Schedule Board in Dynamics 365 Project Operations

The Schedule Board in Dynamics 365 Project Operations is great for managing resource availability and forecast utilization. Project Managers and Schedulers can look for team members that have the skills and availability to fulfill the resource requirements and accurately understand the team’s future workload.

Once you’ve submitted a Resource Requirement request, the Schedule Board will recommend resources based on your predefined characteristics and time frame.

Note: Dynamics 365 Project Operations is one of 5 different Dynamics 365 apps that serve various CRM needs.

How to Use the Schedule Board to Book a Resource to a Project via a Resource Requirement

Step 1. To navigate to the Schedule Board, open the Project Operations app and navigate to either the “Projects” or “Resources” area. Click on “Schedule Board” in the side menu.

Step 2. Select the Resource Requirement you want to fulfill at the bottom of this page under “Open Requirements”. This section lists all Resource Requirements that have not been fulfilled and that require your attention. Resource Requirements that are actioned will be automatically removed from this list.

Step 3. Open the “Schedule Assistant” by clicking on “Find Availability”. The “Find Availability” button will appear once you’ve selected your Resource Requirement.

Step 4. Inside the Schedule Assistant, a list of all available bookable resources that fulfill the Resource Request criteria will be displayed. I suggested switching the view to “Gantt” to better visualize availability.

Step 5. Select the desired resource from the list and click on “Book & Exit” to create a booking. The selected resource is now booked against this project and can start entering time and submitting expenses against it.

If you’re not seeing any suggested resources in this list, it means that none of the available resources fulfill the criteria defined in the Resource Requirement request.

In this scenario, you may modify the criteria used by the Schedule Assistant to widen your search. Click on “Filters” and modify things such as Start Date, End Date, Roles, etc. and then click on “Search”.

Step 6. The Resource Booking will now be visible in the Schedule Board along with any other existing bookings.

How to Use the Schedule Board to Forecast Utilization

The Schedule Board can be used as a planning tool for team leaders. The Gantt view displays which resources are forecasted to be fully booked, underutilized or overutilized. This information can be used for decision-making for topics such as hiring or resource re-allocation.

Along with the Schedule Board, Practice Leads can use the Resorce Utilization Board to help better manage and plan their resource allocation and utilization.

For more information on how Dynamics 365 Project Operations and the rest of the Microsoft business stack can help your business, please contact us.