According to Alison Griswold at Business Insider, Data Scientist is one of the fastest growing job titles in America today. Based on her research, job postings for this position have increased by an astounding 12 times since 2010. The growing need for Data Scientists is proof that data is taking a more important role in business. Today, data is deployed to help make and support decisions in finance, sales, and operations.
Not all data is good- we need to know how to filter the signal from the noise. Courtesy of dilbert.com
However, one functional area that has not jumped on the data band wagon is resource planning and management, particularly when managers are attempting to staff projects. Managers claim that the primary reason data is not used more consistently in resources management is because there is no data to use.
This claim is false.
Managers actually track a ton of information about resource management from skills and capabilities to current deployments. Unfortunately, it is stored in the employee’s resume, in a spreadsheet saved to the manager’s desktop, or in the supervisors head. The data is there, it is just not in a easily reachable place.
To unlock the data and provide users anywhere access, managers need to implement resource management software. By implementing resource management software, project teams can expect to gain access to the following 3 data points:
- Understand Skill Types – One of the principal uses of resource management software is to identify and document the current skill set of employees at the company. These skills can be taken directly from the resume and then can be updated as new skills are obtained. Knowing the current skill sets of employees can benefit many functional departments. For example, with this information, sales can better match employees to customers. They can even weed out customers in the sales pipeline that may not be a good fit for the firm. Project managers can also identify talent within the company and use them for a project rather than hiring an outside contractor.
- Schedule Visibility – Another key data point that companies will gain visibility into with resource management software is the current deployment of all their project resources. Sales will appreciate visibility here as well. With a calendar view regarding a resource, salespeople will better know when one project will end and another should begin and can schedule appropriately. Another group that will enjoy this Data is Senior Management. With visibility into every project’s start and estimated end time, they can begin to increase employee utilization.
Try to make sure all your solutions as non-zero. Courtesy of Dilbert.com
- Forecast Revenue Recognition – When resource management software is integrated with ERP revenue recognition software, the two can create a rich data point for the company. The system can be configured to show estimated project status at points in time and correlate that with revenue recognition rules. Executives would be interested in this data since it would give them an idea of what projects are profitable. Accounting would also appreciate this information since it provides them with estimates they will need in order to prepare for month end close.
Resource data is found at all companies, but sometimes it is not accessible. Hiring a data scientist will not solve that. However, implementing a resource management software would unlock this data and provide sales, accounting, project management, and the executive team the information they need to manage the business. Contact us if you would like to learn more.
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