Project Management Tips: How To Forecast Project Team Workloads Using Microsoft Project

PROJECT MANAGERS: Learn a 5-step process for creating an accurate and realistic team workload forecast for your project... which can help you to secure the best people for your project -- exactly when you need them -- in order to keep your project on track, prevent project delays by anticipating when team members will be required to perform work away from your project, and minimize overtime work -- and associated costs -- in order to play "catch up" and meet project deadlines.
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OVERVIEW
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It can be a struggle to obtain -- and retain -- the right people with the right skills for your project... especially if they already have other day-to-day responsibilities. If you don't create an accurate project workload forecast for your project team, you're likely to encounter problems such as:
* Difficulty getting the right people at the right time for your project.
* Project delays because your project team members are pulled away to cover their other day-to-day responsibilities.
* Your project team is forced to work overtime (and you're forced to pay for it!) in order to meet your project deadlines.
However, if you can develop a detailed plan and workload forecast far enough in advance, it's much easier to request those people, work around their daily operational work, and still meet the objectives of your project. Following are the steps that you can follow to generate this plan:
* Use realistic task duration estimates.
* Use generic resources to plan the types of roles needed.
* Use realistic allocations when assigning personnel.
* Add people's scheduling constraints.
* Review resulting workloads and resolve issues as necessary.
If you follow these steps to create a realistic project team workload forecast for your project, then you should be able to:
* Secure the best people for your project -- exactly when you need them -- in order to keep your project on track.
* Prevent project delays by anticipating when team members will be required to perform work away from your project.
* Minimize overtime work -- and associated costs -- in order to play "catch up" and meet project deadlines.
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BACKGROUND
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Project Management author and trainer Tony Zink shares his insights on how to use tools and techniques to get better results on projects. Learn how to save time, save money, reduce risks, and provide a more stress-free and pleasant experience for everyone involved in your project. Other topics that Tony discusses:
* Introduction to Project Management
* Resource Management
* Project Portfolio Management
* Risk Management
* Project planning
* Project scheduling
* Project tracking
* Project Management careers
* Project Management basics
* Project Management for beginners
* Project Management fundamentals
* Project Management tips and tricks
* Project Management tutorials
* Project Management training
* Project Management tools
* Project Management software
* IT Project Management
* Software Project Management
* Construction Project Management
* and much more!

[@babloosony]

Thanks Tony for articulated video.... if possible could you post please video on creating schedule in Microsoft Project and how to handle Critical Path/Chain?

[@TonyZink]

I'll add this topic to my list, Ravi. Thanks for watching!