Every organization wants to achieve more with less. Resource capacity management is a way to do this. With it, you’ll know exactly how much work your team can realistically take on. As well as track how much of your organization’s capacity has already been exhausted. All of which can help make better decisions about the future of your business.
Here we’ll share some tips on managing your resources’ capacity, with a few best practices and advice on how to apply this process using Ganttic, to your own future project capacity planning.
What is Resource Capacity Management?
Resource capacity management is a high-level process which helps determine if your resources meet project demands. By comparing the resources available with forecasted demand you can decide which projects your portfolio can adequately handle. And ensure that you have enough people, tools, and equipment to get the job done.
To do this you need to calculate your overall resource capacity. Which oftentimes is synonymous with a resource’s working hours - think of it as the resource’s potential for taking on tasks and work activities. For most full time employees it may seem there’s no need to do any calculations, as this equates to about 40 hours per week.
But of course this is only part of the picture. To these 40 hours you also need to subtract all the parts of the day that begin to use up capacity - coffee breaks, daily standups, and other downtime. These add up quickly! So a better formula would be something akin to:
Resource working time - Work Time Interruptions (Breaks, Downtime, Sick Days, Vacations) - Other Work Commitments (Meetings, Previously Scheduled Assignments, Admin Tasks) = Resource Capacity
In order to carry out resource capacity management, this formula needs to be calculated for all individuals in your resource pool. And can even be extended to groups of resources (teams, departments, resource types, etc.). That’s where resource capacity management software comes in. Since tools can lighten the mental toll and cut down on the time-consuming parts. Here’s how to get started in Ganttic.
Resource Capacity Management: First Steps
From the planner’s General Settings > Utilization, turn on Resource Utilization. This is a prerequisite for all the following capacity planning steps. And it is adjustable for each View, so will only be displayed in the specified Views where this is further enabled.
Overview on Views: In Ganttic, Views are the place where plans are created. Think of your planner like a whole cake - and each View would just be a piece of that cake. With every component like Resources and Tasks present, but just in a specified amount. You can add to that piece extras that make it more personal as well - different grouping and sorting options, various time periods, and different tracking options can be applied to each View. Enabling every manager to have a personalized slice of the plans. Read more about creating new Views, with different settings and POVs for each manager.
Setting Up Your Planner’s Parameters
As mentioned above, the formula for finding a resource’s capacity is as follows:
Resource working time - Work Time Interruptions (Breaks, Downtime, Sick Days, Vacations) - Other Work Commitments (Meetings, Previously Scheduled Assignments, Admin Tasks) = Resource Capacity
But with Ganttic, this can all be done within the planner. Here’s what you’ll need to set up:
Work Days and Hours
- Define your planner’s Working Time settings. These are the business days and hours that will be displayed across your entire planner and used for all calculations.
Resource Working Times
- Every employee, and even non-human resources, have their own work schedules. Define these in Resource’s work time settings. This includes the days they can be scheduled for Tasks as well as personalized Business hours. You can even take into consideration lunch breaks and other downtime. Plus an imported list of public holidays in the country that person resides.
- Additionally you can schedule Resources’ Time Off. This blocks off time in the planner - preventing Resources from getting workload added during its duration. Great for limiting hours when one-off events pop up or as a way to schedule sick leave, vacations, and PTO.
Other Scheduled Commitments
- Any Task that’s scheduled to a Resource’s timeline will affect its overall capacity.
- Events that occur on a regular basis such as meetings can be scheduled as Recurring Tasks, meaning they will appear at regular intervals in the planner.
- If a Resource’s Tasks occur simultaneously and conflict with one another, it’s possible to manually adjust the utilization of the Tasks. This will indicate to the Resource that less “effort” is needed for that Task, smoothing out the scheduling conflict. Adjusting the Task’s timing and utilization will in turn affect the Resource’s Busy time calculation.
Resource Capacity Management In Ganttic
In Ganttic it’s possible to monitor capacity in the following ways:
- Track the Busy Time of Resources - Keep track of the time resources spend on tasks, or conversely how much time is left after all the scheduling has taken place.
- Monitor Group Busy Time - If your Resources are grouped (via their departments, locations, type, project teams etc.) the entire group’s capacity can be tracked, which may be a useful comparison tool.
- Visual Capacity Utilization Graphs - In addition to tracking the actual scheduled busy times in hours, it’s possible to use visual graphs in your planning. These act as a heat map for individual or groups of Resources informing you when capacity is maxing out.
- Reports and Charts - Build custom Reports and visual charts which provide another way to see how your resource pool is working. Perfect for a quick analysis
Tracking Capacity via Resource Busy Time
Busy Time helps you keep track of Resource capacity as you schedule, so you always know how much more a person is able to take on. It takes into account your Resource work time settings and all scheduled activities within the specific time period.
Busy Time is visible on the Gantt chart. And it’s adjustable for each Single Project View and Custom View you create. So once it’s enabled in the planner, you can control whether it’s also visible in your View of choice.
This can be done from the View’s Visibility Settings. Just select Show Busy time from the Resource availability column. Then next to the Resources’ names you’ll see the Busy Time calculation in hours. This will change if new Tasks get scheduled or the time period is adjusted.
Tips
- It’s also possible to track the inverse of Busy Time - Available Time. This shows the remaining time available for scheduling, taking into consideration already scheduled tasks, the resource’s work time settings, and the visible time period. From the View’s Visibility Settings > Resource availability, just switch the utilization counter to Available Time.
- Likewise it’s possible to also track Resource Utilization % - a percentage that shows the amount of time a resource is engaged in scheduled tasks compared to its available working time. Basically: Resource utilization = Busy time / Available time. This is also done from the View’s Visibility Settings > Resource availability.
- Or create a new View with a different tracking system. That way, each manager on your team can use their own system, but since the calculations all come from the same source, it’s easy to ensure organizational consistency throughout.
Tracking Group Capacity
You can keep track of group workload as well - for example team, department, branch, resource type, contract type, etc. Groups are created from your Resource Data Fields.
Within the View you’re working with, apply Resource Grouping, this will organize the Resources around your specified criteria.
When Show Busy time is applied via the Visibility Settings, next to the Group title you can see the total Group’s Busy Time for the visible time period. Likewise, each Resource in the Group will also have its own number next to it. This is measured using the weighted average of the Group - so may differ slightly from individual Busy Time without any Grouping.
Tips
- It’s also possible to track the Groups’ Available Time instead of Busy Time. This shows the remaining time available for scheduling, taking into consideration already scheduled tasks, the resources’ work time settings, and the visible time period. From the View’s Visibility Settings > Resource availability, simply switch the utilization counter to Available Time.
- Likewise it’s possible to also track Resource Utilization % - a percentage that shows the amount of time a resource is engaged in scheduled tasks compared to its available working time. Basically: Resource utilization = Busy time / Available time. This is also done from the View’s Visibility Settings > Resource availability.
Resource Utilization Graphs
In addition to monitoring capacity via hours, there are other tracking options for those who prefer a more visual style of planning. Resource Utilization Graphs are small bar graphs that appear over scheduled Tasks right on the Resource’s timeline. They can act as a warning when Resources are maxing out their capacity. Or let you know that a Resource is able to take on more work.
The colors and intervals for the graphs can be defined via Utilization in the General Settings. Then turn them on for the specific View you’re using via Visibility Settings - by applying Show resource utilization graphs.
Tips
- These graphs take into account the Resource’s load for the duration of the scheduled Task. Something which can be manually adjusted for each Task. Meaning if you want to represent a part-time Task, or one which simply requires less effort from the Resource, just adjust the utilization of that Task.
- Define the colors and intervals that suit your planning style. Perhaps you only want to see when Resource utilization is hitting a certain threshold or is above or below a specific percentage. Or choose a color that will be most striking when you’re glancing at the planner.
- You can also enable Utilization Graphs for your Resource Groups. In the View’s Visibility Settings select Show resource group utilization graphs.That way on the line next to the Group’s title you’ll see a heat map taking into account the scheduled tasks for that Resource group.
Resource Capacity Management In Use
Tracking capacity is the first step to better understanding what your resources are truly capable of. And is necessary for any organization who wants to get to the top of their game and their industry. Here’s a few more Ganttic tricks and tips to incorporate into your capacity strategy.
Skill Management
Resource capacity management is not just about having enough resources, it’s just as important to have the right resources. Only then can you ensure the work can be completed. For example, maybe you need a specific engineer with certain levels of clearance for a new project. But if all you have available are junior engineers, then it may not be possible to accept a job. Missing out on important revenue streams.
Solving this problem is simple via Resource Data Fields - customizable spaces to include information about your resource pool. For example when it comes to employees, it may be beneficial to include skill sets, certifications, their department, whether their freelance or full time, and other information you’d like included.
Data Fields can also be used for Grouping and Filtering - helping you quickly find the right person with the right availability (more on this below). And with Resource Data Fields it’s much clearer to see any gaps with Resource skills or types. Making it easier to know exactly who you’re looking for when the next recruitment period comes around.
Read on: Learn more about using Ganttic’s Resource Data Fields, Filtering, and Grouping.
Identify Bottlenecks in the Project Portfolio
Not having the right skills can create bottlenecks and delay projects. But so can countless other issues. Many of which are often overlooked and invisible until they pop up at the most inopportune times.
And when it comes to portfolio capacity management, with dozens of projects running simultaneously, it’s harder than ever to pinpoint which projects are having the most trouble.
To get an overview of how well your projects are running, it may be helpful to use Ganttic’s Project Activity Graphs. These act as a visual heat map for the different projects in your organization’s portfolio.
Seeing where the problems lie is the first step to dealing with them, and getting your projects back on track.
Read on: Learn more about Project Activity Graphs.
Filter Out Unavailable Resources
When it comes to resource capacity management it may seem like more is better. More resources in the pool mean more options, right? True, but it can also make the overall job harder. Especially when it comes to selecting the right resource for prospective projects.
In Ganttic, you can make it easier on yourself by Filtering out Resources that are unavailable and automatically eliminating those who cannot be scheduled. This not only gives you a more manageable resource pool to work with, but it provides a more accurate picture of future capacity.
With Filtering you can choose what constitutes “available” in terms of your planning. Maybe that means Resources which are only scheduled for a certain number of hours. Or those who can still have a certain number of hours left to take on more work.
Read on: Learn more about Filtering.
Prioritize Work & Tasks
In resource planning, it’s likely that your team will be working on multiple projects simultaneously. But that doesn’t mean all work is created equally. Nor does it mean that you should be pushing employees to multitask - where mistakes are more likely to occur.
Instead it should be the job of the manager to prioritize tasks, making it clear which of the work needs to be done first. In a project capacity plan, including Task Dependencies is one way to provide a visual clue about the workflow.
Another way is to indicate how much effort a certain task requires. In Ganttic, this can be specified for any Task via its Timing Settings. Here you’ll find Task’s Utilization - which is the percentage of a Resource’s capacity used to complete a Task.
For example, if you have 2 Tasks happening simultaneously, adjust the utilization so that it’s higher for the Task you’d like prioritized. Meaning maybe one Task requires 70% of that person’s capacity, while another Task only requires 30%.
Task utilization is applied manually, and the percentage affects Resources’ overall capacity counters (Available Time, Busy Time, and Utilization %). As well as the utilization graphs which appear over any scheduled Tasks on a Resource’s timeline.
These settings provide an additional way to communicate with your workforce about their schedules. And as a way to ensure that time-sensitive Tasks or work from more important clients get prioritized and completed on time.
Read on: Learn more about Task Timing Settings.
Create Benchmarks Using Historical Data
When you’re forecasting resource capacity for upcoming projects, the amount of resources needed and the length of tasks should always reflect reality. That way, when projects are green lit and the work commences, your team will be going in with a clear plan of action. Not something that was pulled out of thin air.
Looking at the past is often one of the best ways to predict the future. And the basis for all future capacity plans should be constructed from historical data. So do an analysis of past projects with similar parameters.
How long did certain tasks take? Where did bottlenecks and delays occur? Who were the people on those projects and what were their skill sets compared to your workforce now? Were certain milestones met? All of these questions have answers - and the easiest way to find them is by running a report.
In Ganttic, you can turn past planning data into a treasure trove of information. Just choose which Project, Resource, or Task data you want broken down - and then you can begin to synthesize that information into a working capacity plan. This will give you a historical basis for all your decision making and future benchmarks. As well as providing something to point to if your plan is questioned by senior management.
Read on: Learn more about creating Reports in Ganttic.
Next Steps
Now that you’ve planned capacity, get it running at optimal levels. Discover more about Utilization Tracking in Ganttic.