Feature Update: Match Consultants to Projects based on role, skills, and availability

We’re glad to announce a feature that’s been cooking for a long time: smart matchmaking of consultants to projects.

In consulting and professional services, resource allocation needs to be nailed, and in order to succeed in that company needs to be able to efficiently match consultants to projects. In larger companies this is often done by the resourcing or staffing managers, who act as the intermediaries between the people and projects. When there are hundreds or thousands of people in the company, manual filtering and searching from different systems becomes time consuming, so its good to have a place where the deals from CRM meet consultants' skills, so that the sales can quickly find the right team members to help in the pitch, and that the handover between sales and delivery teams will be as smooth as possible, when the project is finally won.

Why having a matchmaking system is beneficial?

While a matching algorithm shouldn’t replace human-touch in project staffing (we've written a lot about that in Operating Method), it can be a big enabler for people working in staffing & resource management for a few reasons:

• Staffing becomes process more efficient, saving time and freeing up internal resources
  • Instead of 10 people running the staffing process, you’ll only need 6!
• It’s easier to find the right experts from different geographical locations and units, reducing the bias for choosing the most familiar consultant
• Centralising the staffing process in a tool increases the quality of the skill data, as the profiles are kept up-to-date
• Key customer projects are won as the right experts for pitches and projects are found amongst hundreds of people
• Sales and delivery are able to have better discussions about team compositions before projects start

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Why matching pays off even with only little data

Even if you start searching for the right people with very little data, it can already make the process of staffing a lot faster. Imagine you’re looking for a “Mobile developer with experience in retail domain” for a project “for the next six months with a 50% allocation”

Even adding the role Developer and a potential starting date narrows down the search quite a bit, and you’ll get to skim through candidates. Adding the allocation requirement narrows the search down even further. You don't need an elaborate skill setup in Operating for all of your consultants to reap the benefits from this feature, as simple information already makes the process of matchmaking a lot faster. Nevertheless, having up-to-date skill profiles of consultants helps. Read more one skill management here. Finally, adding the industry requirement of retail and the skill mobile to filter search results will most likely help you choose from only a handful of alternatives for the role in our example.

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Who’s matching useful for?

The matchmaking features comes in handy if you already have a lot of consultants in your payroll, or alternatively, if you’re working with a lot of external consultants. Additionally, if you’re working in a domain where specific skills matter a lot, having such a system in place might become beneficial already at a few dozens of consultants. For remote-first agencies and consultancies, having something like this in place is a must from early on.

Summary

The matchmaking feature is particularly useful if you have many consultants or work with numerous external consultants. It’s beneficial in domains where specific skills matter, even with just a few dozen consultants. For remote-first agencies and consultancies, implementing this system early on is essential.

Here’s why the matchmaking feature is beneficial:

• Boosts Efficiency: Streamlines the staffing process by quickly narrowing down the right candidates.
• Optimizes Resources: Reduces the number of people needed to manage staffing, freeing up internal resources.
• Enhances Quality: Keeps skill profiles up-to-date by centralizing the staffing process.
• Improves Matchmaking: Helps find the best experts for pitches and projects, increasing the chances of winning key deals.
• Reduces Bias: Makes it easier to choose the right experts from various locations and units, rather than just familiar faces.
• Fosters Better Collaboration: Facilitates smoother discussions between sales and delivery teams about team compositions before projects start.

Drop us an email to lauri.euren@operating.app or book a time via Calendly if you'd like to have a chat!