A Guide To Resource Capacity Planning

Resource capacity planning is a key part of any business’ success. It is the process of understanding the amount of resources needed to complete tasks and projects in order to maximize the return on investment. For businesses, having the right amount of resources allows them to properly plan, budget, and execute their projects. This also means that tools to help with resource capacity planning are critical to business success.

Resource capacity planning ensures that businesses have the right amount of resources to meet the demands of their customers and stay competitive in the market. This includes an analysis of current capacity versus projected capacity, including factors such as the availability of materials, staff, space, and financial resources. “Resources” can have different definitions across different businesses, but it’s important to understand the type of resources you’re working with.

What is resource capacity planning?

In business, resource capacity planning allocates the right resources to specific tasks or projects. The goal is to ensure you have enough resources to complete a project on time and within budget.

Resources can include:

• People
• Machines
• Money
• Space
• Time

In its simplest terms, resource capacity planning is used to balance your team’s useable time, materials, and effort with the requirements of the projects at hand. Without resource capacity planning, you will not know what you can achieve with your team or resources on hand, and it will make planning and scheduling very difficult. 

Why is resource capacity planning important?

Aside from knowing how many resources you can commit to projects, resource capacity planning is essential for your business in the following ways:

• It helps avoid over-committing and taking on more work than you can handle.
• It gives your business visibility and the tools to plan your workflow accordingly. 
• It ensures your business uses its resources efficiently and does not waste time or money on tasks other team members could complete.
• It allows you to set expectations with clients and avoid misunderstandings or disappointment.

Overall, resource capacity planning is vital for any business owner who wants to avoid over-committing, ensure efficient use of resources, and confidently say yes to new projects. 

Resource capacity planning best practices

When you take the time to begin calculating your resource capacity, always remember that your resources are not endless. You need to understand what is available to you and build off of that. The more resources you take into account, the more accurate your planning will be. When understanding your own resource capacity, here are some best practices to keep in mind:

1. Build a baseline

What is currently done within your company? What processes take up the most time? How much downtime do employees have? You need to start at ground level before understanding how to plan and manage resources. 

2. Analyze trends and patterns

Are there certain times of the year when you are busier or slower? Do some projects seem to go over budget or take longer than expected? If a specific trend or pattern sticks out – take note. Understanding where these bottlenecks occur can help alleviate them in any future projects. 

3. Get input from team members

Ask your team how they feel about their workload. If they feel like they are constantly overwhelmed, that is a sign that you must reconsider allocating additional resources to support the team.

4. Estimate the time required for tasks

Be realistic about your tasks and don’t underestimate or overestimate the time a task will take. This will only lead to frustration and inefficient use of resources.

5. Keep your team updated on changes

As projects change and evolve, so too will the required resources. Make sure to keep your team updated on any changes so they can be prepared and clearly understand what is expected of them.

6. Communicate with the client

Clients should be kept in the loop regarding changes in scope or timeline. By being upfront and honest with clients, you can avoid any misunderstandings or frustration on their part.

7. Build a buffer

Your resources typically begin and end with a human element, so always consider that projects will likely experience hiccups, delays, and scope creep issues. Humans are not perfect, so when you start planning – build in a little buffer, and you will be in a better position from the start. 

Following these best practices can create a resource capacity plan to benefit your business. If you take the time to understand your resources and build a realistic plan, you can confidently say yes to new projects knowing that you can deliver.

Resource capacity planning vs. resource planning 

We’re going to clear up the air here and answer a burning question: is resource capacity planning the same thing as resource planning? Unfortunately, these terms are used interchangeably in project management when they are two different processes.

Resource planning identifies and allocates the people and equipment needed to complete a project. It’s more forward-thinking in that you are looking at what resources will be required in the future and making sure they are available when you need them.

Resource capacity planning is more reactive as it looks at the current state of all your resources and analyzes how much work can be completed with the available people and equipment. It doesn’t focus on a single project or task but looks at your resources as a whole and their future for planning tasks.

While both processes are essential, resource capacity planning should be done first, giving you a realistic idea of what your team can take on. From there, you can look at future projects and ensure you have the necessary resources available to complete them.

Resource capacity planning tools

There are various resource capacity planning tools available on the market. Still, we’ve compiled a list of our favorites that can help track your resources and get a handle on what your business can offer.

Hive – Hive’s resource capacity planning tool visually represents your team’s workload and lets you know when someone is getting overloaded.

Smartsheet – Smartsheets lets you track current and future projects, along with the resources needed for each one.

Clarizen – With Clarizen, you can create a resource pool and then drag and drop people onto projects to see if there are any conflicts.

Hubstaff – Hubstaff’s tool allows you to see how much work your team can handle and where any potential bottlenecks might be.

When it comes to resource capacity planning, there are a lot of different factors to consider. But by taking the time to understand your resources and using one of the many great tools available, you can confidently say yes to new projects knowing that you can deliver.

Do you have any resource capacity planning tips? Share them with us in the comments below!