The document presents five essential insights for maximizing resource capacity, emphasizing the need for a holistic view of demand and resource availability, effective resource management functions, and the avoidance of outdated spreadsheet methods. It advocates for continuous capacity planning and a granular approach to resource assignments. Additionally, it highlights the importance of integrated software solutions in overcoming common barriers and improving organizational performance.

1. | 1 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity
Five Essential Insights
for Maximizing
Resource Capacity
Jerry Manas
Author, The Resource Management
and Capacity Planning Handbook

2. | 2 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity
Presenter
Jerry Manas
 Author of the new book, The Resource Management and
Capacity Planning Handbook, and the bestsellers Napoleon
on Project Management and Managing the Gray Areas.
 Work highlighted in the Houston Chronicle, National Post,
Globe and Mail, Huffington Post, Chicago Sun Times, and
others.
 Founder/President, The Marengo Group
 Twitter: @jerrymanas

3. | 3 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity
The Resource Dilemma
Demand

4. | 4 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity
You’re gonna
need a bigger
boat.

5. | 5 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity

6. | 6 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity
How Do You Maximize Your Resources to Achieve
Your Organizational Goals?

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“Vision without Execution
is Hallucination.”
~ Thomas Edison

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Introducing: A New Book and A New Comprehensive Study
Study sponsored by Planview and conducted by Appleseed Partners

9. | 9 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity
 Benchmark Data & Maturity Paths
 Case studies
 Tools for overcoming common barriers and
making decisions involving:
 Time capture
 Resource assignments
 Competing priorities
 Recommendations on ownership of the RM &
CP functions
 Considerations for addressing the human side of
resource management
 A powerful framework for success

10. | 10 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity
2014 Resource Management and Capacity Planning Study
Research Background
 2014 State of Resource Management and
Capacity Planning
 480 Global Participants from Professional
Services, Product Development, IT, Enterprise
PMOs etc.
 Ranked RM and CP on a maturity model from low
to high maturity
 Top pain points, risks and several factors
 More info and reports at: rmcp.planview.com

11. | 11 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity
First, Some Definitions

12. | 12 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity
Assignment
Tactical
Execution/Operations
The ongoing assignment and
maintenance of organizational
resources as part of project
operations and execution
Resource Management
Strategic
Planning
Assessment
The assessment of available
capacity during the demand
prioritization and selection
processes
Capacity Planning

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New Investment
Classify, Scope and Size the
Investment
Submit Investment for
Investment Approval
Receive Investment into
Portfolio
Rank and Prioritize
Investment in Portfolio
Accept/Reject/Hold
Deliver the Investment
Wait
Investment
Planning & Governance
Intake
Execution Capacity
Planning
(Project) Execution
Lifecycle
Resource
Assignments
Resource Management & Capacity Planning in Context

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The Relevant Questions
• Capacity Planning asks: Do we have the
capacity to achieve our organizational
goals, and if not, are we rationally adding
capacity?
• Resource Management asks: How can
we ensure the right people are assigned to
the right projects at the right time?
?

15. | 15 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity
Distinct, but Interrelated and Interdependent
Resource
Management &
Capacity Planning
are the nucleus for
balancing demand
and capacity.
DEMAND
CAPACITY

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Driving Maturity: From Chaos to Control
Chapter 2: From
Chaos to Control
Resource
Executors
Aspiring
Planners
Capacity
Masters

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Top Resource Management Pain Points by Maturity
What are YOUR
pain points?

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Top Capacity Planning Pain Points by Maturity
What are YOUR
pain points?

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Business Risks of NOT Addressing Resource
Management and Capacity Planning

20. | 20 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity
What Maturity Looks Like
“We’ve made a 100% improvement… We now have a holistic view of all of our IT resources and
visibility into our pipeline, allocations and overallocations.
This is the first time our COO actually cut projects due to early visibility on capacity issues. Two
years ago we knew we had too much work, our spreadsheets were always out of date, and our
data existed in silos.
The quality of data has made the difference. Quantitative numbers are hard to argue, and
we’re using the data to make decisions.”
– Manager of IT Project Delivery and Quality Assurance, National Health Insurance Provider

21. | 21 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity
Top 5 Practices of the Top Performers
1.
Holistic view into
BOTH pipeline
demand and
resource capacity
2.
Put resource
management
function in
place
3.
Stop relying on
spreadsheets
and use the
right software
4.
Conduct
continuous,
iterative capacity
planning
5.
Granular and
multi-
dimensional for
planning and
assignments

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1. Have a Holistic View into both Pipeline Demand and
Resource Capacity

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A Holistic View Provides Visibility
PIPELINE DEMAND
• Priorities
• Costs
• Rank
• Etc.
RESOURCE CAPACITY
• Roles
• Resource
Type/Skills
• Outsource/FTE
To make demand decisions with capacity in mind
Chapter 8: The
Capacity Quadrant
Into BOTH pipeline demand and resource capacity

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Broadening Your View
Demand Capacity

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Demand Capacity
Broadening Your View

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Demand Capacity
Broadening Your View

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Do you feel lucky?

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2. Put Resource Management Functions in Place
• 30% more likely to put a key role in place for resource
management and to have that role be a champion for the
processes and tools used for the function.
“Exec leadership direction is key. We’ve been at PMO creation and administration for
years and we have had starts and stops for years, but until we got executive support
from the top down, we didn’t see any movement and activity. Now we are able to move
the business units that once operated as separate ‘kingdoms’ all in the same direction,
and they are excited about it.”
- Project Manager, PMO, Global Manufacturer

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Ownership of the Resource Management and
Capacity Planning Process
Define Process &
Maturity Path
Facilitate Data
Building
Gain
Management
Buy-In
Recommend
Sourcing
Strategies
Report on
Capacity &
Demand
Monitor
Adoption
Chapter 5: Who’s
in Charge Here?
Ownership of the
Process

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3. Stop Relying on Spreadsheets and Use the Right
Software

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Common Barriers a PPM Tool Can Help
Address
 Time Tracking (Actuals)
 Resource Assignments (Forecast)
 Competing Silos (Integrated Data for
Tradeoff Decisions Regarding Shared
Resources)

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Enabling Time Tracking & Resource Assignments
 Phase level RESERVES?
 Role-based REQUIREMENTS?
 Task level ALLOCATIONS?
Decisions to Make:
Chapter 2: From
Chaos to Control
 What are we trying to accomplish in terms of REPORTING?
 What DECISIONS do we hope to enable?
 Do we need ACTUALS or is Forecast enough?
FIRST… Ask:

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The Power of Integrated Software
Prioritized
Demand
True Capacity &
Planned
Demand
Scenarios

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4. Conduct Continuous, Iterative Capacity Planning

35. | 35 | Five Essential Insights for Maximizing Resource Capacity
New Investment
Classify, Scope and Size the
Investment
Submit Investment for
Investment Approval
Receive Investment into
Portfolio
Rank and Prioritize
Investment in Portfolio
Accept/Reject/Hold
Deliver the Investment
Wait
Investment
Planning & Governance
Intake
Execution Capacity
Planning
(Project) Execution
Lifecycle
Resource
Assignments
Resource Management & Capacity Planning in Context

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Top Down Capacity Planning
Chapter 8: The
Capacity Quadrant

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Bottom-Up Capacity Planning

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Layers of Governance
Level 1: Executive Council
Level 2: Governance Council
Level 3: Steering Teams & Program Boards
Level 4: Advisory Councils & SIGs
Are we leveraging our valuable resources toward the most important work?

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5. Get Granular and Multi-Dimensional in Planning
 Role
 Skill
 Proficiency level
 In-house vs. contractor
 Cost center
 Etc.

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Case Study*: Granular visibility into capacity enables creative staffing
from within to take on an important new project
 At a planning meeting, all PMs were booked, so an
important new project couldn’t be initiated.
 The availability information was backed up by reliable data
from allocations.
 Data showed that several Business Analysts with the right
skills were available for several months out.
 After interviewing them, one was selected for a project
management career path and was given this project.
“You couldn’t do that
on the fly without a
good system and
good data.”
- Larry Stanton, PMO
Manager
Top Business Risks:
• Inability to staff important projects
• Lost opportunities
• Project delays
Top Pain Points:
• Poor visibility into resource
availability
• Low granularity of information

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Key Takeaways – 5 Insights
1. Holistic view into BOTH pipeline demand and
resource capacity
2. Resource management function to drive the
process
3. Avoid spreadsheets. You need integrated data.
4. Iterative and continuous capacity planning – at
least monthly
5. Granular and multi-dimensional in capacity
planning

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“Intelligence is the ability
to adapt to change.”
~ Stephen Hawking

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For More Information
 rmcp.planview.com
 jmanas@jerrymanas.com
 Twitter: @jerrymanas