In the 18 years that ionBIZ has been in existence, we have seen countless organizations grow, processes change and trends in project planning emerge.
One clear trend we encounter time and again is that job-level planning just doesn't work anymore once an organization reaches a certain size. Once you have more than about 50 consultants, it becomes impossible to look only at titles or availability: the wrong people are scheduled and the right expertise remains unused.
A typical example: imagine a consulting firm that runs several client projects simultaneously. A new data analysis project requires someone who not only can work with Python, but also has experience with machine learning algorithms and can give client presentations. Without skills planning, the scheduler goes off job titles or previous availability and inadvertently schedules an employee who knows Python but has never worked with machine learning and has little presentation experience. At the same time, a colleague with the right combination of technical and communication skills goes unused. The result is a delay in the project and unnecessary frustration among the team.
The lesson? For efficient planning, we need to know exactly what skills each employee has, and these skills must be easily accessible when planning.
To ensure that project organizations can avoid these frustrations, we have integrated a comprehensive skills planning in ionBIZ. This starts with a skills matrix at the Resource level. In this list you can:
With all this information stored centrally, we are perfectly equipped to plan efficiently as soon as a new project needs to be carried out. At that moment, the planner can easily search for resources with the specific skills (and skill levels) needed on the project:
In addition to daily planning based on skills, it is crucial to look ahead - or skills-forecasting. Say our sales department sees an explosion in the number of bids for AI implementations and predicts that project volume will triple in the next 12 to 18 months. Then we need immediate and specific insight into the future capacity we have, specifically for people who can deliver on these AI implementations.
In ionBIZ, you get exactly those insights. With reports like Capacity Planning, you can easily select the period you want to forecast, choose the specific skills you want to report on, and get a clear overview of your capacity utilization during that period. This report takes into account not only current schedules and absences, but also open budgets. This gives you a complete and up-to-date picture of what is needed for the future:
Skills planning allows you to know exactly what knowledge and experience you have in-house, so you can always put the right people on the right projects. This prevents misunderstandings, makes your planning much more efficient, and ensures that your team is used to its full potential. By also looking ahead to future needs, you can respond to changes in a timely manner and grow as an organization.
In short, with well-thought-out skills planning, you ensure a smoother, more effective work environment and lay the foundation for long-term success.