Capacity planning vs. To-do planning
Which method of planning fits best? Companies sometimes report to us with the remark that they want to start planning. If we keep asking questions, it becomes clear what they actually mean by that. Some are looking for a tool for capacity planning to plan the working day of their employees. Others just want a tool to manage a to-do list. They want to be able to attach a deadline and project information to those to-dos. The time the employee performs
From accounting for hours to being the boss of your own schedule
Empower your employees In some organizations, such as architecture firms, we find that employees on long-term projects are scheduled for an average number of hours per week for the duration of the project. These independent professionals are then allowed to decide for themselves each week when and how much time they spend on each project. The result is that the hours actually spent rarely correspond to the number of average hours scheduled. This is not a problem if an employee is working
Planning as a dictator or as a democrat
Which method of planning best suits your organization? Good planning is indispensable for a project-oriented organization with several employees. Sound planning allows you to optimize productivity within set hours, which enables your employees to work efficiently and processes to run smoothly within your organization. Nevertheless, many companies fail to find the correct method of planning for themselves. The need for control over projects and resources probably sounds familiar and you're not alone. Many companies continually work on optimizing their project planning and
3 building blocks to organize planning
Planning: first organize, then automate. We regularly see that project-based service providers enthusiastically start a trial version of Timewax, only to find that they’re not properly prepared. Their organization is not yet in place. Obviously, that needs to be sorted out first before starting to use a software planning tool. In this blog, we will discuss the 3 building blocks for good organization in terms of planning. The building blocks are: processes, people and systems. However, these building blocks cannot be considered
Stop the tug-of-war over employees
Resource planning based on size and degree of certainty. Many companies struggle with how to use their employees for projects. In particular, the tug-of-war over employees from different parts of the company has shown to be disastrous for the correct and timely execution of the projects. You can deal with this by choosing the right project approach, assigning full-time employees and distinguishing between projects and other work. In this blog we will discuss this further. For this problem, we will take project-based
Drives of planners vs. project managers
Why they clash and where they strengthen each other. Planners and project managers sometimes clash in the workplace. We are all familiar with situations where project managers eagerly start to claim employees, only to be blocked by the planner. And this is a source of irritation for both of them. In this blog, we will be looking at the drives that motivate these two roles, to gain more understanding about why they compete with each other and also to see where
Belbin team role of a planner
Planning skills of project and resource managers. Planning is about working together. There are several different parties in projects that have significant input with regard to project planning. The customer will first indicate within what timeframe they need to see results and then the subject matter experts will indicate how much will be needed to achieve those results. The project manager structures the project so that the project results are realised in an orderly and efficient manner. And the resource manager
A process for planning your projects
Project & resource planning as a continuous improvement process. Service providers who carry out projects for their customers generally want two things: on the one hand, a fast and satisfactory result for their customers, and profitability on the other hand. An optimal allocation of employees to the projects is crucial. Yet, we often see that project and resource planning is limited to a one-off activity at the start of the project. Shouldn't more attention be paid to this? Suppose you run multiple
4 stages of resource planning
Organisation resource planning versus the evolution of the company. Our clients, who implement projects where multiple people are involved, often struggled with the question of how to organise in regards to resource planning. In this blog post we will look at the different development stages companies go through and the organisation of resource planning which would be appropriate. We will spell out what the risks would be if you do not prepare for this within a reasonable period of time. The development
Planning – do it like the homo sapiens!
Planning is a process, not a product. Planning is as ancient as the human race. Ever since humans began to think ahead and started hunting in groups, plans have been made to achieve the best possible result. At first, planning was based purely on (non-)verbal communication. With the recording of the first hunting scenes, the famous cave drawings of animal hunts, the first planning was possibly created. The plans were literally recorded and represented both the activity (the hunt) and the goal