7 Resource Scheduling Errors and How to Mitigate Them

The project management landscape has drastically changed over the last decade. Emphasis on efficiency and reporting while juggling between several projects simultaneously amid uncertainties is responsible for the change. 

These drastic changes often contribute to projects falling through the cracks, mainly due to poor project performance. Lack of proper resource scheduling and planning tools disrupts project performance. According to Gartner, poor project performance has resulted in approximately $50-$150 billion in revenue loss and productivity.

Resources plug into every phase of your project, be it planning, scheduling, and executing. In a shocking revelation by HBR, 1 out of 6 IT projects incurs a schedule overrun by 70%. A logical system that lets you identify and deploy resources exactly when you need ensures project success. This is where resource scheduling can help. First off,

What Is Resource Scheduling? 

Resource scheduling is the process of identifying and allocating resources. It is a crucial element of project planning with specified start and end dates for each task in a project. In short, it sets the stage for the intelligent distribution of resources to project tasks. 

However, common scheduling errors jeopardize the project plan and ultimately cause project delays.

Let us look at some of the common scheduling blunders and how to mitigate them.

1) Lack of Clear Goals

One of the driving factors in project management success is effective communications to all stakeholders. PMI's Pulse of the Profession report revealed that 37% of leaders voted that the lack of clear goals resulted in project failures. 

Establishing the project's goal and purpose and communicating the same to the team is essential for well-defined project outcomes. With clear goals, project members understand the project purpose, based on which they can select the best course of action. 

Once the goals and requirements are in place, project planning and resource scheduling become simple, yet effective. 

2) Improper Resource Allocation

Lack of enterprise-wide resource visibility leads to inadequate resource allocation. This means not finding the right resources with the right skills crucial to finish a project within the budgeted cost and time. Failing to do so can result in a large bench of mismatched skill-set, derailing projects plans off their tracks. 

To eliminate silos within an organization, it is imperative to replace your current legacy resourcing tools with intelligent resource management software. A single resource plan provides visibility of all allocations and availability. These resourcing insights can help in resource scheduling by multiple users in real-time.

3) Lack of Visibility for Future/Pipeline Projects

Often, the project manager fails to take account of future and pipeline projects. This happens due to the lack of visibility of potential projects in the pipeline. As a result, last-minute hiring costs or double booking resources causing burnouts to happen. 

Resource scheduling helps keep a tab on future project requirements, thereby ensuring the resource pool is optimally skilled and balanced. Corrective measures like training, hiring, or contingent workforce can be applied accordingly. By the time the project reaches the opportunity or approval pipeline, the resource pool is ready to meet the project demand.

4) Implementing Legacy Tools

Many organizations still depend on spreadsheets and half baked solutions to meet their resource planning and scheduling needs.

Though they meet initial project requirements, yet, they lack the functionalities to meet complex resource scheduling amid frequently changing demands. Besides, legacy tools fail to provide real-time business intelligence reports, a prerequisite for rapidly evolving business dynamics. 

Modern enterprise resource management (ERM) tools can future-proof your business by addressing the present-day challenges. Besides, proper capacity planning sends out early resource utilization warnings, to help take corrective actions ahead of time. Thus, for effective resource scheduling amid demand fluctuations, businesses must switch to a smart ERM solution. 

5) Inaccuracy in Time Estimates

Time management is a critical aspect of project management. When time estimates for scheduling resources or deadlines are not well-founded, there is a looming risk of time and budget overruns. 

Failing to communicate deadlines to your team, or being overly optimistic with time estimates might result in derailing projects off the time track. Besides, unrealistic expectations forced by stakeholder pressure disrupts resource scheduling and dampens customer relationship and trust. 

Business intelligence reports within resource management solutions provide actionable insights on past performance and estimate future capabilities. Demand vs. capacity analysis helps you understand the resource's capacity and availability to take up a project. 

In the advent of unrealistic estimations, calling a stakeholder's meeting explaining what can and cannot be done, is justified. Backed by reports from scheduling software, it makes a compelling case that supports your timeframes and plan.  

6) Failing to Track Time-Off

Knowing which resources are available at a specific time is essential to resource scheduling. Picture this; Sam is in-charge of phase II of an ongoing project. By the time phase I ends, the project manager comes to know Sam is going on a family vacation to Disneyland. So, he won't be available to pilot phase II. Improper tracking of resources' time-off is a common scheduling mistake, but the results are quite detrimental for the smooth running of projects.

Accounting for a resource's time off/ vacation is essential in moving a project forward. Resource scheduling software can track time off employees who are on a holiday or family leave. Not just that, you can also keep a tab on the availability of other resources. The resource scheduling tool thus provides a bird's view of resource availability and recognizes when you need to make changes. In short, it ensures the project plan is right on track.

7) Absence of Risk Management Strategy

It is not unusual for projects to be at risk. These risks could stem from unrealistic schedules, gold plating, resource scarcity, insufficient funds, and scope changes. Formulating a risk management strategy will serve as a backup plan and safeguard your project's success. Having a formal risk management strategy has a 53% higher project success likelihood than those opting for an ad-hoc approach. 

So, having a proper contingency plan to counteract and respond to project emergencies is crucial. A resource scheduling software allows you to build in buffers within your project estimates to allow alterations if any risks are alerted. Not only does it help view the available resources but also the limitations of using them. This data enables you to analyze how the skilled resources on various project tasks can make the best fit.

Over to You

Benjamin Franklin once said, " If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail, " and this adage holds within project management's realms. Planning and scheduling resources are critical aspects of timely project completion. All it takes is some time and effort to communicate, consider risks, and create achievable estimates effectively. These considerations, along with a resource management solution, will help mitigate most resource scheduling errors.