Resource Management/Reporting Tools

[pptdgc]

I work for a design agency where we have multiple projects and staff working across different projects at once.

I'm looking for a tool/software that would enable us to do the following:

• Plan employees time across multiple projects
• Enter employees actual time against projects (time sheet)
• Lots of reporting functionality to see how much time has been spent on particular projects etc.

Any recommendations appreciated

[NickC]

This could potentially get very detailed, but we use Excel to do this.

We use the basis the the MS Project plans all integrate into a master plan so we can have a top-level indication of how we are manned to cover all projects. This is not exact and will not tell us tasks per person, but instead a more general view work packages per team.

Each Team Manager then has a MS Excel tool that captures the low level tasks required to complete each work package they have been assigned for all projects.

• Tasks are listed down the first column, and days across the top row for the current month.
• This forms a matrix which we put the hours required per day for that task.
• We then put the persons name who we want to deliver the work in the column next to the task.
• Excel then calculates total hours per person, per day needed to deliver all work for all projects.

This gives us a monthly schedule of tasks.

The MS plans give us longer term vision of work packages over a year which allows us to prioritise work, defer projects, review staffing levels etc.

Sorry if this sounds complex, it's hard to explain!

[Jacobsamuels]

Yes I can recommend you use Resource plan template of Get Project Templates which has following features:

1. Resource Plan Template allows you to forecast your resource needs across the project duration.
2. Record the hours required of each resource by week or month. You can also assign a hourly rate and track resource costs.
3. Listing of all resources associated with a project; name, role, contact info. etc.
4. Record start date, end date, and percent dedicated for each resource.
5. Includes a graphical, stacked bar-chart that shows the resources and hours need across your project duration.

[alancrean]

Hi

While there are several tools in the market to achieve this, I would suggest that you might want to expand the thinking slightly.

Several other factors should be considered so that you end up with a Solution and not just another thing to manage.

As a design agency, you might want to consider how you get visability into potential forthcoming work, manage contracts in a way that provides automatic controls for your PMs, manage and split projects, capture time and expenses, conduct billing, manage Earned Value and Rev Rec, deliver customer reporting, and support management at all levels with deep insight and drill down dashboards.

I have a comprehensive document that is easily used to go into all of this, so email me if you would like a copy.

Cheers
Alan,Crean.Rugby @ Gmail.com