How can you calculate a workload plan to better manage your resources?

The workload plan helps to manage resources and allocate time, two key factors in the success of a project.

Optimising time management is particularly important for companies that bill on a time-spent basis, such as service companies and agencies. Increasing billable time and improving team productivity are at the heart of their efficiency, and therefore their profitability.

The dual challenge lies in anticipating project requirements and managing team occupancy rates .

How does the workload plan help to facilitate this planning? What are its advantages? And how can use it in practice to optimise the use of your resources and time management? Appvizer has the answers! 💡

What is a workload plan?

A workload plan, also known as a workload schedule, is a tool used to manage the resources of a project:

• human resources
• material resources
• time resources.

It facilitates planning and optimises the allocation of resources; it provides an overview of past and forecast times. This summary of times can be obtained :

• by employee
• by team
• by project or business.

Its purpose is to distribute the workload as evenly as possible.

The challenges and benefits of workload planning

Challenges: between monitoring and anticipation

For any project manager, it is essential to manage human resources effectively to ensure the success of a project.

The key challenge for organisations is to anticipate and optimise the allocation of resources, based in particular on time spent.

To do this, they need to monitor and anticipate project workloads as accurately as possible, in order to optimise allocations and readjust priorities as necessary.

Managers and teams alike must be able to access essential information at any time on :

• resource usage and remaining bandwidth,
• current or upcoming projects, and new requests,
• the capacity of teams to work on new projects,
• forecasting the need for external resources or recruitment, as the case may be, etc.

A tool is essential for centralising all this information and updating it in real time.

Benefits: an operational view

The workload plan provides an operational vision and generates key indicators for optimising future projects.

The workload plan gives you the advantages of

• Precise knowledge of team availability, with real-time information on staff workloads. At a glance, you can detect any overloads and know whether or not you can accept new projects within the required timeframes;
  
• identify any discrepancies or inconsistencies between the forecast workload and the work actually carried out, and thus highlight any bottlenecks if a delay is noted, to increase the efficiency of your teams;
  
• draw up realistic schedules: by analysing times more closely, you will gain a better understanding of the ratio between time needed and time available, and will be able to improve your planning for future projects;
  
• optimise talent management: you can easily see whether you have the necessary resources and, if not, you can quickly identify which profile to recruit and when, by assessing future needs by skill;
  
• demonstrate transparency to your employees: reassure and motivate your teams.

👉 The risks in terms of deadlines, quality and costs are better balanced.

How do I create a workload schedule in Excel?

Requirements for producing a workload schedule

In practice, to create a workload schedule, you need to :

• define the duration of each task
• find the right resources (number, availability, skills required),
• indicate holidays and other constraints specific to the project.

The 6 key steps

You can create a planned capacity or load planning graph in Excel. This is used to represent the relationship between the planned time and the available time of your resources and to report on whether the workload balance is being respected.

We use the following typical scenario: finding out whether a department (or team) can accept new projects.

1. Calculate the planned capacity, i.e. the ratio between the number of hours planned for this department and the total number of hours available for this same department, using the formula :
   
   (Total planned hours / Total available hours) x 100
   

2. Create an Excel spreadsheet in which you enter the different departments in your company and the planned capacity for each over a given period;
   
3. Highlight the table, then click on Insert (toolbar), and choose the desired chart format;
   
4. Right-click on the resulting graph, then click on 'Select data';
   
5. In "Legend entry (series)", reverse the columns and rows, keeping only your team and total capacity;
   
6. Finally, click OK to obtain your data for analysis in the capacity planning graph.
   

Here's an idea of what you should get. 👇

💡 However, Excel files have their limitations:

• they are not updated in real time,
• they may contain errors,
• they are not a reliable basis for decision-making.

What about software?

The planning software solution

Simple planning software or shared calendars are also widely used. These are more practical than Excel because of the collaborative aspect they offer, and their different views depending on the timeframe chosen.

However, they also have their limitations:

• they do not track the budget,
• they cannot be used for forecasting,
• they don't offer decision support with relevant performance indicators.

Tools for the construction industry

Workload planning is also a key element in site management, and is therefore very often included in the functionalities of software designed for building and civil engineering professionals.

The advantage of using BTP software for your workload planning is that you can manage all your operations from a single platform, including :

• managing your human and financial resources
• project planning
• schedule management
• site progress monitoring
• invoicing
• data analysis, etc.

Our selection of tools

If you're a construction company, you'll love these tools, which will optimise your entire business.

🛠 ANAV

ANAV is a site planning solution designed specifically for SMEs in the building and civil engineering sector, in both the secondary and structural works, seeking toidentify and activate cost-cutting levers.

Suitable for companies with between 10 and 100 employees, this solution helps you anticipate workloads, simplify day-to-day tasks and optimise the profitability of your site. ANAV also offers a workload planning solution.

Anav is a truly collaborative tool, with sophisticated features that are easy to learn and use. These include

• intuitive workload plans, which provide an overview of key indicators by displaying the workload capacity of your various divisions, so you can plan your activity optimally for the day, week or month;

• update your workload planning according to the distribution of tasks and the progress of your teams, keeping it up to date while making organising your business simple, user-friendly and reliable;
  
  
• agile and flexible multi-planning, through which it is possible to plan tasks by profession and skill using the system, ensuring a balanced and efficient distribution of tasks;
  
  
• business management based on real data, where ANAV consolidates planning with feedback from the field, providing precise management based on concrete data, enabling rigorous monitoring of site progress;
  
  
• Ease of use and time savings are also among the significant advantages gained, thanks to a user-friendly interface that simplifies the day-to-day lives of users, reducing low value-added tasks.The user-friendly interface simplifies users' day-to-day work, reducing the need for low value-added tasks through task allocation, team planning, note and document sharing, and time recording.

As a planning tool first and foremost, ANAV is an invaluable ally when it comes to putting in place an optimal workload plan to monitor available resources as effectively as possible.

🛠 Staff Planning

Staff Planning is a staff scheduling and time and attendance software package. Intuitive and collaborative, it is aimed primarily at VSEs, SMEs and groups in the construction and public works, industrial and nuclear sectors.

So it's only natural that Staff Planning should include workload planning among its functions.

More specifically, Staff Planning really helps you to gain visibility over the allocation of your resources, and you will derive many benefits from using this solution:

• the creation, in just a few clicks, of forecast workload plans taking into account all elements (duration, work cycle, skills and authorisations, etc.) ;
• analysis of any discrepancies between the forecast workload and capacity, so you can anticipate any shortfall in resources as effectively as possible;
• greater visibility over the staff assigned, thanks to various schedules: the Portfolio, the Project Schedule, the Absence and Training Schedule and the Staff Schedule;
• multi-agency planning, so you can manage your resources across several agencies or departments;
• functionalities for clocking in and out (by team and project) and for managing absences and training, which complete the tool and automate HR processes;
• dedicated support from Staff Planning teams at every stage (kick-offs, workshops, training, etc.).

All with the help of intuitive software that encourages collaboration between employees, managers, HR and management, and helps everyone become more efficient.

Our selection of online workload planning software

Key benefits of workload planning software

Workload planning is a real science of time allocation, and needs to be rigorous.

To ensure the efficiency and profitability of a project, online workload planning software can optimise all the key factors in the success of your projects:

• Resource planning based on availability and skills,
• time tracking for efficient resource management,
• analysis of data from completed or ongoing projects to improve resource allocation on the basis of time spent,
• anticipate risks or constraints in an environment where demands are changing rapidly.

Our selection of tools

We have selected several tools in SaaS mode to help you draw up an online workload plan and bring more intelligence to your project workload planning and management.

🛠 Beesbusy

Beesbusy is an intuitive, ultra-easy-to-use project planning and management software that lets you manage your projects and tasks with ease. Suitable for experts and beginners alike, this fully customisable solution makes it easy to manage your resources and optimise your workload.

Beesbusy is a truly collaborative tool, with sophisticated features that are easy to learn and use, such as :

• advanced resource planning, which allows you to plan and monitor the time spent by your employees in detail (time scheduled, time completed, time remaining) ;
• a global view of your schedules and tasks, so you can manage several projects at the same time, with 3 customisable multi-project views providing useful data for managing your projects (schedule, Gantt and calendar);
• Intuitive workload plans giving you an overview of the duration of each task and the associated workload, as well as the resources required in terms of availability and skills, taking into account their holidays and other constraints;
• 3 types of dashboard, enabling you to create customised indicators that make it easier to monitor your tasks and projects (individual dashboard to monitor your tasks according to their status, personalised dashboard to monitor the tasks of your teams or employees, global dashboard for an overall view of project portfolios);
• an App for smartphones (Android and iOS), so you can work efficiently anywhere, anytime.

What's more, the software offers great value for money, with a free version that's ideal for very small businesses and small organisations, and a sliding scale of charges thanks to team packs.

In conclusion, Beesbusy is a real all-in-one tool that gives you a 360° view of your business, while streamlining communication within your teams .

🛠 F itnet Manager

Fitnet Manager is an ergonomic, easy-to-use management solution for project-oriented organisations, such as consultancies and service companies. Its Capacity Planning tool optimises workload management.

Highly functional and fully customisable, it allows you to :

• obtain an overview of the employees assigned to each job or project, and adjust the schedule according to different views (by employee or by job) ;
• modify and automatically update data directly on the schedule;
• filter by month or week, and provide information on completed activities entered by employees and the forecast schedule;
• colour-code resource availability rates and schedule anomalies, and sort employees in ascending or descending order;
• optimise the staffing rate, corresponding to the billing rate, which can be analysed in a dedicated monthly or annual report.

In addition, four comprehensive reporting tools are integrated into the software to summarise the time spent and planned by employee and by project/business.

🛠 F urious Squad

Furious Squad, a solution for the global management of agencies, consultancies and ESNs, helps you improve the profitability of your projects. Its workload planning tool lets you focus on production, staffing and customer satisfaction at the same time.

Designed as an autopilot, it offers :

• monitoring of the actual occupancy rate of staff, to detect any overruns on the current workload and help maximise billable time;
• Intelligent workload planning, with automatic suggestions for long-term improvements;
• a genuine decision-making tool, centralising all the company's decision-making flows;
• predictive functions, such as pre-sales probabilities for certain types of skills;
• a clear, graphical interface for visualising tasks according to importance criteria, so you can quickly identify where the emphasis should be.

This tool uses data and artificial intelligence to calculate the shortest route to productivity and make your decision-making easier.

🛠 monday.com

monday.com is a project management tool with a range of features to help you create and manage your projects from start to finish. Customisable and easy to use, it facilitates your overview thanks to a user-friendly interface.

Here's what monday.com can help you achieve:

• an overview of your projects thanks to several calendar templates and a colourful, easy-to-understand interface;
• an agile, flexibletool with the option of modulating your interface with the features of your choice;
• information on the progress of your current projects at a glance, thanks to a functional and customisable dashboard;
• rapid decision-making thanks to time-tracking tools and task automation;
• easier management of your teams with real-time availability;
• access to all your advanced updates and budget approvals for maximum productivity.

🛠 Project Monitor

Project Monitor is a comprehensive project portfolio management software package. As a result, it can be used to manage resource allocation more effectively and draw up workload plans, even for companies running a large number of projects at the same time.

Packed with features and automation, the solution offers a host of benefits:

• a simple planning system that enables managers to anticipate workloads based on available resources;
• the ability to plan resources progressively, starting with a macro view and then refining to obtain a more detailed view;
• real-time updates to keep the workload plan in line with reality on the ground (e.g. sick leave), and an alert system in the event of understaffing or overstaffing;
• a time recording and monitoring tool, with the possibility of automation, to facilitate the management of schedules and ensure the accuracy of the workload plan;
• reports and analyses to ensure the ROI of current projects and better anticipate future needs and projects.

In short, thanks to Project Monitor, you can intelligently manage your resources, even when you're working on a large number of and/or complex projects, and you can use your feedback to better plan future projects.

🛠 S tafiz

Stafiz is an ERP aimed at teams in service companies operating in project mode, and more specifically at ESNs, consultancies, agencies, software publishers and integrators, and training organisations.

It goes further than project management software, supporting the management of all the organisation's activities, from pre-sales through to invoicing.

This comprehensive tool includes staffing management functions, integrated with resource planning and project monitoring, to help you manage your workloads as effectively as possible. Its key features include

• the Smart Staffing function, which automatically shows you the most suitable profiles based on the various criteria entered beforehand (availability, skills, functions, etc.);
• real-time visibility of capacity risks, to avoid work overload or underload;
• indicators to show which skills will be in short supply in the future;
• monitoring of forecast workloads for customer projects, internal projects and absences, so as to be able to plan ahead as effectively as possible;
• the ability to create a pool of subcontractors and freelancers, so you can maintain collaboration with them and staff them on your projects;
• advanced working time monitoring and validation functions, including holiday management, available via a mobile application (Android & iOS);
• assignment tracking reports (consolidated, by project, customer, employee, etc.) to help you better plan your future workloads and respect margins;
• synchronisation with all your calendars, so you have better visibility of your schedules.

Stafiz guarantees complete visibility to improve your workloads and the profitability of your projects, as well as significant time savings thanks to the end-to-end automation of all your operations.

🛠 Teamleader

Teamleader is a complete business management software package that lets you manage all your company's activities in a single tool.

Aimed at very small businesses, SMEs and agencies working in digital, media or advertising, this turnkey solution offers you all the functions you need to organise your business and your client projects. As well as planning, it lets you manage and track sales, and even invoice.

Teamleader has over 10 years' experience and more than 15,000 satisfied customers!

Accurate tracking of hours worked and resource availability are major efficiency and profitability issues for your business. Improve your performance with :

• timetracking functionality to accurately time the time spent on a project, automatically or manually, and export time reports in one click for easy invoicing to your customers;
• capacity estimation , which determines whether the right people are available to ensure that the project runs smoothly and is a success;
• optimise your organisation by analysing time spent using different filters (by project, by customer, by user, etc.) and generating reports to better manage future projects;
• Intelligent management of the allocation of human resources to each project, to ensure that the workload is evenly distributed and that processes run smoothly;
• Teamleader can be synchronised with other software via the API to save time and optimise organisation (shared calendar, administrative tools, lead generation, etc.);
• experts to help you set up the software in your company and monitor its use, and a customer service team available to answer your questions on a daily basis.

Teamleader is easy-to-use software that lets you manage your entire business from a single interface for just €15 per month per user, with new features added regularly.

🛠 Triskell

Triskell is also project portfolio management software. What makes it special? It supports strategic planning and the overall governance of the organisation, addressing the entire management value chain.

It is therefore particularly well suited to SMEs and large accounts.

In terms of resource management, and therefore workload planning, Triskell is particularly powerful:

• a top-down resource allocation system, enabling you to plan generic resources (by business line, for example), and not just by name. This gives you an initial overview without wasting time going into great detail straight away;
• simultaneous management of resources at both macro and micro levels, to give you the most accurate picture possible of your company's capacity;
• accurate monitoring of workloads within the company, across all activities, to see which resources can be allocated to each project;
• Scenarios to identify the best configuration to adopt;
• time sheets to accurately track the time spent by employees on each project;
• an agile, flexible and modular tool: add the building blocks you want to the software and tailor it to your needs.

🛠 Whoz

Whoz digitises resource staffing for service companies and consultancies, using powerful resource analysis and management tools. This SaaS solution gives greater control over activity, to boost performance.

The aim? Less profit leakage and more opportunities thanks to :

• a global, accurate, real-time view of the workload, so you can quickly identify consultants on assignment, on inter-contract and any scheduling anomalies;
• an intelligent dashboard that consolidates real-time and forecast data (actual occupancy rate, overall TACE, days available, etc.) to help you better anticipate activity;
• simulation of several staffing scenarios with different profiles, analysing the impact of each choice on margins and profitability;
• rapid, multi-criteria identification of the best profiles for a given assignment (skills, geographical location, availability, profitability);
• internal and external visibility of the company's resources among its business units and trusted partners (companies, freelancers, etc.).

Make faster, more informed decisions, based on intelligent, predictive data processing to improve your results over the long term.

🛠 Wrike

Wrike stands out as a cloud-based collaborative software offering simplified project management. Its compatibility with other applications, advanced synchronisation options , powerful automation and intuitive interface make it an essential tool for optimising your workload. Maximise your team's efficiency and ensure greater productivity with optimal collaboration within your teams!

Objectives: efficiency and profitability

Say goodbye to Excel and delays due to a lack of anticipation, and use past times to better predict your future projects!

The major challenges for your organisation are to maximise your revenue-generating activities, the allocation of your resources with as many invoiced contracts as possible and customer satisfaction. All with the best possible efficiency.

The automated workload plan in a dedicated tool helps you to do this, to increase the visibility of these key criteria, and ultimately to optimise the company's profitability.

Are you convinced of the benefits of using an online tool to get the most out of your workload plan?