Why take the availability of project resources seriously?

Expansion of a professional services business can be limited by available resources, and vice versa. Use our comprehensive guide to monitor resource availability and optimize resources wherever possible.

It’s a gamble to embark on new projects without knowing what resources will be available. Individuals are never totally available; everything depends on what other units in the company require. Although many managers are aware of this, they often lack in-depth knowledge of their staff’s schedules and bookings, which has made resource management a major concern for many executives for many years.

However, the reality is that not only do you need to acquire the necessary resources before starting a new project, but you also don’t want them to go unused, resulting in additional expense. A more efficient organization that doesn’t waste talent or money can be achieved by making the decision to be aware of available resources.

If tracking resource availability has proved difficult, read on. It’s actually easier than you think!

What is the availability of resources?

A resource calendar is frequently used to map resource availability. Here is a Teambook illustration based on our test data:

 

While it’s useful to keep an eye on resource availability, why is it necessary in the first place?

According to McKinsey, resource availability refers to how resources are allocated to priority business initiatives. Companies can find gaps in the resources needed for each project and develop a plan to fill them by mapping the resources available for each project at the right time.

The benefits of resource accessibility control

In the wake of the epidemic, companies providing goods and services have realized that their customers are the foundation of their business. Their most valuable resource is their workforce, which needs to be allocated in a way that benefits the business. Companies can optimize their resources and take unexpected turns by leveraging resource availability. Not to mention the clarity that resource availability brings to the project planning process.

We have discovered a number of problems that resource availability monitoring can avoid, while at the same time assessing its benefits. These include

• overloaded resources. It’s easy to overbook employees when you don’t know when they’ll be available. They may not be productive even if they’re free at a specific time if they’ve just completed an important task.
• resources that are not fully exploited. Every resource has a cost, and money is wasted if not used productively. Resource availability planning enables you to allocate resources in such a way as to maximize their use.
• Conflicts over resources. Other company departments, rival projects or outside organizations may compete for your resources.

Tracking resources in general makes it possible to forecast resource requirements and select employees who will not only fulfill project commitments, but also generate revenue for the organization.

How can I use Teambook’s project resource planner to optimize resource availability?

1. Map your resources

Resource calendars and charts are frequently used tools for monitoring resource availability. You can use these visual graphics, which include a resource reservation and availability calendar, throughout your company. This enables you to create reliable project plans and let all users know when resources are available and in use.

The resource availability tables provided by Teambook are ready to use; simply add the resources and projects associated with your business. Implementing business priorities is more efficient when updating spreadsheets doesn’t require hours of human labor. There is plenty of alternatives solutions

A well-designed resource calendar ensures the timely availability of appropriate resources and, in some situations, can also help prevent availability problems. Your activities will be less unpredictable if you have all the resources displayed on your screen.

2. Assign roles and skills  to team members

Remind everyone of their role in the company. In accordance with their contract, each team member has a main role linked to their professional title; however, depending on their skills and the requirements of the project, they may also take on a wide range of responsibilities.

All this information must be entered into your planning tool for each of your project resources, enabling you to visualize capacity projections for each of them (and/or combinations).

3. Annotate locations, capacities and more

In a well-designed planning tool, such as Teambook, you can use tags to map your resources and projects as follows:

• Skills: Suppose you need someone with expertise in a particular area, such as programming. If someone is proficient in Javascript, PHP and InDesign, for example, you can tag them according to their skills and assign tasks quickly.
• Location: If you work with customers located abroad or have an international team, you can use the tagging function to find people and projects in a specific area. Examples of specific locations include office 1, remote working (a particular working arrangement) and Auckland (a specific city or region).
• Seniority : To distinguish between people’s skills and experience, you can use tags such as “senior”, “junior”, “associate” or “trainee” to assign a person with a certain level of experience to a project.
• Project size: You can label projects by size to see how different project sizes affect your company’s financial health. This feature is very useful for reporting purposes.

4. Establish a project pipeline and assign resources to tasks

When new projects are received, you can quickly determine who in the company is “most available” by using the “Sort by availability” tool.

At a higher level of detail, Teambook’s new availability chart will show you how many hours, taking into account your current workload, each role or project team is available on a given day.

The new availability table, in line with Teambook’s capacity and workload table, lets you drill down to a specific team or function, as well as visualizing availability across the whole company.

Final remarks

Project management will become much simpler with the help of the four processes above, which will also help you understand the availability of people, jobs and their talents in different locations.

When it comes to project management, knowing the availability of resources has many obvious advantages. It is also essential to understand the potential effects on the company’s overall objectives.

Take advantage of the Teambook free trial now and start taking resource availability seriously.