November 30, 2015 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Scheduling
Top Limitations Of Using Spreadsheets For Resource Planning
By Patricia Goh
It is important to change up the obsolete to a current solution if managers are serious about avoiding project failure at all cost. In resource planning, many have used spreadsheets to manage resources and plan projects, but is that the cheapest, fastest and easiest way to do it in this era?
Figure 1: Most Common Causes of IT Project Failure
Easily Avoidable Causes for Project Failure
Research shows that there are 16 main common causes of project failure. The most common causes are changing priorities within organisations, inaccurate requirements and change in project objectives. All of the causes are evidence of poor planning. Contributions to poor planning could be due to leadership, communication, teamwork and even software. Regardless, if these common causes could be avoided, there is no reason why it should be allowed to continue. It is important to change up the obsolete to a current solution if managers are serious about avoiding project failure at all cost. In resource planning, many have used spreadsheets to manage resources and plan projects, but is that the cheapest, fastest and easiest way to do it in this era?
Why Spreadsheets
We are a huge fan of spreadsheets. They have been a life-saver for many of us in the workforce as well as students and home care-takers around the globe. They were made for a wide array of purposes, useful for anything from budgeting to keeping scores. With its powerful features that allows you to generate charts, do calculations, format cells, using PivotTables (aren’t we all so glad this came about!) and more, spreadsheets were godsend. But as start-ups and technology advancements started sprouting over the past decade, a portion of the problems that spreadsheets have solved for us are gradually being replaced by a variety of other products. These new solutions are crafted specifically to address a particular need, without the generalization that you have to work your way around. Think of it as a fitting like a glove. Or the kitten mantra that has our all cats sitting in our vases and boxes, never mind how oddly shaped.
Resource Planning + Spreadsheets = Bad Combo
Take resource planning for example. While spreadsheets allow you to list out all your team names, their departments, the jobs that they are undertaking and more, it is not the cleverest way of planning. Without a transparent and flexible way to collaborate, it’s impossible to stay on top of things. Resource planning softwares are made to tackle all issues revolving collaboration, scheduling, communication and more.
The Limitations and Their Solutions
There are 5 main limitations in spreadsheets that resource planning software are better equipped to handle:
- Utility: Instead of manual data entry, merging and unmerging cells, look out for solutions that offer intuitive planning. In particular, creating a task by just dragging across an area.
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Collaboration: Instead of having to e-mail the spreadsheet around and overlapping data, find an alternative that allows multiple users to access the platform and control what data that each user gets to see.
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Export: Spreadsheet only allows you to export an entire sheet. There are other options out there that you can select only some data to be exported. The best types of alternatives allow you to also group your information by certain data.
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Security: Spreadsheets are vulnerable to data loss / theft of local machines. However, a reliable resource planning software would have strict and secure username and password access for each user.
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Costs: The license fees of spreadsheets for each machine plus IT maintenance costs are much higher than the controlled subscriptions that resource planning cloud platforms have. Moreover, there are multiple pricing set for various purposes and company sizes. So you are only paying for what you use!
Patricia Goh is a product specialist at Ganttic where she helps managers better utilise their resources and meet project goals. She provides guidance on resource planning and visual scheduling using Ganttic. Find out more about capacity utilisation, resource planning and project management insights at www.ganttic.com/blog.
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