Plan staff workloads

Resource planning

How are you on time? Plan your projects with foresight. To do this, you must always keep an eye on how busy your employees are and what tasks are coming up next.

30 days non-binding
Resource planning 2

Work packages

A work package determines:

  1. Which employee
  2. From when to when
  3. To what extent
  4. Should work on a task or ticket.

Work packages are dynamic:

The workload resulting from a work package is constantly adjusted:

  • Each time a time booking is made on the work package or the process or ticket on which it is based
  • Entering a residual effort estimate
  • Creation of a holiday
  • Approval of a leave or registration of an absence
  • Adjustment of the planned effort or the duration of the work package
  • Daily by reducing the time available until the end of the work package

Each adjustment also automatically has an effect on the employee's project and overall workload as well as on the displayed work package status.

Functionality of work packages:

  • Definition of work packages with planned effort and deadlines for tasks, tickets and subtasks directly in the project plan
  • Assigning work packages to employees
  • Display of the target/actual workload per work package as well as the current employee workload
  • Consideration of public holidays, holidays and absences for employee utilisation
  • Residual effort estimate per work package
  • Definition of the project availability of each employee
  • Evaluate overview of pending tasks per employee
  • Evaluate staff workload in a project
  • Evaluate employee utilisation in the company to determine free capacities
ZEP work

Status of work packages: green, yellow, red

The workload of an employee by a work package is shown in colour as follows:

  • Uncritical (green): The employee's hours available during the remaining term of the work package are sufficient to perform the outstanding scope of the work package.
  • Critical (yellow): The employee's hours available during the remaining term of the work package are not sufficient to perform the scope still open in the work package. The employee has a workload >100 % due to the work package, here an intervention by the project manager is required.
  • Escalated (red): The duration of the work package has been exceeded, but the work package has not been reported finished. Therefore, an adjustment of the planned effort or a postponement of the work package is necessary.
  • Done (grey): A finished reported work package (i.e. remaining effort 0 h) is displayed in grey. No measures are necessary.

Residual effort estimation and notification of completion

If the employee has completed the processing of a work package, he can report the work package finished. If the employee realises that he or she will need longer to complete the work than originally planned, he or she can enter the estimated remaining workload (in hours). If several remaining workload estimates are made during the processing of a work package, they are logged and displayed.

Project availability

In order for an employee to be able to enter times on a project, he or she must be assigned to the project as a project employee. With resource planning, the availability of the employee for the project can be defined (among other parameters) as a percentage. This availability can also vary over time. The project availability indicates the percentage of an employee's working time that is available for a project.

Capacity utilisation

The workload of an employee is calculated on the basis of the work packages assigned to him/her in relation to the actual working time available to the employee.

The available working time is calculated from the employee's regular working hours, taking into account public holidays and weekends as well as absences and holidays.

Example: A work package has a scope of 20 h in 5 days. The employee has an availability of 5 * 8 h = 40 h 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 %.

Project utilisation

The project utilisation describes the utilisation of an employee from a project perspective. When determining the workload, the project availability of the employee is taken into account.

Total utilisation

The total utilisation is the cross-project utilisation of an employee by all work packages assigned to him.

Example: An employee is assigned a work package that utilises 25 %, i.e. 2 h on a working day with 8 h regular working time. If he is assigned to the project at 50 %, he is available to the project for a total of 4 h/day. From the project's point of view, the work package has a workload of 50 % (project workload), but from the overall point of view only 25 % (overall workload).

Staff scheduling

Plan and document who works when and to what extent for which project

The percentage allocation of an employee to the project (project availability) can be further refined via scheduling. The amount of work can be specified for each day in hours or even with times. Work packages use this information.

An employee sees existing schedules in his or her calendar, can book times on them and optionally be authorised to make or edit his or her own scheduling.

Evaluations and graphics at employee or project level show whether and from when an employee or the company is working to capacity or has free capacity.

Possible uses of resource planning and staff scheduling

Mapping the real project assignment

With scheduling, project assignments and days on site can be planned and documented granularly. Work packages and utilisation curves take these schedules into account and thus show in detail the availability and utilisation of employees.

Assignment of work packages

By creating work packages and assigning them to employees, concrete tasks can be assigned to an employee. 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".

Optimise project utilisation

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.

Overall utilisation of the company

Through the use of work packages in all projects as well as the appropriate definition of project availabilities, the workload of the employees is mapped throughout the entire company, and at the same time free capacities or overload can be recognised and counteracted.

FAQ's - Frequently asked questions:

Yes, resource planning in ZEP enables the precise planning of employee workloads for projects. By managing work packages, dynamically adjusting the workload and colour-coding the status (green, yellow, red), you always have an overview of efficient planning.

For your project planning, the work packages in ZEP are used to define employees, time periods and scope for tasks or tickets. They offer target/actual effort overviews, status displays and allow you to take public holidays, holidays and absences into account to ensure precise capacity utilisation.

Yes, the workload of an employee is displayed in colour: Green indicates a non-critical workload, yellow signals critical workload (>100%), red indicates escalation. Grey indicates completed work packages with no need for further action.

Yes, your employees can report the completion of a work package or enter the remaining workload estimate if it takes longer. This information is logged and provides insights into the work process.

Scheduling enables the percentage allocation of an employee to a project, while workforce scheduling enables granular planning and documentation of project assignments. Evaluations and graphics provide insights into capacity utilisation at employee or project level and help to optimise the overall capacity utilisation of your company.

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