Are you observing a decline in productivity, resulting in sub-par project outcomes?
Do you struggle to secure the right resources before project kickoff, leading to last-minute firefighting?
Have you noticed a surge in bench size in your firm, leading to a loss in revenue?
If the answer to the above questions is yes, then it indicates an ineffective resource scheduling process in your firm. This can result in double bookings, over/underutilized resources, undesirable hiring/firing, low staff morale, improper planning of pipeline projects, etc.
Therefore, it is crucial for companies to establish an effective scheduling system to maximize the full potential of their employees. This, in turn, will help organizations maintain profitability and sustainability.
This blog discusses the effective methods organizations can implement to improve project resource scheduling and how the SAVIOM ERM tool can help.
Let’s begin!
Table of Contents
2. Why is resource scheduling important in project management?
Resource scheduling is an essential process of project management that enables firms to identify and allocate skilled personnel to projects for a specific period. Moreover, effective scheduling helps project managers evaluate the workforce needed in advance and communicate the same to the resource manager. As a result, they can create a comprehensive capacity plan to address the gap.
In addition, efficient scheduling enables managers to consider the resources’ skills, capacity, cost, time-offs, vacations, etc. This ensures the right resources are allocated to appropriate projects at the right time and cost. Thus, it prevents booking conflicts and schedule overruns, leading to successful project delivery and enhanced profitability.
Besides, it allows managers to track the workforce utilization levels and take remedial measures in case of deviations, thereby minimizing overbooking and burnout.
Lastly, when there is a sudden ramp-up of resources in a project or unexpected changes in the project scope, budget, and timelines, efficient resource scheduling allows managers to bulk-book the workforce to meet the requirements. This ensures seamless execution of projects.
Having understood the benefits, let’s explore the best strategies to improve resource scheduling for projects.
3. 5 strategies for efficient project resource scheduling
Here are a few effective methods organizations can follow to improve their scheduling process:
3.1 Create a WBS to define the tasks & resource requirements
The first step in effective resource scheduling is to create a WBS (work breakdown structure), which gives a comprehensive list of all the tasks to be completed. Then, the managers must define the task dependencies and the skill sets required to complete it. For instance, developing a new e-commerce platform project can be broken down into stages like planning, analysis, designing, developing, and testing.
These tasks may require resources like designers, analysts, developers, testers, etc. Accordingly, project managers can determine employees’ required quantity and quality and place the requests. This will help effectively plan projects and provide enough lead time for resource managers to fulfill the requests.
3.2 Gain centralized visibility of resources
Matrix organizations have resources spread across the globe, working in different time zones. However, when managers lack visibility into the organization-wide workforce and their attributes, it can lead to incompetent resource allocation and booking conflicts.
To avoid this, managers must have a holistic view of resources and their attributes like skills, competencies, availability, leaves, etc. This will enable managers to identify cost-effective global resources and schedule suitable people for projects at the right time and cost, resulting in successful project delivery.
3.3 Foresee and bridge capacity vs. demand gaps
Most of the organizations use spreadsheets and home-grown solutions to schedule resources. However, these systems lack forecasting capabilities that can eventually lead to approximations and guesstimations of future project resource demand. Therefore, managers must have foresight into pipeline project demand to effectively identify the shortage and excess resources.
Based on the insights, they can take preventive measures like training, upskilling, out rotation and backfill strategy, and hiring initiatives for the shortages. Conversely, for the excess, they can bring forward project timelines or train and sell the extra capacity. In this manner, companies can prevent the need for last-minute expensive hiring and ensure the availability of appropriate resources at the start of a project.
3.4 Optimize resource schedules as required
According to a FlexJobs survey, 75% of professionals experienced burnout due to workplace stress.
Employees in an organization can encounter burnout due to work overload, unrealistic deadlines, etc. Therefore, to avoid this, it is essential for firms to optimize the schedules of their workforce to ensure even workload distribution. For this, managers must check the capacity and availability of the employees before allocating them to tasks or projects.
Moreover, managers must regularly monitor the resources’ workload to identify if any resources are overutilized. In case of any variance, they can apply optimization techniques like resource leveling and smoothing, wherein they can adjust the project timelines or add resources to redistribute the tasks. This way, firms can enhance utilization and productivity and ensure timely completion of projects.
3.5 Minimize the bench-time of resources
If resources are not assigned to another project after completion, they will remain on the bench until allocated to a new task. Prolonged bench time can result in notable challenges, including reduced return on investment, as the resources are not contributing revenue to the organization. As a result, it can negatively impact the organization’s financial health index. Therefore, firms need to ensure effective bench management.
For this, managers should identify the resources that will be released from projects in advance and deploy them to vacant projects before they hit the bench. This will help find employees with suitable skills within the internal pool, minimize the bench size, and save on hiring costs.
Now, let’s see how a modern ERM tool can help.
4. How does modern ERM software help in effective resource scheduling?
A dedicated resource management software like Saviom helps managers schedule resources effectively for tasks and projects. Here’s how:
The tool offers 360-degree visibility of resource skills, competencies, availability, etc., which helps managers schedule suitable workforce to projects at the right time and cost. Moreover, the system maintains an up-to-date skill inventory to book the best-fit resources for projects.
In addition, the forecasting feature helps predict future project demand, and the capacity vs. demand report helps identify the excess/ shortage of skills ahead of time. This allows managers to take appropriate measures to bridge the resourcing gaps.
Furthermore, the flexible drag-and-drop resource booking enables managers to split the bookings to prevent overallocation and make bulk bookings in case of sudden ramp-up activities. Besides, real-time reports like project vacancy and people-on-the-bench help to identify and assign the released resources to vacant projects before they land on the bench.
Lastly, the what-if-analysis enables managers to create business scenarios that help them visualize and compare various impacts before arriving at a viable outcome.
This is how a robust resource management tool can help organizations efficiently schedule employees.
5. Final thoughts
Rightly said by Anne M. Mulcahy, former CEO of Xerox – Employees are a company’s greatest asset – they are your competitive advantage.
Therefore, organizations must ensure that the skills and capabilities of their workforce are effectively utilized. Thus, implementing advanced resource management software and following the above techniques can help firms schedule resources effectively, boost employee productivity, complete projects on time, and increase profitability.
