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This video is based on our article on best practices for resource capacity planning: https://acuityppm.com/best-practices-for-resource-capacity-planning/

Resource capacity planning is one of the most frequently cited functions of project portfolio management. Management rightly wants to know if they have sufficient resources to take on more project work and if their existing work will be completed on time. Most companies are aware of the scarcity of resources for project work and therefore look to portfolio capacity views to answer these two important questions:

1) When can we accept new projects?
2) Can we do our existing work?

Best practices for resource capacity planning (project planning):
Carry out consistent planning across all projects
Regardless of the methodology, clarify the overall scope for each project
Involve project team members in planning and estimating
Learn techniques to help you improve your estimate over time
Communicate with resource managers about team assignments. Never rely on software to replace good old communication.

Best practices for resource capacity planning (project resource planning):

Keep it simple
Estimate resource time at the project level (or phase level if necessary).
Do not attempt to capture detailed task-level utilization.
Don't try to capture skills-based information at the beginning. Knowing the key roles is enough to start with.
Start with simple top-down resource forecasts over the time frame needed and adjust usage as needed (also known as resource profiling).
Monthly utilization is often sufficient for portfolio capacity planning
Don't try to value everyone's time; focus on the critical resources that are in high demand. This will still deliver high value from a portfolio capacity perspective.
Resource plans should be developed in the initiation or planning phase of a project
During project implementation, resource plans should be updated regularly (a simple design of the resource plan facilitates maintenance).
The goal is “good” data, not “perfect” data

Best practices for resource capacity planning (Portfolio Manager):
Identify at least one person responsible for coordinating and analyzing resource data
Give the portfolio manager an overview of the process
Data analysis skills
Soft leadership skills for working with project managers
Develop recommendations for the portfolio governance team based on the resource analysis
Share the resource capacity analysis as part of the portfolio communication plan

Best practices for resource capacity planning (resource data analysis):
Use simple categories for resource utilization such as “Available”, “At Risk”, “Overutilized”
Define thresholds for when roles and people are "available," "at risk," or "overused." This makes analysis much easier.
First, look at the overloaded roles, then move on to specific people. It's possible for a team to be overloaded, but still have at least one person who can take on more work (this usually means someone else has too much work that needs to be reassigned).
Resource teams with average utilization that makes them “at risk” or “over-utilized” represent a real resource risk to the portfolio.
Keep it simple. Filter out noise by focusing on key resource roles and a few specific people. Too much data makes resource analysis unnecessarily complicated.

Best practices for resource capacity planning (Portfolio Governance Team):
Use resource capacity information in key decision-making meetings, such as new proposal reviews or phase-gate reviews.
Have the portfolio governance team review options based on resource capacity information to make better decisions

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