As humans, weâre not innately good at planning. Itâs not that we canât plan, but rather, we struggle in three key areas.
- Weâre 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 weâre convinced that we need to.
- We donât 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.Ìę
- Too much information can overload us. Planning involves a lot of information and a myriad of data points. Weâre not equipped to digestâand make decisions uponâall of that intel.Ìę
Fortunately, these shortcomings are everything AI is perfect for. can fill in the gaps to supercharge your planning processes. [#section-one]Hereâs how.[#section-one]
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 workloadâlike who is working on what and whoâs 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 youâre not looking at an overwhelming list of options. Because AI can analyze and understand massive amounts of data, it sees things you canât (like availability, skills, rates, holidays, and vacations), and then connect the dots for you.Ìę
This enables you to clearly see what you need in order to complete all projects from start to finishâincluding 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. Youâre able to assemble the right project teams, with too much [#section-two]work.[#section-two]
AI-driven planning software is built for change.
The only constant is changeâand yet, we humans donât handle change well. We have the tendency to get complacent. So, when projects and schedules shiftâas theyâre bound to doâwe often find ourselves running in circles to determine how best to course-correct.
Part of AIâs 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, șù«ӰҔAPP automatically alerts employees and project owners of changes so that everyone knows what happened, why, and whatâs 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 [#section-three]a project.[#section-three]
AI resource planning software gives real-time project estimations.
People donât 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 donât typically spend a lot of time processing information or deliberating. Rather, theyâve perfected what calls âthin-slicing,â 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 successfulâand give you that data to better plan and forecast. With the help of AI your estimations and decisions get stronger over [#section-four]time.[#section-four]
AI improves goal-setting and planning outcomes.
Why is setting goals much easier than achieving them? Because people have the tendency to set unobtainable goalsâand often donât realize it until theyâre in the middle of a project. This is the result of not having the right data to effectively define goalsâleading to wasted time and lost revenue lost on a project. The worst part is, without the data, this history repeats itself.Ìę
However, âlike șù«ӰҔAPPâanalyze 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 [#section-five]outcomes.[#section-five]
AI-powered planning software enables strategic headcount planning.
Right now, organizations donât strategically plan headcount. They either map headcount based on financial goalsâor they hire reactively to turnover, missed deadlines, an uptick in projects, or increased over time. But, these approaches arenât based on the entire storyâand theyâre often too reactive. Hiring shouldnât happen whenever everyone is already hurting.
AI-powered planning software enables companies to get ahead of hiring. Tools like șù«ӰҔAPP 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 âsomething teams could never efficiently achieve without AI.Ìę