In today’s highly competitive business landscape, efficient resource scheduling can make all the difference in determining a project’s success. With the increasing complexity of modern operations and the need for enhanced productivity, businesses are turning to modern resource scheduling solutions to streamline their processes and maximize their resources.
In fact, a study by the Aberdeen Group shows, “Companies that implemented workforce scheduling software experienced an average increase in productivity of 34%.”
It shows that investing in a proper resource scheduling software can revolutionize how organizations identify, allocate, and manage their resources. Modern resource scheduling helps optimize operations, ensure timely project delivery, enhance customer satisfaction, and stay competitive in a rapidly changing business landscape.
This article will explore how modern resource scheduling benefits businesses. Additionally, we will see how SAVIOM‘s next-gen ERM software can successfully implement resource scheduling solutions to achieve these benefits.
Let’s get started.
1. Limitations of traditional resource scheduling techniques
Resource scheduling is the process of identifying and deploying resources to various project and non-project activities. It is necessary to formulate a streamlined scheduling solution for the timely delivery of projects and maximizing revenue.
However, traditional resource scheduling techniques were complex and cumbersome. Previously, resource scheduling was done in spreadsheets, which created silos of information in different departments. Thus, multiple managers often booked the same resource simultaneously, causing double booking and creating confusion among employees.
Further, the traditional method relied on manually updating the data. So, real-time project and resource insights were missing, leading to bottlenecks and delivery delays. Moreover, traditional resource scheduling had no forecasting feature, so managers could not identify resource excess or shortages in advance. As a result, it often led to frequent hiring/firing cycles or, worse, loss of market opportunities.
Also, in the absence of data-driven insights, organizations couldn’t monitor workforce utilization, leading to frequent under/overutilization of resources. Lastly, there was a lack of real-time BI, so companies failed to optimize resource schedules. This resulted in reduced productivity and lowered overall profitability.
Now that you have learned the drawbacks of traditional resource scheduling measures, let’s examine the various advantages modern scheduling solutions can provide.
2. Benefits of using modern resource scheduling solutions
The benefits of resource scheduling can be significant, helping organizations to improve productivity, efficiency, and ultimately, profitability.
Let’s take a detailed look at how the SAVIOM software can help as a modern resource scheduler:
2.1 Provides 360-degree visibility of resources
Numerous organizations have adopted a matrix model, where resources are spread across multiple departments. By using an advanced scheduling software, these firms can centralize resource-centric data and gain enterprise-wide visibility. It allows the manager to check the capacity and availability of resources before booking them.
Consequently, it guarantees that no resource is double booked or overutilized. Furthermore, the centralized data gives visibility into employees’ leaves, vacations, public holidays, etc. Therefore, it helps managers to be mindful of that during resource scheduling, and they can adjust the project timeline accordingly.
2.2 Deploys the right resource to project activities
Modern resource scheduling solutions help businesses deploy competent resources to project activities. This becomes possible due to the multiple filters and sort-by options in these tools. It allows managers to perform multidimensional analysis based on role, qualifications, skills, availability, cost, etc., and select the ‘best-visible-best-fit’ resource, instead of the traditional ‘first-visible-first-fit’ one.
In addition, these advanced tools help managers identify and allocate cost-effective global resources from low-cost locations. Also, it allows managers to optimize the resource band mix for every project to reduce costs. Thus, by deploying competent resources to suitable projects, businesses can improve productivity and deliver projects on time and within budget.
2.3 Enables bulk booking/update of resources
Individually booking each resource for a project is a lengthy and tedious process. So, with the resource scheduler’s easy drag-and-drop functionality, managers can easily adjust and edit bookings. Further, the software provides a bulk booking option where multiple resources can be booked for a project simultaneously. Also, it enables managers to customize the booking duration and resource capacity effectively.
Additionally, the bulk update feature helps manager change a project’s timeline and automatically update all resources. This reduces the manager’s administrative workload and minimizes the risk of errors. Thus, modern resource scheduling tools save time and simplify the overall workflow.
2.4 Optimizes resource schedules effectively
With modern resource scheduling, managers can optimize work schedules effectively. The tool offers utilization charts, which help managers track the over and under-utilization of resources. They can then take appropriate resource smoothing measures, like splitting the booking of an overutilized employee, reassigning the task, or adding more resources to the project.
Also, if a project is not time-sensitive, managers can use the resource-leveling technique to alter the project timeline. Furthermore, the tool helps to analyze billable and non-billable utilization. This allows managers to increase the billable utilization of resources by mobilizing them from non-billable tasks to billable or strategic work. This ensures increased employee productivity and successful project completion.
2.5 Facilitates timely delivery of projects
A modern scheduling tool with a capacity planning module allows the resource manager to arrange competent resources for various project activities well in advance. It helps managers identify resource shortages or excess and take appropriate measures before the project begins. So, when the right resources begin their assignments at the right time, projects can be completed within the deadline and without delays.
Furthermore, the scheduling software provides several Business Intelligence reports that track project progress in real-time. As a result, it helps managers to identify and mitigate any potential bottlenecks that can affect the project’s progress and cause unnecessary setbacks. This way, the tool ensures successful project delivery.
Thus, businesses benefit, to a great extent, from using modern resource scheduling solutions.
3. Final takeaway!
Resource scheduling software assists in assigning the appropriate resources to fulfill project requirements. Once the project has begun, managers can track their performance and utilization levels to update bookings to ensure timely project delivery.
An ideal resource scheduling solution like the SAVIOM software will significantly cut project costs, mitigate market volatility, and increase billable/strategic utilization, among other benefits. It will also aid in implementing best practices in accordance with the needs of the organization.
