Team Capacity Planner

What is capacity planning? Capacity planning helps you determine if your team has enough bandwidth to complete all planned work, and makes hiring decisions more data-driven.

Key concepts:

• Available Hours: The total working hours a team member has in a given time period before accounting for meetings, breaks, etc.
• Utilization Rate: The percentage of available time that can be spent on actual work after accounting for meetings, administrative tasks, breaks, etc.
• Effective Hours: Available hours multiplied by the utilization rate, representing the actual productive time.
• Capacity Utilization: The ratio of planned work to available capacity. Over 100% indicates the team is overloaded.

Tips for effective capacity planning:

• Account for vacations, holidays, and other planned time off when calculating available hours
• Be realistic about utilization rates—most teams can't sustain rates above 80-85% long-term
• Include buffer time (15-20%) for unexpected work that always comes up
• Prioritize work items to ensure high-priority items get done even if capacity is constrained
• Reassess regularly as new information becomes available and priorities change
• Consider cross-training team members to create more flexible capacity

Note: This tool provides directional guidance for capacity planning. For complex teams or sophisticated planning needs, consider complementing this with specialized project management tools.