Writing to solicit some feedback on how other firms manage staffing for projects.
About us: small firm of 13. Of the 13, 8 are production staff. Remainder Principal and/or straight up PM role.
We have about 50-60 active projects ranging from $5k to ~$200K in fee. We'd like to streamline our scheduling...or maybe we don't?
Does your firm...
A.) Meet regularly(at least weekly) to schedule staff and production hours using timesheet/billing integrated software.
B.) Meet somewhat regularly (about once a month) and give general assignments based on an overall list of projects
C.) Management happens per each Principal/PM. They have their own client/group/studio and work stays with that staff start to finish, if they don't have work, then they stay idle...no moving from studio to studio
D.) Very haphazard...everyone is on the hot project...then it's on to the next fire
combination of 2 or 3? Any input is greatly appreciated.
we are a little smaller and have maybe 15, most of which are in CA. damn....
my experience:
firm a (14 people): no weekly meetings, bosses handed down workplan to PMs who disseminated to their project team. the only time we ever had meetings was when the firm won/placed in a competition and we'd have champagne and cake. this generally worked well and the type of work was great, strike that - amazing.
firm b (4): weekly meetings that really didn't accomplish much, followed by everyone racing to put out fires on one project. not effective. boss was an egotistical asshole.
firm c (30): weekly meetings, assignments and workloads discussed - work was not so great and most of the meetings weren't necessary for staff.
firm d (10): zero staff meetings, loose flow but somehow the firm made do... bosses met 1 on 1 or in small groups to pass information along. generally stayed w/ one project all the way through. similar to firm a, only less experienced PMs and type of work not as good.
generally, the fewer meetings the better. although semi-monthly probably isn't a bad thing. it's a good way to keep the office cohesive - otherwise it can branch out into 'this is my project. there are many like it but this one is mine...'
your staffing plan should be based on the work plan of the project created, verified and checked constantly by the PIC or PM. this plan is a look ahead based on project milestones and deliverables and balanced against the project fee and phase budgets. with an office of 13 people, this should be easily created in a morning (because the PIC's and PM's have a project schedule and a contract, right?).
in my experience, a 4 month look ahead is about all you need for good staffing, but a 6 month and 12 month plan are also necessary.
i could get into much more detail but this should get the conversation going.
holz.box. . . semper fi?
Dec 23, 09 10:09 am ·
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Project Staffing
Writing to solicit some feedback on how other firms manage staffing for projects.
About us: small firm of 13. Of the 13, 8 are production staff. Remainder Principal and/or straight up PM role.
We have about 50-60 active projects ranging from $5k to ~$200K in fee. We'd like to streamline our scheduling...or maybe we don't?
Does your firm...
A.) Meet regularly(at least weekly) to schedule staff and production hours using timesheet/billing integrated software.
B.) Meet somewhat regularly (about once a month) and give general assignments based on an overall list of projects
C.) Management happens per each Principal/PM. They have their own client/group/studio and work stays with that staff start to finish, if they don't have work, then they stay idle...no moving from studio to studio
D.) Very haphazard...everyone is on the hot project...then it's on to the next fire
combination of 2 or 3? Any input is greatly appreciated.
60 active projects?
we are a little smaller and have maybe 15, most of which are in CA. damn....
my experience:
firm a (14 people): no weekly meetings, bosses handed down workplan to PMs who disseminated to their project team. the only time we ever had meetings was when the firm won/placed in a competition and we'd have champagne and cake. this generally worked well and the type of work was great, strike that - amazing.
firm b (4): weekly meetings that really didn't accomplish much, followed by everyone racing to put out fires on one project. not effective. boss was an egotistical asshole.
firm c (30): weekly meetings, assignments and workloads discussed - work was not so great and most of the meetings weren't necessary for staff.
firm d (10): zero staff meetings, loose flow but somehow the firm made do... bosses met 1 on 1 or in small groups to pass information along. generally stayed w/ one project all the way through. similar to firm a, only less experienced PMs and type of work not as good.
generally, the fewer meetings the better. although semi-monthly probably isn't a bad thing. it's a good way to keep the office cohesive - otherwise it can branch out into 'this is my project. there are many like it but this one is mine...'
your staffing plan should be based on the work plan of the project created, verified and checked constantly by the PIC or PM. this plan is a look ahead based on project milestones and deliverables and balanced against the project fee and phase budgets. with an office of 13 people, this should be easily created in a morning (because the PIC's and PM's have a project schedule and a contract, right?).
in my experience, a 4 month look ahead is about all you need for good staffing, but a 6 month and 12 month plan are also necessary.
i could get into much more detail but this should get the conversation going.
holz.box. . . semper fi?
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