For many organizations, the availability of qualified employees poses a greater constraint than the available budget. Projects compete for the same subject matter experts, while line managers remain responsible for continuity, development, and the healthy deployment of their teams. Without a shared view of supply and demand, capacity issues often don’t become apparent until projects are already falling behind schedule.

This master class covers resource planning from both a project and an organizational perspective. Participants will learn how to align project demand, available capacity, priorities, and future staffing needs.

Why this master class?

In many organizations, projects are planned separately, while employees are spread across multiple projects and line-of-business activities. As a result, plans may seem feasible individually but prove unworkable collectively. Scarce expertise is double-booked, key personnel become chronically overburdened, and new projects are launched without an understanding of the implications for the existing portfolio.

Integrated capacity management helps identify these conflicts earlier. It supports decision-making regarding prioritization, phasing, outsourcing, recruitment, and employee development. As a result, resource planning becomes not just a planning task, but a collaborative management process involving both project and line management.

What will you learn?

This masterclass focuses on forecasting and managing future capacity demand. Participants will learn how to analyze resource loading, available capacity, utilization, over-allocation, underutilization, and supply-demand imbalances on a period-by-period basis. The session discusses how peak loads, structural shortages, and dependence on a few key individuals become apparent, as well as why a high utilization rate is not automatically efficient. The masterclass addresses the effects of part-time staffing, non-project-related work, leave, skills, priorities, and uncertainty regarding future project starts. Using scenarios, the course examines what happens when projects are rescheduled, additional capacity becomes available, or priorities change. This makes it easier to identify problems such as double bookings, unrealistic portfolios, late recruitment, and prolonged overload.