Skills on Resource Assignments - Helpful for large project efforts?

[Maddie Wolf]

Would love some feedback on the value add or benefit of organizations leveraging Skills when assigning resource assignments. We currently use roles for resource planning, should we make the switch to skills? We are apprehensive this may be difficult to maintain and potentially too detailed. Would appreciate use cases or customer feedback!

[Sandeep Rajput · Accepted solution]

@Maddie Wolf 

Switching from roles to skills for resource assignments in your organization can offer several benefits, though it does come with some challenges. Here’s a breakdown of the potential advantages, along with considerations based on customer feedback and use cases:

Benefits of Using Skills Over Roles

1. More Granular Matching:

   • Precision: Skills allow for more precise matching of resources to tasks. Instead of assigning a person based on a broad role (e.g., "Developer"), you can match specific skills (e.g., "Python programming," "React.js development") to the exact requirements of a task.
   • Improved Resource Utilization: This precision can lead to better resource utilization as people are assigned to tasks that align closely with their strengths, reducing under or overqualification for tasks.

2. Flexibility and Adaptability:

   • Dynamic Teams: In fast-changing environments, skills-based assignments can create more agile teams that adapt to specific project needs.
   • Cross-Functional Capabilities: Skills-based planning encourages the use of cross-functional teams, as you can easily identify and combine diverse skills from different roles to meet project demands.

3. Enhanced Employee Development:

   • Skill Gaps Identification: By tracking and assigning based on skills, organizations can identify skill gaps more effectively and focus on training and development where needed.
   • Career Pathing: Employees can see how developing specific skills could lead to new opportunities within the organization, aligning their career growth with business needs.

4. Better Project Outcomes:

   • Task Alignment: Projects that require specific expertise are more likely to succeed when the team members are selected based on relevant skills, leading to higher quality outcomes and improved customer satisfaction.

Considerations and Challenges

1. Maintenance Effort:

   • Complexity: Managing and updating a skills inventory can be more complex and time-consuming than role-based assignments. It requires ongoing effort to keep skills data accurate and up-to-date.
   • Detail Overload: The level of detail required to track individual skills might be overwhelming, especially in large organizations. This could lead to administrative overhead.

2. Potential for Over-Specialization:

   • Narrow Focus: If not managed well, skills-based assignments could lead to over-specialization, where employees are repeatedly assigned tasks based on the same skills, potentially limiting their professional growth and reducing their adaptability.

3. Change Management:

   • Cultural Shift: Moving to a skills-based system may require a cultural shift in the organization, which can be met with resistance. Clear communication and change management strategies are essential.

Use Cases & Customer Feedback

• IT and Technology Companies: Many tech companies use skills-based planning to ensure they have the right mix of technical expertise for each project. Feedback often highlights the improved project efficiency and better matching of talent to task requirements.

• Consulting Firms: Firms that work on diverse projects benefit from skills-based assignments to pull together the exact expertise needed for client engagements. This leads to higher client satisfaction and better project outcomes.

• Healthcare Organizations: In healthcare, where specific certifications and skills are critical, skills-based assignments help in ensuring the right staff is allocated to tasks, improving patient care quality.

Conclusion

Switching to skills-based resource assignments can lead to better alignment of resources with project needs, improved outcomes, and more tailored employee development. However, it does require a significant investment in maintaining an accurate and up-to-date skills inventory and may introduce complexity.

If your organization values precision in resource matching and has the capacity to manage the maintenance effort, moving to skills-based assignments could be highly beneficial. Starting with a hybrid approach—using both roles and skills—could also be a way to gradually transition without overwhelming the system.

[Maddie Wolf]

Thank you! That is helpful. I appreciate the idea of starting with a hybrid approach. Some teams may benefit with the skill level while it may not apply to other teams, so it is good to know that is an option while we learn more. Thanks again!