Capacity planning template

by Atlassian

Get real about your team’s bandwidth

KEY FEATURES

Task Tracking

Prioritization

Team Alignment

CATEGORIES

Product Management

Software & IT

Page template

As a project manager, planning projects and managing team workloads can feel like a guessing game. You may be taking shots in the dark about how much bandwidth each team member has, which can lead to frustration, burnout, and inefficient resource use.

Consider using Atlassian’s capacity planning template to get an accurate read on your team's bandwidth, remove guesswork, and foster a greater sense of team support and collaboration.

Overview
Benefits
How to
Why Confluence?

What is a capacity planning template?

A capacity planning template is a digital spreadsheet designed to track and manage project requirements and the available resources to fulfill them. It aids managers in effectively assigning tasks to team members and ultimately prevents them from experiencing burnout.

Benefits

Harnessing the power of a capacity planning template can provide various benefits for teams and companies alike. Some of the benefits of a capacity planning template include:

Reduced company costs

Time is money. While it might seem efficient to pile as much work as possible onto individual team members to maximize productivity, this strategy usually backfires. If the workload exceeds what a team member can handle, it can lead to stress and burnout, ultimately reducing their efficiency.

Therefore, it's important to distribute tasks among team members according to their capacity. A capacity planning template ensures each team member's workload is manageable and no one team member is overworked.

Increased productivity

Employees are more productive when they aren't overworked, over-stressed, or burnt out. A capacity planning template can help ensure team members receive the optimal amount of work they can handle while maintaining productivity.

Improved work quality

When individual team members are overburdened, the quality of their work can decline. They may rush through tasks, skipping necessary reviews before submission. To prevent this problem, utilize a capacity planning template to allocate appropriate work to each team member based on their capacity.

Improved work environment

Happy employees create happy work environments. To keep team morale high, use a capacity planning template to ensure they aren't overworked, which helps to maintain a positive work environment.

Eliminating excess capacity

When employees take on work beyond their capacity, they often will only say something once they are burnt out or ready to quit. Therefore, project managers must establish routine processes to ensure their team members only take on what they can handle.

A project capacity planning template eliminates the possibility of team members working in excess by keeping a regular log of how many hours of work each team member plans to put in to complete future projects. As a result, when a capacity planning template shows that a team member has enough work to fill their hours, the project manager does not give them any more work.

Enhanced resource management

Resource management ensures that adequate resources are available to complete work projects. Outsourcing some work to freelancers to ensure a project gets done is a form of resource management.

For proper resource management, use a planning template to keep track of how much work you need to assign to team members or outsource. Capacity planning templates are also great for conducting future resource requirements.

How to use the capacity planning template

Project managers aiming to optimize their team's capacity should consider leveraging a planning template. These are the steps to use one:

Step 1. Give your team some homework

Before gathering your team to discuss capacity, ask them to write down their weekly activities using a capacity planning template—including work projects, administrative tasks, and lunch breaks.

Then, have them estimate the time spent on each task per week. This way, team members can refer to their schedules, emails, chats, and tickets to accurately understand their workload capacities.

Step 2. Call a team meeting

Hold a team meeting after giving your team members time to organize their workweek using the capacity planning template. Start by explaining why you're discussing the team's bandwidth.

Are you gearing up for a new project, figuring out how to onboard a new team member, or simply aiming to set clear boundaries? Clarifying the purpose helps everyone understand the goal, encouraging open and honest discussion about hours and availability without reservations.

Step 3. Do some simple math

Next, it's time for everyone to tally up their total individual hours. Ensure each team member includes all typical activities throughout the workweek, from administrative tasks to coffee breaks. This comprehensive view lets you, as the project manager, grasp each team member's total working hours.

Next, calculate the percentage of each team member's time spent on projects by dividing their project-related hours by their total working hours. This analysis provides insight into how much time they dedicate to project work.

Take a moment to discuss these numbers as a team. Are the working hours in line with expectations? Do the percentages align with the team's goals? Are there unexpected imbalances, such as excessive time spent on non-project tasks like administrative duties?

This open dialogue enables project managers to identify areas for adjustment and optimize the team's time accordingly.

Step 4. Fill out the team capacity table

In the planning template table, include each team member's name, role, the percentage of weekly time devoted to projects, and the total weekly hours allocated to projects. Group individuals with similar roles together to fully understand your team's capacity.

By aggregating the hours for each role, you can determine the total time spent on projects by professionals in specialized positions, such as engineers and data analysts. This approach clarifies how much time each professional dedicates to project-related activities.

Step 4. Fill out the team capacity table

Step 5. Make informed decisions

Now that you have a clearer understanding of your team's bandwidth use this information to make informed decisions about project planning. The insights gleaned from capacity planning templates enable managers to effectively align each team member's skills with specific tasks.

This approach helps prevent stress and burnout among team members by avoiding overloading them with work and spreading them too thin. Leveraging capacity planning templates facilitates better workload distribution, enhances team performance, and promotes a healthier work environment.

Boost productivity with Atlassian’s capacity planning template

Atlassian's capacity planning template with Confluence is more than just a practical solution; it's a strategic approach to optimizing your team's efficiency and project success. By leveraging this template, project managers gain invaluable insights into their team's bandwidth, allowing for precise allocation of tasks and resources.

With a clearer understanding of each team member's workload, managers can prevent burnout, foster collaboration, and maintain a positive work environment. Confluence's capacity planning template empowers teams to make informed decisions, align tasks with team goals, and ultimately enhance productivity and project outcomes.

Say goodbye to the guesswork of project management and hello to a more streamlined, practical approach with Atlassian's Confluence capacity planning template.

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