Multi-team planning in agencies: why it's a problem
Managing several projects in parallel with different teams is a real balancing act. All too often, agencies find themselves juggling overstretched resources, chaotic schedules and decisions taken in a hurry. The result? Internal tensions, exploding deadlines and exhausted teams.
There are three recurring problems:
- Everyone wants the same expert → Do you have an ultra-competent consultant or creative? Everyone wants him on their project, and you spend your time arbitrating scheduling conflicts.
- Projects are sold without thinking about resources → You sign up for an assignment, but realize too late that the key people aren’t available. You then have to improvise, with last-minute adjustments that put everyone under pressure.
- Lack of visibility on available skills → Without the right tools, you don’t know who’s really qualified for the job. You assign tasks to those who are “available” rather than those who are “most competent”.
The key to avoiding this chaos? Proactive planning, right from the sale of the project. Here’s how.
1. Staff upstream, right from the sale
If you wait until the last minute to allocate your resources, you’re already behind schedule. Team allocation must be integrated right from the sales phase.
- Move from theoretical logic to concrete planning: don’t just sell an assignment and say you’ll “find someone”. Identify upon signature the people who will be working on the project.
- Anticipate scheduling conflicts: if everyone wants the same expert on several assignments, you need to know this before problems explode. A good planning tool allows you to visualize who is mobilized where and when.
- Avoid rushed decisions :by assigning the right people in advance, you can avoid last-minute arbitration and hasty assignments that compromise the quality of deliverables.
Best practices
- Reserve real talent from the outset, rather than gambling on hypothetical availability.
- Make sure the workload remains balanced, taking into account other ongoing assignments.
- Check that each member of staff has thecapacity and time to manage the project before approving his or her assignment.
2. Use your team's skills intelligently
The classic trap? Always assigning the same projects to the same people.
Don’t bet everything on the stars:
If you systematically assign the same talents to critical projects, you create bottlenecks and dependency on certain profiles.
Allocate projects according to actual skills:
Rather than basing your decisions on immediate availability, rely on a skills map. Who has the right skills for this project? Who can upgrade their skills for this type of mission?
Develop your teams:
Staffing shouldn’t be an obstacle to employee development. By varying assignments and training your teams, you develop a wider, more flexible talent pool.
Best practices
- Set up a database of your teams’ skills to better allocate projects.
- Avoid overloading experts by redistributing the workload in a more balanced way.
- Give employees the opportunity to develop new types of projects.
3. Don't leave planning to chance
Your planning should be a performance driver, not a daily headache.
Prioritize strategic projects:
Not all assignments have the same impact on your profitability and reputation. Make sure your best people are mobilized where they bring the most value.
Make sure each team has the right workload:
Too much work? Your staff will burn out and quality will drop. Too little? You lose profitability. The right balance is crucial to maximizing productivity without overloading.
Anticipate conflicts before they become a problem:
Last-minute adjustments are inevitable, but they must remain exceptional. With good visibility of your project pipeline and resources, you can make ongoing adjustments rather than reacting in a panic.
Best practices
- Set up a schedule monitoring system and adjust according to real needs.
- Regularly check that each employee’s workload is balanced.
- Allow for flexibility to absorb the unexpected without putting your teams under pressure.
4. Adopt an effective planning tool
Managing multiple projects with spreadsheets and emails? You’re bound to make mistakes, forget things and waste a lot of time.
Centralize resource management:
A good scheduling tool lets you see at a glance who’s available, on what and for how long.
Get a clear view of availability in real time:
No more unpleasant surprises! With precise tracking of assignments, you know immediately whether a project is likely to be understaffed or overloaded.
Automate talent assignment:
Rather than managing everything manually, use a tool that helps you assign the right people based on their skills and availability.
Best practices
- Switch to a dedicated tool to avoid mistakes and save time.
- Give your project managers instant visibility of available resources.
- Use alerts to detect scheduling conflicts before they become a problem.
Gain peace of mind with Furious
Staffing in a hurry, scheduling conflicts, poorly distributed workloads… Multi-team planning shouldn’t be a daily struggle. Yet, without a structured approach, these problems recur, hampering performance and exhausting your teams.
But another approach is possible. By integrating staffing right from the sales stage, relying on an intelligent distribution of skills and using an effective planning tool, you can turn a chaotic process into a performance lever.
This is precisely what Furious offers. Designed for agencies, it helps you structure your resource management in real time, anticipate conflicts before they become a problem, and optimize talent allocation to make every project a success.
Less stress, more efficiency: switch to smooth, predictable management of your resources.
Book your free demo today and discover how Furious can transform your agency.
