FAQ: Staffing Rules & Blended Rates

1. What are Staffing Rules in the system?

Staffing Rules establish structured guidelines for staffing, ensuring consistency in resource allocation by setting minimum percentage requirements for roles. They use predefined assumptions to automatically generate staffing rules, including calculations for average rates and all-inclusive rates.

2. How do I add a new Rate Blend?

• Go to the Rate Blends section and click 'New'.
• Enter a 'Rate Blend Name' that clearly identifies the roles and details, such as 'PM(US)|TA(US) OR TL(IND) OR BA(US)|QA (IND) OR Dev(IND) - USD' etc etc.
• Select the 'Currency' for the blend. This selection is essential, as all rules within a Rate Blend need to match the chosen currency.
• Click 'Save'.

3. Why is selecting the correct Currency important for a Rate Blend?

The selected currency ensures that all roles within the Rate Blend are calculated and applied uniformly. Rules cannot cross between currencies, so it's crucial for accuracy and consistency that the currency remains the same across all roles in a Rate Blend.

4. How do I define Blend Rate Roles within a Rate Blend?

• Open the Rate Blend detail page and navigate to the 'Related' tab.
• Click 'New' under Blend Rate Roles.
• Select a 'Role' from your organization’s rate cards.
• Set the Currency to match the parent Rate Blend record for consistency.
• Enter the Rate based on your organization's rate cards or an informed estimate.
• Specify the Percent Allocation to allocate a portion of the role’s time (e.g., a project manager working 50% of the project time).
• Enter the Expense Allocation percentage to include any additional costs related to the role.

5. What is the purpose of the 'Percent Allocation' field?

The Percent Allocation field specifies the role’s share of time and cost for the project. For example, if a project manager works half of a 1-hour project at $20/hour, then the allocation cost for that role is $10 and allocation percent is 50%.

6. How does 'Expense Allocation' work?

The Expense Allocation setting adds any applicable expenses to the calculated rate for a role, providing a comprehensive cost figure that includes all associated expenses for that role's allocated time. Keep it 0 initially to keep things simple.

7. What happens after adding all roles in a Rate Blend?

Once all roles are added with their respective rates, allocations, and expenses, the Average Rate Calculated and All-Inclusive Rate Calculated fields will be consolidated in the Rate Blend record. These values are essential for determining the Average Calculated Cost for any defined project scope.

8. How are these rates used in Scopes?

The calculated average and all-inclusive rates from the Rate Blend are used in Scopes to determine the Average Calculated Cost for delivering the outlined scopes in projects, ensuring consistent and accurate cost estimations. And the percent allocation of each role is used for staffing rule adjudication in each timeline.