Resource and Capacity Management Overview

• Create Sub Projects using Sub Project Templates.

• Construct the Work Breakdown Structure to define the:
  1. What the Tasks for each Sub Project.
  2. What the Sub Project Budget is to complete the tasks.
  3. Which staff member is required to complete the task (Optional).

• Drag and drop the following items onto the project Schedule Planning boards:
  1. Projects
  2. Sub Projects
  3. Tasks
• Drag each item to the date and time it will be completed.
• Define which staff member will complete the work (Optional).

• Assign a staff member to complete the project work.
• Or assign a staff rate required to complete the project work.
• Monitor the staff capacity levels available to complete the project work by:
  1. Rates
  2. Staff
  3. Office location
  4. Manager

To use this feature in Synergy please contact Total Synergy Support, and request this feature be enabled on your companies license.

Contact Total Synergy Support on:

Phone: 02 8197 9000

Email: support@totalsynergy.com.au

Setup the calendar for each office location. Define the standard working hours, and standard working days for each office. The calendars are used when monitoring the Staff Capacity levels, and when scheduling staff to complete the Project tasks. Capacity reporting is available at the Project and the Company/Office levels. Setup the office calendar on the Tools > Office Settings > Calendar tab.

Learn more about how to setup the Office Calendar.

Use the calendar on the staff record to define the working days and number of working hours for each staff member. The calendar is setup in Practice > Staff and Application Security List > Staff record > Calendar tab. The calendars are used when monitoring the Staff Capacity levels, and when scheduling staff to complete the Project tasks. Capacity reporting is available at the Project and the Company/Office levels.

Learn more about setting up the staff calendar.

Add the default colour to be shown for each staff member. The colours are used in the Project Work Breakdown structure, Project Schedule board, and the Office Scheduling board. The colour is assigned in Practice > Staff and Application Security List.

Learn more about adding the default colour to each staff record.

Add the default colour to be shown for each staff or inspection rate. The colour is defined in Practice > Rates List. The colours are used in the Project Work Breakdown structure, Project Schedule board, and the Office Scheduling board.

Learn more about adding the default colour to staff and inspection rates.

Populate the budget tab within each sub project template, to have the standard budget entries added to each sub project that you create. These entries should be the commonly used budget items for that type of sub project. Additional budget items can be added/removed in the Sub Project once is has been created.

Using Sub Project Templates allows you to quickly create the Work Breakdown structure for a Project.

Learn more about setting up the Sub Project Budget Templates.

Request that all existing Synergy staff add the My Schedule plugin to your My Synergy dashboard. Add this to your dashboard to view all the tasks which have been assigned for you to complete for this week.

Learn more about the My Schedule plugin.

Update the My Synergy Profiles for each staff access level within Administration Tools > My Synergy Profiles. This will ensure that this plugin is then automatically added for all new staff accounts created.

Learn how to setup the My Synergy Profiles.

Colours can be assigned to each of the Projects within Projects List. Assign a colour to each Active project before you get started using the company or office planning boards.

The setup required to start using Resource and Capacity Management module is complete. Follow the steps below to begin using this module.

The process to create the project remains the same in this new module. Learn each of the steps required to create a new Project.

Tips for creating a project when using Resource and Capacity Management:

1. Add the Sub Projects using Sub Project Templates. This allows you to have the sub project budget automatically added to each sub project from the template. Use the budget factor field on the add a sub project from templates window, to increase or decrease the standard budget values entered into the template. Learn how to add Sub Projects using Sub Project Templates.
2. Assign Colours to each Sub Project on the Project Plan > Sub Project Tab. This allows you to easily see the Sub Project on the Schedule planning boards, and in the Work Breakdown structure. Learn how to add Colours to Sub Projects.

Use the Work Breakdown tab within the Project Plan to define what tasks are required to complete each Sub Project. Use the work breakdown structure to define:

1. Each Sub Project task.
2. The rate to be used for when invoicing the tasks.
3. How many hours the task will take to complete.
4. Which staff member will complete the work.
5. What expense items will be part of each Sub Project.

Building a list of tasks for each Sub Project will build the total Budget value for each Sub Project. Build the tasks and budget for a Sub Project when the Project is at Proposal status, to assist in working out what the Sub Project Fee will be.

Learn more about creating the work breakdown structure.

Use the Project Plan > Schedule > Planning Board tab within the Project, to plan when the work for the Project will be completed. The left hand panel displays a list of sub project, and sub projects tasks which you can add to the Planning Board. Drag and drop items onto the calendar view shown on the right, and the work is planned for the date and time selected. Use the planning board to schedule:

1. When the Sub Project work will be completed. Drag the Sub Project name across multiple days in the calendar, to schedule the work to be completed.
2. When a Task for the Sub Project will be completed. Drag the task across multiple days in the calendar to until the scheduled hours match the hours entered into the budget on the work breakdown tab.
3. Allocate which Staff member will complete the task. Double click an item in the calendar view, to edit the staff member allocated to the task.
4. Change how the schedule is shown by toggling between the views to display by sub project, by task, by rate, or by staff.

Once a Sub Project task has been assigned to a staff member, it will be shown in their My Schedule plugin on the My Synergy dashboard.

Learn more about Scheduling Project tasks.

Use the Project Plan > Schedule > Capacity tab within the Project, to view which staff members have free time available to complete the tasks. The capacity tab allows you to select which month is shown from the calendar, and view the schedule, capacity and this project time within a graph.

The following information is shown in the capacity graph:

1. CapacityView total hours that staff could work in each month, based on the office and staff calendar settings. This is shown for all staff, or all staff of a chosen rate, or for a chosen staff member.
2. ScheduledView the number of hours work that has already been scheduled on other projects. This is shown for all staff, or all staff of a chosen rate, or for a chosen staff member.
3. Planned for this ProjectView the number of hours work scheduled for the open project. This is shown for all staff, or all staff of a chosen rate, or a for a chosen staff member.

Learn more about checking the staff capacity levels.

Return to the Work Breakdown tab in the Project Plan to monitor the progress of the Sub Projects. Check the work breakdown structure to:

1. Each task budget has been over or under delivered. Compare the actual transaction values against the budgeted value for each task.
2. Check the Scheduled Hours for a task matches the Budgeted hours.
3. Enter the percentage % complete for each item.
4. Mark work breakdown items as complete, to stop the task being used on further timesheet entries.
5. Add new items to the budget if the scope of work has changed.
6. Update the budget for an item if the work required has increased.

Learn more about monitoring and updating the work breakdown structure.

Add a colour to each Project within Project List, to make the Project easy to locate on the Company Planning Board. Before you schedule a new project, make sure the colour has been added to the Project in Project List.

Learn more about adding a colour to a project.

Use the company planning board to schedule when to complete the work for each Project, Sub Project or Task. The company planning board is located at Projects > Resource Management > Planning Board tab. Here a list of Projects are shown in the panel on the left side of the screen. Drag and drop the projects onto the calendar view, to schedule the date and time that the work will be completed. Select an office location and choose to schedule the work by:

1. Project
2. Sub project
3. Task

Schedule the work for all the Projects to allow you to correctly monitor the staff capacity levels for each Office.

Learn more about using the Company Planning Board.

Use the Capacity board to check which staff have available time to complete additional project tasks. This function is found at Projects > Resource Management > Capacity tab. Select which month is shown in the graph from the calendar. View the scheduled hours for the month, and the maximum staff capacity hours within the graph.

The following information is shown in the capacity graph:

1. CapacityView total hours that staff could work in the chosen month, based on the office and staff calendar settings. This is shown for all staff, or all staff of a chosen rate, or for a chosen staff member.
2. ScheduledView the number of hours work that has already been scheduled on all projects. Change the view to see this information for a selected office, or for a staff manager.

Use the filters to update the graph to display:

1. OfficeChoose to see the scheduled tasks for a chosen office location. Use the filter in the top toolbar.
2. Reports ToChoose to see the scheduled tasks for staff that report to a select staff manager. Use the filter in the top toolbar.
3. RatesSelect a rate in the left panel, to update the graph to only show scheduled hours for the chosen rate.
4. StaffSelect a staff member in the left panel, to update the graph to only show schedule hours for that staff member.

Learn more about checking the company staff capacity levels.