The role of the workload plan in the performance of a company
March 29, 2022
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3 min
The successful management of your project depends to a large extent on the establishment of your workload plan. This is why, to be fully effective, a workload plan must meet a number of prerequisites. Your project manager uses it as the first reference for the project. It must therefore be kept up to date throughout your project. To help you understand this, we explain how your workload plan affects your company's performance and how to use it to maximise your results.
The workload schedule (WBS) allows you to see, during the course of the project, the time spent and the resources mobilised on the project, and to compare this information with what was planned beforehand. You can thus determine at a glance whether you are behind schedule or whether your project is running smoothly.
What's more, you know how much effort each department is putting into each task. You can optimise and redistribute the tasks of the staff or teams involved, and review the time and material management of the project.
A workload planning tool has one main role: to allow you to effectively manage your project by optimizing the resources allocated throughout the project management process. Its purpose is therefore to :
You will find many Excel workload plan templates online. There are, however, more expert and ergonomic solutions, which allow you to produce a dynamic workload plan. They are to be preferred to Excel, which tends to become a heavy document that is difficult to read as it is used.
More than a simple monitoring document, your workload plan is a major ally in optimising your performance. This is why there are two key issues behind this tool for service companies (and all organisations operating in project mode): completing the project on time and on budget. Keeping a close eye on your workload plan will generate a virtuous circle that will have a positive impact on your teams, your performance and your customer relations.
Indeed, completing your project on time and on budget allows you to :
Your workload planning tool has many advantages for your company and here is an overview!
From a purely organisational point of view, the workload plan distributes and optimises the work of employees. Its visibility on completed tasks or those to come enables the work to be redistributed if necessary.
A workload planning tool reports on the distribution and allocation of resources. As a result, the project manager can decide at any time to redistribute them, or to buy additional ones. In this way, the project is never short of resources and can continue on its way.
Your first workload plan can already be very revealing about the things you need to change in your way of working. Indeed, you can see the blocking points in the company. This way, you can rectify along the way the points that slow down your teams' performance.
An obvious advantage, but one that deserves to be emphasised: you have time to correct the actions you have taken. Among other things, if your workload planning tool is not performing well (you suffer from a gap between reality and deadlines), you can change your strategy at any time. This discrepancy between your planned time and your real time efforts is invaluable.
At the end of several projects, you have a better overview of the recurring blocking points. You analyse the results, the resources, the HR management... and advise on your new projects. Thanks to this before/after comparison, you can optimise your company. The workload plan is a solution that offers real added value for the successful completion of all your business projects.
To learn more about Napta's support in building a workload plan adapted to your organization, contact one of our experts !
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