New projects, full resources: How to stay efficient as a team

Are you familiar with the common dilemma businesses face? New projects, brimming with potential, arrive regularly, all requiring implementation. However, the challenge arises when all resources are already committed to ongoing projects and employees are at capacity. This widespread issue causes concern across various industries. The crucial question is: How can we ensure new projects are integrated efficiently without compromising ongoing efforts and overburdening our team?

The Solution: Simulation and Demand Management

The key to successfully integrating new project orders lies in demand simulation. Before accepting a new project, it's crucial to simulate its requirements and assess how it will impact your current resources and projects.

What is Demand Management?

In project management, Demand Management involves capturing, analyzing, and prioritizing project requests to optimally utilize available resources.

Key Aspects:

1. Capture: Collecting all new project requests.
2. Analysis: Assessing feasibility and resource requirements.
3. Prioritization: Determining urgency and strategic importance.
4. Capacity Planning: Planning resource allocation.
5. Risk Management: Identifying and evaluating risks.
6. Monitoring: Continuously monitoring and adjusting.

A Practical Example:
Challenges with Spontaneous Sales Inquiries

Imagine your company has just completed a major project, and your team is busy with several smaller projects. Suddenly, a new project order comes in that needs to start soon.

Without simulation and demand management, the following scenario could occur:

• Overloaded Resources: Your employees, already engaged in ongoing projects, must also contribute to the new project. This can lead to overwork and potentially burnout.
• Delays: Ongoing projects may be delayed because resources are spread across multiple projects.
• Quality Issues: The quality of work suffers as employees are stressed and do not have enough time for each project.

How can the company handle this?

By simulating the new project and implementing effective demand management, you can:

• Identify Resource Needs: Immediately recognize if additional resources are needed or if the workload needs to be redistributed.
• Create Realistic Timelines: Plan the project start according to available resources.
• Minimize Risks: Identify potential bottlenecks and take early action to mitigate them.

Implementing a Professional Demand Management System

The Role of Can Do Software

Can Do software supports you in simulation and demand management, offering comprehensive features for resource and project planning. Here are some of the main features:

• Automated Resource Analysis: Can Do automatically analyzes the availability and utilization of your resources, helping you prevent overloads.
• Scenario Planning: The software allows you to simulate various scenarios and assess their impacts on your projects and resources.
• Real-Time Data: With real-time data, you can immediately see how new projects impact your ongoing projects and take appropriate action.
• Prioritization Tools: Can Do provides tools for prioritizing projects based on their urgency and strategic importance.

1. Illustration: Roadmap of Current Demands

2. Illustration: Representation of ongoing (green) and planned/simulated (yellow) projects. The red line marks the capacity limit and indicates the feasibility of all initiatives.

Conclusion

Demand simulation is an indispensable tool for resource and project management across all industries. It helps you efficiently integrate future project orders, avoid overloads, and ensure the quality of your work. With Can Do software, you can perform these simulations easily and effectively, thus ensuring the success of your projects.