How Does Resource Utilization Help To Improve Business Performance?
“Input reflects the output when you do everything with a lot of honesty, appetite, and commitment.”-anonymous.
The output of any task would depend on the sweat and toil. Is it? Will these two things make-up for the completion of the projects? No, right? Along with the two, it will be a plan, resources (all kinds), and resource utilization tools also that will account for the project’s success. Planning and execution are important stages. But without quality resources, things can fail to zero. This is why companies invest a lot in understanding the art of resource utilization. Let us look into detail what is the hidden rule behind it?
What is resource utilization?
Resource utilization refers to the percentage of time that an employee can be assigned for the billable task. It indicates the level of productivity of each employee. According to Robert Handler, a team member must spend close to 70–80% of the time on a job. Anything more than this will bring in light low productivity. The resource utilization is computed as:
Resource Utilization= (Busy Time/Available Time)X100%
If the percentage is more than 80%, it shows higher employee burnout. On the contrary, a percentage lesser than this will show improper utilization of resources. You can do this for each resource that is deployed for different projects running in your office.
For example, if you deploy a resource to a project for 35 work hours, and that particular project will in total have 50 workable hours, then that resource will have a utilization of 70%. Though, about 80% is the best rate to aim at, anything above that will be a pressure on the employee.
This is where the relevance of resource utilization tools comes into the picture. But why?
A company at any point and time may have more than one project to handle. It requires cross-collaboration and juggling of the resources within different departments. Ultimately the project managers have to be on their toes to check and make sure that none of the resources is over or underutilized.
In a large infrastructure or with multiple projects in hand, this is practically not possible. You cannot measure the efficiency of the resources without real metrics. And so, a Resource Utilization Tool helps to :
- Manage projects better because they know who is productive and who is not by evaluating the whole data.
- Fetch higher returns on investment by maximizing the use of resources.
- Implement cross-collaboration opportunities.
Resource Utilization can be efficiently done by using the tool that can help measure the efforts, that is, billable/non-billable hours. It gives the idea of overall workload and productivity.
Benefits of Resource Utilization Tool?
Resource Utilization is the need of the businesses enabling them to make the most of their resources. The tool can make the overall process easy and improves the performance of the business. Let us see how?
1. Enhanced productivity of resources.
You can measure the performance level of each resource and evaluate them on a standard metric. The science behind is explained above which makes it convenient for you to analyze which staff of yours is performing more than it should be. It prevents you to save your employees from underperforming or burning out.
When everything will fall in place, productivity will improve taking your business output close to your goals. Maybe, you can attain your targets earlier than the expected time. It will save you time-frame, resources, and finances which are the backbone of any business.
2. Resource Utilization Tool reduces the chance of oversights.
When there is too much of a workload, it is common for you to skip some important information. It might cause you a blunder. But with the resource utilization tool, everything is clear and precise. A business owner is better able to manage the projects because you know what is going and where is the issue.
The tool allows you to have clear visibility and reduces the risk of anything being missed.
3. Higher Returns on Investment.
If a project manager in your establishment can keep everything under the nose, then for sure the targets are met. It makes managing profits and yielding higher returns easier. You in the end know which resource is working to meet the performance meter.
Flawless performance of you as a business manager and your employees will surely give higher returns on investment.
4. Quick Resource Rescheduling.
Running a business is not a cakewalk. You cannot miss any intricate detail, not the minute one’s either. This is when a resource utilization tool plays as it brings in a wider picture of all that you have and what do you need more.
The project managers are more capacitated to reschedule resources whenever it is the demand of the hour. You can ultimately keep the problems at bay or control them in time before they become worse.
Tips for Resource Utilization
Here are the tips for resource utilization:
- Be prepared for the unexpected.
Your budget may be changed or a valuable resource leaves in the middle. You should be prepared for any such unpredictable circumstance.
2. Create an effective resource utilization plan.
Instead of keeping all the projects that run in your company separate, you must put all the projects together. Evaluate the occupancy and availability of all the resources and then put them to work.
3. Keep the booked hours longer than the actual expected time.
You cannot always predict the future of the project. To save your business from such performance creeks, you must keep the booked hours longer than the actual expected time.
Resource Utilization with eResource Scheduler.
Who doesn’t want to have a brand that is known to fetch maximum projects with if not fast but on-time delivery? You need a project manager, resource allocation tool, resource utilization tool, and resources to mark success. eResource Scheduler can give you that resource utilization tool and take away the burden of management.
The tool from eRS aids in quick data forecasts increases ROI and reduces risk. If you are interested to buy the tool get in touch with us here.
