Staff scheduling for efficient project management

Staff scheduling is an important tool to ensure efficient planning and control of work tasks in projects. This involves determining which staff member is to work on a specific task or ticket of a project in ZEP, when and to what extent. An additional central element of resource planning in ZEP are the so-called work packages. In this article, we will take a closer look at how work packages function and the Possible uses of resource planning employ.

Efficient resource planning for project control

Resource planning and staff scheduling are important tools for managing projects and optimising staff utilisation in your company. They help to plan workloads, use resources efficiently and avoid bottlenecks. One of the most important functions of resource planning is the mapping of the real project allocation. With this scheduling, you can explicitly plan and document project assignments and days on site. Work packages and utilisation curves in ZEP take these schedules into account and thus show in detail the availability and utilisation of your employees. This allows you to implement projects in a targeted and efficient manner.
Another central function of resource planning in ZEP is the assignment of work packages. In the overview of work packages or directly in the time recording screen, the employee sees the work packages assigned to him and can book time to them. The work packages serve as "favourites" and facilitate time recording and accounting.

By consistently using work packages in a single project, tasks can be assigned to project staff, optimising both the overall availability of all project staff and the workload of individual staff members. The workload graphs make it possible to schedule employees in such a way that they neither have too little to do nor are overloaded. In addition to optimising the workload of individual employees, the Resource planning in ZEP also contributes to optimising the overall workload of your company. Through the use of work packages in all projects as well as the appropriate definition of project availabilities, the utilisation of your employees is mapped throughout the entire company. This enables you to recognise free capacities or overload and to counteract these at an early stage. In this way, you can deploy your employees more efficiently and implement projects in a more targeted and successful manner.

Effective working time management - project assignment of your employees

An important aspect when planning working hours is the exact assignment of your employees to projects. Here it is necessary to take into account the project availability of the employees. In ZEP, you therefore have the possibility to determine the percentage allocation of your employees to the project. This allows you to determine exactly who works on a project, when and for how long. The scope can be specified to the day in hours or even with specific times. Work packages, which belong to each project, use this information to precisely determine the effort and duration of the project. A work package is a part of the project that can be worked on by an employee. It includes a specific task or group of tasks that must be completed within a certain period of time. To ensure that the planning of work schedules runs smoothly, it is important that your staff have insight into the project schedule. They should be able to see existing schedules in their calendar and book times on them. In addition, they can be authorised to make or edit their own schedules. This gives your staff more autonomy and control over their work.

Another important function of planning and documenting working times is the possibility to generate evaluable data. By analysing this data, you can find out whether and from when an employee or the company is working to capacity or has free capacity. Evaluations and graphics at employee or project level allow you to present this information visually, making it easier to make decisions and take action. So your staff can see at a glance the extent to which they are working on a project, giving you the opportunity to say goodbye to manual spreadsheets. ZEP maps your complete project and staff planning and gives you a clear evaluation of all project parameters. At the push of a button.

Dynamic work packages in project planning and control

Work packages are an important tool in project planning and control in ZEP. You define which employee should work on which project and for how long. Based on this information, the workload of your employee is determined and displayed. The employee's workload is calculated on the basis of the work packages assigned to him or her in relation to the employee's actual available working time. The available working time results from the regular working time of your employee, whereby public holidays, weekends as well as absences and holidays are taken into account.

Example: A work package has a scope of 20 hours in 5 days. The employee has an availability of 5 * 8 hours = 40 hours in these 5 days. To complete the work package in the scheduled time, the employee must work 50 % of his available working time on the work package, the work package brings a utilisation of 50 %.

The utilisation of your staff is not only considered at project level, but also across projects. The project utilisation describes the employee utilisation from a project perspective. The project availability of the employee is taken into account when determining the workload. The total utilisation is the cross-project utilisation of your employee by all work packages assigned to him. Work packages created in ZEP are dynamic and adapt when the general conditions change. An adjustment can be made by each time booking on the work package or the process or ticket on which it is based. Entering a residual effort estimate or creating a holiday, approving a holiday or entering an absence also has an impact on the employee's workload. In addition, adjustments to the planned effort or the duration of the work package can also lead to changes. The reduction of the available time until the end of the work package is taken into account daily and automatically has an effect on the project and total workload of your employee as well as on the displayed work package status.

The functionality of work packages in ZEP includes the definition of work packages with planned effort and deadlines for tasks, tickets and subtasks directly in the project plan. Work packages are assigned to employees and the target/actual effort per work package and the current employee workload are displayed.

Staff utilisation in project and resource planning

The utilisation of your employees is an important factor in the planning and control of projects and resource planning in your company. A effective workforce planning is crucial to ensure that employees work productively and projects are completed on time and within budget. The employee's workload is determined based on the work packages assigned to him or her in relation to the actual working time available. The available working time is based on the employee's regular working hours, taking into account holidays, weekends, absences and leave.

A high workload can lead to your employees being overworked and having difficulty completing their work within the given deadlines. On the other hand, too low a workload can lead to your staff being underchallenged and bored. Therefore, it is important to keep staff utilisation at an appropriate level. Effective staff scheduling enables your company to optimise project utilisation and the overall utilisation of your staff. By carefully planning and assigning work packages and projects in ZEP, you can ensure that your employees are neither over- nor under-utilised and that your projects are completed on time and within budget. Do you have questions about resource planning in ZEP? Our support team is there to help you in word and deed. And if you don't want to miss any news about ZEP-related topics, you can register here. subscribe to our monthly newsletter.