Identify consolidation opportunities: Third, find out if you can rejig the existing resources to meet the demand.You may also want to look at external factors when estimating this demand. Determine demand: Second, look at a project schedule and resource availability to estimate the demand for new resource capacity.That way, you can optimize the required resources for your project. Measure current capacity: First, youвЂ™ll need to know the existing capacity.Now that we know what capacity planning is, letвЂ™s look at the steps involved: What are the steps involved in resource capacity planning? External factors: Government policies, union laws, and budget cycles too can influence capacity planning.Human resource factors: Compensation, training, retention of people within an organization directly affects capacity planning.Project schedule: The project schedule dictates what resources are required, when they are required, and in what number.When it comes to team projects, three other factors must be considered. What are the factors affecting team capacity planning?ДЄt the most basic level, demand and availability affect capacity planning. Match capacity strategy: This involves increasing the capacity in small increments in anticipation of demand.This means, this strategy sometimes results in overworked teams or alternatively, delayed projects.

Lag capacity strategy: On the other hand, with the lag capacity strategy youвЂ™ll only increase capacity when you see actual demand.It follows that this strategy often results in underutilized capacity. Lead capacity strategy: This involves aggressively increasing capacity in anticipation of demand.Capacity is then planned based on the forecasts. Often experts look at industry trends and forecast the need for capacity. Long-term capacity: Depending on the type of industry, the period for this kind of planning varies.Medium-term capacity: Typically used for projects that range from a year to three years.Short-term capacity plans can be for a day, week, month, or sometimes even a quarter. Short-term capacity: Based on customer demand or seasonality, teams may bulk up or reduce the number of people.This ensures team members are neither overwhelmed nor underworked. Workload management at an individual level: To prevent burnout, you need to monitor your team members individually.Learn more about resource allocation here. Resource allocation at the project level: At the project level, a manager identifies the available resources within the organization and requests allocation for a project.It also helps decide if a hiring process needs to be initiated. Capacity planning at organization level: In this process, the organization determines if it has enough skilled people.There are three types of capacity modeling techniques depending on:

Now that you understand why capacity planning is important, letвЂ™s look at its types.

210 percent less likely to promote the business.

2.6 times as likely to leave their current employer.

Also, it helps them understand the budget requirements for acquiring, allocating, and managing resources.ДЇor project teams, not having the right resources results in either poor delivery quality or an overworked team.ДЄccording to the Global Work Culture Report for 2020, over 79 percent of employees experience some kind of burnout.

Making plans for capacity utilization helps businesses optimize operations. On the other hand, not having access to resources may delay or derail your project completely. Having access to the right resources at the right time ensures on-time delivery with quality. Formally, you can define capacity planning as:Д¬apacity planning is the process to determine and meet an organizationвЂ™s resource capacity needs. These resources can be people, tools, or budget.Д¬apacity planning is all about fulfilling this requirement. Organizations and teams need to find the right resources at the right time to deliver projects. What are the factors that affect capacity planning?.What are the types of capacity planning?.In this article, youвЂ™ll learn about the tools that help you plan and manage your teamвЂ™s capacity. Resource capacity planning tools help ensure that your business and projects always stay on top of resource requirements and capacity challenges. ThatвЂ™s because having the right resources can make or break a project. As a project manager, youвЂ™re constantly negotiating to find the best resources for your team.

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