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Avoid the Bandwidth Blues: Use PSA to Improve Employee Bandwidth & Holiday Scheduling
Brace yourself.
‘Tis the season of craziness, and while business at your professional services organization (PSO) may be booming, employees are often exhausted, stressed and trying to get everything done before taking time off. And with the holidays, employees are most likely cashing in their vacation time all at once.
With personnel spread too thin, it probably won’t be long before you realize the most wonderful time of the year can be just the opposite – for all involved. Holiday scheduling in professional services is never enjoyable.
Capacity planning unravels, deadlines slip, quality suffers. Personnel are spread too thin, customers get heated, losses occur. But don’t fret, there’s a cure – professional services automation (PSA).
Remember: As people are the most critical asset in any PSO, it’s important to take care of your employees. Gallup recently reported that engaged employees – those enthused about work – enable their companies to perform up to 202 percent better than others.
Sounds like the gift that keeps on giving to us.
Here’s how a PSA platform can help business owners manage holiday scheduling and employee bandwidth – all while keeping spirits high.
Control the Tempo
PSA tools bring your people and business together with a single accessible platform. You’ll also be able to automate activities from finance to operations, sales to project management. That means you’ll have better control over the workplace tempo and free up staff to accomplish more than ever.
Never Miss a Beat
A professional services automation platform offers full project management through one outcome-driven tool. This includes resource and budget planning, document management, collaboration and tracking of deliverables. Updates on opportunities, activities and approvals also ensure you’ll never miss a beat.
Hold the Rhythm
With the VOGSY PSA platform you’ll stay on top of employee utilization rates . Heat maps offer at-a-glance availability, there’s role- and skill-matching capabilities – even automated suggestions. It also simplifies management of contractors, allowing you to hold an optimum rhythm to cost-effectively meet demand.
Keep Time & Charts
Leaders get time and expenses right from the start with pre-populated timesheets, stopwatch capabilities for tracking, notifications and approval via any device. You can also chart accounts, A/P and A/R, corporate P&L, automate flexible billing and use 24/7 real-time reporting to make sure you’re on the money.
Know How Your Team is Performing
PSA tools analyze the past and anticipate the future. You’ll know how your company and employees are performing with real-time sales, customer, project and utilization metrics. Configurable KPI boards offer access to vital data. You can bridge the gap between sales and delivery, quote to cash, and ensure service levels are ideal. That means better margins and stronger forecasting of the work pipeline to avoid the bandwidth blues.
Take Care of Employees, They’ll Take Care of You
According to Cornerstone, work overload decreases productivity 68 percent in employees who feel they lack time to complete tasks. Mental Health America estimates companies lose $500 billion in productivity each year to workplace stress. On the flip side, companies with engaged employees perform better than others.
