You have been working with your software since a few years but do you use it to its full potential? Does it still answer your expectations and fulfill  your needs?

Most software are normally updated at least once a year and include new features and improvements. The world of software evolves quickly and continuously. Update after update news functionalities are activated and quite often the user has no time to get used with those improvements, and new features and hence cannot really get the benefit of those improvements.

Under which circumstances would you under-utilize your software?

• Employees leaving the company
In each and every organization, the staff is called up, sooner or later, to be replaced. Part of their knowledge is then passed on to the successors. This transfer of knowledge is often imperfect, incomplete or erroneous. This fact applies also to the resource(s) who manage(s) the time, billing and project management software. Hence, quality and accuracy of the passed on knowledge might decrease throughout the years, affecting the proper use of software. It is recommended to  write a procedures handbook where the knowledge can be consigned.
• Software not updated
Users often tend to forget to update their software. Most programs offer one or more updates per year. Each update includes improvements and new features. Therefore, the users quite often do not use the software to its full capacity, thus depriving them of valuable and useful features.

• Additional training required
Quite often the users who maintain their software updated, will partially use the new features, and will not ask for additional training. The risk is then high that new features and software improvements will be misused or partially utilized.
• Evolution of the company needs
Each and every business grows throughout time, and therefore company needs and requirements evolve too. Most of the time those needs, such as time management, billing, financial management of the project require a changing features tool. However, the user continues to use the software as he did years ago without using all the benefits that software can provide.

It is therefore recommended, in parallel with regular software upgrades and updates, to  validate the following:

Does the staff know well how to use software?

• Are my software updated to the most recent version?
• Do we need to refresh our knowledge of software by means of additional training?
• Does our time, billing and project management software still answer your growing needs?
• Do we have an updated and customized procedures handbook ?

A look at your current situation conducted with your software provider is recommended.

Types of change

Any change that occurs in the ecosystem of the business generates reactions. There are among others, two main types of changes:

-       Technological changes: for instance we introduce a new mode of production in the factory, or new management tools.

-       Changes related to duties and obligations of employees.

In some cases the change will not only have an influence on the technological aspects of the business but will also have an impact on human resources. This is the well-known case of the implementation of new software that modifies the management process, but also the habits and duties of employees. The introduction of a time, billing and project cost management software like Abak is a good example.

Possible reactions

The occurred change will have a serious impact on the day to day operation of the company and will also generate very different reactions from the workforce. Those reactions can be of two types:

-       Positives reactions: every change has its supporters. It is seen as a progressive innovation which, at medium and long term, will be productive (time saving, standardization of data entry, improvement of the billing process, optimized management of projects, etc…). Generally, executives and management staff are in favor of these changes.

-       Reluctant reactions: employees will have to complete their timesheets and their expense accounts regularly and in a consistent manner. Furthermore software will generate automated reminders when time sheets are not completed on a specific date. What will be the reactions of the employees?

. The introduction of this tool is a more or less hidden reinforced control tool of employees activities.

. This will result in a work `overcharge’ because the time sheets will have to be filled regularly.

. The employee will have to detail his/her activities and not only declare these succinctly.

. The implementation of such a system can be seen as a lack of confidence from the management towards the employees.

What to do ?

Before the implementation of the time management, expenses, billing and cost management project software, it is recommended to ‘take the pulse’ of the team. We inform the staff of what is coming and we do it in an open dialog.

For example we organise one or more meetings that will focus on several topics:

-       What are the day to day recurring problems. For example: difficulty managing time banks, under billing, loss of valuable time; all factors that affect the efficiency of the business and its competitiveness.

-       The example of companies which have optimised their process by implementing new management tools.

-       The desires of the direction to facilitate the work of everyone in an organized, functional and effective way.

The final goal is to invite employees to think on how to improve the current situation and to present the solution considered as a useful tool for everyone whose use will simplify the daily administration, optimize the billing and project management and employees time bank. Time gain, ease and process optimization are all keywords that will contribute to the general acceptance of that new software.

The client has just sent his order and there is a lot of excitement at the company. Indeed, the project is very ambitious and is going to require most of our employees over a long period of time.

We are Epsilon Conseil (*), a SME specialized in professional services. We deliver projects which are mostly far different one from the other. Indeed, some of them last over a short period of time and involve a limited number of employees and others, on the contrary, are larger scale projects.

This kind of large project represents a primordial interest for a SME because it generatesrevenue that we cannot miss. However, it can be risky.

Let’s take some examples:

• Delays on delivery resulting in possible penalties.
• Work overload for employees and progressive demotivation.
• Risk of exceeding the initial budget that was used to calculate a fixed price. Risk of loss through under-billing.
• The project requiring much of the workforce, there is a bottleneck risk when obtaining other projects during the delivery of the project in question.
• If many people are involved in the project, some tasks may be duplicated and, therefore, affect the profitability of the project.

We have, upon reception of the order form, determined the deliverables list and we have quantified them. To do so, we have listed the requested activities defined their quantities and determined the expenses that we shall engage to fulfill those tasks. At last, to take into consideration the risk factor we have applied a buffer percentage to the estimated project duration. Here we are, finally ready to launch our project. However, the human resource aspect must be taken into consideration to ensure the success of the mission. Indeed, we must plan the different steps of production and delivery to ensure that we have all the available resources to do so. Another element requires a special attention: our production capacity. In our professional field, our production tool is time spent by our workforce on the different projects. Therefore, it is mandatory, for the benefit of the project, to ask us these questions:

• In the meantime during which the project is active, what other projects are in the pipeline?
• Which impact would have those ongoing projects in terms of staff mobilisation?
• What would be our flexibility in case we would win new projects during the considered period?
• How to deal with the delays and their impact on the following projects?

This list is not exhaustive.

The evidence is there: the solution is a planning tool which is integrated not only to the application that controls the working time but also to budget control reports, and other project monitoring reports (work in progress, expenses management, and billing).

Abak software Inc. proposes a resources assignment tool. There are several ways to assign employees to projects. It is possible, when building the project architecture in Abak, to assign several employees for a given period and for a specific number of hours per day during which the employees will work on the project or to assign employees to a specific activity for example.

This results in a monitoring table, Gantt type, which offers an overview of everyone’s time, and determines the level of availability of employees for a given period. The assignment module includes a detailed report as well. Depending on the selected criteria and the employee’s assignment, this application will be able to track the progress of projects and the remaining availability of resources.

For more details, do not hesitate to contact us

(*): Any similarity with the name of an existing company is purely coincidental.

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When it comes to project management, project managers would generally apply the methodology which consists into a fragmentation of the project into a variable number of phases and sub-phases. The purpose of this action, by means of phase based project architecture, is to identify all components of the project. Next step being to distribute them on a timetable, associate tasks, assign resources, and determine a set of milestones.

It seems to be a good strategy, and generally speaking the adage “divide and conquer” is quite appropriate. The project revolves around a row of successive steps. For each of those phases we have determined the workload, define responsibilities of each and every one, and have budgeted the time required for each sub-step that constitutes the project phases.

It is a fact that, to properly define a budget, it is recommended to go into the details of the activities composing the project, and for each of them to estimate the time that is necessary for its implementation and the related costs.
However, a grain of sand can slip in this fancy management mechanism and generate complexity and confusion. Indeed, if the architecture of the project is too detailed, employees are at risk of getting lost when logging their time and expenses.

Let’s take an example:
My project consists of twelve phases. On average, each phase consists of five sub-phases. Each sub-phase is composed of an average of four sub-steps. Finally, each of these sub-steps consists of three to five types of activities. Consider the activity ‘meeting’ for example. In Phase ‘1’, I shall have the choice between five sub-phases and then four sub-steps to log my time spent on the activity ‘meeting’.

The risk of error is extremely high, especially if the input mode is done manually (via email, file, or using Excel, for example) … Every mistake will affect the budget per phase and may cause violent headaches to the controller or the project manager during the billing process. Especially if the controller bills the real number of hours and related expenses spent on the project. In terms of project management, it is therefore necessary to find the ideal compromise between determining a realistic budget and a project architecture limited to main phases and sub-phases. Going into detail activities to define the budget is recommended. In contrast, the architecture of the project, for obvious reasons of ease of use and monitoring should be limited to the main steps.
To avoid this pitfall, we recommend validating the relevance of each step, and clearly define the needs in advance when creating project templates. Abak Software specialized in time management, billing, and project cost management will guide you through this process.

Contact our experts for more information.