[Seeking advice] - How consultancies manage their freelance associates

[Karen E]

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀: how do you track associates’ availability across flexible schedules?

I run an Ops consultancy business supporting small consultancy owners with their back office operations (and have many years of experience in the consulting sector, including part owning a successful software testing consultancy business).

I've developed an idea for a lightweight resource tool for small consultancies, born out of the frustrations of managing freelance associates and matching them to projects when their availability is constantly shifting.

Three issues I’ve found (and experienced):

• Most resource tools assume everyone is full-time and has fixed hours. No good for associates or freelance consultants who have variable availability and capacity.
• Those are priced for enterprise organisations, not small consultancies.
• Keeping on top of availability and skills via spreadsheets is time-consuming, quickly outdated - and let’s be honest, associates hate filling them in. One consultancy sent me a skills spreadsheet to complete that had 98 columns and was 10 rows deep…

Before I take it any further, it would be really helpful to understand if this is an issue for you, or if you've found a solution that I've missed in my research.

If you manage associates or freelance teams, I’d love to know:

• How do you track who’s available and when?
• How do you then map them to your upcoming project pipeline so you can plan your resource needs?
• Would a simple availability and skills dashboard help you match people to projects?

I’d really like to understand if this a common pain or something already solved neatly elsewhere (and honestly, I'd be all ears if there is something suitable out there).
Thank you

 

[GLAbusiness]

have you looked at MS Project or similar?