What this episode is about:

Data projects rarely fall apart overnight. They creak quietly over time before cracking at a critical stage.

People get stretched too thin. Priorities start to clash. And before you know it, your best people are doing two, sometimes three jobs at once.

Whether it's a data migration, an integration, or a full-scale digital transformation, organisations lean heavily on their internal experts, we mean, the people who actually know the systems, the processes and the data inside out.

The problem? Those people still have a day job.

That's where the real challenge begins.

In this episode, we get into the reality of resourcing on data projects, how to balance business-as-usual (BAU) with delivery, how to avoid burning out your key people, and why getting this right comes down to planning, communication, and genuinely caring about your team.

At binary10, we're data people. We help organisations make data-driven decisions they can trust and that starts with looking after the people behind the data.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why resourcing is one of the most critical (and most overlooked) parts of any data project (00:39)

  
  

• Balancing BAU responsibilities with project delivery (01:25)

  
  

• Why your "best people" can quietly become your biggest risk (01:56)

  
  

• Spotting and planning for resource constraints early (02:00)

  
  

• Peak BAU periods (month-end, quarter-end) and planning around them (03:20)

  
  

• Knowing when and where you actually need your SMEs throughout the project (03:20)

  
  

• Why overloading people leads to poor delivery and disengagement (02:53)

  
  

• The importance of handholding and supporting non-technical teams (04:21)

  
  

• Clear communication and setting expectations early (04:21)

  
  

• How leadership drives successful resourcing (07:15)

  
  

• Why early stakeholder involvement makes everything smoother (07:15)

  
  

• Building a resourcing plan that's realistic and flexible (08:08)

  
  

• What "backfill" actually means — and how to get it right (08:54)

  
  

• Why collaboration, not just consultancy, is the key to success (10:56)

Why resourcing is often the real problem:

In most projects, all eyes go on the technology - the system, the tools, the delivery plan.

But the real pressure sits somewhere else entirely.

Your key people are running the business, supporting the project, and somehow expected to be experts at both. Over time, that just isn't sustainable.

People get overwhelmed. Decisions slow down. Quality slips.

Not because anyone isn't capable. But because they're stretched too thin.

The reality of BAU vs. project delivery:

This is where most organisations underestimate the challenge.

Your SMEs are critical to getting this right but their day-to-day responsibilities don't pause for the project. Month-end still happens. Quarter-end still happens. Operational priorities don't disappear just because there's a project on.

If you don't plan around that, you create conflict. And conflict creates delay.

Why care and communication matter more than you think:

The biggest difference between projects that succeed and projects that struggle? How people are treated.

It's not just about handing out tasks.

It's about:

• Setting clear expectations early

• Understanding what people can realistically take on

• Supporting people who are working outside their comfort zone

• Checking in regularly, not just at milestones

Planning resourcing properly:

Resourcing isn't just about who's on the project. It's about when you need them, how much of their time you actually need, and what they're responsible for and being upfront about all of that from day one.

That means:

• Spotting bottlenecks early

• Avoiding overload at the critical moments

• Building in time for training and knowledge transfer

• Planning proper backfill where it's needed

Skip this, and you're setting the project up to struggle before it's even started.

Final thoughts:

Data projects don't fail because of the technology. They fail because the people delivering them are under too much pressure.

The projects that succeed? They plan properly. They communicate clearly. And they work collaboratively, because no consultancy can deliver a successful project on their own. It has to be done together.

At binary10, we don't just focus on the data. We focus on the people behind it. Because that's where success really comes from.

🎧 Listen to the episode!

Need support with your data project?

If you're planning a data migration, integration, or transformation programme, we can help you get the balance right for your data, and for your people.

Get in touch with our team: LINK

EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated by an AI tool that did its best, but it's never met different British accents it could fully decode. Expect a few funny mistakes. Enjoy!

[00:37] - James B

Welcome back, Steve.

[00:38] - Steve S

Great to be back.

[00:39] - James B

Yeah, no, fantastic. Really looking forward to today's discussion. Going to be good. Something close to my heart, and that is resourcing. Now, straight off the bat, that might not sound overly exciting to some people, but in reality, it's such a critical area, especially for any digital transformation program. specifically, integrations, data migrations, those sorts of things. And I think today we want to talk about more around actually the client resourcing and where we need supporting resource on these specific programs and that classic challenge of individuals taking their time out of their BAU process to support on these delivery projects and how we can we'll try and talk about some of the things that we recommend you can do to really get that balance right because that's what it is. It's a bit of a juggling act, isn't it?

[01:25] - Steve S

Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's important to note that, you know, as a consultancy, we provide people who are fully focused on the project and that's their sole role within the project. You know, it's just doing that. But with our clients, they're people, you know, generally key people that have got the knowledge and the expertise and they're required to help on the project. But they've got to do their BAU as well. Now... Sometimes in sort of luxury times you do get sort of, you know, people who have seconded full time to the project and that's great and they're backfilled but that...

[01:56] - James B

Isn't always the case and very quite rare i would say in our experience yeah i mean they're the heroes aren't they yeah and you and you know the you know great people but you feel sorry for them in a way because it's that classic thing of you know they put their best foot forward they put their hand up they work hard and then everybody wants them you know it's like oh yeah that person's coming to the you know coming to the front let's take them for our need let's take them for our need so you know again it's so important that we identify these resources early that we understand And they're going to be wearing multiple hats and really trying to segregate. their weeks, you know, so that, you know, just to help them really. But I think, you know, you talk there about the fact that, you know, they have these BAU responsibilities. So, you know, a bit like we talked about timing previously, as part of retail and how important that is. But from a resourcing point of view, you know, to understand when are those critical sort of periods during the month or during the quarter that those resources are going to be Priority BAU. you know, you know, unfortunately, yes, we're all priority program delivery, but they will have differing priorities. So, you know, I think it's really important to make sure that we understand those, you know, they're referenced on the plan, you know, there will be times when those resources, you know, almost have to be left alone. So you have to plan around that, you know, otherwise people get too stretched and then they don't, you know, they, you know, they, they get nervous and they don't, you know, they're not happy. They don't deliver as efficiently as they could do.

[03:08] - Steve S

Exactly, no, it's key that your people aren't overwhelmed or overloaded at any particular points but you know in general as well i mean you made a good point there about certain times of the calendar like you might have finance teams always going to be busy at month end or quarter end even worse but we've got to sort of think about the actual project as well the project's going to have key times where people are needed so the sort of activities that we're talking about you might have your your sort of smes your key people might be involved in the as is to be sort of processes and thinking about those but then they get involved in testing then they get involved in training from a data migration point of view we want them involved in reconciliation for integrations we might want to involved in testing of those as well so we're gonna need help at certain points in time and part of our role is to try and identify those and and be upfront with those as soon as possible as early as possible saying this is when we need people for what reason and for how long we're going to need them for.

[04:21] - James B

Absolutely. And you're now starting to touch on to the bit I wanted to talk about, which for me is critical. It's we talk about it all the time and it's that handholding. You know, for me, it's the it's the care that you give to the people as much as you do your own delivery and the program as a whole. And I think it's so frustrating that even in today's world, we still see, you know, certain consultancies getting that wrong. You know, just sort of, you know. oh there's a task here that we need you to do, throw it at the fence, you better get that done and if you don't it's going to cause a you know a blocker or an issue to our delivery and that is wrong you know it is you know it is within our duty to make sure that we hold the hand so what does that mean? That means that at the start of the program as you said we're very clear on what you know we anticipate your responsibilities to be and then highlight and speak with them to really try and get them to be honest with you and say, what are you capable of and what are you not? And where do you need our assistance? You know, because, you know, you take integrations or data migrations, for example, that we, you know, it's our bread and butter. We live that every day and we're used to all the words. We're used to all the, you know, the ways of working. But sometimes I think it's very easy to forget that the people that we need to work with, that we need them to work with us for us to be successful. They don't know, they don't know this. So you almost have to take a step back, don't you? You know, that classic saying is, you know, treat someone as if they were a four-year-old whatever I think it's so important. Of course, you don't want to come across, you know, a bit pedantic and all the rest of it. Patronising and all that, yeah. Exactly, and be patronising. But, you know, you have to build those relationships early on. You know, that is so key for the success as we go forward. But also remembering to keep doing it. So every month or every point in the plan, you know, just keep going back to those individuals and, you know, is everything okay? Are you comfortable? Are you, you know, have you got the ability to do your duties and do you understand it? Are you happy? And I think just sort of identifying those individuals where you can see they're struggling, you know, you can see that they're trying to say yes, but they don't really know. So I think the more you can put, the effort you can put into helping them is going to make your project more successful, which is the irony.

[06:27] - Steve S

Isn't it? No, it's very true because, I mean, we're dealing with people who are experts in their field and they're brilliant and great people most of the time are wonderful and, you know, it's great working with them. But we need to understand that. They're not technical people most of the time. They haven't been through a data migration before or integration before, you know, a big ERP implementation. So we have to guide them on that. And we have to guide them in the areas where we need their help. And we would do that with workshops, you know, and we actually sort of take them through. We'll have documents that explain things. So it's trying to sort of, you know, make them at their ease, you know, make them feel at ease in doing that work and just be on hand to help them if they've got any... issues or uncertainties around things. It's just been really clear, isn't it?

[07:15] - James B

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, I think there's, you know, there's an onus on the leadership team, right, you know, about making sure that they're fully communicated to, that they're brought into the tent, you know, that there isn't a divide between maybe external consultants that come in versus, you know, the teams around you. It's about bringing everyone together, you know, that clear communication so that they feel part of it. You know, things can help that, Things like early visibility of new systems. getting ahead on reconciliation activity and close to the data, you know, so really pushing that, you know, yes, we might not be going live for 12 months, but let's, let's get involved now, let's get that understanding now, because we see it far too often where some key individuals just come way too late to the party, because they know about it, you know, but they will keep prioritising their BAU, because that's not going live for 12 months, I don't need to know about that now. And I think no, no, you do, you don't need to be spending hours and hours a day, but.

[08:08] - Steve S

Let's start integrating you now so that you understand the world you understand the direction and it's helping us help you you know it's it's that famous thing yeah and it's something that we do as part of our strategy piece isn't it that we'll actually do resource planning as part of that now obviously when you're doing it as a strategy right at the very start of a project that could be running for the next 12 18 months things might change over time but you at least put a baseline resourcing plan in place to say this is when we need people this is the activity this is how long it's going to take them what percentage of their time that we need you And then at least, you know, the client can then go away and say, all right, have we got bottlenecks here? Are certain people overloaded at any one time? How can we sort this out? So, you know, it's important to get that in early, get that in place, and it will adapt over time. But at least you've got a starting point and you can just keep monitoring that.

[08:54] - James B

Yeah. And I think, and I think that's, you know, there's another word, which is, you know, backfill, hear it all the time, don't we? Where, you know, we have these key people in the organisation that we need to come onto the programme. you know, they're leaving a gap, right? So we need someone else to come in to fill that gap. So there's two things here. One is... Let's make sure that the backfill isn't then the person that comes onto the program, because that's no use, because you're now bringing a person onto a program that doesn't have the, you know, the subject matter expertise of those current systems. And also they might be new to, you know, big digital transformation programs. So backfill always has to be someone covering the BAU, you know, to enable that subject matter expert that's been there for a number of years to then come on to the program. So I think that's, you know, that's really really important you know and then secondly you know thinking about that early actually because if you are going to bring in you know people to take over you know a kiesame's job they will need some time to train that person to bring them up to speed so that they're not constantly having to go back and forth in between the you know the two projects so i think that you know you know the people that are making the calls on this that are doing the resource planning you know have a bit of empathy have a bit of care about your staff And there is a cost there. So again, it's very easy to just sort of shirk away from that. But we see it all the time. You know, really key SMEs, I call them heroes because they are, you know, they're overloaded. You know, it's too much. And it's just not nice. You know, we're all here to enjoy what we do. So, you know, it's really important that we give that extra care early on.

[10:27] - Steve S

Yeah, and I'd agree with that about the care because, I mean, ERP implementations, you know, new projects, they are sort of... There are uncertain times for people and they are quite stressful. Just, you know, if you then add on to that people working ridiculous hours because they're trying to do two, three jobs at once, you're making it even worse. So, you know, it's really important to do that resource planning and actually think about, you know, people doing multiple things at the same time. It's always going to lead to problems.

[10:56] - James B

No, absolutely. And the final thing I want to say on that is, again, just remember that, yes, I know a lot of organisations, you know, they look to... you know, consultancies like ours, you know, to come in and have that expertise and to help. But we can't do it on our own. I mean, we can try, but for it to be successful, we need to do it collaboratively with their own people. And therefore, you know, put that thought forward, you know, it's not just about, oh, we're going to go and, you know, procure some company and they'll do it all for us. No, no, actually, we need to do it together with them. And that's where you get the most success.

[11:31] - Steve S

It's key, isn't it? It's absolutely key that you work collaboratively with the client, with their SMEs, all the best, most successful projects working that way.

[11:41] - James B

Absolutely. And, you know, hopefully this talk has, you know, sort of helped push that a little bit. And maybe there can be a bit less stress in the world of digital transformation that we do. Probably not. But, you know, you always get stressful times. But there's a lot that we can do to help it. And I think that some of those things we talked about will definitely help. women. No, fantastic. Thank you, Steve. I'll see you next time.

[12:01] - Steve S

See you next time.