As humans, we’re not innately good at planning. It’s not that we can’t plan, but rather, we struggle in three key areas.
- We’re overly optimistic. We consistently plan as if there are more hours in the day than there actually are. We commit to impossible workloads and are eager to take on more work because we’re convinced that we need to.
- We don’t have enough information. We plan based on what we know, and we spend all of our time running around trying to gather and synthesize information. We can never access the right data to gain complete visibility.
- Too much information can overload us. Planning involves a lot of information and a myriad of data points. We’re not equipped to digest—and make decisions upon—all of that intel.
Fortunately, these shortcomings are everything AI is perfect for. AI-powered resource planning software can fill in the gaps to supercharge your planning processes. Here’s how.
AI-powered resource planning software ensures you assemble the right teams at the right time.
One of the most common challenges people face when planning is understanding the full breadth of the workload—like who is working on what and who’s available for work upcoming. Even with a full employee roster in front of you, it can be hard to think through all of the details that impact their ability to work on projects. As a result, work is often assigned to those who come to mind first. This is where AI planning makes the biggest difference.
AI can filter relevant information for you so you’re not looking at an overwhelming list of options. Because AI can analyze and understand massive amounts of data, it sees things you can’t (like availability, skills, rates, holidays, and vacations), and then connect the dots for you.
This enables you to clearly see what you need in order to complete all projects from start to finish—including the right people for the work. From role skills and workload capacity to who people like to work with and what they like to work on, AI-powered resource planning software better understands the capabilities and availability of your team. You’re able to assemble the right project teams, without overloading or burning out anyone with too much work.
AI-driven planning software is built for change.
The only constant is change—and yet, we humans don’t handle change well. We have the tendency to get complacent. So, when projects and schedules shift—as they’re bound to do—we often find ourselves running in circles to determine how best to course-correct.
Part of AI’s scope, however, is predictive maintenance. It can help automatically reschedule workload, projects, and tasks based on changes, setting off a domino effect of small corrections that keep even the most complex plans on track.
For example, Mosaic automatically alerts employees and project owners of changes so that everyone knows what happened, why, and what’s coming next. This recalculation is invaluable as it provides teams with real-time insights that can help increase efficiency and productivity across the board. Without them, people are stuck moving plans and shifting priorities, which can detract from the overall success of a project.
AI resource planning software gives real-time project estimations.
People don’t always accurately assess how long things are going to take. To be fair, accurately planning projects has been called an art form. Really good project and product managers don’t typically spend a lot of time processing information or deliberating. Rather, they’ve perfected what Malcolm Gladwell calls “thin-slicing,” which he discusses in his New York Times bestselling book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Thin-slicing is the ability to filter the most important factors from a multitude of variables. This art form can be recreated with the help of AI and data intelligence.
AI can give you the project estimations and analyses required to assess past projects that were successful—and give you that data to better plan and forecast. With the help of AI your estimations and decisions get stronger over time.
AI improves goal-setting and planning outcomes.
Why is setting goals much easier than achieving them? Because people have the tendency to set unobtainable goals—and often don’t realize it until they’re in the middle of a project. This is the result of not having the right data to effectively define goals—leading to wasted time and lost revenue lost on a project. The worst part is, without the data, this history repeats itself.
However, AI-powered tools—like Mosaic—analyze historical projects and planning data to forecast the time it takes to complete the project as it goes as well as make project improvement recommendations. This enables people to set smarter goals and achieve greater outcomes.
AI-powered planning software enables strategic headcount planning.
Right now, organizations don’t strategically plan headcount. They either map headcount based on financial goals—or they hire reactively to turnover, missed deadlines, an uptick in projects, or increased over time. But, these approaches aren’t based on the entire story—and they’re often too reactive. Hiring shouldn’t happen whenever everyone is already hurting.
AI-powered planning software enables companies to get ahead of hiring. Tools like Mosaic analyze historical projects and people data as well as upcoming demand to forecast workload. It then compares that forecast to capacity to recommend which roles to hire and when. This level of instant intelligence enables proactive, strategic headcount planning—something teams could never efficiently achieve without AI.
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