“Resource Planning in Project Management” on Smartsheet, September 15, 2025.
Using AI in Resource Planning
“I think AI has great potential to assist in estimating,” says Alan Zucker, Founding Principal of Project Management Essentials, LLC. “The challenge will be to feed the models ‘good’ data to make their estimates. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to link cost estimates to standardized deliverables.”
Another problem is that AI simply can’t replace the human side of resource management. Resource planning relies on soft skills, such as communicating clearly with team members, spotting signs of burnout, gauging realistic workloads, and understanding the nuances of individual strengths and work styles.
Balancing AI-driven insights with human judgment ensures plans are not only efficient but sustainable.
Resource Planning for Project Management Example
Zucker, whose primary experience is in managing large technology projects, says he uses a “bottom-up estimating technique” for resource planning in project management. “I estimate the planned resource allocation per month for each resource involved in the project,” he says. “After developing the high-level project schedule, each resource manager is asked to provide the resource allocations along with their hourly rate. The information is then entered into a spreadsheet, and cost estimates are calculated for each cost center. The cost centers are then used as the control accounts to track planned versus actual spending each month.”
Data Entry Errors: Problems with data accuracy can derail even the most carefully built resource plan.
Zucker recalls a meeting to review forecasts with the senior vice president of an organization of several hundred employees where data errors became an issue for resource planning. One director complained that the SVP’s “data was all wrong.”
“The estimates were well below what he expected,” Zucker recalls. “After the meeting, we reviewed the version log, and one of his managers entered percentages rather than whole numbers, so the plan was off by a factor of 10. The audit logs maintained the credibility of the process.”
In addition to keeping detailed audit logs, provide training to resource managers on correct data entry formats to reduce potential errors.
Avoiding Spreadsheet Chaos: When teams rely on static spreadsheets, updating and reconciling resource estimates becomes difficult. “The biggest challenge is managing the source data estimates provided by the resource managers during the planning process, and subsequent monthly or quarterly forecasting updates,” says Zucker. “When using a single spreadsheet, a significant amount of time was spent updating estimates and then reconfirming them with the resource managers.”