Resource Balancer

Context

The resource balancer is a tool which provides a centralised way to manage all aspects of resourcing including: capacity, demand and allocation.

The tool can be used by a variety of roles including:

The line manager of an individual resource
The manager of a team of resources (known in the tool as a resource pool manager)
A centralised resourcing team team (e.g. PMO) managing resources by role
A centralised team (e.g. PMO) managing resourcing across a portfolio, a programme or a specific project.

Setting the scope and timeline

The initial page on opening the resource balancer is the 'select' page. This is used to set the scope of the resource balancer and the timeframe that the user wishes to work on. The following table lists the possible scope options and the capabilities for each of those.

The team and capacity pages are only applicable and displayed when the scope is 'Resource Pool'. For all other scopes, only the balancer page is relevant.

The List field allows the user to define which item of the selected scope to display, for example which resource pool or which portfolio.

The Start and End dates define the time period to be managed. These should be based on how forward looking the organization is when allocating resources to demand.

Managing persons in the team

The Team page is only relevant when the scope is 'Resource Pool' and shows all resources assigned to that resource pool.
The page supports changing of a person's First Name, Last Name, End Date and Role.
The end date should be used when a resource is leaving the organisation. It should not be used when a resource is transferring to a different team.
New resources can be added to the team by clicking on the '+' icon. The new resource can either be a new hire (which will create a new person record) or it can be the transfer of a resource from another team.

Managing capacity of the team

The Capacity page is only relevant when the scope is 'Resource Pool' and shows the capacity of resource in that resource pool to work on demand.
The page shows non-working days (from the regional calendar), time-off requested by the resource and working days.
Click on a cell, to mark it as time-off for a resource.

Balancing demand and allocations

Overview

The balancer page is where demand and allocations are managed. As the name implies, the objective is to balance supply and demand so that demand is fulfilled within capacity and the capacity is as fully utilized as possible.

How the data is presented will depend on the value of the grouping field. The page includes a summary graph to illustrate over or under-allocations compared to capacity.

Units and grouping

Use the View By (Days, Weeks, Months, Quarters or Years) and View In (Hours, Days or FTEs) fields to define the granularity of the data. A combination of these can be used to carry out short, medium or long term forecasting. For example, for short term forecasting over the following month set the 'View By' to 'Days' and 'View In' to 'Hours' to manage the allocations in detail. For medium or long term planning change the 'View By' to a less granular value and perform allocations at this level for the remaining months in the timeframe.
Demand and allocations done at Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or Annual level will be evenly distributed across each day in the period. This is evident when the 'View By' is changed from a summarised level to a detail level (e.g 'Weeks' to 'Days').
The Group By field is used to group the data to satisfy particular objectives. This is shown in the table below:

Managing large amounts of data

When working with teams that contain a large number of resources or when there is a lot of demand coming from different portfolio entities there is a chance that not all the data will fit on the screen. There are a number of ways to manage this:

Demand Status

To the right of each demand line is an icon indicating the demand status. Hover over the icon to check the status:
New demand indicated by a pencil icon. Used when the demand is in the planning stage and a request for allocation has not been sent.
Requested or Partially Fulfilled demand indicated by a person icon with a ‘+’ sign to show that some of the demand is unallocated.
Fulfilled demand indicated by a ‘thumbs up’ icon to show that the demand is fully met.
Rejected demand indicated by a hammer icon. The person managing the resource pool associated with the demand has rejected the request. Either edit the demand, shift the demand, or select a different resource pool.

Allocating resources to demand

When the 'Group By' is set to 'Portfolio Entity' the demand for each portfolio is shown at the top and the resources in the team are shown below. In this scenario resources are allocated to demand.
When the 'Group By' is set to 'Resource', 'Resource Type' or 'Role' the resources are shown at the top and the demand for each portfolio is shown below. In this scenario demand is allocated to resources.
There are two methods of allocation:

Regardless of which of the two methods are used the default behaviour for the allocation is the same:
1. If the resource capacity is more than or equal to the demand: The resource is allocated to the demand for the full amount of the unmet demand and the capacity of the resource is reduced by the amount allocated. The demand is considered fully met.
2. If the resource capacity is less than the amount of the demand: The resource is allocated for the full amount of their remaining capacity and the unmet demand is reduced by the capacity allocated. The demand is not considered fully met.
Check the box 'Toggle Numbers' to see the default allocations in the cells.

Managing partial or split allocations

Sometimes there is a requirement to fine-tune or adjust the default allocations. This is especially the case where multiple resources are allocated to demand.
Check the box 'Toggle Numbers' to the left of the time range header row. This will show the allocation numbers in the cells.
Edit the numbers in the cells to reach the desired allocation level. The heat map for the period will adjust automatically as the changes are made.

Soft booking or committing a resource

Allocation of resources to demand can be categorised as 'Committed' or 'Soft-Booked'.
When using the drag and drop method of allocation the default allocation type is 'Committed'. When using the pop-up allocation method, the user can choose the allocation type.
To change the allocation type click on the name of the resource allocated to the demand. If the resource is 'Committed' there will be an option to switch to 'Soft Book' the resource. If the resource is 'Soft Booked' there will be an option to change the type to 'Committed'
Soft-booked resources are identified by a warning triangle containing an exclamation mark.

Deleting an allocation

To delete an allocation, click on the name of the resource to be removed from the allocation.
A delete button will appear to the left of the resource name. Click on this to delete the allocation.

Amending the amount of demand

The resource balancer supports changing the demand in order to better meet the availability of resources. For example, the demand might be for 16 hours across two days and there is no resource available on the first day, but 2 available on the second and the work can be divided between two resources. In this situation the 8 on the first day can be reset to zero and the 8 on the second day changed to 16.
Ensure the 'Group By' is set to 'Portfolio Entity'
Check the box 'Toggle Numbers' to the left of the time range header row. This will show the allocation numbers in the cells.
In the demand line, edit the number(s) in the cell to adjust the demand as required.

Shifting demand dates

Demand can be shifted to a new start date so that it better aligns with the availability of resources
Ensure the 'Group By' is set to 'Portfolio Entity'
Click the status icon to the right of the demand title. A pop-up window will be displayed
Select 'Shift' in the pop-up window and the 'Shift Demand' window will be displayed.
Select the new start date for the demand. If existing allocations are to be shifted as well then leave the 'shift allocations' box checked.
Click on the 'Shift' button to confirm the change.

Forwarding demand to another team

The demand will state a resource pool from which the demand is expected to be fulfilled. If the stated resource pool cannot fulfil the demand but it is thought that another pool might be able to meet the requirement there is an option to forward the demand to the other resource pool.
Ensure the 'Group By' is set to 'Portfolio Entity'
Click the status icon to the right of the demand title. A pop-up window will be displayed
Select 'Forward' in the pop-up window and the 'Forward Demand' window will be displayed.
Select the new resource pool.
Click on the 'Forward Demand' button to confirm the change.

Adding demand

New lines of demand can be added to portfolio entities displayed in the balancer page. The balancer page does not support the creation of new entities. To create new entities select Proposals, Projects or Services from the Portfolio section of the drop-down menu.
Ensure the 'Group By' is set to 'Portfolio Entity'
Click on the '+' icon to the right of the portfolio entity. A pop-up 'Add Demand' window will be displayed. Click on the large '+' icon to display the attributes for the new demand.
Complete the attributes for the new demand and click on 'OK'. The demand line will be added.
In the date cells enter the demand required for that period.

Copying demand

Lines of demand can be copied to create a new line of demand for the portfolio entity
Ensure the 'Group By' is set to 'Portfolio Entity'
Click the status icon to the right of the demand title. A pop-up window will be displayed
Select 'Copy; in the pop-up window. The 'Copy Demand' window will be displayed containing fields for the new demand line as a copy of the existing demand.
Complete the attributes for the copied demand and click on 'OK'. The demand line will be added.
In the date cells enter the demand required for that period.

Viewing and adding comments relating to demand

Comments can be added to demand on the balancer page
Ensure the 'Group By' is set to 'Portfolio Entity'
Click the status icon to the right of the demand title. A pop-up window will be displayed
Select 'Comment' in the pop-up window and the 'Add a comment' window will be displayed.
Enter comments in the text box and click on 'Add' when done.
Previous comments can be viewed by selecting the 'History' option of the pop-up demand window. Comments just made will not appear until the changes are published.

Viewing the history of changes to demand

The history of changes to a demand line can be viewed from the balancer page
Ensure the 'Group By' is set to 'Portfolio Entity'
Click the status icon to the right of the demand title. A pop-up window will be displayed
Select 'History' in the pop-up window and the 'Demand History' window will be displayed, showing changes made, when they were made and by who.

Deleting demand

Demand lines can be deleted from the balancer page
Ensure the 'Group By' is set to 'Portfolio Entity'
Click the status icon to the right of the demand title. A pop-up window will be displayed
Select 'Delete' in the pop-up window. A message will be displayed asking for confirmation that the demand and all its allocations should be deleted.
Click on 'Delete' to confirm deletion or close the window to cancel.
Deletion does not take place until the changes are published.

Publishing changes

Changes made in the resource balancer do not take effect until they are published.
Click on the 'Tick' icon to the top right of the page to publish the changes
A message will be displayed to confirm that the changes have been published.

Exporting to Excel

Data in the capacity and balancer pages can be exported to Excel.
Click on the 'Export' icon to the top right of the screen to export the data.

FAQ

Q: Why do I receive the message 'Data may be incomplete' when reaching the balancer page?

A: This is a warning that, at certain zoom levels, the data may be incomplete. For example if the time range selected (on the 'Select' page) is 1st January to end of March and the 'View By' level is switched to 'Year', the number displayed is not the full year but just the time range selected.

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