlier in the Resource Directory). You can add multiple assignees and placeholders as needed.

 

Each selected resource will appear on the left-hand side of the Resource planner.

 

Allocate efforts

Allocations specify the effort or total hours required for each resource. To add an allocation, click the "+" icon for a resource, set the "Effort" or "Total Hours" for each allocation, and drag the allocation bar to adjust the timeline. 

 

Change effort display

The Resource planner offers flexible effort display options, such as hours per day, hours per week, days per month, or FTE (full-time employee), catering to different planning preferences. 

By default, effort is displayed as "Hours per day", but you can adjust this in the top-left dropdown. 

 

While the total effort remains the same across displays, the effort values change according to the selected display logic. If the "Hours per day" are set to 4 h/d, the same allocation will show as follows, based on the selected display:

• 20 Hours per week = (4 h/d * 5 working days)
• 10 Days per month = (4 h/d / 8 hours a day) * 20 days
• 0.5 FTE = (4 h/d / 8 hours a day)

 

Edit the planned project timeline 

At the top of the Resource planner, set or adjust the planned project timeline for better resource forecasting. 

 

Add a Capacity manager

The Capacity manager consolidates multiple Resource planners into a single dashboard, offering an overview of resource utilization across multiple projects.

 

Now that resources have been allocated within Resource planners, it's time to connect them to a Capacity manager for a broader view of workload distribution. Here's how to do it: 

• Select "+" in the left panel, and select Capacity manager
• Name it and connect relevant Resource planners from multiple projects

 

Alternatively, you can create a Capacity manager directly from a Resource planner by clicking on the three-dot menu right under your profile picture, choosing "+Planning tools", and then "Create" next to the Capacity manager:

 

In the newly created Capacity manager, you can identify overloaded and underutilized team members. To resolve this, reassign allocations from a placeholder to an assignee or from one assignee to another by clicking on the three dots of the allocation and selecting "Reassign". Here, you can also add and delete resources and allocations as needed.

 

The maximum amount of effort a person can be assigned can be defined in the Capacity manager’s settings under “Capacity.” Here, you can switch between a Work schedule and “Custom”, which is hours per week. You can also see the utilization as a number showing the total effort allocated (hours) or percentage. This can be modified in the “View Settings.”

 

You can toggle between "View by people" and "View by projects". "View by people" displays each resource assigned to the planners connected to the Capacity manager, along with their utilization. Alternatively, "View by projects" shows the resource plans for each project linked to the Capacity manager.

 

Like the Resource Planner, you can adjust effort displays in the Capacity manager. The default effort estimation is set to "Hours per day".

 

Need to share this view externally? We got you—click the Excel icon in the top right corner to export the data. 

 

Connect your portfolio to a Capacity manager

Enhance resource planning across an entire portfolio by linking it to a Capacity manager. This would automatically include all Resource planners within a single portfolio, eliminating the need to manually select and maintain individual planners. Here's how to do it:

Choose a portfolio from the left pane, click on the three dots next to it, then "+Portfolio Components" and "Add" next to the Capacity manager.

 

Alternatively, navigate to your portfolio, click on the three dots at the top right corner of the screen, choose "+Portfolio Components," and then click "Add" next to the Capacity manager.

Once done, the portfolio Capacity manager will automatically include all Resource planners from the projects connected to the portfolio.

 

To sum up, the Resource Directory, Resource planner, and Capacity manager elevate your resource management. Whether you're assigning team members, managing placeholders, or tracking workloads at a portfolio level, these tools help you allocate resources effectively and keep your projects on track.

 

 

 

 

If you have any questions, please reach out to our team right here. We’re available 24/7 and happy to help.