I’ve had this one come up twice in the last couple of weeks. What do you do if, even with all the resource allocations and assignments, all the planning and matching project demand to resource supply – what if there is still a lot of churn? You know, resources are still continually reassigned. Or worse, they flit from one task to another based on pressure from various quarters.
While this churn happens in many organizations, I’ve personally seen it many times in New Media companies. These are firms that create all the banner ads, quick videos, CD promotions, short videos, and other new advertising media. Typically, these engagements are like quick hit projects where items are designed and created in days. And a pool of Web developers or copy writers are working with multiple clients concurrently.
In these high-volume, quick-hit types of environments, we often see a malady we call “resource day-trading”. As the name implies, project or account managers are constantly trading resources to get their work prioritized. Like with stock day-trading, there are serious pitfalls, namely inefficient use of resources, lack of alignment, missed deadlines, and budget overruns.
So, how do you handle these high-churn environments? Set up regular resource planning meetings. We did this at one New Media client (the new media arm of one of the largest ad agencies in the US). We designed reports that showed utilization from the last 2 weeks, and allocations for the coming 2 weeks. These reports were produced on Friday. On Monday, the Account Managers (which are basically PMs) and Resource Managers met. They reviewed the reports, discussed the next week’s priorities, and re-allocated as necessary.
By re-allocating as a group on a regular basis, they almost totally eliminated the ad-hoc reallocation that caused so much trouble. And their productivity (as measured by revenue per employee) improved by 300%!
I have had several clients successfully implement this best practice. It greatly improves communication and makes sure everyone is on the same page. This is one meeting that is attended and is definitely not boring!