Essential Features of Resource Management Software
Resource, project, and operations managers rely on resource management software to balance workloads, plan, and respond quickly to change. The right platform connects capacity, schedules, and actual work so leaders can staff with confidence, reduce delivery risk, and scale planning without adding manual effort.
Here are some features that are important for effective resource management software:
- Capacity Calendars: Capacity calendars set availability and define when people can work. This sets realistic expectations and creates a practical planning baseline. Capacity calendars factor in work hours, holidays, time off, and part-time schedules so plans reflect actual limits. Clear availability prevents overcommitment and exposes overload risk before it affects delivery.
- Scheduling Views: Visual timelines show how work is distributed across people, projects, and teams. These views make it easier to assign, shift, and rebalance effort as priorities change. Strong scheduling views help managers resolve conflicts quickly and keep plans aligned with real timelines.
- Utilization Tracking: This feature allows users to see workload rations and compare demand to capacity over time while ensuring that teams are performing optimally without being either underworked or overworked. These insights highlight the risk of burnout and can reveal long-term trends. Precise utilization data supports smarter staffing decisions and helps teams maintain sustainable performance levels.
- Time Capture: Tracking effort provides reliable data into where time is spent. Accurate records improve forecasting estimates and support accountability.
- Forecast Scenarios: Resource management software should have forecast models that can test demand before committing resources. By adjusting staffing levels, dates, or priorities, leaders can spot gaps early and plan responses. Scenario planning reduces last-minute tradeoffs and supports calmer, more informed decisions.
- Skills Matching: Capability alignment connects work with the right experience and role fit. Matching tasks to skills ensures better quality work is delivered more efficiently. Clear skill visibility also helps balance workloads fairly and build more predictable project outcomes.
- Project Linkage: Resource management software should be able to connect plans and work schedules, keeping them updated as projects evolve. When changes flow automatically from tasks or phases, teams avoid manual updates and stale data. This linkage keeps priorities, capacity, and delivery timelines aligned.
- Dashboards Reports: Summarized views translate complex resource data into clear signals for leaders. Dashboards support fast health checks, while reports enable deeper trend analysis. Strong visibility helps teams act on facts rather than assumptions or informal status updates.
- Integrations Governance: Connected systems reduce double entry and keep data consistent across tools. Governance controls such as permissions, approvals, and audit trails protect sensitive information. Together, these features support scale, trust, and disciplined planning as usage grows.
Smartsheet
Resource Management by Smartsheet is an intelligent work management platform that helps project managers and operations leaders align team capacity with schedules and work. Managers plan staffing and respond to change using workload tracking, capacity view, skill-based assignments, and time tracking that feed portfolio-level dashboards and reports.
Smartsheet Features:
- Workload panel links sheets with resource plans
- Schedule timeline supports drag-and-drop resource assignments
- Capacity view highlights team bandwidth and conflicts
- Time tracking captures planned versus actual hours spent on different tasks
- Skill tags to help match people to work
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Smartsheet ties project plans, people, and demand into one resource layer so leaders can see who works on what, when, and for how long. Its intelligent work management features connect people, AI, and data to make resource management more effective. Teams plan hiring and assignments with clear load views, week-by-week schedules, and built-in time records that roll into simple, shareable portfolio dashboards.
Smartsheet has a few tradeoffs for planners. Long-range capacity checks meet report limits and need exports or extra sheets. Filtered views do not recalculate capacity, so scenario tests rely on live edits or copied plans. Skill tracking may stay in separate lists, and teams rely on templates and admin rules.
Asana
Asana is a work management platform that helps teams plan projects, track work, and balance capacity. It shows your workload across projects and helps managers build high-level capacity plans, record time spent on different tasks, and create dashboards that show real-time utilization trends.
Asana Features:
- Workload view that supports hours, points, or custom units
- Drag-and-drop feature to move tasks and rebalance workloads
- Capacity plans that allocate people across projects by hours
- Time tracking that records planned and actual task effort
- Reporting dashboards to visualize capacity, hours, and utilization trends
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Asana helps teams plan projects, coordinate work, and keep capacity in view. Leaders use workload views, extended range staffing plans, and simple time logs to shift assignments, make tradeoffs, and see who can take more work, all with better data.
Asana works well for teams that already plan and track work, and care more about shared visibility than strict modeling. You may still pair it with deeper scheduling, complex calendars, or detailed timesheets when running heavy forecasts or high-stakes staffing.
Float
Float is a resource management and scheduling tool for professional services teams. It provides a centralized location to plan, staff, and track work. It integrates global talent intelligence, automated time logs, and project estimation so managers can match people to work, monitor margins, and adjust plans with shift-logic automation.
Float Features:
- Intelligent scheduling with shift logic and conflict alerts
- Global talent intelligence with cross-office tagging and availability
- Automated time logs and pre-filled planned-versus-actual reporting
- Unified project estimation with role-based scoping and margins
- Direct AI-powered querying and integrations via the protocol
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Float streamlines workflows for agencies, professional services, and other project-based teams that prioritize people. It links staffing, availability, time logs, and project budgets in one place, so leaders can view workload, profitability trends, and delivery risks as they adjust plans.
Float prioritizes clear weekly plans and simple views rather than deep analytics or strict control. Reporting, rates, and permissions work well for many mid-sized teams but may feel light for complex billing or portfolio needs, so some groups outgrow it as their structure and scale increase.
Forecast
Forecast is an AI-native project, resource, and financial management system for professional services teams. It connects CRM pipeline data with project plans, staffing, time, and profit information, so managers can staff from real capacity, shape schedules from tasks, and read portfolio health in near real time.
Forecast Features:
- CRM links the sales pipeline with delivery capacity
- Unified project, resource, and profit tracking
- Auto Schedule builds plans from task dependencies
- AI-suggested timesheets convert work into forecast data
- The portfolio view connects plans to financial outcomes
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As a resource and project hub, Forecast provides a centralized view of projects, people, and money. Managers sketch demand, apply capacity rules, and lean on intelligent scheduling to staff work, follow health, and see how time, skills, and scope choices affect delivery risk and profit.
Forecast works best when teams keep data clean and roles clear; precise forecasting may require a high level of data maturity. Tradeoffs appear in how it handles views, controls, and setup. Timelines might change with automation and AI, and role rules need careful tuning.
GoodDay
GoodDay is a work and project management tool that gives clear workload visibility, flexible timelines, and strong resource planning views. Managers use workload and resource allocation boards, multi-mode capacity planning by hours or tasks, and integrated time tracking with analytics across projects.
GoodDay Features:
- Multi-level workload boards for projects, teams, and individuals
- Resource allocation timelines show capacity by project
- Planning modes for tasks, hours, and story points
- Auto, manual, workday-based time allocation controls
- My Work and integrated time tracking streamlines execution
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In GoodDay, managers plan work and people while moving between timelines, lists, boards, and workload views without losing context. They schedule tasks on contextualized timelines, monitor capacity regularly, and rely on a single structure that ties projects, goals, and daily work together.
GoodDay has dense resource views that may make it difficult to view controls. The mobile app omits some actions, and workload boards emphasize near-term weeks, so leaders must handle long-range planning in other ways.
Hub Planner
Hub Planner is a resource management and project scheduling tool that helps teams plan capacity, assign work, and track time in one place. Managers can use its visual scheduler, capacity finder, skills tagging, and detailed reports to balance workloads and plan projects..
Hub Planner Features:
- Smart scheduling board groups resources by team views
- Capacity Finder and heat maps flag overbooking
- Embedded timesheets feed project and utilization analytics
- Skills matching uses tags, custom fields, and smart groups
- Vacation, TOIL, and approval workflows safeguard availability plans
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Hub Planner gives teams a shared view of people, projects, and time so planners can see who is busy, shift work in a live timeline, and collect actual effort. The same workspace supports planning, simple forecasting, and recurring reports on delivery health.
Teams may face friction in a few areas: mobile planning can feel limited, complex reports often get exported, and detailed resource reviews can lose filters or context between bookings and timesheets.
Resource Guru
Resource Guru is a resource scheduling and capacity planning tool used by teams that want a single schedule for people, projects, and assets. It supports drag-and-drop bookings, shared leave management, and utilization reporting that connects forecast demand with confirmed availability.
Resource Guru Features:
- Central schedule for people, projects, and assets
- Capacity planning with utilization targets and heatmaps
- Leave management that links time off and availability
- Calendar integrations sync bookings with Google and Outlook
- Project rates and budgets tied to schedules
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Teams use Resource Guru to maintain a clear schedule for people, projects, and shared assets while juggling client work. Managers see who is free, who has leave, and which projects need attention. Then they can shift bookings according to current workloads and review simple reports that link future demand with actual hours.
That lean approach creates tradeoffs for some teams. Reporting helps most managers but lacks native BI power, and schedules do not support logic-based Gantt links. Some changes still require manual rebalancing, and bulk admin edits can feel slow for larger groups.
Runn
Runn is a real-time capacity planning and forecasting tool for project-based teams that want one place to view work, people, and profit. It connects visual planners, skills, placeholders, and live reports so leaders can match demand, avoid burnout, and decide when to hire.
Runn Features:
- Real-time planner views merge capacity and work
- Capacity and utilization dashboards highlight risk trends
- Placeholder roles capture pipeline demand before staffing
- Skills inventory and levels guide staffing decisions
- Timesheets and Chrome tracker record project effort
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Runn offers a focused mix of resource planning features, including shared people timelines, pipeline-aware forecasts, skills-based staffing views, and simple margin insight. Teams sketch plans, adjust load in real time, and see how hiring, leave, and scope shifts affect delivery and profit before they commit.
There are tradeoffs that become clearer as teams grow. Runn leaves detailed task flow to tools like Jira, favors laptop use over phones, and uses CSV for many bulk edits. Placeholder history might drop from some metrics.
Scoro
Scoro is a professional services automation platform that connects projects, resources, and financials. It supports high-level capacity planning through bookings and utilization reports, while quote-to-project flows and real-time dashboards tie staffing choices directly to delivery performance.
Scoro Features:
- The bookings module centralizes forward capacity planning
- Utilization reports blend bookings, tasks, and time entries
- Planner filters unscheduled tasks by priority
- Quote-to-project flow preserves resource assumptions
- Dashboards connect workload, revenue, and margin in context
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Scoro brings projects, people, and money together so service teams can plan workloads and track results in one place. Resource managers see bookings, calendars, and live work side-by-side, enabling coordinated staffing decisions across sales, delivery, and finance rather than juggling separate tools for planning and reporting.
High-density views can hide task details, and report stacks often need hands-on admin care. Some data elements are inflexible, and global firms still look elsewhere for large-scale planning.
Best Operations Management Software Comparison Table
Platform | Capacity Calendars | Scheduling Views | Utilization Tracking | Time Capture | Forecast Scenarios | Skills Matching | Project Linkage | Dashboards Reports | Integrations Governance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Platform | |||||||||
| Smartsheet | Capacity view with calendars, availability, and allocations | Schedule plus allocation heatmap and capacity view | Utilization reports, allocation heatmap, and role availability | Timesheets, expenses, approvals | Placeholders and capacity forecasting view for staffing | Skill-based assignments for better staffing | Sheets drive assignments; intake via forms | RM reports plus Smartsheet dashboards | SSO options, Smartsheet integrations, and connectors |
| Asana | Weekly capacity per person; percent or hours | Workload view, drag and drop rebalance | Effort uses hours or custom points | Native task time tracking (estimated vs actual) | Capacity planning across future periods | Custom fields for roles and attributes | Workload aggregates tasks from projects contained in portfolios | Reporting and portfolio dashboards | Admin controls plus a broad integrations marketplace |
| Float | Personal schedules plus time off types | Drag and drop schedule by person or project | Live capacity bars and overbooking warnings | Pre-filled timesheets and time logs | Placeholder feature that can be marked with status and dates | People tags for skills; role management | Projects and tasks feed the schedule | Utilization reporting and profitability views | Integrations with people, project, and finance systems |
| Forecast | Role capacity planning using placeholders | AI-assisted resource planner with role allocation suggestions | Real-time utilization reports for stakeholders | AI-powered timesheets for reporting and invoicing | AI insights for forecasting billable hours | Placeholders represent role or skill demand | Projects connect resourcing, time, and financials | Reporting foundation for forecasting decisions | Approvals workflow plus integrations and notifications |
| GoodDay | Capacity vs workload in planning views | Task workload timeline plus project allocations | Capacity vs workload with delivery dates | Daily, weekly timesheets, timer, guesstimates | Project allocations support forward delivery planning | Assignee-based planning; no dedicated skills matrix | Tasks and projects drive workload planning | 20 plus views; time and workload reports | Integrations with Google apps, Slack, and calendars |
| Hub Planner | Vacation and PTO in the scheduler | Resource-centered scheduler with visual availability indicators and customizable views | Capacity gaps and overbooking visibility | Timesheets compare scheduled vs actual | Capacity planning with project planning | Skills matrix with skills matching search | Projects and clients drive schedules | Dashboards, reports, analytics | SSO options, Zapier, and REST API support |
| Resource Guru | Work hours plus leave tracker context | Flexible schedule with saved views | Capacity obvious; bookings vs availability | Auto-filled timesheets; approvals | Placeholders for roles; tentative bookings | Custom fields like skills to filter schedule and find resource | Projects and clients drive bookings | Scheduled vs actual hours reporting | Calendar and tool integrations keep aligned |
| Runn | Capacity management with availability views | Resource scheduling plus project planner | Comparison of planned vs actual hours (and revenue effect) with forecasting insights | Timesheets and actual hours tracking | Forecasting with placeholders for demand | Role placeholders for staffing needs | Connects scheduling, forecasting, and project financial metrics | Reporting for capacity, forecasts, and financials | REST API, Harvest sync; native integrations |
| Scoro | Role capacity with time off included | Bookings heatmap, tentative and fixed bookings | Utilization from time logs; billable split | Time tracking, feeding billing, and utilization | Capacity forecasting with financial context via utilization and project financial reports | Role bookings and forecasting visibility via heatmaps and utilization reports | Projects connect budgets, quotes, and invoices | Real-time project performance reporting | QuickBooks and Xero accounting integrations |
How to Choose the Best Resource Management Software
To choose the right resource management software, look at how your teams plan, staff, and adjust work. Define a framework to identify needs and list core resourcing goals. Use real staffing scenarios to compare how well each platform supports planning. Prepare questions to gather information from your teams and from vendors. Finally, run structured trials.
- Define an Evaluation Framework
Begin by mapping your current resource planning process across projects, teams, and timelines. Identify where availability is unclear or where schedules are unreliable. These gaps usually reveal the strongest need for a dedicated solution.
Next, document your core resourcing goals — these can include reducing burnout, improving forecast accuracy, increasing utilization consistency, or supporting growth. Rank these goals by business risk and operational impact to keep evaluations focused.
Identify key stakeholders involved in or affected by staffing decisions. These may include resource managers, project leads, operations leaders, finance teams, and team members themselves. Ask each group to describe their main challenges with planning and resource management and what kind of data or visibility would help them when making decisions.
- Establish Evaluation Criteria and Test Scenarios
Use real planning scenarios instead of generic demos. Recreate a typical month or quarter that includes overlapping projects, time off, shifting priorities, and new demand. Test how each platform handles capacity changes, schedule updates, utilization visibility, and forecast adjustments.
Evaluate how quickly plans update when work changes, how clearly overloads appear, and how much manual effort is required to keep data accurate. Pay close attention to whether the system automatically reflects real work or requires constant upkeep to stay useful.
- Ask Vendor Questions
Vendors can help clarify how their platforms handle capacity, utilization, and forecasting under real operating conditions. Some planning limits may not be evident during demos or trials. Here are some questions you can ask vendors:
- How does the system calculate capacity and utilization across roles and time periods?
- Can we model future demand using placeholders or multiple forecast scenarios?
- How do schedule changes affect utilization and forecast accuracy?
- What happens when actual time differs from planned allocations?
- How are permissions handled for rates, capacity, and sensitive data?
- Ask Internal Questions
The people who plan, adjust, and rely on resource data must be able to work with the software every day. A platform that does not support real planning behavior will increase manual work and reduce trust in forecasts. Here are some questions to ask your internal team:
- Where do our current resource plans break down most often?
- How far ahead can we realistically plan with confidence?
- Which roles or skills are most challenging to staff accurately?
- What data do leaders need to trust utilization and forecasts?
- How often do managers rebalance work, and why?
- What level of planning detail will teams actually maintain?
- Suggested Evaluation Steps and Timeline
Shortlist two or three tools and run a structured trial using the same real planning scenarios. Assign a small cross-functional group to test capacity setup, scheduling changes, utilization views, forecasting behavior, and reporting clarity over a defined period.
Compare the products that required the fewest workarounds, stayed accurate as plans changed, and remained easy to maintain. Summarize the findings, trade-offs, and adoption efforts in a clear recommendation to support final decision-making.
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Resource Management FAQs
Resource management software helps businesses plan long-term resource capacity. It details availability and utilization. Leaders use this information to assign the right effort, forecast demand, and adjust plans as priorities change. Resource management supports predictable delivery and sustainable workloads across teams.
The difference between resource management and project management is their focus. Project management tracks tasks, timelines, and deliverables. Resource management focuses on people, capacity, and skills across multiple efforts. This helps leaders balance workloads, plan, and staff work realistically as demand and priorities shift.
Resource management software typically manages people, including employees, contractors, and shared roles. It manages their time and tracks availability. It also tracks skills, workload, and billable versus non-billable effort. Some tools extend this to manage project demand, placeholders for future hires, and capacity across teams or departments.
Core features to look for in resource management software include capacity calendars, scheduling views, utilization tracking, time capture, and forecast scenarios. You should also look for skills matching, project linkage, clear dashboards, and strong integrations. These features keep plans accurate, scalable, and trusted as work and priorities change.
Disclaimer: The information found in this comparison article is sourced from vendor websites, community boards, and some third-party user reviews. AI tools were used to help conduct research.