The ideal scheduling scenario for a service company like yours is a balancing act. You want all of your team members to be working on projects that play to their strengths, while having plenty of work to do but not so much that they have to miss deadlines or overwork.
Managing expectations between different stakeholders, multiple team members, and company leadership can get hectic.
You need a powerful automation tool that offers flexibility while still allowing you to give concrete answers to questions like, "Can we move the schedule up two weeks for an additional fee?" or "Would you be interested in taking on a much larger role in our new project?"
The modern innovation of dynamic scheduling allows you to allocate team time in ways that help everyone involved set timelines and stay busy with their ideal mix of work. At the same time, dynamic scheduling keeps overhead hours low and helps you take on the perfect next project(s) to fill in the gaps in team members' schedules.
Dynamic Scheduling uses software to predict your staff's availability, allowing you to allocate your team's resources far into the future. Using dynamic scheduling, you can allocate daily, weekly, and monthly time for each team member to different projects. It creates at-a-glance clarity on whether someone is underbooked, overbooked, or booked for too much of the wrong kind of work.
Because dynamic scheduling is a snapshot of what projects are underway and which ones are coming soon, it is part of a wider picture of the health of the company and the direction the work is taking.
Dynamic scheduling is particularly helpful for project management, including letting clients know that you can or cannot fast-track a project and deciding things like whether hiring a new person is required to take on additional work. Dynamic scheduling allows you to get better data to answer client questions honestly without having to "wait and see" how certain projects go.
The software behind dynamic scheduling is a powerful tool that lets all of your team members know what everyone is currently focusing on. Since most firms have more than one person who works on gathering, scheduling and assigning tasks, dynamic scheduling software gives every team member the appropriate permissions to schedule within the dynamic interface.
Using automated team scheduling, dynamic scheduling software allows you to adjust projects when timelines change and see where this will create bottlenecks down the road.
Perhaps this month all of your team members have the wiggle room to make a change and fast-track a project, but if that change continues into next month, you will want to know if other projects will be affected.
Each update to the software updates for everyone, so you all have as complete a picture of availability and utilization as possible.
Some of the major benefits of dynamic scheduling software include:
With one powerful dynamic schedule, you can create entrenched organizational routines for your team. The potential for efficiency grows when everyone knows exactly what is coming due, who needs to have eyes on it before it moves to the next step, and how a given change to a project timeline impacts the whole company.
The information included in a dynamic schedule truly amounts to key data that helps you make smart decisions and stick to your word with clients, which builds your reputation and customer loyalty.
Dynamic scheduling becomes even more powerful when tasks in the schedule can be created against accounts like clients, retainers, or projects. The entire scheduling system becomes part of your overall quest for strong profitability through excellent utilization and clear billing that helps your clients see exactly what they're paying for.
Accelo is both a dynamic scheduling software solution and an integrated system that brings together so much more than project scheduling. Accelo's platform provides numerous features that enhance communication, productivity, and profitability.
The dynamic scheduling software is at once a profitability driver as well as an employee satisfaction and retention tool; it helps create a high-energy workplace where everyone is up to speed on the current work of the team.
Finding a great dynamic scheduling software doesn't have to be difficult — sign up for a free trial of Accelo today to see how it works. You'll be amazed at how seamlessly it integrates with the tools your team already relies upon, and how it aggregates valuable information to aid you in making informed decisions.