TPG TeamManager is a web-based tool to help managers plan resources. It shows every department member’s complete workload plan, including operations, absences and project work. In matrix organizations, resource managers need to be able to identify free project capacity to enable them to quickly approve resource requests. This is exactly what TPG TeamManager helps them with and it runs in all common browsers.
The illustration above shows the difference in project availability according to the calculation by the team leader (right) and the requests from projects (left). The results differ, so that the team leader cannot commit Project B and C fully. This shows that both team leaders and project managers should have their own planning, but on the same basis. Thus, TPG TeamManager can compare the two plans to determine the availability for projects.
Team leaders specify the project availability of their team. It is calculated as follows:
The planning view for the team leader shows the utilization of the team’s resources and the requested projects in an overview. Ideally, all fields for projects and resources would be green – this would mean all resources are optimally utilized and all project requests committed. In reality, this balancing act is difficult to master completely, but the team leader can immediately see where action is needed from the fields that are not green.
A detailed description of the coordination process can be found here: Using SharePoint for Resource Management.
Resource Planning with TPG TeamManager Provides Important Advantages
TPG TeamManager combines resource requests from projects and the associated confirmations from the team leader. As a result, he line manager’s published confirmations are displayed in the project. The app gives you a graphical comparison between the confirmations and the requests. Hence, TPG TeamManager provides a solid basis for comparing requests from the project side and confirmations from the line side, making it easier for both sides to come to mutual agreements.
The bar charts show the overall utilization of the chosen resources and activities along with the resource capacity line. The height of the bars and the resource line are always the same in both charts. Users can select resources on the left and activities on the right.
“The TPG solution enables our department heads to better plan the deployment of their employees. They are now able to respond to R&D project requests with accurate information on employee availability. Bottlenecks are easily identifiable, allowing them to avoid overscheduling these resources.”
Detlef Teuteberg, Business Process Consultant R&D, Global IT, Otto Bock SE & Co. KGaA
If required, you can also connect Microsoft Project Server / Project Online – as your project management platform – to the TPG TeamManager. This is how it works:
1) The app imports the resource capacities from the Microsoft Project Server / Online Resource Pool.
2) Team leaders plan all non-project related activities and absences for each of their team members in TPG TeamManager.
3) They import all resource requests from Microsoft Project Server / Online into the app at the project level.
4) They commit available resources to projects or redistribute activities to optimize the team’s workload.
“With the new Microsoft PPM solution, we have reached our goal, which was an integrated multi-project environment: the schedule as the central element is now connected to resource planning in TPG TeamManager and to work management in Jira. We only have to enter data once, and the many local Excel lists belong to history. That makes a lot of things easier.”
Andreas Frühwirth, PMO, TGW Logistics Group
Compatibility:
TPG TeamManager allows the import of resources via an interface or directly from the resource pool of a Microsoft Project Server / Project Online. This makes sense if you have a large number of staff. We are happy to advise you regarding the possible data formats.
Of course, you also have the option to add the employees manually.
Yes, that is possible. TPG TeamManager distinguishes between operations, absences and project activities.
Yes, TPG TeamManager calculates the project availability in accordance with the following formula:
Net capacity of the resources
- line activities
- absences
= project availability
Yes, of course. TPG TeamManager gives you an overview of the planned project activities and operations in hours per team or per resource.
Yes, that is easy to identify. An easy-to-read graphical display with the look & feel of Excel facilitates this in TPG TeamManager. The table cells are color-coded depending on the workload of the person.
You can configure the colors and the point at which a color change occurs according to your preferences.
Yes, you can easily see this in the overview. TPG TeamManager distinguishes between absences, operations and project activities. These are shown in the timeline.
Yes, TPG TeamManager supports planning in the following time intervals: days, weeks, months, quarters or years.
Yes, that is possible. TPG TeamManager treats external and internal resources identically. You simply enter both as resources.
TPG TeamManager is a SharePoint App. Thus, there is always one SharePoint page per team. You can define the access privileges for this page (read and / or write) yourself via the SharePoint authorization concept.
In principle, that is possible. But certain prerequisites have to be fulfilled before each team member can view their own workload as well as that of all colleagues on the team. This functionality needs to be explicitly required and it needs to be preset in the SharePoint authorization concept.
Yes, that is possible. TPG TeamManager includes an interface for importing e.g. actual hours from other systems or directly from Microsoft Project Server / Project Online, if TPG TeamManager is connected to a relevant system. We are happy to advise you regarding the possible data formats.
Yes, that is actually advisable. You should enter the availability of each team member individually in hours per day, hours per week or hours per month. Thus, you ensure that the calculation of the project availability is correct. This is easy when you are using Microsoft Project Server / Project Online, and it is linked to TPG TeamManager. In this case, the information is maintained in MS Project and automatically imported to TPG TeamManager.
Yes, of course. TPG TeamManager exists in 2 versions:
1) for the collaboration with Microsoft Project Server / Project Online – you can import the project requests directly to TPG TeamManager. The project manager will see your resource commitment in a separate view in the web browser.
2) as an independent SharePoint App – in that case, the automatical import of project requests from Microsoft Project Server / Project Online is not possible. You will have to enter these manually or possibly draw on a different data source. But all other benefits of TPG TeamManager are fully at your disposal.
Yes, TPG TeamManager was actually specially developed for the matrix organization. It provides optimal support for the coordination process between the resource owner, i.e. the line manager, and the person from the project environment who places the request.
Yes, that is possible. First, projects are imported generically as requests into TPG TeamManager (if the relevant interface has been set up) or created manually. As the responsible team leader, you will only assign team members to a project manually after you have checked if it is possible. This allows you to optimize the workload of your team and to avoid overload.
Yes, of course. TPG TeamManager offers powerful reports on the utilization from the project and resource perspective. You can also export all plan data in order to exploit the additional potential of e.g. Excel or Power-BI.
Yes, the tool provides excellent support for this scenario. TPG TeamManager does not only offer personal reports within one team. It also supplies aggregated reports per team at principal department or department level. Again, the access is regulated by the SharePoint authorization concept. In addition, it is possible to export the data for display in any other tools.
Yes, that is possible. TPG TeamManager has an import function to import data automatically, such as resources, master data, availabilities, actual values, or project requests. We are happy to advise you regarding the possible data formats and necessary efforts.
