Advanced resourcing (Add-on)

Notes

• The ability to adjust resource allocation settings is based on Access rights.
• The ability create, view and share resource allocation data through reporting is based on Access rights.
• The Advanced resourcing add-on must be under subscription to view and use the functions described below.

In brief

The Advanced resourcing add-on is a tool to assist with the planning, scheduling and assignment of work. Whether new projects are being planned or existing projects are being revised, resourcing provides a critical view of employee workloads and availability. In Visma Severa, employee resources are allocated inside individual cases or through reporting.

Settings

Before allocating resources, it's important to review and adjust system settings to ensure that planning, resourcing and reporting don't accidentally include days when employees won't be at work.

First, go to Tools > Settings > Holidays and make sure that all company holidays are entered on the correct dates of the year.

If the Advanced time tracking add-on is in use, go to Tools > Settings > Time tracking options, and under Work week, make sure the checkboxes are marked for the correct work days.

Next, it's important to make sure a Work contract is specified for every employee. Go to Tools > User management, and click on an employee name to open their user information page. Open the Work contracts section and either edit an existing contract or add a new one.

Finally, identify whether resourcing should be completed in percentages or hours. Go to Tools > Settings > Resource allocations and select Hours if preferred. Employees are then resourced in that format only while reporting is available in both percentages and hours.

Resourcing in a Case

Activities & Phases

Create a new case or open an existing one. Plan, schedule and otherwise define the case structure in the Activities & Phases section by adding phases, estimates, dates and case members.

Information about Phases and Case members is essential when creating resource allocations because options are delimited accordingly. The other information isn't absolutely necessary, but will expedite resourcing, reporting and progress analysis.

Adding case members

The decision to add case or phase members is expedited using the Preview current allocations button. Click to open a graph with existing allocations for selected employees in the Resource allocations section.

Add or remove case or phase members based on their workload, and when complete, click the Dismiss preview button to return the Resource allocations section to normal and continue working in Activities & Phases.

After making resource allocations for this case, the Resourced column in the Activities & Phases section will be automatically updated to reflect allocations. The information about resourced hours is helpful to monitor in comparison with the entered versus estimated Work hours in the next column.

Resource allocations graph

Go to the Resource allocations section of the case. If resources haven’t been allocated yet, there is an empty table to select and add resources. If some resourcing has already been done, case members and a graph of their existing allocations are displayed above the table. Case members that are resourced but no longer Active employees in the system are shown in light gray.

Graphs of existing allocations are filtered using the drop-down menus at the top. The menus allow you to show allocations for This case or all Open cases, in time periods of a Week, Month or Year, and with or without inclusion of the Sales probability.

The default selection of Yes for Use sales probability means that resource allocation graphs display allocations multiplied by the percentage of Probability that the case will be won (as specified in the Sales section of the case).

For example, if the Probability of winning a case is 50% and Yes is selected for Use sales probability, then an allocation of 50% in the resourcing graph will display as 25% (0.5 * 0.5 = 0.25). If the case has already been won and the Probability is set at 100%, then the 50% resourcing will appear as 50% (0.5 * 1 = 0.5). If the Probability field is empty or 0%, resourcing will appear as 0% (0.5 * 0 = 0). When No is selected for Use sales probability, the probability doesn't affect the displayed allocations on the graph.

Use sales probability and the other drop-down menu selections only affect the graphed display of resource allocations, not the actual allocations. The actual percentage or number of hours resourced are viewed and edited by clicking the edit icon located on the left of an allocation graph in front of the person's name.

Underneath the graph, the legend describes the range of resourcing represented by each color. Additional information including dates and percentages of allocations is revealed through tooltips when the mouse is placed over an allocation on the graph.

Allocations can be added to the case for the same person or for other people as needed, and those allocations will be incorporated to an existing graph or displayed as a new graph.

Adding resources

Resources are added through the table by entering the Person, Phase, Allocation, Start date and End date. Under Person, use the drop-down menu to select a Case member or other employee from the list. In the next field, under Phase, select either the case as a whole or an individual phase. Enter the percentage or hours expected in the Allocation field. When the case or phase was selected, the corresponding Start date and End date were inserted. Accept the default dates for the case or phase, or enter the dates manually. And, remember to Add.

Using the default Start date and Deadline for allocations means that changes to the project dates will automatically update the allocation dates.

Templates

When using Create copy or a Template to create a new case from an existing case, Resource allocations are included by default. However, as with other data included through the template, it's strongly suggested to review resource allocations to identify differences in the Case members, Start date and End date. Of course, it's also possible to deselect the Resource allocations section so that resourcing isn't included in the new case.

Resourcing reports

Resource allocations can viewed independently of a case through Reports > Report gallery, by clicking to open the Resource allocations report. The By person in percentages report opens and appears similar to the resourcing graph in a case. Additional resourcing reports include By person in hours, Overview in percentages and Overview in hours.

To switch between the reports, or to delimit the report, click Show at the top of the page next to Criteria. Notice the Content of the report is Resource allocations and below that is possible to select the various resourcing reports.

Click in the Users field and select an employee to delimit the report. Or use the drop-down menus Business unit, User keywords, Time frame, Supervisor, Case status, Case keywords, Sales status and Use sales probability to further refine the report.

By person in percentages

Similar to the resource allocations graph in a case, the Resource allocations, By person in percentages report shows all employees with resource allocations during that time period. However the amount of resourcing is a total for all cases, and employees are listed by business unit. Employees appear unavailable (N/A) when their Work contract is empty or expired, or when they have an Out of office activity. Resourcing for employees that are no longer Active is shown but the person's name is displayed in light gray.

The report can be filtered by selecting criteria through the drop-down menus above the graph, including Business unit, Supervisor, Keywords and statuses. More information is available by moving the mouse over the allocation graph to reveal tooltips with dates and percentages.

Allocations for an employee can be edited by clicking the edit icon located on the left, before the name of the person. Underneath the graph, a legend describes the color scheme used to represent the range of allocations.

When the desired information has been graphed, the report can be saved by entering a name for the report in the box below, selecting a location and clicking Save. 

Below the graph, new resources can be added. Click the drop-down menu under Person and click to select an employee from the list. Once selected, a quick view of the person’s current allocations displays beneath.

Next, click the field under Phase to select a case or phase. Enter the percentage or hours of resourcing under Allocation. Enter the time frame manually with relevant dates, or click on the Start date and Deadline links to insert the corresponding case or phase dates. And, remember to Add.

Using the Start date and Deadline links when entering an allocation means that date changes to the project will automatically update the allocation.

By person in hours

The Resource allocations, By person in hours report is a grouped report of allocations by person. For each person, detailed information about the hours allocated by case is presented over time.

Increments of time are selected through the X axis drop-down menu, with Days, Weeks or Months. The Time frame can be adjusted to view allocations for longer or shorter periods in the past, present or future. And, the Use sales probability filter can be turned on or off to apply the multiplier effect of case sales probability on resource allocations.

Additionally the report can be filtered by Person, Case, Account, Case keywords, User keywords, Business unit (user), Business unit (case), Case owner, Sales status, Case status or Supervisor to reduce the amount of data and provide focus.

Overview in percentages

The Resource allocations, Overview in percentages graph displays general resourcing information about workloads in relation to case statuses.

The blue rectangles in the background of the graph show the amount of Work hours (calculated based on employee Work contracts) resourced in relation to sales status (i.e., No sale, Request for information, Proposal, Order and Rejected).

For example, of the total possible work hours in your company, it may be that 25% are resourced for cases in Proposal status, 50% are resourced for cases in Order status and the remaining 25% of the workload isn’t allocated.

On the graph, the green line fluctuates to show the Hours entered by employees. The purple line shows the total Available hours or capacity for resourcing given the current situation with Work contracts, the Work week and Out of office activities. The yellow line is related to Activity scheduling and represents Unassigned activities that have a Duration or amount of time (all day activities equal 7.5 hours).

Move the mouse over elements in the graph to display tooltips with additional information. Click on the Actual hours, Unassigned activities or a case status element to open the related reports for more details.

Overview in hours

The Resource allocations, Overview in hours graph displays general resourcing information in relation to work hours entered. The graph has two Y Axes which both represent hours.

The axis on the left relates to the number of hours resourced and work hours entered by date. The axis on the right relates to the cumulative number of hours resourced and work hours entered.

The blue rectangles in the background of the graph show the number of hours resourced for cases in different Sales statuses, such as Request for information, Proposal, Order and Rejected, according to the Y axis on the left. While the yellow rectangles show the number of Hours entered per day according to the Y axis on the left.

The blue and yellow lines are cumulative hour data according to the Y axis on the right, and logically both lines increase as time progresses. The blue line shows the Cumulative hours resourced and the yellow line shows the Cumulative hours entered.  

Move the mouse over elements in the graph to display tooltips with additional information. Click on the Actual hours, Unassigned activities or a case status element to open the related reports for more details.