The hidden cost of project staffing

Staffing the right resources especially for IT and digital projects is a long and expensive process. In addition, once the project is set up, project members do not necessarily work together efficiently. However, changing a project team is related to higher cost than most projects managers account for. The following factors are responsible for higher than predicted cost:

Time to staffing

In larger programs with many project streams, having specialist positions vacant for a longer time, may leave dependent project streams idle. In most agile projects, single components of a solution cannot be developed as separate units and need to function with all their dependencies to build quick prototypes or to quickly roll out new features. For instance, finding integration specialists for large integrations can stall the development of the systems to be integrated, including testing, analysis and development cycles.

Slow staffing process

The process of finding the right people for the project can be tedious. Traditionally, companies choose staffing agencies to find the right people for them. That means, research and pre-selection of highly-specialized resources is left to organizations whose core competency is staffing with little to no in-depth knowledge about IT.

Poor fit of resources

Not always is the most competent candidate the right one. Staffing is a lot about culture of the client and the project team into which he will have to fit. Third parties evaluate and pre-select based on hard skills. They do not know your organization. The success of the projects, however, strongly relies on how well the single stakeholders work together.

On-boarding

The on-boarding process is the setup of the contractor in the organization. That includes contracting, account creation with according privileges, hardware preparation, on-site workplace setup, access to virtual workplace environments, tools and programs. Often the process is not finished by the time a new contractor starts work.

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Three tips on improving the staffing process

1. Build a skills inventory and utilize internal resources more effectively. You can only efficiently leverage your own staff if you know what you actually have at your disposal.
2. Build your network of trusted experts and build relationships. Once you work with freelancers, you will need them for future updates or further development.
3. Communicate directly. You know best what you need and can better evaluate the best fit for your project.

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Monday is a next-generation workforce relationship management platform that helps you to manage your internal and external skill sets. Create your project team and staff it with internal and external people. Find out more at www.mymonday.co.