Resource managers have a maximum capacity too! What’s the ideal number of resources for them to manage if you want the best results from your team?
How many resources should a resource manager manage?
No, it's not just a tongue twister! This is a genuine question that many sector professionals have to consider.
Like the resources they look after, resource managers have a maximum capacity. Spread them too thin – with more resources than they can reasonably manage – and they won’t have time to work their magic. But give them too few resources to manage and you may be wasting budget on unnecessary overheads.
In professional service businesses especially, non-billable roles often need to justify their position in the organization. So what is the optimal number of resources to manage – so resource managers can drive resourcing efficiencies and workforce development, while adding value to the business?
Let's get into the numbers, and then break down the factors that impact the optimal balance of resource managers to resources managed.
Unsurprisingly, this is one of those ‘how long is a piece of string’ questions with no easy answer. However, there are ways to determine the right ratio, depending on your industry context, and the goals that resource managers are working towards in your organization.
It’s important to keep in mind that the resource manager role isn’t just about assigning tasks. They play a crucial role in aligning people with projects, optimizing resource utilization, and ensuring that workloads are balanced across teams. It’s all part of strategically managing the workforce to meet business goals.
To do this well, resource managers need time for key activities like assessing skills, forecasting future needs, capacity planning, and ensuring that resources are effectively deployed.
Overload them with too many resources to manage, and they won’t have the time to dig into the work that contributes to longer-term, strategic workforce development goals.
If you have a ratio of 300 to 400 resources per resource manager, for instance, there's no way that they will have the bandwidth to do much beyond the everyday, largely administrative work of assigning people to projects, crisis-managing the day-to-day resourcing conflicts and shortages caused by a lack of strategic planning.
Between 75 to 100 resources is generally considered more manageable, leaving resource managers with some capacity to take on more analytical and strategic initiatives.
But even this number isn't set in stone. As Laura Dean Smith, Director of Resource Management at Clarivate, tells us, the "right fit" ratio is extremely context-dependent:
A standard ratio is 75 to one resource manager. Using that as a starting point, you need to consider factors like: How quickly are your projects turning over? How many projects does one resource have at a time? Is it a global pool where all of the resources are shared? Or do you have dedicated pools of resources to certain areas and there's not a lot of sharing?
All of these different factors can play into what your ratio needs to be. A practice that has longer term projects could probably do a higher ratio. Most of our projects are between three to six months and there's a lot more turnover and project work. So it means we need a smaller ratio." - Laura Dean Smith, Director of Resource Management at Clarivate
Let's dig into the factors that will influence the ratio in your organization:
The optimal resource manager-to-resource ratio depends on several factors: from the nature of the organization and resources being managed, to the resource management maturity of the organization and tools available (In a rush? Skip to our factors cheat-sheet. Otherwise, get stuck into the details below ⬇️).
Industries with highly specialized resources – such as healthcare or technology – require more attention from resource managers to source, allocate, and develop talent.
In sectors with skill shortages, this becomes even more challenging, as resource managers must invest extra time into finding and nurturing the right talent, increasing their workload.
Specialized resources, such as IT professionals or engineers, require significantly more time to manage. Resource managers must assess project skill needs, identify the right talent, and address skills shortages. The demand for these specialized skills often outpaces supply, making it harder to find, develop, and retain the right people.
In contrast, more generic roles are easier to allocate across projects with less time spent on development and retention, reducing the complexity of management and improving efficiency.
Resource manager duties can vary depending on the organization's needs. Some may focus purely on allocating and scheduling resources, while others take on strategic responsibilities like capacity planning, scenario forecasting, and reporting on resource utilization.
In some organizations, resource managers also handle people management tasks, such as staff development. The broader the scope of their role, the fewer resources they’ll be able to manage.
Larger organizations come with more resources, projects, teams, clients, stakeholders, and interlocks. It’s exhausting just thinking about it, let alone coordinating it.
The bigger the business, the higher the complexity for resource managers. Organizations with multiple interdependencies between teams and departments require resource managers to spend extra time aligning resources across these functions. The more interlock reports, the more coordination is needed – and the less time RMs have for their resources.
If the business is expanding, undergoing transformation, or entering new markets, resource managers need to adapt quickly. This might involve managing more complex tasks, allocating additional resources, or adjusting to new priorities.
The resource manager’s ability to align resource allocation with the company’s strategic objectives is key to driving impact and ensuring the business stays on track.
High staff turnover forces resource managers to constantly recruit, onboard, and address resource gaps. This additional responsibility takes time away from more strategic tasks, making it harder to focus on optimizing resource allocation and leading to a heavier workload.
In contrast, lower turnover allows resource managers to focus on maximizing resource effectiveness.
In mature organizations with well-defined resource management processes, resource managers spend less time defending their position and trying to win people round. They can focus on doing the job they were hired for, as part of high-performing team.
However, in organizations with lower resource management maturity, managers often spend significant time resolving inefficiencies, working with outdated systems, or firefighting, leaving less time for actually managing resources.
Learn more: Raising the Bar: A Guide to Resource Management Maturity ➡️
Resource managers can handle more resources if they have access to modern software, data, and automation. Resource management software and project tracking systems streamline and automate manual tasks, make insights easier to gain, and provide historical data for more accurate forecasting.
Without these, resource managers are forced to rely on manual processes, clunky Excel spreadsheets, and gut feelings, which introduces risk and delays to the management process.
Want to maximize the impact of your resource management function and deliver ROI that speaks for itself?
Equipping your resource managers with a dedicated resource management platform like Runn increases their capacity by automating busywork, standardizing processes, and collating valuable data in one central location.
By giving them more oversight and visibility into resource activity, they can access the information they need to manage more resources and focus on strategic goals.
