Should You Outsource Project Scheduling?
Project scheduling: it’s something every team needs to do when they take on a new contract. But you don’t actually have to do the schedule creation and maintenance yourself if you don’t want to or for some reason can’t. There are lots of benefits of outsourcing scheduling, but why would you want to go down that path instead of managing in-house?
Here are 5 reasons why you might be prompted to outsource project scheduling.
1. You have just won a new project and need to rapidly ramp up your project team
You’ve just won a new contract? Congratulations! Now you need to get people into post quickly and start showing that the client has made the right choice in securing your services for the work.
But what if you are already fully-staffed on other projects and don’t have the capacity to redeploy people to this piece of work at the moment?
If you want to ramp up your project team with minimal effort, bringing in skilled contractors to do particular roles, like scheduling, is a fast way to get started. An experienced scheduler can create a reliable, robust schedule for you, then train an in-house employee on how to maintain it going forward. Or they can continue working with you for as many hours per week as required to manage, update and control the schedule for the life of the project.
2. You are looking for short-term project support that doesn’t warrant a full-time hire
Some projects simply don’t warrant a full-time hire. If it’s a small project, or a short-term engagement, you don’t necessarily want to add an additional person to your staff. Especially if you are not sure if you will have work for them after this project ends. Specialists can be expensive, so they are typically not the kind of resource you want on the bench waiting for the next engagement.
An alternative is to hire a fixed-term contractor for the duration of the engagement, or for a time period that suits you. Or hire someone flexibly on a day rate to get you started and set up, and then review from there. They can hand over to someone internally if that makes sense, or continue to monitor and control the schedule for you, putting in the time required without necessarily being full-time.
Temporary scheduling resource allows you to be flexible without committing you to having a new person on staff longer term.
3. You have corporate moratoriums on increasing full-time headcount
Let’s face it, sometimes you want a full-time employee but for whatever reason there is no option to secure someone. That happens if there is a corporate moratorium on hiring. While it often feels counter-intuitive to pay a contractor potentially more than a permanent recruit, we know you have to work within the constraints of your organization.
Until you can secure permission to recruit for a permanent role, the project resource budget could be used to staff the project controls and scheduling function with a reliable, experienced contractor who can hit the ground running.
4. You don’t have the bandwidth to go through the recruitment, induction and training processes
Outsourcing really comes into its own when you are tight for time. If you don’t have the capacity to go through a lengthy hiring process – only to find that the person isn’t a good fit – then outsourcing is a fast alternative to secure resources for your team.
You get experts on hand when you need them, and only when you need them. They integrate seamlessly into the team because that’s what they do. They have experience working in industries like yours, so they bring best practices learned from real life and not textbooks.
Use professional schedulers to make a fast start, and when you have the time and desire to hire into the role, they will complete a full handover and induction for your new hire for a smooth transition.
5. You have a skill gap in the team for Primavera P6 application or technical consultants
Finally, while you might have brilliant people on the team, let’s say this contract requires you to use Primavera P6 software, a technology that your existing schedulers are not experienced in. You could send them on Primavera training to help build their skills, but that’s only valuable in the long term if you expect to win more business that relies on Primavera scheduling. If you think upskilling them may not be the best use of their time – and there are other projects they are committed to that are using their skills – then you can outsource the Primavera P6 application work to experts who can do the tasks easily.
When you outsource project scheduling, you don’t even need to provide the tech: there’s no need to procure the tool or a licence, or go through the effort of setting it all up. We come with everything we need to provide a turnkey solution for Primavera P6 schedule creation and maintenance for your project, for as long as you need it.
There are many reasons you might need additional help for your project teams to satisfy a short-term demand or to provide support as a longer-term team member. Whatever you need, it’s worth considering outsourcing as a way to get your schedule set up quickly, professionally and with the minimum impact on your existing team. It’s worked for hundreds of our clients in the past, and we’re sure it will work for you too.