Capacity check before signing
Projects get committed on optimism and delivered on arithmetic. Half an hour with the capacity plan before a start date is agreed answers whether the team exists, and it is the cheapest half hour in the whole engagement.
Before every commitment to a start date. Thirty to sixty minutes. Run it again if the start date moves by more than a fortnight.
The checklist
- 01Write the shape needed: roles, rough hours a week, and for how longOwner: Delivery lead
- 02Open the capacity plan for every month the project spansOwner: Delivery lead
- 03Count who is already in the full or over band in those monthsOwner: Delivery lead
- 04Check approved leave across the period, especially near the start dateOwner: Delivery lead
- 05Check the holiday calendar for the same monthsOwner: Delivery lead
- 06Match required skills against the skills taxonomy, not against memoryOwner: Manager
- 07Check existing projects for staleness warnings that mean hidden workOwner: Delivery lead
- 08Name the specific people, not a headcountOwner: Delivery lead
- 09Write down what would have to move if the start date slips two weeksOwner: Delivery lead
- 10Give the commercial owner a yes, a no, or a date that worksOwner: Delivery lead
What goes wrong
- Planning with headcount instead of names. Two available people is a sentence; two named people with actual free days is a plan.
- Ignoring approved leave because the start date felt far away. The first fortnight is when absence hurts most.
- Forgetting that people already on projects are not free just because nobody logged the hours.
- Treating a stale project as finished. No meeting in six weeks often means unfinished work about to reappear.
- Answering yes when the honest answer is a start date four weeks later.
Questions people ask
Why check the plan rather than ask the managers?
Managers answer from memory and optimism. The grid holds approved leave and existing allocations, and it does not round in anyone's favour.
Does the capacity plan account for holidays?
Yes. Company holidays and approved leave both appear on the grid, so a month with a long weekend does not read as a full month.
What if the honest answer is no?
Give a date instead. A start four weeks out is usually acceptable, and far better than a yes that is discovered to be wrong in week three.