Sprint resource capacity planning sheet
February 28, 2023
Resource planning involves managing resources for tasks or projects, whereas capacity planning helps you identify and plan for future resource requirements. For Scrum masters, project managers, and IT staff, we have assembled capacity planning templates.
A team capacity planner template is a tool that helps businesses and project managers to plan, track, and manage the workload and resources of their team. With this template, you can determine the availability of your team members, plan project timelines, and ensure that everyone clearly understands their responsibilities and workload.
List of team members:The template should include a list of all team members, along with their roles and responsibilities. This information will help you determine each team member’s availability and workload.
Project timelines: The capacity planner should list all projects’ expected to start and end dates. This information will help you plan your team’s workload and ensure they can work on the projects at the required times.
Workload allocation: The planner should include a breakdown of the workload for each project, including the number of hours or days required to complete each task. This information will help ensure each team member is assigned the appropriate work.
Resource availability: The capacity planner should include information about each team member’s availability, including vacation days, sick days, and other commitments. This will help you ensure that you are not overloading any team members and that everyone has the time to complete their work.
Resource allocation: The planner should include a breakdown of the resources required for each project, including the number of team members required and their specific roles. This information will help ensure you have the necessary resources to complete each project on time.
Weekly or monthly workload overview: The capacity planner should also summarise each team member’s workload for the week or month, including the hours or days required to complete each task. This information will help you identify potential workload issues and adjust as needed.
Businesses and project managers can manage their team’s workload and resources more effectively using a team capacity planner template. You can make sure that your projects are finished on time and within your project’s budget by knowing each team member’s availability and workload.
If you don’t know where to start, creating an Excel template for team capacity planning can be overwhelming. But don’t worry; I’ll show you how to do it.
Step 1: Create a new spreadsheet Open a new Excel workbook and give it a name. Save it in a location where you can easily find it later.
Step 2: Create a table for your team members. Create a table to list your team members, including their names, roles, and contact information. You can add relevant information, such as their department or skillset. You format the table as a “table” in Excel to easily sort and filter the data.
Step 3: Create a table for your projects. Create a table to list your projects, including their names, start and end dates, and descriptions. You can add relevant information, such as the project manager or status. Again, format the table as a “table” in Excel.
Step 4: Create a table for your tasks. Create a table to list the tasks for each project, including the task name, duration, and responsible team member. You can add relevant information, such as the task description or status. As before, format the table as a “table” in Excel.
Step 5: Create a table for team member availability. Create a table to list the availability of each team member, including vacation days, sick days, and other commitments. You can add other relevant information, such as their daily working hours or weekly schedule. Again, format the table as a “table” in Excel.
Step 6: Create a formula to calculate available hours. Create a formula to calculate the available hours for each team member. Subtract their non-working days from the total working hours for the project. For example, if the project lasts 10 days and a team member has 2 non-working days, their available hours would be 8 * 8 = 64.
Step 7: Create a formula to calculate the workload. Create a formula to calculate the total workload for each project. Sum the duration of all the tasks for that project. For example, if a project has three tasks with 4, 6, and 8 hours, the total workload would be 18 hours.
Step 8: Create a formula to allocate the workload. Create a formula to allocate the workload for each task to the responsible team member based on their availability.
The Team Capacity Planner Template in Excel can be used by anyone who manages a team or multiple teams, particularly in a project-based environment. It can be helpful for project managers, team leaders, and department heads to get a clear overview of their team’s workload and capacity.
The template is particularly useful when:
Planning new projects: When a new project is proposed, the team capacity planner can help determine whether the team has the necessary resources and skills to complete the project successfully.
Prioritizing tasks: The planner can help prioritize tasks and ensure that the most critical tasks are assigned to team members with the necessary capacity to complete them.
Identifying potential bottlenecks: The planner can help identify team members who are overburdened or have reached their capacity, leading to delays or lower-quality work.
Managing resource allocation: The planner can help managers allocate resources more effectively and avoid situations where some team members have too much work while others are underutilized.
Planning for vacations and absences: The planner can help managers plan for team members’ vacations, sick leave, and other absences to ensure no disruption to project timelines.
The Team Capacity Planner Template is valuable for anyone who wants to manage their team’s workload effectively and ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget.
There are several types of Team Capacity Planner Templates in Excel that can be used depending on the specific needs of the team or project. Some of the most common types include:
Weekly Team Capacity Planner: With columns for each day of the week and rows for each team member, this template enables you to organize the workload for your team each week. It’s a quick and easy way to determine your team’s capacity for the coming week.
Monthly Team Capacity Planner: Similar to the weekly planner, this template allows you to plan your team’s workload monthly. It includes columns for each week of the month and rows for each team member.
Agile Team Capacity Planner: This template is designed for teams that use Agile methodologies, such as Scrum or Kanban. It includes columns for sprints or iterations and rows for each team member.
Project Team Capacity Planner: This template is designed specifically for project managers, with columns for each project task or milestone and rows for each team member. It allows you to assign tasks and track progress on a per-project basis.
Departmental Team Capacity Planner: This template is useful for managers who oversee multiple teams or departments. It includes columns for each team or department and rows for each team member. This template can help you identify potential resource conflicts between teams and ensure that each team works efficiently.
Managers and team leaders may efficiently manage the workload and capacity of their team by using the Excel team capacity planner template. The following are some justifications for employing an Excel team capacity planner template:
Provides a clear overview of your team’s capacity: A capacity planner allows you to see how much work each team member is assigned and how much capacity they have left. This information can help you make better decisions about resource allocation and ensure that everyone is working to their full potential.
Helps you identify potential resource conflicts: A capacity planner can help you identify potential conflicts in resource allocation, such as when two team members are assigned to simultaneously work on the same task. This can help you avoid delays and ensure that work is completed efficiently.
Enables you to prioritize tasks: Using a capacity planner, you can prioritize tasks based on their importance and assign them to team members with the necessary skills and capacity. This can help ensure that the most critical tasks are completed first, and resources are used effectively.
Supports better decision-making: A capacity planner gives you a thorough picture of the workload and capacity of your team, which can aid in staffing, resource allocation, and project planning decisions.
Saves time and reduces errors: By using a capacity planner, you can avoid manually tracking your team’s workload and capacity, which can be time-consuming and error-prone. Instead, a capacity planner automates this process, allowing you to quickly and accurately assess your team’s capacity and workload.
