What is Resource Guru?
Resource Guru is a scheduling and project management application. We use it to schedule consultants on penetration tests and other projects. We also use it for time management to make sure consultants aren’t overwhelmed.
We’re currently in the early stages of using Resource Guru so there isn’t a formal structure yet, but we’ve come up with these tips and suggestions.
Hours in the day
Resource Guru shows a 9am to 5pm work day. Of course, that doesn’t mean you must work those specific hours. We are results driven, so it’s up to you to decide when to work (taking client expectations into account).
Whenever you’re booking something as a full-day task, make sure its length is 8 hours (or more if you’re doing overtime).
Projects
Bookings for projects can be 1 of 2 types. Confirmed projects, where the client has accepted the proposal and tentative bookings, where they’ve asked for a time before they accept.
Confirmed projects
When booking a new project, keep the following things in mind.
- Make sure you’re booking “duration” and it’s 8 hours.
- This is a confirmed project so we select Confirmed.
- Choose a project to assign this booking to. The project should already exist in Resource Guru.
- This is Billable work.
- Feel free to put whatever you want in Details. Anything that might help the consultant. At minimum, add what part of the project they are doing.
Tentative bookings
This is similar to confirmed projects with a few tweaks.
- Tentative booking, so we choose Tentative.
- We DO NOT create a new project for tentative bookings. Instead, we use the existing Tentative Project project.
- It is Billable.
- In the Details, we put the name of the project in regular syntax of Client - Optional End Client - Project Description.
If the client ends up accepting the proposal, delete the tentative booking and put a confirmed project booking in its place.
Non-billable
Sure, we all love hacking, but everyone needs a break from time to time, or a day to catch up. Also, we encourage taking the time for study and training. Non-billable is everything work related that isn’t a client project.
You can book yourself on non-billable to block out those days, but let your manager know in advance. We have some existing projects to use, and will keep adding them as needed.
Time off
Step away from work every now and then. Time off is any time you don’t want to think about work and just want (or need) to relax/recover. This include personal leave, sick leave, public holidays and more. Choose the one that fits best.
Overtime
Not sure yet. Still exploring this part. (TODO: Add info when we know how to show overtime)