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Tighter Resource Management At Nicholson
McBride Thanks To Asta
In a bid to better manage its resources, the business psychology
consultancy, Nicholson McBride (www.nicholson-mcbride.com),
has implemented Asta Teamplan from Asta Development. The project
and resource management software is enabling Nicholson McBride
to plan multiple projects and allocate resources more efficiently
in order to increase the amount of billable work undertaken.
The challenge
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 Asta
has worked with us on what we want to achieve
and the software clearly isn’t going
to have a short shelf life. |
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As a growing consultancy with a large client base, Nicholson
McBride needed to utilise associates’ and consultants’ time
to their full potential in order to maximise fee-earning
revenues.
Jessica Adams, project director at Nicholson McBride, commented: “Each
client project typically involves research, project management
meetings, client briefings, a design phase, a three
day long workshop covering between four to 150 people, followed
by feedback. With most of our consultants working on more
than one project at a time, the problem was that many were
having to rush from one project to another. Also most of
our
clients build a good rapport with specific consultants so
they prefer to deal with them. As a result, some of our consultants
were working extremely long hours. With no system in place
to monitor their workload, this situation was unmanageable.”
The solution
Installed at the London office, Asta Teamplan
enables tighter management and control in deciding which
consultants
should
undertake projects, and gives Nicholson McBride, as well
as their clients, an overall project outlook. The centralised
solution allows management at Nicholson McBride to compare
time, expenses and revenues on projects, in order to
balance
profitability in product areas.
Michael McCullen, Asta Development’s managing director
said: “We have designed a solution to optimise Nicholson
McBride’s service provision now and in the future. The
software gives Nicholson McBride a clearer view of how much
time consultants are spending on different projects. In one
week, consultants can work on up to three different client
projects, sometimes spending time on all of these in a single
day. The solution improves the recording and tracking of consultants’
time, and results in tighter control of chargeable time and
expenses.”
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It feels as though the software has been built
for us. |
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This means that time is
no longer wasted co-ordinating resources using the telephone.
In addition, the solution is beneficial for members who
can obtain a day-to-day view of what they need to do
and an easy method for reporting progress against tasks.
Running on Nicholson McBride’s choice of platform,
Windows XP Professional, Asta Teamplan has also been integrated
with Microsoft Outlook, a tool which Nicholson McBride relies
on 100 per cent. When a consultant is allocated to a task,
Asta Teamplan automatically communicates with Microsoft Outlook
to check their availability for the project.
Jessica Adams commented: “The implementation of Asta
Teamplan has been instrumental in helping us to develop our
business. Project, resource control and monthly revenue forecasting
has been enhanced across the company as I now have a full
view of all upcoming projects. This means that I can plan
ahead in terms of balance of resource and profitability in
particular product areas. In fact, the solution has helped
to address our resourcing issues head on. It feels as though
the software has been built for us. Asta has worked with us
on what we want to achieve and the software clearly isn’t
going to have a short shelf life (unlike much of the competition).”
Asta has also provided Nicholson McBride with consultancy
to improve reporting practices.
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