Capacity Planning

aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts/skills/capacity-planning

by aj-geddes3f5182cfd739No license355 starsListed Oct 8, 2026Updated Oct 8, 2026Repository updated 7 months ago

Analyze team capacity, plan resource allocation, and balance workload across projects. Forecast staffing needs and optimize team utilization while maintaining sustainable pace.

Instructions onlyProductivity & Workflow Business & Finance

AI-generated overview

Guides team capacity analysis, resource allocation, and workload balancing across projects.

What it does: This skill provides guidance for analyzing team capacity, allocating people to projects, and balancing workload. It covers capacity assessment, forecasting staffing needs, resource leveling, and sustainable utilization targets, supported by reference guides and a process template. It produces planning guidance and templates rather than executable tooling.
When to use it: Use it during annual or quarterly planning cycles, when assigning people to projects, adjusting team size, planning for holidays and absences, forecasting resource needs, or identifying bottlenecks across multiple projects.
Requirements: No scripts; instructions and reference documents only. No special tools, packages, credentials, or network access are required.

Overview

Capacity planning ensures teams have sufficient resources to deliver work at sustainable pace, prevents burnout, and enables accurate commitment to stakeholders.

When to Use

Annual or quarterly planning cycles
Allocating people to projects
Adjusting team size
Planning for holidays and absences
Forecasting resource needs
Balancing multiple projects
Identifying bottlenecks

Quick Start

Minimal working example:

python

# Team capacity calculation and planning
class CapacityPlanner:    # Standard work hours per week    STANDARD_WEEK_HOURS = 40
    # Activities that reduce available capacity    OVERHEAD_HOURS = {        'meetings': 5,           # standups, 1-on-1s, planning        'training': 2,           # learning new tech        'administrative': 2,     # emails, approvals        'support': 2,            # helping teammates        'contingency': 2         # interruptions, emergencies    }
    def __init__(self, team_size, sprint_duration_weeks=2):        self.team_size = team_size        self.sprint_duration_weeks = sprint_duration_weeks        self.members = []
    def calculate_team_capacity(self):        """Calculate available capacity hours"""        # Base capacity        base_hours = self.team_size * self.STANDARD_WEEK_HOURS * self.sprint_duration_weeks
// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)

# Team capacity calculation and planning
class CapacityPlanner:    # Standard work hours per week    STANDARD_WEEK_HOURS = 40
    # Activities that reduce available capacity    OVERHEAD_HOURS = {        'meetings': 5,           # standups, 1-on-1s, planning        'training': 2,           # learning new tech        'administrative': 2,     # emails, approvals        'support': 2,            # helping teammates        'contingency': 2         # interruptions, emergencies    }
    def __init__(self, team_size, sprint_duration_weeks=2):        self.team_size = team_size        self.sprint_duration_weeks = sprint_duration_weeks        self.members = []
    def calculate_team_capacity(self):        """Calculate available capacity hours"""        # Base capacity        base_hours = self.team_size * self.STANDARD_WEEK_HOURS * self.sprint_duration_weeks
// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)

Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:

Guide	Contents
Capacity Assessment [blocked]	Capacity Assessment
Capacity Planning Template [blocked]	Capacity Planning Template
Resource Leveling [blocked]	Resource Leveling
Capacity Forecasting [blocked]	Capacity Forecasting

Best Practices

✅ DO

Plan capacity at 85% utilization (15% buffer)
Account for meetings, training, and overhead
Include known absences (vacation, holidays)
Identify skill bottlenecks early
Balance workload fairly across team
Review capacity monthly
Adjust plans based on actual velocity
Cross-train on critical skills
Communicate realistic commitments to stakeholders
Build contingency for emergencies

❌ DON'T

Plan at 100% utilization
Ignore meetings and overhead
Assign work without checking skills
Create overload with continuous surprises
Forget about learning/training time
Leave capacity planning to last minute
Overcommit team consistently
Burn out key people
Ignore team feedback on workload
Plan without considering absences

Source and attribution

Source:aj-geddes/useful-ai-promptsinskills/capacity-planningat commit3f5182c

License: No license

Content belongs to its original authors. SourceWeft indexes it from a public repository.

Report or request removal

Capacity Planning

Capacity Planning

Table of Contents

Overview

When to Use

Quick Start

Reference Guides

Best Practices

✅ DO

❌ DON'T

Source and attribution

More from aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts

Xss Prevention

Wireframe Prototyping

Web Performance Optimization

Vue Application Structure

Visual Regression Testing

User Persona Creation

More in Productivity & Workflow

Dd Meeting Prep

Dd Checklist

Deal Tracker

Client Review

Morning Note

Notion Spec To Implementation