What is Resource Capacity Planning?
Resource capacity planning is how a business defines the amount of work that can be performed by an organization’s resources over a period of time and how the business can allocate that work to its available resources to meet current and future demands.
It is a critical component of running a successful business and helps to ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget.
How does successful resource capacity planning roll out?
- A project manager must be able to identify all resources that are available to complete projects., including human resources, equipment, and facilities.
- Determine the capacity of each resource. Capacity is the amount of work that each resource can do in a given period of time.
- Identify all the work that needs to be done. This includes projects, tasks, and other activities. Leave nothing out.
- Estimate the amount of work that each resource can complete. This is based on resource capacity and the amount of time it will take to complete the work.
- Match the work to the available resources. This ensures that the work is distributed evenly among the resources and that no resource is overloaded.
- Monitor progress and make adjustments as needed. Ongoing attention is important to ensure that the plan remains accurate as the project progresses and helps ensure resources are being used efficiently.
- Resource capacity planning varies by industry, there is no one size fits all approach to success. Resource scheduling principles may be similar across industries, but capacity planning for airline crews is very different than the construction industry.
- Recognize that different industries require different skills, different organizational structures, different services, and different customers.
Why resource capacity planning is important for your business
Resource capacity planning is an ongoing process that should be updated regularly to reflect changes in demand and capacity. By carefully planning the use of resources, organizations can improve their efficiency and productivity, and ensure that they are able to meet their goals. The number one reason why resource capacity planning is important is to ensure projects are completed on time and within budget. Successful businesses don’t make it up as they go along. It is important to avoid resource conflicts, optimize resource utilization, identify potential bottlenecks, and make informed decisions about resource allocation. Good resource capacity planning also improves communication and collaboration between teams.
What should the best resource capacity planning software provide?
It is important to use a software service that is configurable to the unique needs of your industry, your company and your way of working. It should provide instant visibility of your resource capacity, productivity, and availability, as well as allow easy, single click scheduling of available resources. It should integrate with your business calendar software – Outlook or Google.
If employees schedule their own work in Outlook a two-way sync must be available otherwise schedulers and employees are not looking at the same calendar information. This will result in double bookings and chaos. Reporting and analytics also need to be configurable.
Whitespace® resource capacity planning views by employee, skill, team etc. provides instant views of capacity, productivity and availability.
Seamless two way sync with Outlook ensures everyone is on the same page. Employees see work committments in their calendar, and schedulers see what employees have scheduled in their own calendar – no double bookings!
What benefits will resource capacity planning bring to my business?
- Improved project delivery
Resource capacity planning helps to ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget by matching the work to the available resources. - Increased efficiency
Resource capacity planning helps to optimize resource utilization by ensuring that resources are not overloaded and that they are being used in the most efficient way possible. - Reduced costs
Resource capacity planning can help to reduce costs by avoiding resource conflicts and by ensuring that resources are being used efficiently. - Improved communication and collaboration
Resource capacity planning requires collaboration between different teams and departments, which can help to improve communication and collaboration within the organization. - Improved internal collaboration
Match the right staff with the right skills to the right project. No more under- or over-skilled resource allocation. - Increased visibility
Resource capacity planning provides a clear overview of the available resources and the demand for those resources, which can help to improve decision-making and planning. - Locate the most cost effective resources for a project
This requires accurate specifications of the skills needed, employee cost rates, and customer charge rates. - Minimize new hires by optimizing the utilization of current resources
Better visibility of schedules and reallocation of work makes this a more efficient pathway.
Let us show you how Timewatch can solve your Resource Capacity Planning
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Timewatch’s Whitespace® is so configurable it can perfectly meet your Industry and organizational needs, provides instant resource capacity and availability views, two-way Outlook sync and more. Contact us to chat / speak with a product specialist about your requirements.
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Learn more about Rsource Capacity Planning and Whitespacenbp®
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