Agency Software for Resource Planning and Employee Scheduling
For creative agencies, there is nothing more important than the brains behind the projects. It is not only crucial to form the right team, but also to deploy it efficiently according to the respective strengths, qualifications and individual availability. With the right agency software, employee resource planning can be optimised.
Table of Contents
Risks and pitfalls in employee resource planning
Thoughtful employee resource planning as a foundation for successful project management
Reasons for professional employee resource planning
Advantages of professional employee resource planning
Techniques for resource planning
Modern, digital resource planning
Agency software for employee resource planning: LEADING Job by Qualiant
Request agency software for employee resource planning: Contact us now
What Is Resource Planning?
Resource planning, also known as resource management, refers to the calculation and allocation of resources available for projects. The most crucial resource - not only in creative agencies - are the employees. Their availability is influenced by both internal factors, such as the allocation of tasks and responsibilities, and external factors, such as holidays and illness.
As resource planning not only calculates the availability of employees but also the costs for each employee, this is of crucial importance for the economic success of companies. As resource planning becomes more complex the more employees a company has, in many cases it is worthwhile using customised software. This can make resource planning faster and more precise.
Risks and Pitfalls in Employee Resource Planning
Not planning resources in a structured way will sooner or later lead to problems, especially for larger companies. If resources and personnel costs are not recorded and calculated in a structured manner, the relationship between cost and benefit (return on investment) can tip over and threaten the economic success of the company.
By planning resources precisely from the outset, the acquisition of uneconomical projects can be avoided. Overloads or bottlenecks during a project can also be avoided. In the best case scenario, employee resource planning is not only project-based, but also long-term. This is because both increasing the number of employees and reducing the workforce cannot usually be realised on an ad hoc basis. The aim must therefore be to continuously optimise employee capacity utilisation.
Intelligent resource planning for employees as the basis for successful project management
A key basis for successful project management is goal-oriented resource planning for employees. After all, employees are the most important resource in creative projects. On the one hand, they are crucial for developing the right ideas and implementing them. On the other hand, employees are the Achilles' heel of every agency: absences due to holidays or illness can delay projects if no well thought-out resource management of employees has been carried out in advance. If the required resources are not available, it is almost impossible to complete a project successfully and the agency's reputation suffers. Creative companies should therefore also pay particular attention to how they organise their human resources - with a view to economic and creative success.
Reasons for Professional Resource Planning for Employees
There are many good reasons why creative companies should ensure professional resource planning for their employees. Well organised resource planning ensures the profitability of a project. On the one hand, well-thought-out resource planning can be used to create cost-effective offers on a valid basis that lead to profits for the agency. On the other hand, it also prevents prices from being too high and no longer competitive.
This shows that only with resource planning is it possible to work cost-efficiently and in accordance with the contract in the first place. This is because estimated working hours and guaranteed deadlines can only be met if personnel resources have been realistically calculated. The planning of personnel resources therefore plays a decisive role in the successful completion of agency projects.
Advantages of professional resource planning for employees:
- Increased effectiveness
- More precise media planning
- More transparency
- Higher return on investment per employee
- Increased employee motivation through customised deployment
- Lower risk of over- and under-utilisation
Resource Planning Techniques
Employee resource planning can be carried out using techniques such as resource allocation, resource synchronisation and resource forecasting. With all techniques, faster and more precise results can be achieved through the use of specialised software solutions.
Resource allocation
Resource allocation is about determining how many employees with which skills and capacities are available for a project. This is a continuous process that needs to be optimised and adjusted time and again. This means that it may be necessary to adjust tasks and responsibilities within a team as well as outsource tasks or buy in external expertise. Of course, it is not possible to avoid under- or overstaffing at all times. What is important here is that an agency has created the necessary flexibility to react to situations of this kind.
Resource synchronisation
During resource synchronisation, all the skills and qualifications of the team are recorded. This makes it possible to determine whether employee resources are being utilised inefficiently. Based on this, responsibilities can be changed in order to better utilise the professional qualifications of employees. This leads to a higher return on investment for the agency and, in most cases, to employees feeling more valued in their role. However, resource balancing may also be necessary due to illness or holiday time.
Resource forecast
A resource forecast can be used to plan which personnel resources are required in the agency in the long term based on the service portfolio, the order situation and the competition. To do this, corresponding long-term goals and project scenarios must be outlined as realistically as possible. Software programmes are an enormous support, especially for projections, as it is possible to calculate several scenarios very quickly and precisely.
Modern, Digital Resource Planning
Modern resource planning is digital. With the help of project management software, all available resources required for a project can be managed efficiently. This makes it possible to clearly visualise which team members are available with which capacities. The software can also be used to allocate tasks. This makes it transparent for the entire team. The software can also recognise free capacity and automatically allocate tasks based on the skills and qualifications of individual employees.
In addition, a customised software solution opens up further opportunities for optimising collaboration in agencies. Staff resources can be deployed more efficiently through appropriately optimised processes. In the best case scenario, the digitalisation, automation and standardisation of processes will even free up additional resources that can be used more efficiently. This also increases the return on investment per employee - and often employee satisfaction at the same time. This is because repetitive tasks are often not very fulfilling, especially for creative professionals.
Suitable agency software can therefore ensure that personnel resources are utilised optimally and creative agencies work more successfully through improved resource planning for employees and more efficient processes.
Benefits of Agency Software
The following tasks can be taken over or supported by agency software as part of employee resource planning:
- Efficient processes: Agency software makes it possible to keep an eye on project status and to-dos and establish clear workflows. This makes processes more transparent and faster, as approvals, for example, can be processed more quickly.
- Centralised information exchange: The software can be used to bundle the exchange of information on a central platform. Instead of e-mail ping-pong, which is extremely inefficient and often leads to information being lost and feedback taking a long time, project-related chats can be created. This means that the project status is transparent at all times and colleagues who have been absent can be easily reintegrated into ongoing projects.
- Flexible collaboration: Cloud-based agency software allows everyone involved to access upcoming projects from different locations at any time. This also allows employees' resources to be utilised more individually and enables greater flexibility.
Agency Software for Employee Resource Planning: LEADING Job by Qualiant
LEADING Job is our software solution for the creative industry. It has been specially tailored to the needs of leading companies in the creative industry and offers an all-in-one solution for agencies. This means that employee resource planning can be optimised using the software. The digital platform makes collaborative working easier and more transparent. LEADING Job also supports creative agencies in carrying out project status, controlling and capacity planning. The software thus provides customised support for managing even larger projects efficiently and successfully.
LEADING Job offers the following strengths and functions to precisely fulfil the requirements of companies in the creative industry:
- Broad range of functions for proposal preparation, project management, time tracking, controlling, invoicing, reporting, workflow and resource planning
- Full customisation for agile, international project work that saves time and money
- Always available as a stable web-based cloud solution on both desktop and mobile devices
- Support by phone, chat & email, included update service, training courses & workshops by arrangement
- Risk-free trial for up to three months
Enquire about agency software for resource planning with employees: contact us now!
Take a more structured approach to future projects by using specialised agency software to help you with employee resource planning: Contact us and let us advise you individually on how you can optimise your resource planning in project management with LEADING Job.
