All Stretch, no Stress: Four Ways Project Management Software Can Help You Manage Resource Flexibility
Ready for a quick quiz? ?
Resource-sharing could be part of your project management plan.
A. Your business will save moneyB. Reduce dead-time for different resources on a variety of projectsC. You will be able to focus on the critical moments of a projectD. All of the above
If you answered D, you are correct. However, if you add a project management software solution to your project, you won’t have to worry about C.
1. Coordinate who does what when
It can be difficult planning for a single long-term project. This is not to mention the many other projects your company manages. Add to that the task of coordinating who and what should be working on each project and you have a logistical nightmare.
Project management software makes it easy to avoid this. You can easily schedule assignments from the beginning and know when each resource is needed for each project. This eliminates the need for employees to be assigned to projects they don’t need.
Project management software can also help you see the due dates for different deliverables and determine when crunch time will start. This software allows you to allocate critical resources strategically to meet deadlines while keeping everything on track.
2. You can identify hold-ups and put resources where they are most needed.
It can be difficult to identify the problem areas and where additional resources are needed if a process is slowing down. Project management systems provide monitoring tools that allow you to identify problem areas and place extra resources where they are needed.
Automatic progress reporting is a common feature that supports this type of function. It calculates the time you plan to spend on a task versus what it actually took. The individual employee page view is another useful feature that allows you to see exactly how each individual is spending their time. You can see when a worker is overwhelmed and bring in another person to help speed up production.
3. Streamline the flip-flopping process with shared knowledge and central communications
You might be right if you think it would be difficult to get people up to speed when they move from one project to another. This can be made easier with project management software, which centralizes essential on-boarding knowledge and provides document housing capabilities.
The PM software’s streamlined communications can also help a new resource to get in touch quickly with people in the know to get the answers they need. This will reduce unnecessary delays and allow them to get the information they need quickly. Easy collaboration is possible with group document revisions in real-time. It also makes it easy for colleagues from other departments to provide quick input. The system can even automatically record their responses!
4. Stop being a roadblock
If you are in a managerial role, you will play a central part in any project you work on. You are a “shared resource” and project management software will allow you to keep track of approvals and other tasks you are responsible for on all your projects. This will ensure that efficient operations do not get in the way. It can also send email alerts to you when an issue escalates, or a hurdle is encountered so you are aware of any urgent tasks that require your attention.
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