Process Improvement Resource Plan
This is a practical guide to building a resource plan for a process improvement project — the people and resources needed, when, and how they are allocated, adapted to the realities of improving an existing business process.
What a Resource Plan is
A resource plan is the people and resources needed, when, and how they are allocated. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Resource Planning. On a process improvement project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for a Process Improvement project
Process Improvement projects live or die on improving an existing business process. A well-built resource plan gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how process improvement projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- Roles and skills needed
- Allocation over time
- Capacity vs demand
- Resource calendar
Process Improvement-specific considerations
Tailor the resource plan to the risks that most often derail process improvement projects:
- Change resistance
- Measuring the baseline
- Scope discipline
Example
On a real process improvement project, the resource plan would be shaped by improving an existing business process. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — change resistance, measuring the baseline, scope discipline — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.