Loto-Québec, a government-owned corporation managing lottery and gaming activities in Quebec since 1969, oversees operations that include lotteries, casinos, gaming halls, video lottery terminals, and online gaming platforms. Their mission is to responsibly manage gambling while contributing to the province’s economic and social development.
Efficient resource planning became a key focus for Loto-Québec as they faced challenges in aligning skills with projects and maintaining balanced workloads, ensuring the use of appropriate resources. Understanding and effectively managing available resources was crucial for planning, allocating, and maximizing productivity, which ultimately aided in maintaining project timelines and budget constraints. Vanessa Da Silva Ambrósio, Team Leader of IT Alignment, and Strategic Planning, shared how ActivityTimeline became a game-changing solution for the organization.
The Resource Management Challenge:
Matching team skills to project needs was a constant challenge for Loto-Québec, leading to delays and unbalanced workloads.
“To address the challenge of matching skills with project and IT initiatives, it's essential to us to know the resource availability and skill gaps.”
Vanessa Da Silva Ambrósio, Team Leader of IT Alignment and Strategic Planning
Without such a capacity planning tool, the organization struggled to balance workloads and maintain visibility over resources, hindering their ability to execute projects effectively.
The Solution:
After evaluating multiple options, Loto-Québec selected ActivityTimeline for its comprehensive features, cost-effectiveness, and ease of integration.
The integration of project management software ActivityTimeline enhanced financial monitoring and decision-making within projects, providing real-time data on costs and invoicing.
“The cost-benefit compared to the competitors and your service before, during and after implementation. We know that you still listen to our needs and make the product evolve considering them”.
Vanessa Da Silva Ambrósio, Team Leader of IT Alignment and Strategic Planning
The tool’s intuitive interface and seamless integration with existing systems made the transition straightforward.
Resource Planning Tool Implementation:
The integration itself was not that difficult since most of our teams were already integrated on Jira and those that didn't were open to doing it. The most difficult is the change management since some teams are still resistant to providing transparency about their teams' backlog. The onboarding process helped the team quickly adapt to the platform.
The deployment of ActivityTimeline provided a comprehensive view of resource allocation, improving decision-making and capacity planning. The integration process was smooth, thanks to dedicated support from the ActivityTimeline team.
“I’m still talking to Ostap, that was the person that presented us the tool, once a month, and talk to the helpdesk always when I have some problem or bug.”
Vanessa Da Silva Ambrósio, Team Leader of IT Alignment and Strategic Planning
The deployment of the new tool across the company has been completed in March 2024. Although there are no metrics available at this moment, the objective remains to achieve full adherence from all teams utilizing the tool for capacity management
Benefits:
Since implementing ActivityTimeline, Loto-Québec has seen several improvements in resource planning and time tracking. The focus on resource efficiency has allowed Loto-Québec to optimize their resource utilization and improve overall productivity.
“Team leaders are typically contacted by the Project Manager (PM) or those responsible for an IT initiative to allocate resources. This is often done through the creation of a Jira ticket or a Booking in an Activity Timeline tool. When a capacity issue arises, it is reported to a committee tasked with resolving such issues, potentially by reprioritizing the initiatives. This process ensures that resource allocation and project timelines are managed effectively.”
Vanessa Da Silva Ambrósio, Team Leader of IT Alignment and Strategic Planning
Effective human resource management has been crucial in ensuring that the right personnel are assigned to tasks, avoiding misallocation and enhancing project efficiency. The organization has also noted better workload balance and increased resource utilization, which have contributed to faster project completion and reduced planning time.
“Teams that use the application begin to use it to demonstrate work overload, justify hiring or even avoid firing people, by showing the team's workload. In addition to helping us reprioritize company initiatives.”
Vanessa Da Silva Ambrósio, Team Leader of IT Alignment and Strategic Planning
Feedback and Future Projects:
Looking ahead, Loto-Québec plans to further integrate critical skills into their planning process, enabling even more strategic resource allocation. By continuously refining their resource management process, Loto-Québec aims to enhance project efficiency and success.
Vanessa highlighted that to further enhance the app, incorporating financial and accounting tools would be invaluable. By adding CAPEX and OPEX tracking, cost center input, and advanced reporting filters, the app could better support informed decision-making and seamless monthly reporting to finance teams.
Despite the suggestions she expressed high satisfaction with the tool and highlighted its adaptability to meet future demands and recommend tool to others.
“Centralized resource management is very useful for us. By integrating critical skills and availability data, these systems enable proactive planning and allocation of resources, ensuring that the right skills are utilized at the right time. Furthermore, the transparency provided by this promotes an environment of continuous improvement and acquisition of skills for future projects.”
Vanessa Da Silva Ambrósio, Team Leader of IT Alignment and Strategic Planning
Conclusion
ActivityTimeline has completely reshaped how Loto-Québec manages its resources, offering immediate improvements and paving the way for long-term growth. By centralizing resource planning and boosting visibility, the tool has become a key part of their operations.
